Today all the media are focused on one thing – the Pope has been elected! Thousands of journalists have come to Rome just for this one purpose: to report the few days of the conclave, which have become the major interest also for those who were never interested in the issues related to the Church.

Who is that man, or that Office, all the media want to write about?

We know that we mean a man who stands out from the rest through his love to our Lord Jesus, who is ready to walk on the water, who will lay his life for Him.

And that is how we receive him, with the greatest joy that he is among us again – God’s chosen one to represent Him on earth, the man who’ll lead the Church.

We hear his name – Francis. And in it we see the simplicity, poverty, being oridinary – but we also hear Lord Jesus’s words to St Francis: “Rebuild My Church.” The Church never stops renewing to be closer to man.

And from today on, the whole world will pray for him in the Eucharistic Prayer – for our Pope Francis.

So good you are with us!

Fr Jay

Before I go on to write a few words about the Conference, I have to mention Fr. John. It’s a most unusual priest. He’s been the chaplain to students for 14 years, and at the same time – a parish priest of one of the parishes. He gave up his room in Chaplaincy for the students, and moved to a tiny room in the basement. From dawn to dusk he is there in the Chaplaincy for the students. When I was leaving at 10 p.m., he was still talking to somebody. He is the soul of that house. It was his idea to hold this mini-conference:

Students, adults, priests, from different countries. The first speaker was Fr. James Pereiro, who “stole” the beginning of my talk, because he apologized for his accent. It seems to be not only my problem then. 🙂 After a short break we started our journey along “Love and Responsinility” by Blessed John Paul II.

It was nice to see people interested in the subject and reacting to the content – both by being very focuesd or laughing. At the end there was a discussion which showed that the subject was practical and important.

Now, once it’s over – I feel a great relief in my heart. And I feel I need some well-deserved rest. Until Friday, because on Friday I should be in Brussels getting ready for the I+YOU=WE couple retreat.

Thank you for your loyal assistance in prayer for a priest from Poland, cast here and there to do his service. Please, continue to remember me in your prayers. 🙂

With heartfelt prayer,

Your Scottish correspondent,

Fr. Jay

First some facts. Our host is Fr Jonathan Mitchell, and he recieves us at his parish house. 5 couples take part in the Program. The eldest couple has been together for 43 years, and the others have been married for 34, 26, 25 and 13 years, respectively.  As you can see, our participants, in majority, are mature and experienced, and working with them is a pure pleasure. They are very responsive and have a great sense of humour, so in the end we have no idea what the famous proverbial “English sense of humour” is all about.

But the most outstanding hero of the Program is our Host – Fr. Johnatan. Not only does he take part in the retreat, but also cooks delicious meals for all of us, washes up, prepares excellent coffee and pampers us in all ways… A former hotel manager and a rugby player, a would-be chef, and a convert. He wears his cassock all the time, even when he goes shopping (before noon he fetched some additional items, the bags full of which he then brought with himself into the kitchen). Being the only relatively “free” person in the team, I do what I can to help, which gives us the opportunity to talk and share our experience of being a priest.

Today we had so many intense hours of work, in a very warm and homely atmosphere  which reminds me of the Program in Springfield. The retreat finishes tomorrow.

Let us not stop praying,

Fr Jay

When Fr Maximilian Maria Kolbe volunteered to replace a strange man in the underground starvation bunker in the Nazi Concentration Camp, an officer asked him who he was. His reply was: “A catholic priest”.

One could go on writing for miles about the meaning of these two words : about causing Our Lord to be tangibly present among us during each Holy Mass, about the service of reconcilliation, which adds up into thousands of hours, about being a father for dozens and hundreds of people who come to confide their difficulties and problems with a total trust, or about being a brother and “everything to everyone”.

On December,15th there was the 27th Anniversary of our Fr Jay’s Ordination. Bearing in mind the limitation of just one blog post, we can only express our gratitude to God our Father that He made him a Father to so many. Most probably Fr Jay would have been a great plumber, paratrooper or diver, but all those who owe him so much – their returns to faith, victories in martial crises and the support of his persistent prayer – give thanks to the Providence for making him a “Catholic priest”. And a priest who loves being a priest.

We would love to wish him God’s blessings and a lot of miracles of His love. It is good that you are there, Fr Jay – and that you are the way you are.

The Team of Editors

Yesterday, early in the morning, father Professor Jerzy Bajda left for a better place.

He’s always been in the Institute. I used to listen to his lectures and later I was privileged to work with him. He was a great man. Free in all aspects. He didn’t keep anything for himself. He chose to live at his friends’ place, although he could live anywhere. He would always arrive by bus, well protected against the unpleasant caprices of the weather. He was always joyful and smiling.

