Prayer of my heart

By Sr. Mary Hughes, O.L.M.
May/June 2008

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After many years of living in the Northeast of Brazil I have returned to Canada. It happens to be Christmastime, and while I am enjoying the snow and decorations I am thinking of the lovely festive season in Brazil. Despite the poverty of the people with whom I have lived and worked, there is hope, love and excitement.

Sr. Mary Hughes with Raimundo, a community leader who assists landless peoples in Chorozinha, Ceara State, northeastern Brazil.

Before my return I once again visited a large group of landless farmers and their families. For some years they had been living on the side of the road near a large tract of unoccupied land while negotiating with the government in the hope that one day the land would be theirs. Now Sr. Clarice Garvey, who has supported these struggling people for years, tells me that the elderly couple who own the land will not accept the financial settlement offered by the government. Once again the people must fold up their tents and search for a place to live. How sad. I can’t help thinking what a wonderful Christmas present it could have been for these families, and especially the children who are the future of Brazil.

Even from Canada, this faraway and often cold land, as I daily face my diminishment, the people of Brazil remain in my heart and mind. Included in my daily prayer are the landless farmers in Brazil. May God bless them all and give them the strength and courage to continue their struggle for the right to land.

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