My yesterday is today

April 20, 2012 9:49 am

You can see in Warsaw (and maybe elsewhere in Poland, too) an advert of something (no idea what exactly) which is summarized provocatively: “Tomorrow is today, only tomorrow”. The phrase was coined by a famous Polish playwright, Sławomir Mrożek.

How about going backwards?

My yesterday is today, only yesterday? The past is gone, you have to live here and now. Why do I want to go back to my yesterday?

Because I’ve been spending the whole week with the doctors and instructors of Creighton Model and NaProTechnology, who – after the day packed full with lectures and study sessions in small groups – in the evening meet their Supervisors, to give attention to the problems of each person they are assisting in their work.

Those meetings for people working on the Creighton Model are difficult, because they show all the mistakes they’d made. And it is always tough to face your failures (we’ve been trying to do our best, but…). There’s no point explaining, oh, I didn’t know, or: it’s not about me, as the precision of the record included in The Creighton Model is simply amazing.

But – even if it is so difficult to meet someone who would point out all your mistakes – the verification of “yesterday” can make you a better person today. Historia docet. History teaches. Also the history of my failures, slip-ups, and words – spoken or unspoken. On condition that we meet our “Super-viewer” who cares so much for our better tomorrow.

Fr. Jay

Latin of today

April 19, 2012 9:36 am

What an amazing time! People from several dozen states and a dozen or so countries. They came here for a week to learn the language of the body, of fertility. /to learn how to assist married couples in the process of becoming parents. To help them understand the beautiful and difficult gift of fertility, which in their own marriage may take different shapes (from: “it’s enough that he hugs me and I’m pregnant again” to: “Why has God punished us so mercilessly – we’ve been trying to have a child for so many years and all that to no avail”).

The lectures are given by the people who have been assisting the others their whole lives. They’ve been there for the ones deceived by in vitro, or by the comfort of contraception – the ones waiting for years for the miracle of birth.

The only problem is that the whole training is in American English.

When I pass by the course participants, I meet people from Polynesia, France, Germany, Poland, Ukraine, Ecuador, Mexico, Canada… not to mention the guy from Bronx of the southern, Mexican part of Arizona

We’re talking to one another at the lunch table, not worrying too much about the pronunciation, accent or vocabulary. We’re talking to one another because we’ve got something to talk about. Those people in here are not incidental. They might have not known one another before, but they speak the same language, they live by the same values.

Is English “the Latin of today” –  lingua franca – or is it love and caring, respect for the other person’s dignity?

“If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels…”

But things are tough when you don’t speak English…

Maybe today you could speak to your wife in English – and put all your heart and love love and caring you have for her in it? And if you’re reading this blog in English, because you know neither Polish, nor German, then… maybe try to show it to her. I know you can do it.

Fr. Jay

 

Colour my world…

April 18, 2012 10:48 am

A couple of years ago in the US I  came across a social campaign whose goal was to protect teenagers from unwanted pregnancies. The idea was to equip a teenage girl with an “8-month pregnancy” – to make her conscious how hard it is to carry a pregnancy to term. With the emphasis on “hard”. It’s not a fruit of love, no new member of our family whom we would expect with longing and care. Only the burden to carry around. Heavy. Something you would like to shake off.

The proposed remedy was contraception. You swallow, wash down, and you become amazingly light.

So there are less and less children. And the sight of a woman carrying a baby under her heart – more and more seldom.

So if I’m the lucky one, I have to show it. So then came the fashion of showing your “bellyful” of a child. There are the photo sessions of the belly growing with each phase of pregnancy (it’s 2/3 of the whole business now, the rest remains still reserved for weddings) and belly castings. You can exhibit the cast then at home (it’s about USD 900 to have it painted and varnished to a shine) or take part in an artistic session of decorating it with patterns to hang it then in your baby’s bedroom.

Is it just a fashion or is it a cry for respect for motherhood, respect for life? Do the women, reduced by men to the role of gratifiers of their needs, wish to enjoy to the full the natural destiny of their bodies? Or is the baby still just the means to “get something” just for myself? For me, regardless of the answer, it’s a bit shocking. How do you think?

Fr. Jay

The Omaha ZOO

April 17, 2012 9:56 am

At last I was able to find a while – despite the tight schedule – to visit for a few hours the famous Omaha ZOO. As many things in the USA, the ZOO, too, has to be large (at least) or the largest in the world (that sounds much better). And that’s why the Omaha ZOO: “features the largest cat complex in North America; ‘Kingdoms of the Night’ is the world’s largest nocturnal exhibit and indoor swamp; the ‘Lied Jungle’ is one of the world’s largest indoor rainforest, and the ‘Desert Dome’ is the world’s largest indoor desert, as well as the largest glazed geodesic dome in the world.

All that makes a huuuge impression. Especially the nocturnal exhibit – I’ve seen and sensed it for the first time in my life (because everything mimicked the “natural” – the surroundings, the smell and the temperature).

But I liked best the orangutangs’ place. I felt completely at home there. The “father” was sitting aside, lost in his thoughts, the “mother” collected the scraps of materials scattered along the whole enclosure, empty bowls, tubs and other bits and pieces, every now and then brought it to a small pond and “washed” all that stuff. The “children” were hiding under a piece of material the size of a tablecloth, and then rolling on the floor, losing the material on their way. Just the sight of a normal family. To tell the truth, the “normality” maybe lacked the remote control in one of the “father’s” hands, and the tin with some good beverage in the other, but I had no doubt who was wearing the trousers in that family.