I seem to connect him with 29, Humanae vitae and especially with the fragment ‘bitterly severe toward sin, but patient and abounding in mercy toward sinners’. He always fought for the truth. Though I know that not many readers of our blog were able to know that man (unless they read his materials), I would like to mention him. There are only a few who understand the teaching of John Paul II as well as he did. We can count on his prayers. And now let us pray for him.

Fr Jay

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

We are looking forward to the subsequent parts of Fr Jay’s Travel Journal, but we are going to interrupt that series with a post penned by someone else from the behind the Ocean. I’m honoured to introduce Beatriz Gonzalez. 🙂

I should start from saying “thank You” to the One, who makes our paths meets by most strange “coincidences” – for letting me work together with Beatriz on the translation of Fr Jay’s speech which he was invited to deliver in Madrid, at the World Congress of Families. I did the English part and Beatriz – the Spanish. I discovered I was dealing with a person of a great power of spirit, who had been accompanying couples struglling with problems in the area of fertility.

I admire Beatriz for her struggle for a better tomorrow – for her Near and Dear ones, and for Mexico. And not only that: in her heart and dreams she reaches out further and for more.

Beatriz will tell about how NaProTechnology has developed in Latin American countries. And we hope that it is not her first and last time in the Harbour – and that after this introduction of hers, she will find the opportunity to share with us the springs of her love, strength and enthusiasm.

Małgosia

There is the pain of the rejected, for whom there was no room to become someone they would have been, had they been given the chance to come to this world. The Father of Love and Life, taking them in His arms, must have surely explained it to them that the reason for rejection was not their fault. That they weren’t off-putting, too complicated and too difficult, dangerous and ugly, and thus related with the trash they ended up in before they managed to take the firtst breath.

There is the pain of those who did not accept them, because something was missing – knowledge, courage, love, support from the others. Because there was someone who suggested a quick solution for a modest fee, but gave no guarantee for the consequences. And will never listen to that ear-splitting inner cry of the years to come. The cry which echoes that first cry which has never resonated in the hospital room. And will not miss the warmth of a cheek. And will not ask himself the question who it would have become, if.

Many people say both kinds of pain have been just made up. It really is sometimes denied to such an extent that it is not believed to exist.

But “pro-life” does not result from the detachment from reality. “Pro-life” arises from the pain of the former and the latter.

Małgosia

I would like to thank you all for the gift of your friendship. It was you who made that month so extraordinary. Your hospitality, generosity, kindness and warm hearts enabled me to experience this much. I’d done many things for the first time in my life. And even though those experiences they gave me so much joy, what makes them even more beautiful is the consciousness that I owed it all to real people.

I am not going to list your names. They are written in my heart. Although here you’ll stay anonymous, I believe our Lord will reward you in Heaven. “Whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for Me”.

I’m going back Home. I’m taking with me all your Homes, which were so hospitable and invited me to become part of them. When you are invited to a place, you bring in peace with you, but you also take with you the important matters of that place. My visits to so many Homes during this month showed and taught me a lot, and they touched my heart. I am taking all you’ve taught me to share with the others. Much of your wisdom has already appeared here, in “The Harbour”. Thank you – and let me thank you in the name of our Readers.

I also thak you, Dear Friends of “The Harbour”, for inviting us to your Homes on your computer screens. We would like to bring you always peace. Sometimes – to inspire, provoke, motivate you. But we are also taking you and the matters important to you in our prayer before the Holy Family.

With heartfelt prayer, full of gratitude,

Fr. Jay

Yesterday I managed to surprise one married couple and appear on the 10th Anniversary of their Sacrament of Marriage – sharing their joy at the time that passed and looking forward with trust to the time yet to come. As every couple, they struggle for true love. They already know where the Source of Love is and how to draw on it.

On the way home I gave a lift to Vlodek. He used to be in prison, then he met a woman who’d been beaten, and then abandoned with two children, by her husband. He married her, brought up her children, led them to their First Communion, and then became the father of the woman’s third child. The priest in the parish refused to baptize the child, saying it’s been conceived in adultery.  Vlodek’s wife is ill with MS. She lost her sight. They sleep separately, because it’s difficult to become parents again in this situation. They go to the church, though the sacraments are not available to them. Every evening Vlodek prays with his family to the Mother of God – asking Her to be with them.

The next person to sit in my car was Jola, who thumbed a lift two minutes after Vlodek had got off. She was a bit tipsy. She started complainning about the people who pray ardently when they need something, but they forget to say “thank you”. Her left forearm was striped with scars after slashing, but she talked of the prayer of gratefulness like a zealous apostle.

The meetings with people always abound in presence of God, who does miracles in them – regardless of their stories. Yesterday I had the luck of meeting those people in person.

Fr Jay