Four Rights

The last day of the Nativity Season - the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord - helps us to focus on our own Baptism and its value, meaning and the newness of life it brings.

In particular I think about the four basic rights flowing out of the Holy Baptism. These rights we tend to neglect or forget. And that is why we live sometimes like we live - in contradiction to our dignity we received in the Baptism.

First right - the right to call God - Father. The sanctifying grace we receive in the Baptism fills us with Divine Life and make us one with God and the family of His children. We no longer pray to the Creator, to God Almighty, to 'Rex Tremendae Maiestatis". Since the moment of our Baptism we pray with confidence and inner joy and pride to our Father, who loves us and His mercy is infinite.

Second right - the right to approach the altar and receive the Most Holy Eucharist. The Life of the Father in us in sanctifying grace is strengthened and elevated even higher - when we unite ourselves with Living Jesus in Eucharist. And Jesus in Eucharist is the Guarantor that f we stay in unity with Him, our earthly journey will reach eventually the House of the Father in Heaven.

Third right - the right to be part of the living community of the faithful and to be taken care of by the community. We, the baptized, have our obligation to the community of the Church as its living members. But at the same time we have the right  to be looked after the community - in good and bad times. No one in any stage of one's life must ever feel lonely, sidelined, excluded in the community of the baptized. Even when the one's house falls down because of the flood or heavy rains as we see sometimes in our communities here in Africa - everybody should come to help as much as they can to make the affected feel loved and taken care of.

Fourth right - the inheritance right. The right to Heaven. The right to the housing prepared for each and every one of us by Jesus in Father's House in Heaven. This is not a place that we will be rented or made to pay for it. This will be our place forever. Wonderful place. The moment of death for the baptized is no longer a reality which scares us. It is only a passage to eternal life in happiness where everyone is assured of one's own dwelling for eternity.

The problem is - when I commit a grave sin, I lose all these rights. In the Year of Mercy we should reflect upon the majesty of our dignity as Children of God, baptized in the name of the Triune God. We should return to the total faithfulness to our Baptismal Vows through genuine penance and reconciliation.

May God our Father help us to rediscover the value of our Baptism today and to help us to defend the dignity of being a child of God who enjoys the fullness of these four rights.

Through Mary To Jesus

"Through Mary to Jesus". This is a motto of the Sisters of the Congregation of Little Servants of Mary Immaculate (In Polish - Służebniczki Starowiejskie) which I am so familiar since the beginning of my priestly formation in Major Seminary in Kraków. The vicinity of our family apartment to the provincial house of the Sisters in Kraków-Grzegórzki made me a frequent visitor in their chapel.

Today, on the Solemnity of Holy Mary, Mother of God, I felt it was crucial to make my personal pilgrimage together with my Little Servants from Kiabakari to Cloistered Carmelite Sisters Monastery in Bunda to say Mass in honor of Our Lady at the beginning of the New Year in the initial stages of the Jubilee Year of Mercy and to commit myself to her maternal guidance and intercession in the School of Love of Jesus where She is a Head Teacher. May She lead us, may She lead me to Jesus, the King of Mercy and teach me how to listen to Him, how to follow Him, how to love Him, how to become a vessel and a tool of His Mercy.

I felt I need to empty myself completely on the Holy Mountain of Carmel in the presence of God to be filled anew with only this what is needed to become a true Missionary of Mercy in this Jubilee Year and beyond.

I came back home with my Sisters and finalize the pilgrimage passing through the Door of Mercy in Kiabakari Shrine.

"Through Mary to Jesus". This is the only proper and shortest way to learn and love Jesus and to acquire a comprehensive grasp of what really matters in our lives.

Full of Divine Mercy New Year, all my friends!

The Master Of Working Out Perfect Relationships

St. Joseph the Worker feast day today. St. Joseph, a shining example for all workers worldwide. This is what we hear and are told and taught in numerous homilies, articles, posts, books. We tend to focus on him as a carpenter and try to imagine how good he was in his profession. And rightly so.

