Category: Here and now (Page 2 of 2)

Today we celebrate the apostle Matthew. I must admit that this is my favourite character from The Chosen series for various reasons, but the most important thing for me is that I started to look at this apostle with much more realism. I knew very well that Matthew was a tax collector and that it meant working for the occupant and collecting high taxes from his Jewish brothers. I also knew that tax collectors often dictated much higher rates than the Romans demanded to enrich themselves at the expense of the poor. It seemed to me, however, that at the moment when Jesus said “Follow me” and he got up and followed him, the whole reality changed forever and Matthew became a friend loved by everyone … it couldn’t be so!

We often wonder if Matthew was worthy to be looked at by Jesus; we ask how it is possible for someone so rich to quickly decide to change their whole life. However, we probably rarely realise how much regret the Jews must have felt towards Matthew for the tremendous betrayal he committed while collaborating with the occupier, and how hard it was to forgive him. Certainly, the apostles reminded Matthew of his past!

Each of us has made mistakes in our lives that become a huge burden after many years. Sometimes we are directly reproached by others, and sometimes we are so unable to forgive ourselves that despite repeatedly entrusting it to God in confession, we are unable to close a chapter. I think that today, while celebrating together with Matthew, we can ask him for his intercession in this particular matter – so that our past does not obscure our present. God always sees us here and now. May we be courageous in building God’s world, remembering that our history (whatever it may be) has shaped us in such a way that we want to follow Jesus today. That’s always worth celebrating.

Recently, in Sunday’s second reading, we read the letter of St. James. This letter has many interesting threads – more and less known. While praying today with this letter, my attention was drawn to a fragment which was given the title “Unreliability of human plans” (Jas 4: 13-17):

Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we shall go into such and such a town, spend a year there doing business, and make a profit”— you have no idea what your life will be like tomorrow. You are a puff of smoke that appears briefly and then disappears. Instead you should say, “If the Lord wills it, we shall live to do this or that.” But now you are boasting in your arrogance. All such boasting is evil. So for one who knows the right thing to do and does not do it, it is a sin.

After 2020, we cannot pass by these words indifferently. In the pandemic, many of us lost loved ones, jobs, and money, but it seems to me that every single one of us has lost our plans. It turned out that in the 21st century we cannot predict everything, we cannot deal with everything. Probably for a short time, but still, we’ve learned a little bit of humility towards the unknown future.

Yesterday I found out that my uncle from my extended family died after a very short illness lasting only 3 months. In one moment, not only his plans, but also his family, friends, co-workers’ plans proved to be unreliable… Nobody is ever ready for death. It is hard not to reflect on the fragility of life at this point.

In Spanish, the phrase “hasta mañana” (until tomorrow) is often used with the addition of “si Dios quiere” (if God wills it). I like this saying very much, because it makes me realise that although I have a million plans for tomorrow, next month and in half a year, which I always don’t have enough time for, ultimately life is not in my hands and the only thing I can do is trust in the One who has it in his hands entirely. He sees the big picture, so I can focus on being here and now.

On Sunday, I was returning from my last holiday trip, remembering many amazing moments of the last two months, but also thinking with curiosity about the upcoming school year, which promises to be fascinating for many reasons. However, I did not expect that inspiring experiences would await me on the regular S8 route between Wrocław and Warsaw. The sky in front of me was covered with soft round clouds, from behind which from time to time a timid sun peeked out and nothing foreshadowed a great downpour that hit the car window in an instant. I looked in the rear view mirror and saw an image like from a dark movie – a wall of rain and darkness. I had the impression that I was on a thin line connecting two worlds.

The simultaneous sun and rain reminded me of an important moment during my retreat. When I saw the exact same view outside the chapel window while praying, I realised how joy and pain intertwine in my life very often lately. A very deep joy, a feeling of incredible happiness, the thought of being loved, chosen and gifted; at the same time, a very acute pain, penetrating the deepest layers of my soul, making me burst into tearing tears at the least expected moment. They exist together and do not interfere with each other at all.

