27th Anniversary Of My Ordination To Priesthood

On the day like today, 27 years ago, His Eminence Franciszek Cardinal Macharski, ordained sixty six new priests for the Archdiocese of Kraków, Poland. One of them was me. Please, join me in a celebration of this special anniversary to our ordination class of 1988. The recollection day, the Holy Mass, silent adoration of the Eucharist. A day of gratitude and penitence. A day of joy and meditation. A day of opening up anew to the Holy Spirit and inviting Him anew in my life. A day of reflecting upon the motto of my ordination card (souvenir) -

"The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me; because the LORD hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; he hath sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound; to proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all that mourn." (Is 61:1-2)

Please, visit the the following links to read more about that day, to see the pictures and sing with us the song we sung in the ordination Mass on May 22, 1988 in Wawel cathedral, Kraków, Poland.

http://kiabakarisnippets.blogspot.com/2010/05/catch-22.html
http://kiabakarisnippets.blogspot.com/2010/05/what-wonderful-day-today.html

Please, pray for us to the Holy Spirit!

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.

Six Years Ago

It was six years ago when on the day like today, October 25, we celebrated Golden Jubilee of my parents wedding. We had a family small celebration at home with the Holy Mass which I presided and the little function afterwards. It was the last celebration while my parents were alive. Soon after 2008 Jubilee, my Mum passed on to better life in Heaven, on January 3, 2009. Then later my Dad, on May 29, 2012.

Today they would have celebrated with us their 56th anniversary of the wedding. As they continue celebrating in Heaven with the choirs of Angels as I believe strongly, we continue to celebrate here on Earth through prayer and Holy Mass for their intention. In fact, I have just finished celebration of the special Holy Mass for their intention. May Good Lord grant them eternal peace and fullness of happiness in His House.

I ask you kindly to say Rosary or any other prayer you deem suitable for my Parents intention. Thank you in advance!

My Parents - Maria Halina and Wiesław Ferdynand
on the day of their wedding

Twenty Years Of Butiama Parish

Yesterday, our neighbors in Butiama, celebrated their twentieth anniversary of the birth of their parish. Fr. Maciej Braun, CR - the parish priest of Butiama - asked me to take a few pictures of the event. You can see them here.

Deja Vu

Deja Vu again. Well, almost. Sixteen years ago Kiabakari was flooded with hundreds of people who came for the official dedication of the Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassati and Saint Gemma Galgani parochial church in Kiabakari (which has become since then the Diocesan Shrine of Divine Mercy), official inauguration of Kiabakari parish and the appointment of the first parish priest. I still remember that day as all that happened just yesterday. Great day paid with huge stress and exhaustion.

As I write these words today, on the same date, there are no guests in Kiabakari at this particular point of time. In two weeks time, though, the history is going to repeat itself, in the same manner but for the different reason. This time hundreds of people will flood Kiabakari coming for the ordination to priesthood of our parishioner, deacon Augustino Mapambano. The stress, struggle and challenge is the same if not bigger as I am no longer the vibrant and full of youthful power priest. Time has taken its toll and I can't work 24/7 in full steam anymore. That is why we started preparation well ahead of time. Still, the last two weeks are the most hectic ones and most stressful. I know it very well from my own experience. Gone through that period so many times in my life. I pen these words sitting at the food outlet in Musoma, picking up things for the construction of development projects, buying various items needed for the ordination and thanksgiving Mass, making numerous phone calls here and there. Just to make sure we are ready.

Please, pray for us! And I will pray for you and for all your intentions today, in the afternoon solemn Mass on the day of obligation for the faithful of Kiabakari who will come to thank God that He wanted to be God-with-us and built a house for himself in our midst, which was handed to Him exactly sixteen years ago.

Us And Them

Everybody seems to be celebrating these days forty years anniversary of Pink Floyd masterpiece album - The Dark Side of the Moon. One of my favorite songs in the album is - Us and Them. I found an appropriate illustration to this song. No pun intended :)

One Year

I wish to congratulate my classmate, His Excellency Bishop Grzegorz Ryś, auxiliary bishop of Archdiocese of Kraków, and his fellow auxiliary bishop Damian Muskus, for the first anniversary of their episcopal consecration which we celebrate today. I regret I was unable to participate in the consecration Mass as on that day a year ago I was in the air returning to Tanzania from Poland, and it was impossible to postpone the flight as I was rushing back to be present at the Centenary celebrations of Christianity in our Diocese of Musoma.

