Jesus from the cross after rebuking the priest for his pessimism says, "The seed! It must be saved. When the river would returned to its bed, the earth will resurface and the sun will dry it up. If the farmer has saved the seed, he will be able to throw it on the earth made even more fertile by the silt of the river, the seed will bear fruit, and the swollen and golden corn ears will give men bread, life and hope. The seed must be saved”.

The seed, for Don Camillo/Guareschi, is faith. And faith is the answer for everyone, for all believers in humanity, the faith in what makes man/woman a human being. We must all commit ourselves to saving the seed, the seed that makes us human, the seed by which we understand that every life is sacred and that there is a common destiny binding us all. This makes us realise that dehumanizing the adversary and wanting his death drag everyone into an abyss with no possible return: into the whirlpool of hatred, that is a destructive force of everything beautiful and just.

We must go in search of the ones who are saving this seed, like Diogenes with his lantern. Do you remember the beginnings of Western philosophy? Between 400 and 300 BC, a strange person was going around Athens by day with a lantern: his name was Diogenes. When asked why he was carrying that lantern during the light time, he replied, “I am looking for humanity”. We, too, let us seek examples of humanity.

The time of Advent and Christmas, whatever is our faith - the 'seed' in which we believe - is the appropriate time for this search.

See, Come Diogene giro con la lanterna in cerca di esempi di umanità