Pope Francis in his papal homily in Abu Dhabi, UAE, last 4 February 2019, touched the hearts of many people living away from their families. The following paragraphs are taken from that -- It is most certainly not easy for you to live far from home, missing the affection of your loved ones, and perhaps also feeling uncertainty about the future. But the Lord is faithful and does not abandon his people. A story from the lives (life) of Saint Anthony, the Abbot, the great founder of monasticism in the desert, may be helpful to us. He left everything for the Lord and found himself in the desert. There, for a time, he was immersed in a bitter spiritual struggle that gave him no peace; he was assaulted by doubt and darkness and even by temptation to give in to nostalgia and regrets about his earlier life. But then, after all this torment the Lord consoled him and Saint Anthony asked him: "Where were you? Why did you not appear before to free me from my suffering?" ...