The Heart of the Lonely Tree

This is a love story. Or it might be more accurate to say a story of many loves. The love of a land. The love of a people, in particular a fragile people. The love of the Gospel, of the voice of God, who seduces us and invites us to follow our path in life. In these pages many stories and many lives intertwine. This story is one of heroes, whose daily embrace of frailty brings them strength. Throughout these pages we encounter people like Kike, Denise, sister Ath, Richie, Totet, Wen and many other women and men whose lives, whose friendship and whose passion becomes contagious. 

K**E FIGAREDO SJ, known to the world as «The bishop of the wheel-chairs» has dedicated his entire life to accompanying the Cambodian people: from his first assignment there as a young Jesuit, in a refugee Camp in Thailand, to his current position as Apostolic Prefect in Battambang, and during the years that he lived in Banteay Prieb, the «House of the White Dove». Here there are people who sing and dance, even if they have broken wings. This is what Kike began, and what he shares in his daily mission. His itinerary becomes, in this book, a map that allows us to understand our own lives. Because these pages also tell our stories. We share dreams, weakness, inspiration, even the determination to find our place in the world. And so, this life, so far away yet at the same time so close, becomes a mirror and a school for whoever dares to venture into it.

JOSE MARIA RODRIGUEZ OLAIZOLA is a Jesuit priest and a writer. For the past several years he has been trying to offer the readers of his books an approach to life that combines faith and an analisis of daily existence. Previous titles include: «En tierra de nadie» (In No-Man's Land), 2006; «Contemplaciones de papel» (Paper Contemplations), 2008; «Hoy es ahora: gente sólida para tiempos líquidos (Today is Now. Solid People for Liquid Times), 2011; and «Mosaico humano (Human mosaic), 2015.