PayPal

You may have noticed a new addition to this blog - on the right sidebar, just at the top of it. The donation button from PayPal. Some of my readers have been asking me how I can cope running this blog knowing the internet data packages charges in Tanzania and elsewhere. They suggested to place the donation button in the blog so people can donate a bit to help me to make ends meet. Moreover, I would like to use donations to enable volunteers coming to Kiabakari to have free wifi by purchasing a mobile wifi router which are now available in Tanzania and keep it running by purchasing voucher cards to top up credit in the router. So, if you feel giving us a hand in this, you are very welcome. I will appreciate greatly your kind support.

Mesmerizing Beauty

Today I took a minibus from Kraków's Bus Terminal and traveled 90 minutes to Jawiszowice (12 kilometers from Oświęcim / Auschwitz and 10 km from Bielsko-Biała outskirts), to St. Martin parish, where my lifelong friend, Fr. Henryk Zątek, has been a parish priest and custodian of the centuries old wooden church for the past fifteen or so years.

What he accomplished, helped by art conservation specialists from Kraków in this relatively short span of time is beyond my comprehension (please, read the history of the parish and the church here. This surely must be one of the most beautiful and most professionally restored, preserved and protected piece of sacred architecture in Poland if not in the world. To me, this is my favorite wooden church ever.

I took a few photos on my iPhone (posted below), but I would suggest that the best way to appreciate the beauty of the church and the love of Fr. Henryk to his church and his never-ending effort to preserve it as best as possible for this and future generations - is to see it with one's own eyes. If not possible, please make a virtual walk in and around the church by clicking here.

From Wild Man To Wise Man

A friend of mine living in Kraków just recently gave me as a special gift a book written by Franciscan Friar, Fr. Richard Rohr - 'From Wild Man to Wise Man'. Thank you, Christopher!

I have been reading the book a this point of time and this read led me to the Male Spirituality website and to some of the recorded talks of Fr. Richard on YouTube. 

The book has been a revelation to me. I want to go through it slowly and deeply. I would suggest to all my male readers and friends to lay hands on this little gem of spiritual literature dealing with very rarely touched topic such as male spirituality. 

The same applies to the videos. Here below I embed a series on 'Why Males Need Initiation.' Listening to these talks, folks. They are quite revealing.

Visiting Our Heavenly Mum

I am very happy and grateful to Black Madonna, Our Lady of Jasna Góra National Shrine in Częstochowa, The Main Patroness of Poland, for today's personal pilgrimage and the special grace of celebrating the Holy Mass at noon in the Sacred Image Chapel. I offered the Holy Sacrifice to Our Lady for all your and mine intentions, my dear readers. May Our Most Holy Mother intercede for us, protect us and lead us to Her Son, Our Lord Jesus Christ.

Ukraine Creativity

Say 'Ukraine!' these days and immediately you think about the recent events there. The video from YouTube I post here is from 'Ukraine Got Talent' though. I found the link to this incredible performance on Facebook (thanks to one of my friends there) and thought I would be a good idea to share with you all. Not the latest edition of the show, five years old in fact, but very relevant in my humble opinion. This is the creativity we should crave for, support and admire. Not the creativity in art of war.

BREAKING NEWS: World Youth Day In Kraków 2016

Today at noon, His Eminence Stanisław Cardinal Dziwisz, officially unveiled the logo, prayer and anthem of the upcoming World Youth Day in Kraków, Poland, in July 2016.

The logo for WYD Krakow 2016 is enclosed in the outline of Poland. In its center there is a cross which represents Jesus Christ who is the centre of the meeting. Yellow circle marks Krakow on the map of Poland and also represents the youth. The spark of the Divine Mercy flows out of the cross, its shape and color refer to the painting 'Jesus I Trust In You'. The logo is a graphic illustration of the words "Blessed are the merciful, for they will receive mercy” (Matthew 5:7) that have been chosen as the theme of the meeting. The colors used in the logo are: blue, red and yellow and they refer to the official colors of Krakow and it's crests.

Click here to read more on the topic.

The official logo of WYD Kraków 2016

The official prayer of WYD 2016:

“God, merciful Father, in your Son, Jesus Christ, you have revealed your love and poured it out upon us in the Holy Spirit, the Comforter, We entrust to you today the destiny of the world and of every man and woman.” [1]

We entrust to you in a special way young people of every language, people and nation: guide and protect them as they walk the complex paths of the world today and give them the grace to reap abundant fruits from their experience of the Krakow World Youth Day.

Heavenly Father, grant that we may bear witness to your mercy. Teach us how to convey the faith to those in doubt, hope to those who are discouraged, love to those who feel indifferent, forgiveness to those who have done wrong and joy to those who are unhappy. Allow the spark of merciful love that you have enkindled within us become a fire that can transform hearts and renew the face of the earth. 

Mary, Mother of Mercy, pray for us. Saint John Paul II, pray for us.

---

[1] John Paul II, Homily for the Dedication of the Shrine of Divine Mercy, Krakow, 17 August 2002.

Into The Sacred Reality

Tomorrow is the day I will go on my personal pilgrimage to St. Wojciech (Adalbert) parish in Mucharz (my Patron Saint). This is the centuries old parish, one of the first in this area, with amazing history. Here it is believed my Patron Saint stayed and preached Good News on two separate occasions in tenth century. It would not be possible to omit this sacred place in my road map of shrines and holy places important to my faith and spirituality which I need to visit and pray there in my time of holidays in Europe this year.

