His friend Chava tells us that “Alejandro never waited to receive when he had an opportunity to give. He showed great patience with us, and waited for us as we tried to learn and live the spirituality of unity. Alejandro was killed while he was doing something worthwhile – visiting a cousin in hospital. He died while loving, as we would all like to die. I ask myself if I am really very radical in the way I live the Gospel, as radical as he was. His death is life, not darkness. It’s a strong push to live our ideal more radically, following Jesus all the way.”

On Saturday, 20 July 2013, Alejandro received the daily “password” via WhatsApp. The “password” is a brief slogan that Focolare members try to put in practice throughout the day. That day the slogan was: ‘Our final exam will be on whether we have loved our neighbour.’ He immediately responded to his friend Andrea who had sent him the password: “These are powerful words and, yes, you’re right, we have to live it.” Just a few minutes later he was at the hospital bedside of an ill cousin. Suddenly two assassins entered to murder someone, and the unfortunate witnesses of the crime were also killed.

For the Young For Unity Group in Torreon, Mexico – an area immersed in violence – it was a shocking blow, and yet they responded courageously “so that the spiritual richness would not be lost” of their friend’s life with whom they shared a commitment to give witness to universal brotherhood and to spread a culture of non-violence.

Alejandro met the young people of the Focolare in 2011. Right away he wanted to know more about the ideal that animated their lives, and he began living Jesus’ message with them. His life became a testimony of God’s love for others, in everything he did: in the family, with his friends, at work and with many other people as well.

“I knew him from when we first began this adventure,” Willie recounts, “I was very struck by his willingness and his ability to immediately put into practice every new point of the spirituality of unity that he discovered.”

“What struck me most about him,” says David, “was seeing the strong mark that he’s left in so many people. . . and also his great desire and thirst for God.”

The Gen from Torreon write: “We consider our friend, Alexander, as a martyr for the united world, and for this reason his blood is not a tragedy, but a blessing for anyone who wants to unite in the battle for peace in our region, in our country and in the world.

During these days when the World Youth Day is taking place in Brazil, Pope Francis has urged more than a million young people to be radical in the faith. Alejandro is certainly someone who did not step back, but took this invitation to heart. And he put into practice Chiara Lubich’s constant appeal to the young: “Aim high!” This is why he leaves behind such a trail of light!