Although it was not that “normal” as it seemed. She wasn’t screaming at him that he was sitting around and doing nothing, and above all, not helping her in anything, and the kids didn’t get an earful for playing with the tablecloth. And the “husband”, not asked to do so, slid down on the ropes to be closer to “his wife” laundering and was watching her from the branch right above her.

Maybe it would be good to go to the ZOO? And reset your settings…

Fr. Jay

Fr. Jay in Nebraska

April 16, 2012 1:50 pm

Fr. Jay chose the airway to get to the USA, but let’s not worry, the Atlantic Ocean is not a problem these days, when you can communicate with the rest of the world using “the air” too. That’s why we’re pleased to announce the beginning of a new cycle – “Fr. Jay in Nebraska” – his notes from his stay in the US.

One might feel tempted to suspect Fr. Jay went there to find a safe haven, where he wouldn’t be chased by married couples in crisis or families in trouble. Right now he is in the heart of NaProTechnology – wxactly where this science was originated by Prof. Hilgers – at the Pope Paul VI Institute in Omaha, Nebraska. His mission is that of spiritual assistance for the participants of Educational Program for Medical Consultants, who came there from all around the world.

Actually, it seems that pastoral family counselling has left its mark on our Foundation Leader to the extent that it could no longer be called just “professional bias”. Even in the ZOO, instead of enjoying the company of the anthropoid animals which don’t need communication workshops, he is making thorough observations. Which will be presented here soon.

Divine Mercy Sunday

April 15, 2012 6:00 am

“The graces of My mercy are drawn by means of one vessel only, and that is – trust. The more a soul trusts, the more it will receive. Souls that trust boundlessly are a great comfort to Me, because I pour all the treasures of My graces into them. I rejoice that they ask for much, because it is My desire to give much, very much. On the other hand, I am sad when souls ask for little, when they narrow their hearts.”

(St. Faustina Kowalska Diary: Divine Mercy in My Soul)

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DMu-07s29Co?rel=0&w=420&h=315]

“Jesus, I trust in You”

Have courage!

April 14, 2012 8:05 am

“For we cannot but speak of what we have seen and heard” (Acts 4:20)

In the beginning, the Apostles were not able to accept the testiomny of the others, they couldn’t believe it – until they really met Jesus after His resurrection.

And then they couldn’t refrain from speaking about it.

Today, when the pace of life is crazy, and we are told to observe proprieties and to follow changing fashions, we feel awkward about admitting to our faith and speaking openly about it. We find it difficult to share the experience of what God does for us in our lives. And many people would believe in Him, if we were able to talk about Him openly.

That’s why I encourage you to make that step! Maybe at home, maybe at work, maybe at the grocer’s, and maybe here, in this blog, in the “comments” section?

Feel invited!

Dosia

light therapy

April 13, 2012 8:56 am

Don’t be afraid to come to me. I’ll fill your wounds with My light. Show them to Me, and I’ll tell you about the sea of My compassion.

And they will become a meeting place, like Mine.

Jesus

reasons for joy

April 12, 2012 6:00 am

Do not be afraid!” (Matthew 28:10)

“Peace be with you.” (Luke 24:36)

So I don’t have to be afraid of anything anymore! I may live in the peace brought by the Risen Lord!  He delivers me from all my fears!

I don’t have to worry myself Sick, because if the Lord has truly risen , sooner or later everything will be all right! *

If He has conquered the darkness, He’ll help me conquer mine.

If He has removed the sin away, He’ll help me get freedom from mine.

If He is alive, I’ll never be lonely.

If He destroyed death, I will not die either but I will live forever.

In those thoughts I find reasons for joy!

* “I can make all things well; I will make all things well . . . And you will see yourself that everything will be all right.”  (Jesus to Julian of Norwich)

Basia

conversation on the way

April 11, 2012 11:51 am

“…two of them were going to a village called Emmaus, about seven miles from Jerusalem. . . . As they talked and discussed these things with each other, Jesus himself came up and walked along with them” (Luke 24:13.15)

I’ve always imagined the road to Emmaus was long enough to have a serious conversation – when no one’s in a hurry and nothing disturbs you, Seven miles on foot. One of my favorite readings after the Easter Sunday.

They are all so moving, all the descriptions of meetings with the Risen Christ. He lets the people – who have just been through the tragedy of his capture and execution – freely express their pain. He lets Mary Magdalene weep, the disciples walking to Emmaus – describe their disappointment; He even lets Thomas not believe and touch His wounds.

My Lord does not expect political correctness form me. Because how can you build a true relationship on pretending; pretending results in a sense of distance and alienation.

So I can always set off on the way to Emmaus. I can tell my story, explain my disappointment with the language of my own heart. And hear Him asking: “Wait, did you forget what I told you last time? Nothing has changed, you can still trust Me”. And to listen to His version of my story, especially when I start to suffer from amnesia. And when the day is almost over, let Him share bread with me – on another mile of our common history.

Małgosia