Yet, today my focus shifts towards his amazing ability to work out his relationship with others on so many levels. Just a few thoughts on this:

1. St. Joseph’s relationship with God who chose him to be a spouse and husband of Our Lady and the foster father and a protector of Jesus. It amazes me how Joseph was able to work out this peculiar relationship with demanding God who spoke to him in dreams, urging to underatake an immediate action in absolute obedience, like firefighters or special forces commandos who do not ask questions but go and do the mission. Joseph was totally silent and obedient servant of God and because of this attitude he was able to excel in his role and position as the protector of the Holy Family making sure God’s Will is done to the fullest. 

2. St. Joseph’s relationship with his wife, Our Lady. I try to figure out how he felt when he learned she was pregnant with the child who was not of his own blood. How he worked out this relationship from falling in love with Mary through the rejection of her because of the pregnancy to full acceptance of the situation and embracing it in an active role - is truly a masterpiece of perfection of human relationships of spousal love and total dedication and inclusiveness. How gentle and loving he was not to make a public scene with this scandal of Mary’s pregnancy. And how he excelled in his role as Mary's loving husband, protector and provider.

3. St. Joseph’s relationship with Jesus. We know too well how difficult to many men is accept and love a child who is not their own blood. To bring up a blood which is not yours with love and utmost care is a genuine heroism and perfection of the guardian-son relationship to the level of genuine father-son relationship. Joseph did just that. And he was able to put aside his need to have his own child and continue his bloodline - for the sake of Jesus and total committment to His case. 

4. St. Joseph’s relationship with his own family, clan, folk, neighbors. He managed to keep these relationships at bay, not giving in to obvious natural demands of family life at the expense of Jesus and His Mother. Even when he ordered to leave immediately at night to save the family, without even saying goodbye to relatives, he did so without hesitation. 

5. St. Joseph’s relationship with other nations - when Jesus, Mary and himself were in Egypt, apparently he was able to settle well among neighbors and citizens of that country and work out relationships with them. It seems these relationships were normal as we don’t have any accounts of that period in Egypt, And perhaps the Holy Family felt comfortable enough there, without any hints of rush to go back, maybe because of fear of Herod, maybe because they have blended somehow in that society, without losing their faith and customs of course, yet still God had to come back to Joseph to tell him to go back home.

May St. Joseph help us to work out our own relationships with God, spouses, relatives, coworkers, neighbors, friends, strangers and enemies. St. Joseph, pray for us!

Falling Plates

Teaspoons Not Allowed!

Ninth Sunday of the Ordinary Time is the opportune time for our parochial community at St. Kazimierz in Kraków's Grzegórzki to give thanks to the Lord for the wonderful spiritual journey of our parochial week-long retreat which ended last evening. In front of us three special days of preparations for the visitation of the Sacred Image of Divine Mercy accompanied by the holy relics of the greatest Apostles of Divine Mercy - Saint Sister Faustina and Blessed John Paul II. I spoke about the importance of these three days in my today's homily, asking people to open up completely in trust to Divine Mercy. Divine Mercy is not a syrup which we drink in teaspoons. Nope. If you want to please the Lord, come to Him with trust the size of largest bucket you can afford to carry. The text of the homily in Polish below. Use Google translator on top of the right sidebar to read in your language, please. Have a blessed Sunday!

Two Small Coins

“Jesus sat down opposite the treasury and observed how the crowd put money into the treasury. Many rich people put in large sums. A poor widow also came and put in two small coins worth a few cents. Calling his disciples to himself, he said to them, "Amen, I say to you, this poor widow put in more than all the other contributors to the treasury. For they have all contributed from their surplus wealth, but she, from her poverty, has contributed all she had, her whole livelihood."” (Mk 12:41-44)

A couple of weeks ago a letter came for the youth of Musoma Cathedral who asked me for a retreat here in Kiabakari, in the diocesan shrine of Divine Mercy. Some of those youth I worked with back in 2002-2006 when I was a pastor there. The letter brought back memories of that period and one particular moment of it, when the youth group of Musoma Cathedral asked me for a retreat day for them. I complied and we had a recollection day in the cathedral...

The Road Map

Last evening we had a very constructive and fruitful meeting of the Parochial Executive Council. Planning the Year of the Faith and highlights of this time of grace. For us, in Kiabakari, this special period of the history of mankind means a lot as it coincides with a few events of heavy caliber which need careful and thorough planning and execution...