I celebrated Holy Mass today for both Bishops, thanking God for the gift of their apostolate and praying for them that Divine Mercy may shine through the service to the Church and the world. Auguri! Please, pray for them!

Bishop Grzegorz Ryś

Bishop Damian Muskus

Weekend? You bet!

Whenever I come across people excited by TGIF (Thanks God It's Friday) frenzy, I question myself if I am abnormal. To me, Friday is the beginning of the busiest time of the week. This 'weekend' is no exception to this rule...

She Was Luckier Than Him

On September 17, 1939, Soviet Union invaded Poland, dividing my country among two powers - Hitler's Germany and Stalin's Soviet Union. Seventy three years passed and it seems as if it is a dream, a story, a fairytale or rather - a nightmare - that never occurred. Yet it was real, and the outcome of that invasion we inherit till now, when Europe was divided, our country carved and new post-war communist Poland was born. My mother side of family land in Eastern Poland has been lost, now in Ukraine. So many relatives perished under Soviet oppression. My grandfather lieutenant Adam Jakubiec was executed in Katyn forest in April 1940. Here is a remarkable story of a girl luckier than him who survived and now tells her story. Read it here.

31st Anniversary

Today also, apart from the 95th Anniversary of Fatima Apparitions, we remember another anniversary, the 31st anniversary of the assassination attempt on Blessed John Paul II on May 13th, 1981.

Till today, the full truth behind this horrific event is yet to be revealed...

Fatima

Ninety five years ago, on this very calendar day, May 13th, 1917, three little children had their very first encounter with the Lady from Heaven. Our Lady of Fatima, the Queen of Peace, the Queen of the Holy Rosary, continued to meet with the children every month on the same day, the thirteenth of each month, except August when children were in jail (read the history of apparitions here). The Fatima Message and the personal devotion to Our Lady of Fatima is one of two major pillars of my personal spirituality. The other is the Divine Mercy message. I wish I was there in Cova da Iria valley today. I will have to wait one more year though, as I plan to go on my third personal pilgrimage to Fatima (the first two in 1997 and 2001) next year when I will be celebrating the Silver Jubilee of my ordination to priesthood. This pilgrimage will have enormous importance to me in the whole scheme of the jubilee year. Today I am traveling in spirit to that sacred place joining pilgrims present there at the feet of the statue of Our Lady in the Apparition Chapel...

Week Long Snippets

It was a pretty busy week. I am glad I end it on a positive and high spirits note. Returning on Monday from Janów Lubelski, driving my Dad's old car in rain was not a good experience. It left me stressed as the traffic was heavy and many people drive their cars as if in Playstation game. Rested a bit in the afternoon, talked briefly with my Foundation's members. On Tuesday I traveled by train to Warsaw. It was meant to be three days trip, but luckily, I was able to finish the whole to-do list in 24 hours, so I was able to travel back to Kraków on Wednesday afternoon. The train was late one hours, and I felt down a bit, as the exhaustion and weariness kicked in. Nevertheless, next day, on Thursday I felt recharged and able to continue with the agenda. Yesterday was a preparation day for today's trip to Mucharz parish, where this evening I will start my mission awareness weekend in the parish, where my classmate is a parish priest. He invited me for the Patron Saint parochial feast - St. Wojciech, bishop, missionary and martyr. It is my Patron Saint as well, and I feel honored to be invited as the main celebrant and preacher for the occasion. It coincides also with my birthday tomorrow, April 22. It is the last birthday in the range of 40+ as tomorrow I will turn 49 and will start my fiftieth year of my life and the 25th year of my priesthood. I am genuinely surprised that years passed by so quickly! When I was a teenager and a seminarian, looking at guys in their fifties I was thinking - gosh, they are soooooo old! And, tara! I am right here. The only difference is that I feel great, consider my forties the best period of my life and look ahead for so more years to come in my active service of God, the Church and the society. Still, I ask humbly for your kind prayers for me and for all those I serve and for my parents, relatives, formators, teachers and all people God placed on my path who made an impact on my life and the way I am now. I am  deeply grateful to all of them and while celebrating in prayerful and reflective mode my birthday and Patron Saint feast day, I immerse all of them in the Ocean of Divine Mercy. Thank you!