From this parish Wadowice parish was born (the home parish of Saint John Paul II). Mucharz was the very first parish visited pastorally by Karol Wojtyła right after he became the bishop of Kraków. This is the parish and the sacred place which - according to words of Saint John Paul II spoken in 1994 in Vatican during the celebrations of 16th anniversary of his pontificate - had great influence on his faith and his life. 

Time to immerse myself in the sacredness of this holy place and its venerable history full of the presence of the Holy Spirit and of my Patron Saint. The added value of this spiritual journey is the fact that the parish priest of the parish is my classmate from our ordination class, Rev. Fr. Krzysztof Strzelichowski, one of my closest friends in our class. So good to reunite with him again, to celebrate Holy Mass together and have a nice late evening chat over a piece of world renowned cottage bread, a glass of fine wine and our favorite cheese.

Memory Is Our Homeland Project - Important News

This post is a follow up on the project "Memory is our homeland" of which I wrote two years ago in this blog (click here). I am very happy that things are moving forward in the project. Below is the full letter I have received this morning from Jonathan. I will be very happy if you could spare a few minutes of your kind attention to read it carefully and act on it. Jonathan needs our support. The story he so passionately wants to narrate in his movie is very important part of our Polish history and must be preserved for next generations. I would be very grateful if we could support this project in any way we can - either by prayer and well wishes or through donations. Let us come together to help this young, caring and dedicated filmmaker to fulfill his dream and the need of his heart.

Jonathan's letter:

To the friends, family, and supporters of Memory Is Our Homeland,

I hope this email finds you all well. I figured it was a good time to send out a bit of an update on my film project. Almost four years after my first trip to Poland and Belarus in 2010, there have been many ups and downs to get here, but the project has now been picked up by a producer, here in Montreal, who is going to help me try and find the funding to complete it. There's still work to do, but I wanted to let you all know where I'm at, and thank you for helping me get this far.

If you're receiving this email, you should know that it's because I count you among those who’ve made an important contribution towards helping me work on something that feels both like a long-standing dream and a family obligation. Whether it's through a financial contribution that's helped me travel or work on the film, helping with translation, shooting, or photographing, or support in the form of a meal or an encouraging conversation, you've each had a role in helping me work on something that's bigger than me. If I'd known at the beginning how much work it would be to get to this place I would have found it daunting, but it's your support that's helped me stay with it.

People don't make documentaries to get rich quickly, they do it because they have something that needs to be said, even if it takes time. Over the last four years, I've travelled to England, France, Tanzania, Kenya, Amsterdam, Germany, and Poland in search of a story that belongs not only to me and my family, but to countless others. I've interviewed more than 20 people, been in touch with hundreds of others, and share these stories with many, many more. And after being able to travel to Belarus, and stumbling upon the village where my grandmother was born, I was even able to find people who fondly remembered my great-grandparents and their family.

Whatever reception this film may have when it’s done, it already feels like an accomplishment to have gotten this far. It feels significant to have been able to reassure my grandmother, before she passed away, that not everything had been lost when she was deported as a child: the memories had endured. I am grateful to have been able to give those who shared their stories with me a sense that they were being heard and documented. To see the trailer, that shows some of their stories and how the film is coming together, please visit this link: https://vimeo.com/99573982

As for the good news, a few weeks ago I signed a contract with a Montreal-based producer named Frederic Bohbot to find the funds to complete the film. Frederic runs Bunbury Films (http://www.bunburyfilms.com), a production company that won an Oscar a few months ago for a documentary called "The Lady In Number 6". He's the perfect producer for this project: smart, savvy, respectful of the story and my approach, and even a graduate of Eastern European and Soviet Studies. In Poland, we will also be working with producer who has worked with the Andrzej Wajda Film School and The Polish Film Institute. 

Having these people onboard with the project is a huge step, and we hope to have funding sorted out by this autumn. Frederic has applied to the Canadian Media Fund (a TV broadcaster-supported fund), and met with several Canadian and American broadcasters, and we should hear back by September. In the mean time, he is willing to put his equipment and his expertise at my disposal, towards continuing the work, until we secure financing. 

In the immediate future, my goal is to spend the next couple of months working on it, and getting to Europe this summer to work on the film, since there are important interviews to shoot in the winter. To that end, I am looking to find the means to travel to Europe, and to cover the expenses of a small shoot in Poland and Belarus. With equipment in place, and translators and a cameraman in Poland willing to work for free, I just need to find a way to make my way over there. I’m asking for help to figure out how to do that, so if you know people who can help (or have travel agents in the family, or air miles you won’t use!), please let me know. If you know of people who might be able to figure out how to get me there, please let them (or me) know. There are only two months to cover until we hear back about funding, but they are important ones. Any ideas are appreciated!

In the end though, what I am contacting you for is to say thank you again. Please take the time to check out the short trailer. It's just over 2 minutes out of 50 hours that I've shot in North America, Europe, and Africa in the last several years, but it's a good representation of what it is I've been trying to do, and of the people whose stories I've been trying to tell: https://vimeo.com/99573982 

And it's partly thanks to all of you that I've been able to do it. 

Warm wishes,

Jonathan 

The movie trailer:

Memory Is Our Homeland (Short teaser trailer) from Memory Is Our Homeland on Vimeo.