In today's history we witness, helplessly, the drama of multitudes - single people, families and even entire populations - forced to flee, to exodus from their land due to war, religious persecution or even extreme poverty. Then the cry for help emerges spontaneously: "Lord, intervene!". Our life itself is a journey full of unexpected events and difficulties, sometimes done together and sometimes even alone. The journey - however it presents itself - is an existential component specific to man, because we do not have our true homeland on this earth: we are all foreigners and pilgrims towards the true homeland, where there will no longer be any tears or anguish of peoples. , nor noise of weapons, but peace and communion. For this reason we must be even more in solidarity with those who experience the drama of "desperate" journeys and read in the light of faith the many tragedies taking place on earth today, often covered by a vile silence of indifference and disinterest... 

A page from the Exodus which narrates the escape of the Jews from the slavery of Egypt towards the promised land is therefore more relevant than ever. How much effort on that long journey, right from the beginning! In the face of every difficulty, the lament repeatedly and insistently arose from the multitude: "It would have been better for us to remain in Egypt, rather than come and die in this desert!" (cf. Ex 14,12). 

Like the ancient Israelites, we too, often, after having made fundamental decisions for our existence, finding ourselves faced with unexpected situations of risk and effort, ask ourselves in dismay: Why did we take that step? Wasn't it better before?

All human existence is a journey of conversion; a path that from ourselves - that is, from the Egypt that we have within us - leads us to God, to the true freedom of the children of God. We are easily tempted to remain slaves of our passions, slaves of sin, of the worldly mentality, of everything that keeps us flat and static, while the Lord wants us to advance and elevate. 

There are moments – long or short times – in which our life seems to have no clear direction, no precise perspective; then there are dramatic moments in which we are overcome by fear of what can happen or has already happened; then we cry out to God, but we often cry out, reproaching him for not taking care of us; as if, ultimately, He was the cause of our suffering; as if he had brought us to a desert without resources, to leave us to die. 

In those circumstances everything appears dark to us and we don't think that, instead, the desert is a land of hope, it is a place where a flowering of life, a spring, is always incipient, even if hidden. Inside every situation there is a plan of God. Jesus taught us to entrust our existence every day to the heavenly Father. He himself was sent by the Father to be our traveling companion, to be the very Way of our return to the Father. Therefore it is important to walk "keeping our gaze fixed on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith" (Heb 12,2:XNUMX). 

Today, in every day of our existence, God makes himself present to lead us to the fullness of life. Even if our today often appears fragile and fleeting to us, we already live in God's today, which is eternity; from now on, even as we pass through daily death, we live in Him, we breathe in Him; our path is always within this Presence which is Love and which does not allow anything of what it has created to perish.

We must learn to entrust our lives to the Lord with more faith every day, always today, so that our existence, with everything we do in it, is completely oriented day by day towards God, towards eternity. We always have a great need to check the direction of our path. What intention do we give to our actions? What are our thoughts, our feelings when we find ourselves in the midst of so many difficulties? Nothing can frighten us if we believe that Jesus was sent by the Father to be the sure way of our exodus from earth to heaven.

"Do not be afraid! – Moses said to the Israelites – Be strong and you will see the salvation of the Lord, who will act for you today» (Ex 14,13). Today, in every today, always. There is not a day in which we remain in the dark, in desolate solitude, without the help of the Lord, if we invoke him. As Christians, as men born in this land of exile, we fundamentally have this very vocation, for ourselves and for all men, so that everyone has the strength to proceed on the arduous journey of life. The prayer is always urgent: «O God, come save us. Lord, come quickly to our aid!", and He always tells us: "Here I am!". All of life is really a journey towards the Lord, continually experiencing that He is here, today, he is here with us. In the Son Jesus Christ, God came to take on our trials, the hardships of our journey, our sufferings and our own death. For this reason, the more we are tested, the more we can be certain that we are united with the Passion of Christ and immersed in the presence of God. The today that passes flows into the today that does not pass, in eternity. This is God's plan for us. During the journey, day by day, Jesus repeats to us: "Do not be afraid... I am with you every day - in every day of your existence - until the end of the world" (Mt 28,20) to introduce you to the eternal home .