“I have seen the Lord” (John 20:18)
When Mary Magdalene, the first to have come to the tomb, saw that the stone had been removed from the entrance – she didn’t understand the sign.

Later she saw two Angels in the tomb – and still she did not understand.

She saw Jesus talking to her – and she didn’t recognize Him.

But Jesus didn’t give up. He stayed by her, calling her by the name and giving as many signs as she needed not to doubt.

What’s interesting in this event is that she was persistently coming back to the tomb. She was looking for the Lord and asking everybody about Him. She wept. She missed Him.

Encouraged by this story, I know that it’s essential for me to meet the Risen Christ personally. He is present in sacraments. He gives me the signs of His presence in various ways and through various people. I may always meet Him, if only I desire and seek to meet Him. He’s seeking for me all the time – so that I wouldn’t fail to meet and recognize Him.

Dosia

We’ve been waiting for this day for the whole Lent. And the Holy Triduum. And here it is. We look at one another with a timid curiosity. What’s changed?

We’re dressed up for the occasion, our tables take on a festive look and there are so many dishes that it’s difficult not to notice Easter has come at last. We may already be at our relatives’ place, or we’ll visit them very soon.

What else has changed?

Oh, I went to a confession, to be able to enter the experience of Passover with a purified heart.

What else has changed?

Oh yes. I can end my fasting, my challenging resolutions. At last.

What else has changed?

How about the inside? The thing I’m hiding within, because how am I supposed to utter the truth which is beyond my capabilities of expression – that God almighty gave His life for me, so that I may have life, and have it to the full? That’s why the tables are full of food, the clothes are smart, our fasting comes to an end, the whole creation rejoices, because we’ve got our life back, our life makes sense. I am loved. Despite everything that my body, devil and the world speak to me (or in the real life: my husband, wife, children, parents, teachers, colleagues, my interior monologue, the mirror, …).

God proved it in a most inhuman way, to make sure I get the message of who I am and how much He loves me.

That’s why I can’t just sit around at home. I must visit my loved ones. I must share my happiness with them. I’ll share this happiness by sharing the egg, meat, bread, pies and tarts (here you can mention your local specialties…;).

I wish so much I could visit you all, and look each of you in the eyes, hug you and say: it’s so good you are there. And I know how very important you are. He told me about you on Thursday night in the chapel, and during the Good Friday service, and on Saturday morning when I prayed at His tomb, and during the NIGHT OF HIS RESURRECTION. And today I’ve been on the car since the morning. Because I have to tell you this all in person. So see you soon at your place. In the joy of the Resurrected Christ.

Fr. Jay

PS. Thank you for coming to see me on Holy Thursday. All of you. With HIM everything is possible.

I’ve seen a film* in which suffering and evil was compared to an embroidery, but the one seen from below. The tangle of multicolored threads does not give you even the slightest idea of the beautiful picture you’d see from the other side.

Wasn’t it a piece of such embroidery “seen from below” that the apostles were looking at – crushed by the events of the Good Friday? Our “Holy” Saturday for them was the time filled with darkness, nonsense and painful incomprehension.

I would love to grasp the meaning of everything that happens around me. I experience fascination and disgust, beauty and ugliness, love and rejection, joy and suffering. Day after day. Whenever I think I’m beginning to understand, all my enlightenment comes to nothing in the next moment.

But it is God who is the embroiderer. He gets the proper picture. He knows the point of this all, because He arranges the threads of life. All I can do is accept today’s „now”, let Him lead me. I won’t be able to grasp the full meaning. His perspective is unknown to me. All I can do is to find the sense in Him. When I trust the Master, I’ll be able to help create the work.

And in the end, this is what I want: not to disturb the creation of this part of the masterpiece of Love which has been assigned to me.

Michał

I looked for sympathy, but there was none. (Psalm 69:20)

Come and be with Him.

Just as there were many who were appalled at him ^– his appearance was so disfigured beyond that of any human being and his form marred beyond human likeness. (Isaiah 52:14)

He asks you not to avert your gaze from Him. Not to escape. Not to be horrified at your helplessness because there is no more good advice to give, and it’s a hopeless case.

In the abyss of His loneliness, He is waiting for you. Crushed, made defenseless, He desires your presence with all who you are.

He can’t stretch His arms more to show that He’s ready for this meeting. In case you doubted His good intentions, he let His heart be pierced open, so that you can look inside and chcek.

So He wants you to be with Him. And He will tell you very quietly – but if you come closer, you’ll hear – “I knew you would come.”

St. John Marie Vianney was able to look at priests through the eyes of faith. He used to say, if he met an angel an a priest, he would greet the priest first. Because it’s the priest who acts on behalf of Christ on the earth.

“Go to confession to the Blessed Virgin, or to an angel; will they absolve you? No. Will they give you the Body and Blood of Our Lord? No. The Holy Virgin cannot make her Divine Son descend into the Host. You might have two hundred angels there, but they could not absolve you. A priest, however simple he may be, can do it.” (St. J. M. Vianney)

Today we would like to express our gratitude and offer our prayer to all the priests.

We would like to greet Fr. Jay, who invited “The Harbour” to find its place on The Family Support Foundation website, and whom we owe so much in different areas of our lives. We also remember the other priests from both the Institute of the Holy Family and the related communities, who provide us with their invaluable ministry.

We would like to say “Thank you” to all the priests who visit “The Harbour”, who bless us and who pray for us.

May the Lord bless you and give you a deep peace of heart and joy in the immense gift of your priesthood – and in your day-to-day ministry.

The Harbour Team

“Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God; believe also in me.

My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me.” (John 14:1-3)

So even though You went Your most difficult way without me, You are coming back to pick me up. You know I won’t manage on my own, even though I sometimes tend to think that “perfect” means “self-sufficient”. But You meant perfection otherwise: it’s being in a relation, dependent on others, loving.

So when You take me to be with You – when You help me with this toughest removal in my life – You will ask me with childlike simplicity: “That’s what My place is like. Do you like the room I’ve prepared for you?”

Just please, do watch over me, so that I wouldn’t get lost somewhere on the way.

Małgosia

“Will you really lay down your life for me? Very truly I tell you, before the rooster crows, you will disown me three times” (John 13:38)

Even though He had known in advance Peter’s faults, Jesus did not write him off. Even though He knows our weaknesses – He never writes us off.

In His presence we don’t have to – and we shouldn’t – pretend to be anybody else than we are.

Dosia

I feel knocked to the ground, beaten. Sweat is pouring into my eyes. Life has just crushed me again. Fortunately, the Sunday of Resurrection is soon. A great feast day for everybody, but I’m also expecting this small one to come. The resurrection in my own life.

Before it comes, I’ll have this special meeting with the Lord. In the Sacrament of Reconciliation. He will wipe the sweat from my forehead, He’ll bring back hope, He will heal me with His love. Then I’ll be able to have a great Easter Sunday, and I won’t miss the small one – either.

Michał

Come closer.

I’ll carry the cross for you.

Jesus