70th Anniversary of the Liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau Concentration Camp - Short Documentary

On Tuesday and Wednesday I was in Oświęcim (Auschwitz). The somber commemoration of the liberation of the concentration camp was underway. I recalled my last visit there with my friends from Ireland. Today I found this short documentary by Steven Spielberg with narrative voice of Meryl Streep. It hit me hard and made me sick again same way it was last year while visiting... Yet, there is a ray of hope in the documentary message. Maybe we are not doomed after all, maybe there is a chance for us to become humans and Children of Merciful Loving God again?

Watch.

At Last!

First day of real winter since I touched down in Poland. Beautiful!

I Believe In One Holy Catholic And Apostolic Church

This Pope Francis important gesture somehow escaped my attention back then. At the closure of the Year of Faith Holy Father displayed publicly for the first time the relics of St. Peter, the first Pope and Francis predecessor. I don't care if some scientists contest the 'originality' of the remains. It is the matter of the faith and the foundations on which the Church of Christ was founded. I love these images. They speak volumes about the Apostolic Succession and the One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church. More on relics here.

A Day In The Life Of A Seminarian - Hilarious And Informative

Fleur De Mal - I MIss Your Love While I'm Not Missing You

Is it you I keep thinking of?
Should I feel like I do?
I've come to know that I miss your love
While I'm not missing you

We run 'til it's gone
Et les fleurs du mal
Won't let you be
You hold the key to an open door
Will I ever be free?

Les fleurs du mal unfold
Comme les fleurs du mal
Dark demons of my soul
Un amour fatal

Been tryin' hard to fight
Comme les fleurs du mal
Les fleurs du mal inside
Un amour fatal

All my life I've been waiting for
In this perfume of pain
To forget when I needed more
Of love's endless refrain

We live and we pray
Pour les fleurs du mal
I've lost my way
What is done will return again
Will I ever be free?

Les fleurs du mal
Comme les fleurs du mal
Un amour fatal
Comme les fleurs du mal

Heart Rendering Solos

Finishing my quarantine period after the surgery, getting ready to go back to the hospital for the mandatory checkup and hoping I will be allowed to go back to my normal life and activities, I noticed my inclination towards a good old friend - Steve Rothery of Marillion. His solos, his interpretation of guitar and his tender relationship with the instrument, being extension of his tender soul, come very handy at the end of this solitary week in my little ghetto in the parochial house in Krakow's Grzegórzki. Thank you, Steve, for playing for me and making me dream and smile and wet my eyes at the same time...

The Last Days Of Ivory

Cathedral de Sal de Zipaquirá

Browsing through my external hard disks, sorting movies and images, browsing the internet, I have arrived to the day - August 19, 2014, when the participants of World Apostolic Congress on Mercy in Bogota Colombia held their fourth day of the congress down inside the world wonder - Salt Cathedral of Zipaquirá outside of Bogota. Here is a nice short video I found on Vimeo beautifully depicting the mystery and sacredness of this inspiring place. Check it out:

Catedral de Sal from H. Paul Moon on Vimeo.

Mwanzo Ni Mgumu (Poczatek Jest Trudny / The Beginning Is Difficult)

It's been almost twenty five years (it will be exactly in May this year) when Merciful God called me unexpectedly and suddenly to leave my known world and go to the unknown - to the missions to Tanzania. I will have a special opportunity to celebrate a Thanksgiving Mass with my Bishop of Musoma and the diocesan community of Musoma on July 26 in Kiabakari for the twenty five years of my missionary service to the People of God of Musoma Diocese and Tanzania at large. 

In my autobiography (in Polish) I wrote a few years ago entitled - "Między Taborem a Golgotą. Wspomnienia Misjonarza" I described extensively the very beginnings of my missionary adventure in Tanzania.

Here are some excerpts:

Shall I Compare Thee To A Summer's Day?

Saturday early morning hours. Waking up in need of a high quality spiritual food. Revisiting once again this little gem, this old tune of David Gilmour singing Sonnet 18 of William Shakespeare. Wondering how fantastic this would be to see David recording a full album of Shakespeare's poetry. A dream! Have a blessed weekend.

SONNET 18

Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?
Thou art more lovely and more temperate:
Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May,
And summer's lease hath all too short a date:
Sometime too hot the eye of heaven shines,
And often is his gold complexion dimm'd;
And every fair from fair sometime declines,
By chance, or nature's changing course, untrimm'd;
But thy eternal summer shall not fade
Nor lose possession of that fair thou ow'st;
Nor shall Death brag thou wander'st in his shade,
When in eternal lines to time thou grow'st;
So long as men can breathe or eyes can see,
So long lives this, and this gives life to thee.

Kiabakari Dziękuje Wam!

Thank You!

Sincere and heartfelt words of thanks to all of you, my friends, who kept me in you prayers while undergoing the surgery. I am back home, looks like the procedure went well and though weak and dizzy yet I look forward to the time of recovery that lies ahead now. Thank you and God bless you all!

