“Mission Possible” on Italian highways

Rome, Italy, Aug 31, 2006 / 22:00 pm

Young Italians of the group Sentinelle del Mattino (Sentinels of the Morning) have launched a unique project they are calling “Mission: Possible,” in which they are setting up stands at rest areas along the freeways near Bologna inviting travelers to attend Mass or Eucharistic adoration.

According to the Korazym news agency, the young people spent last Sunday at a rest area that has a small chapel and is located on the freeway between Bologna and Milan.  They organized two Masses at the chapel and convinced a number of travelers to stop and participate.

Throughout the day they also invited passersby to spend a few moments in Eucharistic adoration.  In the afternoon a Christian band provided entertainment to travelers who stopped to rest.

24 year-old Chiara, one of the youths involved in the project, said, “Not many people refused our invitation, although some people were indifferent and said, ‘We don’t believe in those things.’ Nevertheless, many people asked me why we were there, so I told them quickly that three years ago I was one of those who didn’t believe in God and that now I could be an example of the various ways in which one can encounter Him.”

Many drivers took the opportunity to ask for prayers or to receive the Sacrament of Reconciliation.

The idea for such a project began almost two years ago.  Father Andrea Brugnoli, assigned to provide spiritual guidance to the Sentinels, said its purpose is “to give witness to travelers.  The Sentinels are young people carry out their mission in bars, pubs, and discos, among drug addicts and prostitutes, as Jesus did.”