Christmas in Świnoujście
"Come into the world to settle accounts of losses, to take an empty seat among us at the table. Once again, let us enjoy the child in us... (from "Carols for the Absent by Z. Preisner) One of the customs of the Christmas Eve supper is to set an extra plate for an unexpected guest or a lonely person. In our community in Świnoujście, this symbolic empty place was occupied by three people this year: Mrs. Barbara - a lonely elderly parishioner, and little Viktoria with her grandmother from Ukraine. The girl and her grandmother experienced Christmas Eve for the first time according to the Catholic tradition, i.e. with reading a fragment from the Holy Bible, sharing the wafer and singing carols. Viktoria experienced this meeting all week, asking every morning "when will Saturday be". Grandma was happy and touched and willingly talked about the Ukrainian supper and tried every prepared Christmas Eve dish with reverence. Mrs. Barbara also could not control her tears and repeated how happy she was that she was not alone that evening and was celebrating in such a solemn way. After dinner, there was the moment Viktoria had been waiting for the most – the presents. All the sisters and ladies received gifts, but Viktoria received the most gifts (we know from the post-Christmas report that after coming home she spread everything on the floor and said: "Oh, I don't know where to start"). It was a joyful and friendly Christmas Eve. We thank God that this year the "empty seat at the table" was not just a tradition, but became a reality for us; that Jesus was born through love in our hearts. Sisters from Świnoujście
Friday 30 December
The Holy Family Gospel - Matthew 2:13-15,19-23 “So, Joseph got up and, taking the child and his mother with him, left that night for Egypt…...So Joseph got up and, taking the child and his mother with him, went back to the land of Israel.” Getting up, taking the child and his mother, and moving to the destination indicated by the angel of the Lord is being the Holy Family. Because the life of the Holy Family revolves around the Holy Child, Jesus. Joseph follows the instructions of the angel of the Lord, follows the Word of God. Mary follows Joseph. Prophecies about the Jesus is being fulfilled through their actions. Jesus is the centre of their life. We can also become part of this Holy family. Putting Jesus in centre of our life is the way to become part of this Holy Family. To put Jesus in the centre of our life, we must get up, get up from our comfort zones; we must detach from our plans. Then we must take Jesus and his mother and move together. That means, we must act with love to put Jesus in the midst of our life. Whenever we act with love for the other, we put Jesus in our midst. Sometimes we get up, we make sacrifices, but we forget to act with love, we forget to smile. Let’s reflect: Are we getting up from our comforts to put Jesus in the midst of our life and become part of the Holy Family?
Thursday 29 December
5th day within the octave of Christmas Saint Thomas Becket, Bishop, Martyr Gospel - Luke 2:22-35 “Prompted by the Spirit he came to the Temple and when the parents brought in the child Jesus to do for him what the Law required, he took him into his arms and blessed God”. How many times, we were prompted to do good things and we just ignored the prompting by the Holy Spirit. Simeon did this because his only intention was to set eyes on the Christ of the Lord. When we have different intentions, it’s difficult to follow the prompting by the Holy Spirit. All our intentions must be centered around the one intention. The intention of seeing Christ. When we have this disposition, we will follow the promptings by the Holy spirit. Otherwise, we follow other intentions according to our selfishness. In all those occasions, we lost the opportunity to take Jesus in our arms and bless God. Let’s reflect: Do we follow the promptings by the Holy Spirit or the promptings of our selfishness?