Castellanza (Italy). “Tu vedi più di me” is the theme of the Pastoral Proposal 2023-2024 launched by the Salesian Youth Movement and lived in FMA schools and the Salesian world in Italy, from which the song composed by Stefano Torresan was born, Teacher of music of the Secondary School of the 1st Year of Mary Help of Christians Institute of Castellanza, in the province of Varese, of the Lombardy Holy Family Province (ILO).
Every day I follow roads but I don’t find my way
The questions make space inside me
You called me and I didn’t understand
you were looking precisely for me
You were the answer to my whys.
Thus begins the piece composed by the Professor, who says: “The music was born in a flash; I jotted it down in a few minutes. More complicated was finding the words to put into music the many meanings of this year’s proposal…”. For 27 years in the faculty of the School, Stefano Torresan is a music professional with a great passion for singing. He has a Diploma of Conservatory in piano and organ, sings and conducts choirs, including the VOCAL DREAMS, the school choir that last year distinguished itself for representing the Province at the regional festival Choirs of Lombardy.
What is the meaning of, “You see further than I”?
“The song is meant for the young people. It is vocational and speaks of the call for each of them, highlighting the dream that they have inside. In fact, the refrain says: ‘Light in me my dream to live / I will still listen to your voice / guide me on road that you know / you see further than I’. In the second part, the verse instead refers to Don Bosco’s dream, who walks by our side to help us realize our dream. Singing expresses faith as a response to a call and is meant to be sung during Mass”.
Why write a song on the Pastoral Proposal?
“Because when words are sung, the idea passes much more easily to the young rather than many words. It remains in their head and in their heart, much more than just the spoken word, the words heard… By singing the message, it is easier for it to become a memory. ‘You see farther than I’ remains more imprinted in the lives of the young; the music is remembered even after many years”.
For Prof. Torresan, the writing of a song dedicated to the annual pastoral theme is not a novelty, but an increasingly consolidated project. After an experiment a few years ago, already last year he managed to animate Mary Help of Christians Institute of Castellanza with the passage “We are here!” a true and proper school year anthem.
And together with you I walk securely towards holiness
I abandon the uncertainty, the doubts, and all the whys
Your clear light will illumine my road
My dream lives within me.
The second verse of the song uses precisely the hashtag of this pastoral year #sullastradadeisogni. It places us in the right position for listening and to listen to each other and really return to dream. The aim of the proposal is to address this time of social fatigue and fragility.
How then to return to dream of being able to ‘make a difference’, starting from one’s own voice and singing? Leaving every doubt and singing one’s own voice to the harmony of the group, to find your own way of trusting God, who sees farther than everyone:
I am still seeking in my heart the courage to say yes
I leave all the fatigue and all the doubts behind me
I know that You will never leave me alone
I look up and come towards You.
Source: fmalombardia
