Of the many lessons I have learned during my travels to the missions, probably the most valuable one during these times of "Staying Home" is how to properly tell time. The first time I arrived in a mission country, I was a typical US citizen. There was a schedule to keep, work to be done, and donor sites to be visited. I had been handed a printed itinerary and naively thought that that we would adhere to it.

Morning Mass happened at the appointed time but as we lingered afterwards at the kitchen table, I kept glancing at my watch. We were going to be late for our first stop. Finally, Father Tom, my host in Haiti, noticed my movements and said, "Relax, Maureen. Here, we tell time by the calendar, not the clock."

And so, it has seemed to be true in every country I have visited since. People connect every day. They talk and listen. They accompany each other. They give the one thing they have in abundance -- time.

No visit to a clinic comes without tea with the staff. No school tour, after the welcome song, is done without time to sit and listen to the children. No Mass at a rural chapel is without a communal meal afterwards.

Of course, as everywhere, city life can be very different. In my journeys, I usually land in a large city, and then move out to the countryside where the Church reaches the most vulnerable populations. It is there that people walk slower, spend their days with family, and work towards the common good.

This was life in rural Zambia, in the Diocese of Chipata. Most people are subsistence farmers. Every family member has a responsibility to the other, to work -- some on the farm, some in the household; all do so to survive from one day to the next, one season to the next. If they are Catholics, they also belong to Small Christian Communities. These groups meet regularly for prayer, catechesis, and faith sharing. They are the life's blood of a community that may only see a priest a few times a year.

During these times of Lock Downs, Stay at Home Advisories, and the like, I am reminded of the value of keeping my eye on the calendar, not the clock. Though both working from home, my husband and I connect. We talk and listen. We accompany each other. We give the one thing we have in abundance -- time.

The missions have much to teach us.

- Maureen Crowley Heil is Director of Programs and Development for the Pontifical Mission Societies, Boston.