The all-enveloping Presence

by Kelsey B., on mis­sion in our Brazilian Heart’s Home vil­lage, Fazenda do Natal

     The strongest, all enveloping Presence at the Fazenda is the Eucharist. Our beau­tiful church is at the highest point of the farm and seen first upon arriving. It is also where we start and end our day in prayer, where we have daily Mass, and where we take turns adoring Christ throughout the entire day. In ado­ra­tion, while we offer our humble prayers to God, Christ gazes upon us with intense love and ten­der­ness, evi­dent by the mir­acle of rowdy chil­dren sit­ting calmly in his pres­ence for an hour. There is also no place where Didi (our sev­erly-dis­abled adopted Brazilian brother) is calmer and hap­pier than in front of Christ in the church. The pres­ence of Christ is more than enough for him and some­times he becomes agi­tated when it is over. It is beau­tiful to see his com­mu­ni­ca­tion with our living God. Indeed, like in any Heart’s Home, our prayer life is what sus­tains us, and here our mis­sion is espe­cially con­tem­pla­tive. Our con­tem­pla­tive life sweeps out from the church and to each small task of our daily life. Christ is ever pre­sent in this school of love.