Full Circle

Today is the seventh anniversary of the death of my classmate, Father Piotr Wrona. I will have honor to visit his parents in Krowodrza district of Kraków and present to them a special photo album of the pictures taken during the very first Mass celebrated in St. Gemma Galgani convent in Kiabakari on April 11 last year, the day after the official blessing of the convent, in which we used for the first time the chalice and patena which once belonged to Father Piotr and were offered to me by his parents. I wrote extensively on this topic in my previous posts (see here, here and here), so I won't repeat myself. It will certainly be an emotional moment later today and I am looking forward to it. The whole story will make the full circle, since the day I was presented the chalice, then the Holy Mass and now reconnecting with his parents to present this special album. I think Father Piotr in heaven and his parents in Krowodrza will be happy to see the way we honored him and commemorated that very special day. May his soul rest in peace!

Two Years

Two years have passed since the Smolensk tragedy, yet the questions unanswered are still there. Here is the list of those who perished on that fatal day (click here). May they rest in peace! I would like to refer you to my older post on this theme (click here). Please, pray for the victims, their families and our Nation.

That Day

Exactly, on this day, twenty one years ago, I set my foot for the first time on African soil, in Dar es Salaam, upon my arrival to Tanzania, to begin my life and service as a Fidei Donum missionary from Archdiocese of Kraków - for the Diocese of Musoma. I reminisced that day in my autobiography - Między Taborem a Golgotą (Between Tabor and Golgotha), and for those of my readers who don't have this book, I would like to quote the passage from it, describing how it was on January 8, 1991. For those of my readers who do not speak Polish, please use Google Translator (provided in the right column of this blog)...

In The Reflective Mood

Since yesterday, when we went to celebrate fiftieth birthday anniversary of one of our Fidei Donum Polish missionaries in diocese of Musoma, I've been into a reflective mood. Looking at that guy, who just turned fifty, I recalled vividly times we spent together in the major seminary, as he was my classmate (till when we were ordained as deacons) and my roommate (at one time). Time flies so fast. It will take me two more years and I will turn fifty myself. When did all these years come and pass? Life is truly a short project and as we are on the downhill part of it at this point of our life journey, I guess this makes for a reflective mood and a serious examination of conscience... Well, fifty behind him (already) and me (almost). How many more ahead? Only God knows. I don't care but I hope we learned something by now and the remaining years of our lives will be pleasing to God and lived wisely, piously and fruitfully, working tirelessly in the vineyard of the Lord, till He comes and calls us off duty.

17 Hours

At exactly the same moment I started to write this post, the alarm siren sounded in Poland marking the 67th anniversary of Warsaw Uprising, its beginning at 5pm on that August 1st afternoon in occupied Warsaw. I have written on this topic last year on the same date (read it here), so no need to repeat what I have written already...

Auguri!

Our Hoy Father Benedict XVI celebrates today (and all of us with him) his 60th anniversary of his priestly ordination. Our thoughts and prayers go out to him, immersing him and his Petrine service to the Universal Church and the world in the Divine Mercy Ocean... Tanti auguri, Santo Padre!

In The Lord I'll Be Ever Thankful...

The Fifth Sunday of Easter. For me and for sixty five of my classmates from major seminary in Kraków - also  a 23rd anniversary of priestly ordination in Kraków's cathedral. Please, join us in thanksgiving today as we sing - the same way we sung on that day after ordination in the cathedral on Wawel Hill - 'In the Lord I'll be ever thankful'...

Signature

Job well done. What is left is to put signatures on payment vouchers for all involved in the renovation and refurbishment of St. Martha and St. Robert Bellarmin Houses i.e. the guest/volunteers house and the rectory. I'm positively happy and satisfied with the outcome of the works. Truly, my task force stood up to my expectations and standards set for this job...