{"id":150057,"date":"2025-12-29T10:13:40","date_gmt":"2025-12-29T09:13:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.cgfmanet.org\/infosphere\/qui-nessuno-e-solo-pranzo-di-natale-in-servizio\/"},"modified":"2026-01-02T22:26:57","modified_gmt":"2026-01-02T21:26:57","slug":"no-one-is-alone-here-serving-the-christmas-dinner","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.cgfmanet.org\/en\/infosphere\/no-one-is-alone-here-serving-the-christmas-dinner\/","title":{"rendered":"\u201cNo one is alone here\u201d: Serving the Christmas Dinner"},"content":{"rendered":"

Rome (Italy). <\/strong>On 25 December 2025, as has been the custom for several years now on Christmas Day, a group of Daughters of Mary Help of Christians from the General House of Rome, together with the new FMA missionaries, reached Nomentana Hospital – an Institute for the Elderly and a Specialist Outpatient Clinic in Fonte Nuova, near Rome \u2013 to serve dinner to the guests, helping the volunteers from the Community of Sant’Egidio.<\/p>\n

For the Community of Sant’Egidio<\/a> <\/strong><\/span>this meal in solidarity has become a tradition since, in 1982, a small group of poor people were welcomed around the festive table in the Basilica of Santa Maria in Trastevere. At that time, there were about twenty guests: some elderly people from the neighborhood, who would be left alone that day, and some homeless people known on the streets of Rome. Since then, the table has expanded year by year and from Trastevere has reached many parts of the world, wherever the Community is present.<\/p>\n

This year, approximately 80,000 people were welcomed in around a hundred cities in Italy and 250,000 in around seventy countries around the world. Festively decorated tables, smiles, hugs, personalized gifts, and the serenity of those who feel at home for the homeless, the elderly, and families in need. In fact, at Christmas, families around the world gather, buy gifts to exchange, set the table for the holiday. For those who have no one to share it with in serenity, this holiday – more than any other \u2013 can become a truly sad day.<\/p>\n

At Nomentana Hospital<\/strong>, approximately 120 people attended the luncheon, including seniors and people with disabilities from the Department of Health and Disability. Each guest received an invitation and a personalized gift. Together with volunteers from the Community of Sant’Egidio, the Sisters of the General House sought to create a family atmosphere to give everyone the opportunity to spend the day of celebration in joy.<\/p>\n

Some FMA share what this experience aroused in their hearts:<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cI am very happy and deeply moved by the experience I had the opportunity to have yesterday in the hospital. Seeing the faces of sick, lonely, and non-autonomous people, I was able to contemplate in them the Child Jesus. They were like the \u2018lame and poor\u2019 invited to a feast with the King. First, they were accompanied with our help to the festively decorated room, so that they could enjoy the atmosphere of Christmas. We gave them a few hours of service, but the gifts we received from meeting them are far greater than what we gave them.<\/em><\/p>\n

The testimony of the lay people of the Community of Sant’Egidio was wonderful. Despite having their own families and businesses, they decided to leave everything behind to be close to those who no longer have anyone to spend time with during these Christmas holidays, to give everyone a smile and rekindle a smile on their faces, even for a few moments. For me, it was an experience of contact with a Church that unites, that seeks the weakest, that brings the light and love of Jesus.”<\/strong> (Sister Justina)<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cIt was the first time I experienced this type of service. It was a beautiful experience for me to be with them as brothers and sisters in humanity. I felt that Baby Jesus was among us. He, so small, without power, without strong words, simply welcomes what is offered to Him. For this reason, I am very happy to have been able to provide this service. I had a truly wonderful day. A huge thank you for this beautiful organization and for everything they do and give in the service of the poor.\u201d (Sister Anna Minh T\u00e2n Nguyen)<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cIt is always a blessing to serve humble and simple people. Being able to share a good, hot meal with them on Christmas Day is the grace to draw closer to God-with-us… We are thankful!\u201d (Sister Elena Rastello)<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cChristmas this year of 2025 was very special. I’d say it was a real Christmas for me. Jesus was born in solitude, in a remote place that was not His own, in the uncertainty of conditions. In today’s world, there are so many people living in loneliness, insecurity, and a place that is not theirs. I had the wonderful opportunity to be with these people at the Nomentana Hospital, which houses over 500 elderly people and those with disabilities.<\/em><\/p>\n

It was a touching experience for me to witness so many defenseless people living a community life in the hospital. It has become a home for them, even if it is not theirs. They are surrounded by people, but they live in solitude. They have a beautiful smile on the outside, but internally they feel the sadness reflected on their faces; they were once competent in their world, but now they feel useless.<\/em><\/p>\n

I’m glad I was able to spend time with them, listen to them, talk to them, and make them feel happy and wanted. It was a great joy for me to help them in their helplessness, to embrace them in their fragility, and be close to them in their solitude, to make them happy with a simple smile, with a word of encouragement, with a small gesture of love.<\/em><\/p>\n

At the end of the day, I felt immense joy in meeting Jesus in them. At the same time, I am grateful to God for this opportunity and I am grateful to the people I met, because they taught me that life on earth is only a fleeting event. What matters most is bringing joy to others.\u201d (Sister Sangitha)<\/em><\/p>\n

“This Christmas no one is anonymous but everyone is known, in a family that forgets no one. For those who have no voice, for those who have no home, finding ourselves here together strengthens hope and is the message of peace that the world needs today.”<\/strong><\/em> These are the words of Andrea Riccardi, Founder of the Community of Sant’Egidio, spoken on the occasion of dinner with the poor in the Basilica of Santa Maria in Trastevere in Rome.<\/em><\/p>\n\r\n