My summer began with the consecration to God’s Divine Mercy. I made this consecration at the suggestion of and accompanied for the 33 days by a dear friend. The consecration happened on the birthday of my son, the feast of Saints Peter and Paul, June 29. In the two preceding months, the close companionship of a few friends began to touch all the aspects of my life on a daily basis, and to mark out a very concrete path: one cannot live alone. So the consecration to Divine Mercy happened exactly when I needed it, because everything was a receiving of and an immersion in the tenderness of God. I did not have to worry about anything else, but only obey and enjoy His abundant Mercy. As if that was not enough, there was the Fraternity Exercises and the text “An Original Presence”. My days were filled with the expectation of Jesus day and night and with the hope that Jesus would show himself in all the events of the day in His great love and in His infinite intelligence and imagination.

Examples: Each year when the Movement announces the vacation, my husband and I find it difficult to adhere because it costs too much and doesn’t make sense for us to go. But this year my husband really struck me because he was provoked by his great need for meaning in his life and in his work, and letting himself be guided by the suggestion of a friend, he agreed to go because he knows that his foundation is Christ, and he does not want to be crushed by circumstances. This step helped me a lot because the vacation really is an economic sacrifice; but he gave himself fully in those days, full of gratitude for our companionship that makes us begin again, because we are carried by the love of Jesus which touches this moment in history, always giving it value.

Another example has to do with my work during the summer. I direct a group of students who come to learn English for a month in DC. I have a peace and a joy in me that I never knew before, and this comes from waiting for Jesus day and night. When I pay attention to Him, the focus is not on myself but on Him who makes Himself present in many ways and shows me how to live in the moment. Everything becomes listening to, looking for, recognizing Jesus, and not worrying about myself. Fear disappears and instead surprise dominates, a free and joyful movement that has nothing to lose and everything to learn. The mistakes that come from sin and from my incapacity are no longer obstacles that crush me but occasions for prayer and a relationship with my friends.

A final example: a trip to NYC with my students, led by Holly. I learned so many things in those days. First of all, I found myself free during that day, although it began with an organizational error! Why? Because it was the expectation of Jesus—and not my success—that dominated. Thus, following Holly I learned and experienced what it means that Jesus coincides with the reality that I await day and night. She lives the memory of Christ and one sees it in how she enters into relationship with everything, even if she encounters someone only for a minute. Her passion for the city comes from her affection for its people, from her work, from that which the Lord has given her. It is a decision to say YES and to see what good has been prepared for her. Holly dedicated a hot summer day in New York to us, entering into relationship with each of the kids as if that moment was eternal. “How beautiful it is to live like this,” we all thought that day. I was looked at, corrected, and embraced the whole day, and accompanied by a peace and a joy that made me be born again and that made me feel myself preferred and guided, learning a new method to be in front of the kids and in front of those I didn’t know, the method of abandoning myself to HIS way.

The thing that struck me the most in NYC was the Ground Zero Memorial. The “abyss” represents for me the wound that remains in each of us, especially in those who were directly involved in that drama. The abyss is not put to the side, it is continually looked at, and it can become a cry to the Mystery, which for me is very alive, but for many others is unknown. I pray that the joys and the pains of my life will be an occasion for a greater familiarity with Jesus, and I do not want to put them to the side. I am not capable of this by myself, but with my friends, I am.

The prayer that all the world may know Jesus and for the pain of so many in the world is a trusting cry because Christ conquers my poverty every day, giving me signs of His Mercy through EVERYTHING that happens to me.