Some things are already within us. They just blossom and gain strength over time …
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I remember my first plane trip, at Christmas 2000, when I was 4 years old, when I said: “I know that Santa Claus will accompany me. I wrote in the letter that I wouldn’t be home for Christmas. Will he understand that I won’t always be home, mommy? ”(Laughs).
There my first great adventure began. Many came later. The call to go on a mission was a seed that needed to be watered to grow. That role the Shalom Catholic Community played with me. And with great mastery.
Throughout my youth, with the decision to live constantly on a mission, I got to know faces, cultures and lifestyles very different from mine. And I knew, deep down, that one day I would go so far, but so far, that these unknown faces – some even forgotten, would be the ones I would call family. Home is where the heart lives.
I found rest in tin stands in Africa. I was loved by the smiles of simple people and very different from me in the suburb of Poland. I was guided by a kind Spanish woman when I got lost in a city in the heart of Europe. I discovered the sense of family with parents of six children in Costa Rica. I was embraced by a Mexican woman full of love. I heard the pain of a young Ecuadorian woman full of dreams. I shared food with a Chilean woman who wanted to know more about me. I contemplated the joy of an Australian nun. I cried with an Indian woman who was beginning to break new ground in Dubai. I widened, widened, widened my floodgates … and guess what happened …
At the ends of the earth, I discovered the meaning of my life, making the meanings of their lives unfold in others.
I wanted to populate the territory of the foreign man’s soul, who without even knowing my face, gave me food and drink. I wanted to give myself to the end so that the beauty of true Love would shine through my tired features. I packed my suitcase, I unpacked again … I discovered that in Christ we are one people. And with Him, we are called to give everything. Yes everything! Everything. Without reservations. True happiness consists in spending your life generously …
There is a beauty that only takes shape when we give ourselves entirely. Being a volunteer means having your heart always at hand, with the certainty that only one life delivered is worthwhile: no is no longer an option.
An enlarged heart always wants to go further. Deep down, Love is about that. And it’s good that I found Him. Santa Claus is no longer with me. But Heavenly Father accompanies me with each new mission
Translation: Beatriz Duarte