Children of Prayer, Children of Peace

MISSIONER NEWSLETTER – Summer 2026

Rick Dixon, El Salvador

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Children participate in prayer and reflection during an Easter retreat led by Maryknoll Lay Missioner Rick Dixon in El Cedro, El Salvador.

In El Salvador the rainy season has arrived in full force, after nearly six months of no water, the hills and mountains are turning green again. It is a glad surprise, the stirring of life at the end of the long summer drought. One day there seems to be no sign of life and then suddenly swelling buds, delicate blooms, an entire world of new smiles. Resurrection. This awareness takes me back to an Easter Retreat at the community center in El Cedro where I work. The retreat was with fifty kindergarten children.

A young boy sits with his eyes closed in a prayerful moment.

A young student enters into a moment of prayerful silence at the HOPE Project community center in El Cedro, El Salvador.

There were plenty of activities—making clay figures of the crucified Christ, washing of feet, singing, games, Via Crucis, a passion play—to name a few. It was a watershed moment to witness that before Holy Water or any religious instruction ever touched these little ones, they had an innate knowledge of their spiritual belonging, knowing the caress of God at the depths of their being. This was most noticeable during our times of prayer, especially prayer in silence, which for most children carried the weightless quality of Psalm 139:15-16: “My substance was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place, when I was woven together in the depths of the earth. Your eyes saw my unformed body, all the days for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.”

During prayer, one could see an innocent light in the kids that revealed a colorful interior world; no divisions, past or present, simply alive with each breath. Surely, children at this age are still closer to the other side, to their preexistence, and they do not need so many words, or even to pray with words, nor do they relate prayer to eloquent phrases. Silence is enough. This is one reason I believe so strongly in our focus on nonviolence through our libraries in El Cedro and La Esperanza. Reading is a bridge to a contemplative world, a deeper communion with a Divine presence in the sacred place of one’s heart and in the stories of others. Listening and empathy are the backbone of nonviolence. Silence is not an official language, yet prayerful silence can speak peace louder than words. Now, I’ll be silent and let the children, through these pictures, speak for themselves.

Rick Dixon

Two boys pose for the camera with smiles on their faces while on retreat.

Two young boys sit with their eyes closed in a moment of prayer. One boy with hands at his sides, the other boy with his hands clasped in front of his mouth.

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