More than two months have passed since it is officially known that I have left the Society of the Sacred Heart. The pain is still the same, but there are also moments of joy. I received an enormous amount of support, which I kind of expected, because it is a human instinct to offer a helping hand to someone whose life has collapsed. However, I did not expect the two messages I received from my former students from the time of catechises in junior high school. Maybe some of you remember that it was a difficult time for me. Apart from many great memories of extracurricular activities, my memory of the religion lessons themselves is rather traumatic and one of the biggest failures of my life. I could not cope with the unruly youth, and the feeling of helplessness accompanied me almost every day. Now, years after those experiences, the rain and sun met again in one moment, because these two surprising messages have arrived. My students thanked me for my testimony of faith; for showing them a God who loves; for not being afraid to talk to them on difficult topics … I was shocked to read what they wrote! If it weren’t for the dark clouds that hung over my life now, I probably would never know about it.

I keep learning that rainy days are needed and do not exclude the sun shining at the same time. If these two worlds did not fit together, we would never have the opportunity to see a rainbow in the sky.

Today in the church we remember Nathanael, so we read this amazing Gospel passage, in which there are so many interesting moments: “Can anything good come from Nazareth”, “Come and see”, “Here is a true Israelite. There is no deception in him.”, “You will see greater things than this”… Each of them is suitable for a separate inspiration for prayer and reflection. Today I stopped at the words: “I saw you under the fig tree”. I am not the first or the last to wonder what actually happened underneath that tree and how much it must have mattered to Nathanael as he immediately recognises that Jesus is the Son of God. I think that the version shown in “The Chosen” (S2, E2) looks quite likely, where Nathanel experiences a situation in which his life fell apart. Under the fig tree, he says goodbye to his plans, asking God why they were ruined, since he was sure about serving Him all the time. There he also opens up to God’s guidance and finally allows Jesus from a suspicious Nazareth to assure him that he will see more than he can imagine.

Each of us has moments in our lives when we cannot understand why our history unfolded this way and not another. We may feel that everything is going in the opposite direction to what we previously recognised as God’s way. Meanwhile, maybe this is the moment when Jesus tells us clearly: “You will see greater things than this!”. Maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow, but ultimately He will show us a perspective much broader and more amazing than our narrow and human imaginations.

The key to this story, however, may be “no deception”. It seems that coming to God in simplicity, telling Him what hurts us the most and at the same time opening ourselves to the unknown, will be closer to God’s way than forcing Him to implement even the most pious, but still our, plan.

Today’s Gospel about the workers of the last hour reminds me of my personal pilgrimage experience from 3 years ago. Today I wanted to share with you what I discovered then:

“The alley towards Jasna Góra in Częstochowa, 8:15 am, there is still a pleasant chill of the morning in the air. I walk proudly at the front of the pilgrimage, with a lively step, because the painkillers for my tendinitis already started working. In my heart I carry many intentions, but also the hardships of the last days of the journey. Suddenly, in the midst of the thoughts of meeting the Marry and Jesus, for whom I am going on this pilgrimage and to whom I have devoted my whole life, a completely different idea appears. I thought of all the people that have joined us during the weekend or even on the last day before entering Częstochowa and were now walking with us in the same alley. After all, they did not have to endure the terrible heat, they did not come to the medics in the evenings with symptoms of allergy to asphalt, their legs did not hurt, they did not have corns on their feet and they were not taken them from the route by an ambulance. They did not fold wet tents and they were not bitten by mosquitoes during the evenings. So how can they come to Jasna Góra Monastery with us? Will it be fair?