Back On The Med Trail

The day after the arrival back to Kraków I am again since this morning on the medical trail of doctors and preparations for what is coming up next Monday and Tuesday when I will be admitted to the hospital for the planned surgery which supposedly will ease up my persisting breathing problems, especially when sleeping.

Frankly, I am looking forward to this new challenge and experience in my life. And I am very grateful to the leading surgeon on the surgical team for finding a spot for this procedure when I met him in early August last year at the end of my medical checkup process in May to July when the source of the problem was discovered. I feel somehow relieved that he and other specialists found out the root of the problem that bothered me for long time now and came up with the solutions and the date for the procedure under national insurance policy which will help me avoid the significant costs of this surgery. I wish to thank also my family doctor who helped me last year with all the necessary procedures and checkups and directed me for the surgery.

I am very grateful to my friend and brother-in-arms, Rev. Fr. Stanisław Puzyniak, the parish priest of my home parish in Nowa Huta - The Sacred Heart of Jesus Parish in Osiedle Teatralne, covering the area of Osiedle Górali where I was born and lived till Form IV before moving to our own apartment in December 1981 in St. Kazimierz Parish in Kraków's Grzegórzki. Himself touched by pain and suffering in his own life, he did not hesitate to cover the expenses of the airfare to get me here and return back to Tanzania after the procedure and six weeks required recovery time as told by the surgeon. Thank you very much, Stasiu!

A very special word of thanks to the CEO with the family of my friends of Foundation Kiabakari, to all my friends who are with me in this point of time of life - for their closeness, support, help, words of encouragement and prayers. Thank you so much!

Prayers very much appreciated for the successful procedure next Tuesday. Thank you and God bless us all!

Yes, We Could And We Did!

What has happened in the past four months (September-December 2014) since I came back from my extended holidays-medical checkup, borders on a genuine miracle category. Yes, putting aside apparent God's Providence and blessings, it is an outcome of joined efforts of so many friends of Kiabakari and of our development push for the betterment of the education of our little ones in Kiabakari.

Firstly - all those who presented me with various gifts during my silver jubilee of priesthood celebrations in 2013 - both in Europe and in Tanzania. These gifts helped me to buy three plots and offer compensation for three families adjacent to our primary school for the purpose of the construction of the new wing. The cost of this exercise was 6,000 Euros.

Secondly - my relatives and personal friends in Poland, Austria and Ireland, parochial communities where I was invited for mission awareness Sundays and fundraisers (Chochołów, Puławy, Krowodrza, Św. Szczepan, Św. Kazimierz, Św. Karol Boromeusz, NSPJ os. Teatralne in Nowa Huta, Siepraw, Ogrodzieniec, Św. Jan Kanty - os. Widok, Biały Prądnik), bank donations from many known and unknown to me persons, Foundation Kiabakari online fundraisers for the construction of the new wing and for the textbooks for standard five students, Makulatura na Misje team at St. Kazimierz home parish in Krakow and the last but not least corporate donor - Murapol S.A. from Bielsko-Biała, Poland, school construction fund of parents of our students in Kiabakari (they donated altogether 200$) - we were able to reach the goal for the end of 2014 - the construction of the new wing for standard 5,6,7 classrooms and computer lab, the finishing and furnishing of standard 5 and six classrooms (the standard six finishing is underway at the moment) and the textbooks for standard 5 students. The total value of the entire project so far exceeds 75,000$.

Yes, we could and we did!

I am so proud and grateful to all of you who helped us in small and big ways. Here are some images of this story:

Haba Na Haba Hujaza Kibaba / Ziarnko Do Ziarnka Zbierze Sie Miarka / Every Penny Counts

Drodzy polscy Czytelnicy / Podatnicy, proszę o wsparcie 1% statutowych działań naszej fundacji. Każdy grosz jest na wagę złota. Każdy odruch solidarnego serca jest absolutnie ważny. Dziękuję!

2015 Anthem

This is the song I play most these days. Of course, Mylene Farmer - as those of you who know me best will attest that she is number one for me in the world of music and beyond. I would dare to say that this may be 2015 anthem as well as I look forward with hope and high spirits to what lies ahead!

TIME

Time, time, time
You need time
Time, time, no no no

Suppose I tell you
Love is the cause
That our life paths
Sometimes overlap us

This is mine
I do not care
My pain
That's all
The antidote to worst
The anti "not dying"

I want to live, to go top
Able to say to me that it is beautiful
But not time, time, time
You need time
Time, time, no no no

Suppose I tell you
Sleeping inside me
A continent of life
Of your mountains and wonders

This is mine
But you
My destiny
Wraps
Around your kidneys
Love, I feel well

I want to live, to go up
Able to say to me that it is wonderful
But not time, time, time
It will take time,
Time, time, no no no

I want to live, to go high
Able to say to me that it is handsome
But not time, time, time
It will need time
Time, time, no no no