After several months of slow and painful dying my godmother, my mother’s sister, has gone away to eternity. The one who who carried me to be baptised, now was accompanied to the place of eternal rest by her godchild. The rhythm of holy sacraments. The rhythm of the Church that reveals with its Liturgy the sense of each stage of our lives.

I’ve remembered this tomb since I was little. We would come here to pray for my Gramdma, then for my Grandpa, and later for his sister, Today they are joined by their daughter. The family is united at the tomb. I saw my sister and my cousins for the last time at my sister’s wedding. Today, 12 years later, I learn again the names of their children and the first granddaughter. We are happy about the meeting, although somewhere at the background we are aware of the circumstances. It seems, however, that Auntie does not mind us being joyful as in death there’s also joy of eternity, the joy of meeting Jesus, the joy of a life fulfilled.

Today we also learned that our Dosia’s husband’s mother has gone, too.

Eternal rest grant unto them, O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon them. One day we shall meet in heaven.

Fr Jay

What do I do when you say that all is lost, that you’ve spoilt everything and that nothing makes sense any more?

I wipe your tears. Then I put my hand on your head and I say: My Child, My beautiful and beloved Child.

Jesus

A priest I know once said to me sadly, ‘These Polish children are so poor, so often unwanted’. As if to confirm this diagnosis, the next day I heard from my friend whom I hadn’t seen for a long time the following: ‘We have two children already, a boy and a girl, and I hope that’s gonna be it’.

And then I remembered the blessed Zelia Martin, the mother of St. Therese of the Child Jesus. She wrote in one of her letters to her sister-in-law that she loved her children madly and she’d been born to have them. And yet her motherhood brought her so much suffering. When she wrote those words, just before the birth of her youngest, ninth daughter – Therese, she had gone through many diseases and through the loss of her “four angels”, the children who died early. She felt a lot of pain because of the problems with one of her daughters, “the poor Leonia”. She knew better than anyone else that motherhood did not only mean joy. Still, she loved her children madly and wanted to have more. And what she desired most was that her children “be saint”, she wanted to bear them “for heaven”.

Why not take a look at our parenthood  with the eyes of faith in the Year of Faith?

Basia

two weeks before the marathon – covers the distance of 30 kilometers. Looong way. And you run on the asphalt, because the Firenze Marathon takes place on asphalt streets and pavements. Time to get your organism ready for what’s ahead of you. This is the real solitude of a long-distance runner. You pass by the cars, people at the bus stops, the  surveyors measuring something, an ambulance rushing down the street with the siren on… You run among the manifestations of ordinary life. Sometimes a gesture of human kindness and support. Rather seldom (it’s not a running route, where you meet the same people like you).

The marathon itself will be full of people running in front of you, behind you and next to you. Marathon is a celebration, joy, emotions – the end of so many weeks of training, the reward for that toil.

During our Programs we ask the participants to do homework tasks. Something to do every day – in line with the Program’s idea. In order to become a “better me”, bearing in mind him/her.

What I experience today as the loneliness of a long-distance runner is only the trainig. It is for some purpose. What’s ahead is the actual run. “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith” (2 Timothy 4:7). My marriage, my life, my eternity… It was worth the effort…

Fr Jay

You tell me:

– Being with children is tiring for us.

You are right.

Yo say:

– Because we have to talk down to them, lower ourselves to their concepts.

Stoop, condescend, shrink.

You are wrong.

This is not what is tiring for us. It is that we have to climb to their feelings.

Reach high, stretch ourselves, stand on our toes.

So as not to hurt.

Janusz Korczak When I am small again

To express what I felt last weekend, I will tell you a fragment of the history of my life. Although I grew inside a Catholic enviroment, as soon as I could I left the Church and tried to live a life of my own, counting only on my own strength. After some difficult years when I felt alone, only thanks to Asia I had the oportunity to reach to Christ again. I usually accompanied Asia to the Mass on Sunday, and whenever I looked at the Cross, I saw that Christ was alive, that this was not only a piece of wood inside a beautifull building. My conversion started then, on those Masses, where I was toghether with my wife. And I felt love in my heart, big love from outside. When I looked at the elderly women who had come to the Mass, I did not look at them with sceptical eyes. I no loger accused them of being hypocritical, I only felt love for those people. At that time I lost my job, and the first thing I did was to look for my wife and toghether we went to the church to get this PEACE, this love I had felt many times before. Well, this was the beginning of my re-encounter with Christ.

Before the last weekend, at home with Asia everyhting was really difficult; as we were not able to live toghether, we started to live a relationship built on compromise, in which we used to disturb each other as little as possible to avoid arguments. On Saturday, during the first workshop when I had to describe my wife I felt a huge love for her, only comperarable to the one I felt those days in the church, a love which only God can give us. This is why I’m sure God wants to strengthen our marriage. He gave us that weekend, He gave me each person I met and listened to – to renew our marriage. That is why on Sunday we were able to renew our marriage vows, and I feel I have received a new strenght and encouragement to start this new stage. I only beg God to help me fight with my weaknesses and to keep  evil far away from our marriage.

Peace be with you.

Jesús G.N.M.*

*Jesús and his Wife Asia took part in the I+YOU=WE Program held in Wrocław, Poland, last weekend. [note from Editors]

because if your friends live a bit further, you can always make a running trip instead of using your car. In a real downpour of rain I got soaked to the skin, so my visit might have been a bit troublesome for my Hosts, who had to do something with all the water dripping down from me. 😉

In order to find their place, I needed to choose the right street joining the main road – and it took some of my running time. It turned out that the names of the streets hadn’t been placed at the street entries, but often on a house standing dozens of meters further. So I had to run into each of the adjacent streets to see if it was the right one.

That’s how it goes in our lives: how often do we eneter the streets which are no good and we have to get back immediately. I gave names to the streets I want to walk along: Gentleness, Respect, Being a Gift...

If can’t find one of those names on the path that I take, I have to make a hasty escape, I must get back to myself quickly becasue… that is not my path.

Fr Jay

From the 27 couples who had enrolled for the Program, 25 turned up. Most of them came from Wrocław, but there were also the couples who travelled an impressively large distance to take part in the Program. There were the seniors (47 years together in marriage) and very young couples (2.5 year). There were the spouses with very little children and those whose children were already adult and independent. Some of the participants run workshops for couples (or just for the wives), but some of them had never taken part in any such form of education. The rich variety of experience and two days of hard work for the Program participants (as well as for those who helped run the Program – how there were the four couples trained to guide the groups through the workshop part – it all was possible only thanks to them. Thank you once again).

In my heart I feel great joy that so many couples came here to struggle for their relationship, that so many of them were determined to do so.

So many people prayed for us during that time – no wonder the Participants were leaving encouraged to try hard. Let’s remember about them. Now they’ll have to translate the Program into the language of their own relationships. Good luck.

Fr Jay