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:

Cardinal Martini - Humble and Honest

I am sure most of you have already become familiar with the short interview the late Cardinal Carlo Maria Martini gave to his Jesuit confrere Fr. Georg Sporschill shortly before his death (August 31, 2012). If you Google for the text of the interview, you will find hundreds if not thousands of links to it (for your convenience I post two links - in English and in Polish). Sadly, almost all of these numerous links share the common sensational tone, focusing on a challenging statement of the Cardinal that the Catholic Church is outdated 200 years, missing completely or most of other valid points the Cardinal stresses in his humble and honest conversation.

Courage

The Liturgy of the Word of today's Fourth Sunday of Ordinary Time speaks to me about the courage. Though there is not a single word about the courage itself. But what is genuine humility spoken about in the Holy Scripture, the humility understood and defined by God Himself, if not our courage to trust God and go beyond our fear and need to stay in the comfort of the known world to us?

Hands

In a few hours time, I will shake hands with my hosts here in Chicago, Sisters of the Resurrection. This gesture, will speak volumes, though in silence. Will speak of friendship, love and sorrow of departure...

Useless Gift

I've just come back from Zanaki Parish, our mother parish, from which Kiabakari, Butiama and Nyamuswa parishes were born (the old Mama - Zanaki Parish giving birth to three new parishes in the spread of a few years in the nineties). The parish priest is on vacation, so I give a helping hand once a month there, and there is another priest from Musoma helping also once a month. The remaining two Sundays each month are covered by a resident catechist. It is so tough to get substitution in our diocese in times of long holidays. We do try our best to secure services for every Sunday while away, but it is not always possible. There are still very few priests in this diocese and things if improving, they improve in a snail's pace... New priests are being ordained every year, but others are dying or getting sick or simply finishing their service and going back home...