Monday 26 December
Saint Stephen, the first Martyr Gospel - Matthew 10:17-22 “But when they hand you over, do not worry about how to speak or what to say;” Most of our worries are about how to perform in a certain situation. We don’t know how the situation will be and we don’t know what situation we will be when we want to face this situation. So, we have to really work in our faith places, where we can really find ourselves in midst our busy schedules. How to work on it? In the gospel we read, “what you are to say will be given to you when the time comes; because it is not you who will be speaking; the Spirit of your Father will be speaking in you.”. Let the Spirit of the Father speak in us. Let our voice be low so that the Spirit of the Father can really speak in us. In the midst our preoccupations, we have this assurance, that God loves us. Let’s reflect: Let the Spirit of the Father speak in us.
Sunday 25 December
Christmas Day Gospel - John 1:1-5,9-14 “He was in the world that had its being through him, and the world did not know him”. We see a tension between God and man. God who wants to stay in our midst and who is in our midst. And man, who does not recognize that presence. Because God in our midst is a serious reality which is a gift at the same time a big responsibility. God in our midst is not something to be afraid. Actually, it’s a liberation. God in our midst becomes a reality of fear when you want to close yourself, when you want to make your projects avoiding God, when you want to make your projects excluding others. God in our midst becomes a blessing when you want to open yourself up to God, when you want to be completely guided by God, when you want to make projects bigger than yourself. Let’s reflect: God in our midst, is a blessing, it is our liberation to become children of God.Visit to prison
The time before Christmas means visiting loved ones, wishing them well and rejoicing together. A community of sisters in the Philippines visited the women's prison in Manila, where a Polish woman sentenced to life imprisonment there for twelve years has been held. Together with her, there are 106 women in one cell, most sleeping on the floor, without a mattress, one next to the other. The woman has no one in the Philippines and no family or friends come to visit her. In cooperation with the Polish embassy, our sisters visit her bringing not only small gifts, but above all comfort and support. Our pre-Christmas visit to Mrs Barbara caused her great joy and emotion. We brought her Polish Christmas dishes so that she could have at least a substitute for Christmas in prison. However, Mrs Barbara was most happy to receive a rosary and a prayer to Sister Dulcissima. She prays a lot in prison and participates in the religious meetings organised there. Not only for her, but also for us, it was a very important Christmas meeting. Due to the ban on bringing phones and taking photos, we are only publishing a photo from the outside and our passes that we were given.