The Chance to Be In His Presence

By Agnese P., on mission in Greece

In the big living room of the nursing home that we visit, a woman walked past me, taking small, unsteady steps. I thought she needed a little support, so I offered my hand so that she could safely walk to one of the chairs and sit down. Sigrid gently took my hand with a smile and let herself be accompanied. However, she did not want to let it go after she safely sat down on the chair! So I crouched down to be next to her. Although we couldn’t talk, because Sigrid is unable to hear or to speak, words no longer seemed so important. She looked at me once more, and then smiled until she fell asleep. I appreciated that moment so much; she was given to me right there and right then, and I was given to her.

Meeting this woman allowed me to go a little deeper into the mystery of Adoration, where we spend an hour sitting seemingly pointlessly in front of the Blessed Sacrament. We could instead visit more friends, clean the house and make it even more welcoming, study Greek more carefully… But no, God gives us the opportunity to be consciously in His presence at that very moment, to do an act of love, and I must not count or calculate how beneficial or productive it is.