Lent Week 3: Week of March 9

This week, we share a heartfelt reflection written for Farm of the Child’s 10th Anniversary in 2006 by former missioner Nicholas St. Ores and then Director Sr. Maria Estela. Their words invite us to look back with gratitude and to see how God has continued to guide this mission through the years.

Paz y bien! Peace and goodwill to all!

We are in a special time in the life of the Farm. Looking at the basic liturgical calendar, we are in Lent, waiting for Jesus crucified and risen. This is always a time when the Farm community dedicates itself to prayer and our common sense of mission as it is based in Christ’s love for us. At the same time, we are preparing to celebrate the 10th anniversary of this amazing project. In April 1996, Zulena, her children, and the first volunteers Felicia, Christina, and Adela welcomed the first kids into the still-forming Finca family. This spring and summer are a time of recognizing the sacrifices of so many people, including our Savior Jesus. Through these sacrifices, we are able to be here to see the children of the Farm of the Child rapidly become capable moral adults.

Here on the Farm, Lent is a time of spiritual preparation for the awesome sacrifice Jesus will make on Good Friday when he ascends the cross to die for our sins. In our daily prayer schedule we have integrated fundamental Lenten concepts such as almsgiving, prayer, fasting, and reconciliation as a way of teaching our kids how to become closer to Christ. Last night Ronal, a dynamic 15-year-old living in Casa San Jose, dramatized how our sins weigh us down, immobilize us painfully, and how through Christ’s love in the form of reconciliation we can rise up. In addition to the normal prayer schedule of the week, each Friday we participate in Stations of the Cross tracing the painful journey of Christ. Physically circumnavigating our tropical grounds in unity with Christ is a sensual way of entering into and understanding his painful sacrifice. If Jesus could be nailed to a tree, we can certainly endure the bites of infuriated ants as we kneel on the unleveled, pebbly earth while remembering him.

Concluding Lent, the wonderful full-moon-lit Holy Week is for many the best time of the year. In the setting of the Caribbean spring, the richness of our shared community life comes to full fruition through the collective spirituality of the liturgical events leading up to Easter. Starting with Passion Sunday, all other life stops as each day builds to the Triduum. Morning prayer and night prayer take on different dimensions as the adults and kids alike work to enhance the liturgy through music and enhanced participation. On Good Friday, the participants of our adolescent program dramatize Jesus’ final walk to Calvary. Saturday, the Easter Vigil is truly a community celebration as our neighbors participate with us in the richness of this spiritual high point of the liturgical calendar. Finally, Sunday comes, Lenten resolutions end, and Christ is risen while the community rejoices. This is how we recognize and experience Christ’s sacrifice.

We would also like to recognize the different sacrifices of the multitude of people who have worked for this project. On Saturday, June 17th, we are going to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the Farm of the Child. Our goal is to thank all the people who have worked in service to our children throughout the years. So, with this in mind we would like to extend an open invitation to you to attend what we hope will be a glorious celebration of the abundant blessings we have and continue to receive.

From the Farm family to yours, we wish you blessed Lenten and Easter seasons. We continually pray for all of our family, friends, benefactors, and spiritual supporters. Were it not for your faithful and generous contributions, both monetary and spiritual, our mission to love and serve these children of God could not surge forward with such life and zeal. May God continue to bless you and guide you in life’s many challenges and blessings.

Your sister and brother in Christ,
Sister Maria Estela Ruano and Nicholas St. Ores