Simon of Cyrene

March 30, 2012 6:00 am

„…As the soldiers led him away, they seized Simon from Cyrene, who was on his way in from the country, and put the cross on him and made him carry it behind Jesus.” (Luke 23:26)

Even though he acted under constraint, we remember him each time we reflect upon the Stations of the Cross. Because whether he liked it or not, he carried the cross – as long as it was needed. His effort became the part of our Lord’s Way of the Cross.

My little son’s weeping in the middle of the night, a sudden phone call with a request for help, illness of a relative or a child’s problem that demands a quick response. Sometimes I am also compelled by the situation to do something urgently, at this very moment. It is most difficult when I’m just “on my way in from the country” – when I’m dead tired and all I dream of is to take a rest.

It is not always easy to make a gift of myself. Sometimes I even have to force myself to manage the task with love. And it doesn’t always feel great to do so. What helps in that case is the consciousness that the gift of myself which costs me much, when I offer it to the Lord, becomes the parable “talent” that He may use as He wishes, thus multiplying its initial value. Doesn’t it please Him – also this effort which I force myself to make – out of love? There are the days when you have the opportunity collect a lot of such “talents” for Him.

Basia

Annunciation

March 26, 2012 6:00 am

Today we’re traveling in our mind and heart to Nazareth. It’s there where the course of history was changed forever: Jesus was conceived!

I look at Mary with so much admiration. She accepted this unusual and unexpected event in such a calm manner, with her humble and trustful heart, open to God’s plans. She must have been conscious of what her FIAT meant – she might have been stoned to death, among the possible consequences. She must have also wondered how Joseph would react to this situation.

And Joseph – didn’t he suffer, when he found out his beloved wife got pregnant – became a mother to a child that he did not father for sure? I admire Joseph for his ability to defend Mary from accusation in his own heart. He defended her, even though he didn’t understand. And yet he didn’t judge, didn’t condemn, didn’t reproach or resent Mary.

Wasn’t the appearance of Jesus a test of their marital love, in the first moment of coping with the news? A test they passed in such an impressive manner?

Even though it is always a happy event which deserves to be celebrated in most beautiful ways, also for many of us – fathers and mothers – an unexpected conception of a child may sometimes become a test of marital love.

It seems God meant marital life to contain great joy and suffering, hope and anxiety – if He let the holiest married couple, Mary and Joseph, experience them. Let’s entrust our parenthood to them today. Let’s ask them for their assistance in our tests of love. Because they do understand us so well!

Basia

Mother

March 23, 2012 10:30 am

the faithful will abide with Him in love… (Book of Wisdom 3:9)

Mother of God – present from the beginning to the very end of the way of the cross.

Faithful in love. Courageous and unswerving in suffering. She shows us how important it is to be there for the one in pain – to be there even without saying a word, to offer kindness, to support them with prayer.

Let’s not forget that the Mother is there for us in all our hard times and sorrow. And let’s learn how to support the others in suffering from Her.

Basia

judgement

March 16, 2012 8:26 am

He was despised and rejected by mankind (Isaiah 51:3)

Judgment. Being judged. That is what Jesus experienced when he was numbered wit the transgressors. The sentence: death punishment! Even before He embraced the cross, His heart was crucified – by evil words.

What a disastrous mistake one can make while judging! How easy it is to cast an unjust accusation right in the middle of the other person’s heart!

It amazes me what words can work. The same tongue that may create the realm of love and peace, can also become the instrument of destruction, dealing blows; of making unfair and hurtful judgments.

So now I understand why Jesus so often warned: “Do not judge…” Because we’re so easily swayed by emotions and prone to assuming that the appearance – or the shadow deformed by mere interpretation of things – actually is „the” truth.

While contemplating the First Station of the Cross, I feel how immensely important it is to cultivate the habit of defending my spouse from accusations in my own heart!*

When my heart gains more freedom from judging, I find it easier not to join in the company of accusers whenever I become unintentionally a part of somebody else’s “trial”.

Basia

*One of the follow-up e-learning tasks after the “You and I = We” Program.

Veronica

March 9, 2012 7:52 am

He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to Him (Isaiah 53:2)

My husband, children and friends do not always show “beauty or majesty”. And sometimes I don’t find it easy at all to look at them and to be with them, especially when they are annoyed or “difficult” in any other way. But this is then, and probably mostly then, when I can put to test my love for them.

Am I able to find within the mercy and courage that Veronica had? To offer the gestures of kindness, that favourable look that goes beyond my daunting impression about the other person’s behaviour?

Am I ready to welcome the other in his/her suffering? Or do I stay entrapped in my own fear, resentment, sense of helplessness or discouragement?

The test may come out better or worse, but I’m sure love should not be missing from the ways of the cross.

Basia

paths to Joy

March 2, 2012 9:32 am

Show me your ways, Lord, teach me your paths. (Psalm 25:4)

For me, the Lent is the exceptional time of taking a closer look at the ways of the Lord, especially his most difficult and last way – the Way of the Cross. The way of remaining silent and gentle, the way of sacrifice, patience and rising from the falls, of accepting – without complaint – all the painful and difficult part of life.

I guess I can tell God’s ways from those that are not His. Of course, that doesn’t mean I’m an expert on the former. I’m still learning. I’m learning the “highway code” of those beautiful and difficult ways.

I know these ways are safe, protected and they have clear destination. I don’t want to turn back, though I know I can turn around and choose another path: God’s ways do strip me of freedom. Falls are inscribed in the progress, so I mustn’t get discouraged. Because it’s not about high speedometer read-out and perfect performance – inside and outside.

The vital thing on the Ways of God is to trust Him and let Him guide you, as He has foreseen everything: every bump, every thorn and curve. With Him, each fall, hardship and effort are just the means of achieving something more! It’s so much easier for me, when I realize that, to go through each tough experience with some positive attitude. In the end, all His paths lead to Joy!

Basia

A cracked bucket

February 24, 2012 4:45 pm

A water bearer had two buckets to bring water from the river to his master’s house. The buckets were hanging on both ends of the pole that he carried across his shoulders. One of them was cracked, the other – was perfectly fine. The bucket with no trace of a crack – conscious of its excellence – was proud of itself. The cracked bucket – ashamed of its crack – suffered.

One day the cracked bucket confessed its misery to the water bearer. “Because of my crack you carried so much less water to your master’s house every day than I could have hold if I was unbroken” – it said. The man ponited to beautiful flowers, sparkling with colour, only on one side of the road, and replied: “The flowers grow on this side of the road, and not on the other, do they? I saw your crack and I made a good use of it. I sowed the seeds on your side of the path. Each day, as we were going back from the river, they drank the water leaking from you. For two years I have picked the floweres and beutified my master’s house with them. We wouldn’t have been able to give so much beauty to the house if it hadn’t been for the way you are”*

Even though I am like that cracked bucket, I know that the One who is carrying me is not discouraged by my crack. He is not complaining about water being “wasted”, he is not worried by my effectiveness – so much below the human standards of productivity. I know that He can take advantage of my cracks and defects, if only I place them on His shoulders. Because He, as nobody else, “causes all things to work together for the good to those who love Him” (Romans 8:28).

Basia

*You can find the story in its full version in I. Holler, Porozumienie bez przemocy. Ćwiczenia. (Nonviolent Communication. Practice.)