Halfway Through

Today is the last day of the first half of this year of 2010. When I was celebrating the morning Mass in the shrine, I couldn’t but walk down the memory lane looking back at those past six months and what they brought with themselves. Feelings of praise, gratitude, remorse and hope for better filled my heart and mind.
Surely, the first thing was to praise God rich in mercy who kept me alive and blessed with inner strength to endure and go through one of the most challenging periods of my life. I thank Him with all my heart that I’m still alive to tell you this today. Then, penance and asking for forgiveness for all failures, mistakes and shortcoming of this period.

It’s been such a challenging period, first and foremost because of the diversity of problems and issues I had to deal with simultaneously. Arrival of six sisters from Zambia to begin their pastoral and social work in the parish with no place to stay, thus forced to share with them the same house up till now. Frustrating for them and for me too as it challenged their and mine different lifestyles and customs, forcing us to come up with some kind of compromise without affecting our spirituality and ways of life.

All development projects I was hoping to push forward from the outset of this year got stuck at the same time with lack of funding and lackluster responses from potential donors or just plain and simple silence. Main water tank project frozen, sisters’ convent frozen, finishing works on the center for education and formation frozen, volunteers’ base project frozen, memorial hotel for visitors and pilgrims frozen, new chapels in outstations frozen, renovation of the shrine exterior project frozen etc...

Then my sickness came. I had problems with liver and stomach for long time, but on February 13th the blow came in full force. Sudden liver attack, emergency hospitalization in Musoma government hospital, then referral to Bugando Medical Center in Mwanza for further medical checkups, then quick decision to travel to Poland for more sophisticated help. Thorough checks in Poznań, Poland, prescriptions, diet etc. While in Kraków, I managed to get my new biometric passport as the first step in my preparation to the autumn trip to Canada and USA. And to to finalize publishing issues with my new book, which I expect to be ready in July, inshallah!

I barely came to Poland, and I had to rush back to Kiabakari as the Holy Week was approaching. Arrived back home on Saturday before Palm Sunday, then the Holy Week celebrations, Easter Solemnity and immediately after that preparations for Divine Mercy Sunday and the international pilgrimage in Kiabakari shrine on three consecutive days – Friday till Sunday after Easter. This year I was all alone as even bishop was sick with malaria and couldn’t make it to Kiabakari to preside over High Mass on the very day of Divine Mercy Sunday. That was tough, I tell you! Thank God, somehow I managed to pull together all my physical and mental resources and be with the pilgrims all the way till the end of the pilgrimage, worn out, trashed but happy.

The very next day I rushed to Mwanza to board a plane to Dar es Salaam and then on Tuesday to Mombasa, and further on, by car to Bura, to the motherhouse of the Sisters of the Congregation of St. Joseph for the seminar and the retreat for the first group of sisters. I wrote about it earlier in this blog. Thank God it all went well and sisters were happy and grateful.

Flew back from Mombasa to Dar es Salaam and managed to get my visa to USA, as the next step in my preps to the America trip. Arrived back to Kiabakari just in time for the handing over process of the construction projects in Buturu I was supervising since November last year – the house of the Resurrection Sisters administering Chief Wanzagi Girls’ Secondary School, and two new classrooms (I wrote on this in the first post on this blog). Then the solemn blessing and opening of the convent and classrooms came on May 8, 2010, with Bishop Msonganzila presiding.

May was the month of Baptisms and First Communions in the parish and our outstations. Busy time – spiritually, pastorally and in the office too with all necessary holy bureaucracy to keep things right.

Corpus Christi came, wonderful experience and very well prepared by parochial community (read the post referring to this event). Very tiring and demanding physically but very rewarding!

Then the second trip to Mombasa and Bura came up – 12-26 June. I was after two doses of malaria at that time, then third malaria attack came while finishing the seminar, nearly fainted during the Holy Hour (read the post about it), managed to pull myself together and finishing the retreat without dropping schedule. Then fourth malaria attack came at the end of the retreat (I also told this story earlier in this blog).

Still recovering from that overdose, still my stomach is very sensitive, still the liver sings solo sad songs...but nevertheless, I feel like I am on the path to full recovery slowly but steadily.

Just came back from Bunda, very fitting finale to the busy and interesting first half of this year. Still on the agenda this afternoon – Solemnity of St. Peter Apostle (postponed one day from yesterday on the request of the small Christian community bearing his name) which means confessions before the Mass, then Holy Mass in the courtyard of the house of parish treasurer who is the member of that community, then a short artistic program prepared by the members and food together as the community. Busy last day of a busy period of my life.

For all this I am deeply grateful to God. Although the prevailing flavor or better – flying colors of these past six months were sickness, pain, suffering, uncertainty, stress and frustration that things aren’t moving ahead, still - this is a valuable time testing my resolve, patience and complete trust in God. I’m not sure if I passed this test. Maybe not. Maybe just a little above the minimum marks. Anyway, I commit my ways to the Lord, I trust in Him, and ask Him to do the rest (see Ps 37:5).

The second half of this year is imminent. What I can only say looking at what it has in stake for me, for us here, what I know already that is coming on the agenda known to us, and what I do not know - all unexpected twists and turns that are surely going to come up sooner or later in the course of the next six months, is: ‘Jesus, I trust in You!’. Bring it on. I’m ready for it. Amen.