And then suddenly I felt terribly stupid, because as never before, I understood the parable of the workers of the last hour (Matthew 20: 1-16). I saw myself claiming my due so perfectly, even though I had an appointment with God for a denarius. And I got much more than a denarius, because it was not in Częstochowa that was the best, but during the whole journey – I met beautiful people, I experienced the real closeness of Jesus in my suffering, I had the opportunity to share my relationship with God and talk to people who were also looking for Him. I experienced a lot of joy and selfless help, I praised God with all my heart by singing and I laughed every now and then. Did I really envy those who came on the last day and entered Jasna Gora among us? Not at all!

That day I understood how perfidious Satan’s whispers can be, how he easily manages to reduce my thinking to a simple comparison. However, when I start to think about it, it turns out very quickly that whoever came on the pilgrimage at the last day, actually wanted to go from the beginning, but did not get any leave from work; the one who asks for something to eat on the street has never dreamed of being homeless; the last-minute convert is not the most lucky one, because he missed out on a lot of good, investing in everlasting parties.

There is only one question worth asking – am I living the best I can? There is a saying that goes, “If anyone judges your way, lend him your shoes” and there is a lot of truth to it. Looking with jealousy or pity at another person, I have no idea what he has gone through in life and whether the path he is going is the best one. But surely then I do not have time to love him which is the most important.”

We are celebrating the Ignatian year – a commemoration of 500 years since the conversion of St. Ignacy Loyola. It turns out, however, that in Spanish this anniversary sounds a bit different, because it’s the 500th anniversary of “the wound” of St. Ignatius. It has been 5 centuries since the founder of the Jesuits was wounded by a cannonball during the defence of Pamplona. This was, indeed, the beginning of his conversion, because reading the lives of the saints during the convalescence pushed him into giving his life completely to Jesus, but nevertheless this “wound” matters. Sometimes you has to travel 2,500 km to discover such a simple truth.

I have received a gift from God to celebrate the feast of St. Ignatius in Pamplona, ​​where it all began for him. This is also where I started my retreat, which was a time of healing wounds and regaining spiritual strength before the long journey that awaits me (if I follow Ignatius’ footsteps, it will really be a veeery long way). Jesus’ feet also accompanied me. Those that walked many miles on earth, were anointed by a friend from Bethany, carried the weight of the cross… and then were immobilised by sharp nails, but only for a short time, just to walk the earth again very soon. This time different, converted, resurrected. Still hurt though.

We all have wounds inside of us. Sometimes bigger, sometimes smaller. But never so great that God could not turn them into glorious scars. This is what Cristóbal Fones SJ sings about, in this song (my translation below):

At the end of our life we will arrive
with the wound turned into a scar

Love will take its toll.
The road will leave us a thousand footprints.
We will stumble over the same wall.
Any disappointment will make a dent in us.
But we are children of a God that is in love.
Thirsty seekers of answers.
We are pure ambition that You sowed,
so that your kingdom would flourish.

We will fight to death with the ego.
We will feel that time is pressing on us.
We will hold on to our defeats.
We will lose the music and the life.
And yet, we will continue dancing.
Because that’s how we are, humans that belong to you.
Bearers of an unquenchable fire.
Believers in a world without borders.

We are excited about our fragility,
dreamers who do not despair.
We will never give up tomorrow
although today the storm touches us.
And if the motives crack
for having chosen your flag,
we’ll keep walking cracked,
because your Gospel is now our land.

I came across the Global Catholic Climate Movement (now Laudato Si ‘Movement) a long time ago, around 2011, when my Kenyan friend Allen founded the movement operating in Africa (CYNESA). It aims to involve young Catholics in ecological activities. Since then, a lot has changed in the consciousness of the world (including the ecclesiastical one), and above all, Pope Francis wrote the encyclical Laudato Si ‘, which should lead us through the ways of properly understood ecology.