Such Faith

The Gospel of Saint Luke, chapter 7, verses 1 to 10, is read today. It is all about a simple yet powerful faith in Jesus and His tender merciful Heart, which is touched by the people's misery. It is all about Jesus' praise of such faith and His rebuke that He did not find such faith in the Children of the Chosen Nation:

False Prophet

While I was reading today's Gospel I felt uneasy. And I noticed that those present in the morning Mass were still and quiet and their face expression changed...

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.

Choose Wisely

This morning I read one my favorite passages from the Sacred Scripture in today's Gospel:

While the crowd was pressing in on Jesus and listening to the word of God,
he was standing by the Lake of Gennesaret.
He saw two boats there alongside the lake;
the fishermen had disembarked and were washing their nets.
Getting into one of the boats, the one belonging to Simon,
he asked him to put out a short distance from the shore.

Hate For Life

St. Lawrence feast today. Astonishing words of Jesus in the feast's Gospel: "Whoever hates his life in this world will preserve it for eternal life." (Jn 12). Hating owns life and at the same time preserving it for later, for eternal life. Quite a difficult idea to grasp and comprehend. What does it mean actually to hate one's life in this world? The Hindu saying comes to mind - 'Only fool builds a house on a bridge'...

The Dark Lining

"As they were coming down from the mountain, he charged them not to relate what they had seen to anyone, except when the Son of Man had risen from the dead. So they kept the matter to themselves, questioning what rising from the dead meant."

So Sad

Read carefully the Gospel of tomorrow's Eighteenth Sunday of the Year B. The follow up of last Sunday's Gospel. But this time we do not ask ourselves if we follow real Jesus or prefer to create a fake Jesus according to our expectations or convenience. This time we ask - what are we looking for in our life of faith? Do we look for Jesus and the truth He revealed to us? Or we follow Him because He gives us something - food, money, things we desire... "Amen, amen, I say to you, you are looking for me not because you saw signs but because you ate the loaves and were filled."

Real Or Fake?

The question I raised in today’s homily was - whom actually am I following as a Christian? Do I follow Jesus of Nazareth, a real one from the Gospel, Son of God; true Jesus as He presents himself to us? Or do I follow Jesus created by my expectations, shaped by the father of the lie, nature of this world and people’s criteria which tell me what kind of leader, messiah, savior our acceptable Jesus should be? Let me explain...

 

The One Who Knows

Saint James Apostle, the first among Apostles to shed his blood for his Master, whose liturgical feast we celebrate today, is one of the three true 'Illuminati', the chosen ones among the Apostles, who were allowed by the Master himself to know Him best and participate in the full account of His life, teachings, mysteries and actions...

It All Comes To This

Yet another sentence from today's Gospel of St Mark, chapter 6, caught my attention and came to me with unique force as I continue to struggle with this flu and was forced to stay home and celebrate the Holy Mass in private in the house chapel this morning: 'The apostles gathered together with Jesus and reported all they had done and taught'...

Rest A While

Tomorrow's Gospel, taken from Mark 6:30-34:


"The apostles gathered together with Jesusand reported all they had done and taught.
He said to them,
"Come away by yourselves to a deserted place and rest a while."
People were coming and going in great numbers,
and they had no opportunity even to eat.
So they went off in the boat by themselves to a deserted place.
People saw them leaving and many came to know about it.
They hastened there on foot from all the towns
and arrived at the place before them.

When he disembarked and saw the vast crowd,
his heart was moved with pity for them,
for they were like sheep without a shepherd;
and he began to teach them many things."

Rest a while...

What Exactly Is That?

On the last day of Christmas liturgical period, as we celebrate the Feast of the Baptism of Our Lord, I've been questioning myself, after meditating on the mystery of Christ Incarnation, His earthly life, Passion Mystery and what followed further on...

The Most Precious Blood of Jesus

 Today is the last day of the month of July, which - following the old tradition of the Catholic Church - is dedicated to the devotion of the Most Precious Blood of Jesus, yet so few of us remember this or are aware of this fact. The Precious Blood which we worship is the Blood which the Savior shed for us on Calvary and reassumed at His glorious Resurrection; it is the Blood which courses through the veins of His risen, glorified, living body at the right hand of God the Father in heaven; it is the Blood made present on our altars by the words of Consecration; it is the Blood which merited sanctifying grace for us and through it washes and beautifies our soul and inaugurates the beginning of eternal life in it.