It's Been Too Long

Yes, it has been so long since I last made my personal pilgrimage to the Shrine of Our Lady of Rosary in Fatima. The first time I went alone in 1997 to thank Our Lady personally for the dedication of the parochial church in Kiabakari.

The second time I went to Fatima with my fellow missionary and friend, Fr. Piotr Pawlus, in 2001, to thank for the Year of the Great Jubilee and all graces we received during that holy time; and prepare spiritually before the elevation of the parochial church of Kiabakari to become the diocesan shrine of Divine Mercy.

It has been thirteen years now since that time. Way too long.

Tomorrow I will set off from Kraków to Fatima for my third personal pilgrimage to Our Lady of Fatima. So many reasons to be grateful for and praise the Lord with Our Lady. So many reasons to be grateful to Our Lady - for her incessant protection and intercession especially in difficult times and situations. So many reasons to be sorry, personally and as a parochial community. So many things to ask for Our Lady, Merciful Mother of Jesus - my own intentions, worries, problems, challenges, dreams and passions, in particular the fulfillment of the vision of Divine Mercy in Kiabakari; but also so many intentions of so many people asking for prayers and intercessions.

Fatima is my favorite Marian shrine. It draws my heart and mind with powerful mystical force. I feel at home there, yet extremely shy and respectful.

Cova da Iria - the place in Fatima
where the Apparitions of Our Lady occurred in 1917

The Chapel of Apparitions

The Chapel of Apparitions from outside

Jacinta, Lucia and Francisco - the Seers of Fatima

I am very happy to be given this opportunity to visit Our Lady of Fatima for the third time. I am very happy also and grateful to the Rectorate of the Shrine for allowing me to celebrate a private Mass in the Chapel of Apparitions on Wednesday morning at 6.00 A.M. before the official program of the day starts. I will celebrate the Holy Mass not only in my intentions but also in all intentions dear to the hearts of all my readers, relatives and friends.

I hope you will be able to participate in this celebration on Wednesday morning at 6.00 A.M. thanks to the internet camera live feed straight from the Chapel of Apparitions (not sure if the feed will be live at that early time of the day, though):

It will be very short pilgrimage, just one full day in Fatima, but it will be the day filled with prayer, medication and total homage and submission to Our Lady. Let Her Son's Will be done through her maternal intercession.

Misfire

Tomorrow's reading of the Twenty Third Sunday of the Ordinary Time, cycle B, highlights the issue of God's priorities in our lives. When we read all readings, in particular the Apostle Jacob's letter and Mark Evangelist Gospel, in the light of agendas and priorities of our own prayer, we will have to admit in honesty that God's priorities and ours differ quite significantly. Simply, we misfire badly in prayer. Most of us focus on earthly goods and possessions, instant solution for our needs and problems. But the Liturgy of the Word of tomorrow's Sunday tells us loud and clear that on the top of the list of God's priorities is faith which is the ultimate treasure we should go after.

Offer

"The LORD appeared to Solomon in a dream at night. God said, “Ask something of me and I will give it to you.”"(1Kgs 3:5). This is the first sentence of today's First Reading. What an astonishing offer! God gives Solomon a total freedom to ask anything from Him. As I sat yesterday afternoon reflecting upon this Sunday readings, I questioned myself what I would do if God came to me with the same offer. What would you ask Him of, knowing He will not deny it nor refuse?

Timing

Yet another time, yet another moment, yet another proof. Of global network of the Communion of Saints. Waking up to the sound of incoming texts on my mobile, reaching for it, checking mails. Yet another time meeting in virtual world with real people and their real problems and desperate calls for help...

Veni, Creator Spiritus!

On this Pentecost Solemnity I wish all of us the fullness of the Holy Spirit gifts, charismas, divine light and virtues, so that we may live the fullness of life as designed and intended by the Creator, in divine happiness, peace, love and unity with Him and with ourselves. This is the intention of the morning Mass I am about to celebrate in a half an hour or so. Ut unum sint!

Purpose

On Good Friday Novena before the Divine Mercy Sunday begins. In just an hour or so I, together with my parochial community, will celebrate the Liturgy of the Passion of the Christ, during which, as it has become a custom in Kiabakari, we will say prayers and Divine Mercy chaplet for the first day of the Novena...

Elevation

Tonight, during Consecration Prayer, as it has been a tradition for me for the past twenty three years since I became a priest, in the Holy Mass of the Last Supper of Holy Thursday, I will elevate all my Loved Ones, Relatives and Friends and all intentions dear to their and mine hearts - up to the Lord together with the consecrated Bread and Wine. I will elevate all readers of my blog and everyone I was blessed to meet in my life as well. So, take courage and lift up your heart and spirit knowing that there is someone somewhere in Africa, on the top of Divine Mercy Hill, who thinks about you and embraces you  fondly in the Eucharistic Prayer and Sacrifice, elevating you, your life, worries and joys, thoughts and intentions up to the Lord... My prayers are with all of you... Happy Easter!

Intention

It gives me immense pleasure and warms my heart to be asked by my relatives, loved ones and friends - from all over the world - to offer a Holy Mass for the intentions dear to their hearts. This noble and holy task entrusted to me - raising to the Lord their worries and hopes, their persons and families, the matters of their lives - is a holy duty I gladly accept. It is a pure honor to do so and I feel privileged, through the power vested on me by the sacred order of priesthood, to be able to elevate them and their intentions in my hands and in my heart up to the Lord in the Holy Eucharist, in this most sublime and the most powerful prayer the world of faith knows...