For a long time I have felt that Christianity and ecology go hand in hand (despite many opposing voices), because after all, taking care of the entire creation is part of our humanity. I tried to live this call in my private life, and in 2019 I was happy to take part in the spiritual journey related to our ecological conversion as part of the “Żyj Bardziej” project where you could buy a booklet with my short thoughts on the spiritual aspects of ecology along with other eco-surprises. At that time, in our parish in Poznań, we tried to introduce our parishioners to the issues related with Laudato Si’, as part of the eco group of the post-academic community Syjon.

Today, this time in Warsaw, I intend to continue to walk along a thin path between spirituality and ecological movements, which for many on both sides of political and social divisions seems difficult. For me, it is the most obvious place in the world and I am thinking of further spiritual projects that will allow us to better experience all the good that God has given us in other creatures. If this is also close to your heart, stay tuned, because something will be going on 😉 I also encourage you to sign the petition on biodiversity before COP15. This is an opportunity to include our Catholic voice in the discussion where the most important decisions are being made.

Two and a half years ago, during one of my formation meetings, I heard something wise that accompanies me until today. One simple rule: love and laugh. It captivated me and convinced me that when someone approaches life with deadly seriousness, something is wrong. Although many tears have been on my way lately, love and smiles still play the main role.

Recently it wrote about music, now it’s time for a movie. I am not a big cinema lover. The list of films that I should see is extremely long and I have to assume that I will never see most of them. But there is a movie, even a series, that I have been watching with excitement lately, eagerly awaiting the next episodes. I’ve heard about “The Chosen” many times in previous years, but it wasn’t until a few months ago that I decided to watch the first episode. Before, I was thinking what probably many of you have in mind: “What good can from Nazareth? Can you make a good movie about Jesus?” Well yes, you can! What Dallas Jenkins and his team have created is a fascinating journey not only through faithfully reproduced scenes from the Gospel, but also the networks of relationships that are formed around and in opposition to Jesus. Each episode was an introduction to prayer for me, during which I cried many times. However, this series is not only emotional, but also full of brilliant dialogues and great jokes, which makes it a perfect fit for the motto “love and laugh”.

I don’t think it will be a huge spoiler if I share with you a scene from season two that has inspired me spiritually. The moment of picking the heads of grain on the Sabbath is shown in such a way that Peter (actually still Simon) begins the picking, while talking vividly about something, when the apostles with Jesus pass through the fields. He does it unconsciously and probably would not have realised it at all if it were not for the fact that the other apostles look at him with surprise. After all, it is Sabbath, and harvesting is not allowed. Everyone is very hungry because they are running low on supplies and everyone wants to have a bite to eat. Jesus only says one word: “you may.” At this point, it was as if someone had restored the freedom they had been deprived of by the law. Then, of course, the outraged Pharisees show up, and Jesus explains the situation to them by quoting the Scriptures about David and the priests, but that seems less important. One can try to understand why certain things are more important than the letter of the law, but it seems crucial to me not to let the reality of sin that separates us from God and closes us to love mix together in our hearts with what is unappropriated, not seen well or could cause the anger of others. If, in our prayer, Jesus consistently says to us “you may”, and we still have doubts: “but what will others say?”, maybe it is worth accepting the freedom of God’s children with joy.

p.s. As a huge fan of “The Chosen” I watch not only the series itself, which you can find at https://watch.angelstudios.com/thechosen, but also additions on the official channel, inspiration from Pastor Brandon, and comments from Messianic Jewses 😉 If you haven’t started to watch yet, catch up quickly, because the third season in coming in autumn!

Time flies quickly on vacation, especially if you have lots of great meetings with great people planned. For the last 3 weeks, I have received, not even a sea, but a whole ocean of goodness, support and love, for which I am very grateful. Among them, I cannot fail to mention the messages from two of my former students from Gdynia, who made me very happy remembering religion lessons, which in my eyes seemed to be a complete disaster, and yet they brought someone to God. It is amazing how imperfect tools are used by the One who Himself is the Most Perfect!

