{"id":13134,"date":"2025-06-28T10:45:37","date_gmt":"2025-06-28T08:45:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sancarlo.org\/?p=13134"},"modified":"2025-07-03T10:54:37","modified_gmt":"2025-07-03T08:54:37","slug":"do-you-love-me","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sancarlo.org\/en\/do-you-love-me\/","title":{"rendered":"\u201cDo you love me?\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"La<\/picture><\/figure>\n\n\n

That July 4, 2017, began as a normal day. In the morning, I had taken an exam, and the afternoon was typical for a student in his final year of law school. That day, however, through a series of circumstances, I realized that my happiness did not depend on the success of my projects, big or small, but rather that it was a gift that could only be received. At the same time, for the first time in my life, I felt that God was calling me to give him everything. But there was a problem: I already had plans for my career and I wanted to start a family.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So the struggle began: having previously attended the Military Academy in Modena, I was not willing to give up even an inch of the battlefield. At a certain point, however, from the fertile ground prepared by my parents’ education and the constant company of my friends, the first sprout appeared. I proposed a truce to the good Lord, saying, “Lord, know that I want to do something else. However, I have realized that only You can make me truly happy, so let your will be done, not mine! I have other plans, but if you really want my whole life, I could go along with it. But allow me to understand!” At that point, I confided in a friend who, to help me see what was happening to me, introduced me to a priest, Don Antonio Anastasio. After listening to me at length, he suggested a very simple path: \u201cContinue with your life as a university student. But set aside some time each day for prayer, that is, for a personal relationship and dialogue with God.\u201d This simple suggestion changed my life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

\u201cI have other plans, but if you really want my whole life, I could go along with it. But allow me to understand!”<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

My last year at university was fantastic: I began to enjoy everything more, many friendships blossomed again and new ones were formed. I began to experience the hundredfold! And it was precisely because of this experience of fulfillment that I decided to leave everything behind, friends and plans, to ask to be admitted to the seminary of the Fraternity of St. Charles. It was a community of missionary priests that I had known for some time and that had immediately made me say, \u201cThese are the happiest people I have ever met. When I grow up, I want to be happy like them.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The definitive certainty that God was truly calling me to be a missionary priest came later, when, halfway through my formation, I was sent to Colombia for a year of mission. In that distant land, I was asked to teach religion to children in first, second, and third grade. It was a far cry from my plan to become an officer and start a family. Yet I was truly happy!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

These are the reasons why I eagerly await June 21, 2025, the day when I will be able to definitively say yes to Christ’s proposal to belong totally to Him through priestly ordination.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Looking back on my life, I cannot fail to recognize the manifestation of God’s great preference and immense love for me. All this will culminate in the definitive vocational step I am about to take, through priestly ordination. Ultimately, it is nothing more than the question \u201cDo you love that Christ asked Peter yesterday and repeats to me today. I too, supported by many friends and the intercession of all the saints, wish to respond with boldness and a joyful heart: \u201cLord, you know everything. You know that I love you!\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The vocation story of Andrea, who was ordained a priest on June 21 together with two other brother deacons.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":12655,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"slim_seo":{"title":"\u201cDo you love me?\u201d - Fraternity of St. Charles","description":"The vocation story of Andrea, who was ordained a priest on June 21 together with two other brother deacons."},"footnotes":""},"categories":[378],"tags":[476,477],"writers":[1241],"regions":[385],"cities":[437],"class_list":["post-13134","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-testimonies","tag-sacerdozio-en","tag-vocazione-en","writers-andrea-la-piana","regions-italy","cities-roma-en"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sancarlo.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13134","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sancarlo.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sancarlo.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sancarlo.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sancarlo.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13134"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/sancarlo.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13134\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":13135,"href":"https:\/\/sancarlo.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13134\/revisions\/13135"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sancarlo.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/12655"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sancarlo.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13134"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sancarlo.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13134"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sancarlo.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13134"},{"taxonomy":"writers","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sancarlo.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/writers?post=13134"},{"taxonomy":"regions","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sancarlo.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/regions?post=13134"},{"taxonomy":"cities","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sancarlo.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/cities?post=13134"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}