Come Abide Book Launch

By Kari R., Friend and Benefactor

When invited to a Con-solatio event—whether it’s a movie, an art show, a cookout, a concert, a talk, or even a book launch(!), I know to go. I will be there. Why? No matter how humble or grand, the event will live in me for weeks and months to follow. It will affect my heart. I will go away changed, even in some imperceptible way.

On May 4th Con-solatio invited old and new friends to come hear about their recently published book Come Abide. We entered into this new book through the sharing of four different voices—a missionary, an artist, a priest, and a friend supporting the mission for many years. We ate, we drank, we talked, we listened to the speakers share their favorite stories from Come Abide.

What their reflections made me also see was the deep impression the Con-solatio mission had upon their souls, so that they each desired what I too desire: to be close to this beautiful charism that offers itself again and again to each of us lucky enough to be in their presence. Once more, I left this evening fueled, filled, and ready to be present to my own small mission in the world.

I take my copy of Come Abide and read it when I am in my home, away from Con-solatio. I find myself entering into the lives and experiences of so many missionaries. Through their stories, I find food for meditation, paths to understanding the deeper context of my existence…communion. With each chapter I read, I find His love, His presence, in my heart, where I can then bring it into my home and my community.