Today I would like to share with you a song that has been a guide for me on new paths for the last six months. It was this song that prepared me for difficult decisions and to this day makes me face reality with great gratitude, without regret and frustration. It doesn’t say a word about Jesus, but that’s not a problem at all. The song is in Polish but you have the words below.

And it is breathtaking that there is something and not nothing.
When you wake up, it is still you
And it’s breathtaking that there’s someone next to you
And that there could be nothing … And there is everything …

I’m here all alone
Yet moments ago I was surrounded by a crowd
Lying down, surrounded by four walls
Feeling as if I’m drowning on the inside
The grey ceiling just won’t collapse
My body will not pick me up
But you’re just like me
In that you only want more and more…
Want more and more…

(Chorus)
And it takes your breath away, that there’s anything at all
When you wake up, that you’re still yourself
And it takes your breath away,
that there’s somebody next to you
And that there could’ve been nothing…
Yet there’s everything…

Yet there’s everything… There’s everything…

You’re here all alone
You simply exist
No one’s waiting for your sign
No one sees you stumbling
There’s no fanfares, no golden gates
No colourful light, no warmth of the crowd
Beauty can be found
Even in quiet serenity

And since the greyness isn’t thrilling
How many colours do you need?
And although the sun has gone down yesterday
It doesn’t mean it’ll rise back up

There is something amazing about the fact, that there is nothing that will always be ours,  that we will never lose. There really could be nothing! When a person realises this, he will cross a very important line in life, which runs relentlessly between complaining about the lack of something and gratitude for the resource. It is absolutely essential.

The next step goes further and makes us not only see what we have and focus less on what is not there, but also notice that it is really all we need. God has not lost control over our reality, He cares in detail that ultimately what happens to us leads us to holiness. The thought of having everything we need just here and now is very liberating!

But there are two other wisdoms to this chorus. No matter how much the foundations of our lives shake, no matter what happened, what died, what was born, what was lost and what was found … we still are ourselves. To the depths of our being, to the centre of our spirit and soul. Nothing can change it, even if external circumstances try to prove the opposite. And with the same certainty, there is always Someone next to us – the One with a capital S; The one who calls himself “I am”. The awareness of His presence is truly breathtaking, it opens the heart and eyes, ensures safety, but also an incredibly crazy adventure. It is thanks to Him that where others see nothing, we can see EVERYTHING.

“In this new experience of the world being so small, triste post iterum certainly plays its part, the sadness after the journey that we experience when we return home after an intense long journey. (…) Then, having put our suitcases in the hall, we ask: Is that all there is? Is that what it is? So that was it? ” (Olga Tokarczuk – Nobel Prize winner, “The tender Narrator”)

And what sadness must it be when you come back from a journey that was supposed to be forever? Then unpacking your suitcases is even more difficult, because you are not sure if you came home or if there is no home anymore? Or maybe, if home is where the heart is, then it is still where it was – in the very core of the Heart of God?

How do I get back from a trip that lasted 9 years? How do I not lose what is valuable and at the same time not get stuck in dwelling on the past? It surely takes time for God to heal a broken heart and shattered dreams. I know He’ll build something wonderful out of these pieces, but it’s not that easy to believe when I see them lying strewn into tiny pieces. What is left is Hope that never dies, an unbreakable Faith in the Promise and the certainty that it is ultimately all about Love, so nothing else really matters…

Travelling not only educates but also changes lives. There are several trips from which I have not returned the same. Surely this, quarter-of-my-life long one,  is one of them. In my consecrated life I am suspended somewhere between “I am no longer” and “I am not yet” and I do not know where this will lead me, but I know that I am walking with Jesus, and since He is the Way, I cannot get lost.

See you on the trail! 🙂

p.s. This might seem like the first entry on this blog, but don’t be fooled by appearances. A blog with a long history, dating back not only to the beginnings of my religious life, but also to a year’s stay in Kenya, can be found at https://siostraewa.blog.deon.pl/. Unfortunately, something went wrong there with the language option, so there is no translation 🙁