Berlin

The place I'm at, was called first the Town of Berlin, then the City of Berlin since 1854 through 1916. Then the Germans lost the First World War and the city become known as Kitchener. Nowadays along with the city of Waterloo and Cambridge, the three cities are called 'the tri-cities'. Kitchener-Waterloo-Cambridge is all about contrasts and symbiosis of the past and the modern...


In one area you will see one of the most prestigious universities in Canada (the University of Waterloo), an equivalent - or maybe better - counterpart of MIT in the States (check the hall of fame here), headquarters of the Research In Motion company making BlackBerry smartphones, the famous disabled professor Steven Hawking coming for vacations and talks as his preferred place of choice - and the same time you will witness Amish Mennonites wagons pulled by horses or parked outside diners and supermarkets or on their way back home to the farms and endless plains cultivated meticulously by these amazing people... It is also the area where the very first Polish Catholic priest arrived to Canada back in the nineteenth century in 1862 (read more here) to visit Polish immigrants, then the full pastoral care developed...

This is also a place where the Congregation of the Resurrection set their first mission in Canada. The Ontario Kentucky Province, the founding province of the Congregation of the Resurrection in North America, began August 14, 1857. At the invitation of the local bishop, Father Eugene Funcken C.R. came from Europe to St. Agatha Parish in St. Agatha, Ontario (which is exactly in this area). And I'm writing this post sitting in the recreation room of one of their houses in Kitchener, as I wished since the beginning of planning of my North American trip to come over to Kitchener and pay my respect to Fr. Sutherland McDonald, CR, former Superior General of the Congregation of the Resurrection, who opened the first mission of the congregation in Africa, in Butiama Parish, the neighboring parish to Kiabakari, my place. And I was the one who welcomed him and Fr. Andrzej Madry, CR, the very first missionary of the congregation, when they came back in 2000 to find a suitable place for them to open their first mission in Africa. After his retirement as the Superior General, Fr. Sudie (as we call him) decided to go to Butiama and work as a missionary which gained him massive respect from all of us. Sadly, his health was and still is not good enough, though he told me yesterday evening, while we were sitting in the porch sharing common experiences and talking about the past, the present and the future, that he still wants to go back there to Butiama. I admire this man of God immensely and respect him for what he stands for. May God bless him much and give him back full health and strength. The Church needs priests of that quality and integrity as him...

So, here I am, in Kitchener-Waterloo-Cambridge area, witnessing amazing symbiosis of the past and the present with the brave and bold thinking and planning for the future - on so many levels... Amazing place, truly... Thank God for the gift of letting me know and appreciate this place, learning at the same time how union between the old and new is possible, more so - absolutely necessary. Preserving the past, living fully the present and moving forward, driven by passion to excel...