Tuesday 3 January

Tuesday 3 January

Jan 3, 2023 | DAILY BREAD

The Most Holy Name of Jesus First reading - 1 John 2:29-3:6 “Think of the love that the Father has lavished on us, by letting us be called God’s children;”. Are we really thinking about this lavishness? St. John living in this abundance is expressing very well. Are we really thinking about this lavishness of the love of Father? Most of the times, the answer is negative. If we are really thinking about the lavishness of that love, we cannot be sad, we cannot be depressed, we cannot be disappointed or moody in life. Because the lavishness of God’s love is above all things. And we are children of God. We don’t feel like the children of God because we are not thinking of the love of God the father. When we start thinking of the God as a father who is lavishly loving us, we will feel what it means to be a son or daughter of God. If we really recognize who we are by baptism, we will start thinking about the love of that Father. The lavishness of His love is above all things in our life. Above my weakness and my defects, about my shortcomings and my flaws, He lavishes His love so that we live as His sons and daughters. Let’s reflect: How much love of God are we feeling and how much that lavishness of love is guiding us in our actions of daily life?  
Monday 2 January

Monday 2 January

Jan 2, 2023 | DAILY BREAD

Saints Basil the Great and Gregory Nazianzen, Bishops, Doctors Gospel - John 1:19-28 “a voice that cries in the wilderness: Make a straight way for the Lord”. It’s a voice that cries in the wilderness. A voice that is to be heard… a voice that awakens…a voice that guides…a voice that echoes…a voice that breaks the silence…of the wilderness, in the difficult moments of our life…in the beautiful moments of our life…in the challenging moments of our life. “Make a straight way for the Lord”. Because the Lord wants to be with you. The Lord wants to be with you when you’re crying or smiling. He wants to be there. He awaits our consent. He awaits our welcome as He respects our freedom. He wants a straight way to our heart. Nothing stands in His way. A straight way there are no curves…curves that I build to keep my selfishness, curves that I build to protect my ego. Let’s reflect: How straight is the way of the Lord to my heart?
Sunday 1 January

Sunday 1 January

Jan 1, 2023 | DAILY BREAD

Mary, the Holy Mother of God Gospel - Luke 2:16-21 “As for Mary, she treasured all these things and pondered them in her heart”. Treasuring and pondering…which the heart of Mary, the Holy Mother of God does! How she does that? She does that by saying “fiat” to the will of God and the Word of God always. A constant “yes” to the Word of God can be only the result of treasuring and pondering of the effect of the same Word of God in her life. Not just any treasuring and pondering but doing it in her heart. Doing it in the depth of the soul, in her heart. The Word of God becomes the only treasure and all the thoughts come from it. Only if we really think about the context of the Gospel, we will understand what it means “treasuring and pondering”! They did not get place in inn, the child is born in manger, some shepherds passed by to greet the child… so what is she treasuring and pondering…? It’s the faith in the Word of God that she is treasuring and pondering despite all the contrary situations in which she is living and experiencing. Let’s reflect: are we ready to continue treasuring and pondering the Word of God despite the contradictories which we live?  
Saturday 31 December

Saturday 31 December

Dec 31, 2022 | DAILY BREAD

7th day within the octave of Christmas Saint Silvester I, Pope Gospel - John 1:1-18 “The Word was made flesh, he lived among us, and we saw his glory, the glory that is his as the only Son of the Father, full of grace and truth”. The Word continues to live among us in different ways. We can see His glory in different occasions. His glory filled with grace. The truth of incarnation is a reality of everyday life. The presence of God amongst us is a fact of daily life. When we acknowledge that presence in our life, in our day today experiences, we will start to see His glory also present in our life. From recognizing the presence of God to seeing the Glory of God, filling with grace in our life. Being in the last day of this year, it’s a moment to see all these grace-filled moments of 2022. Let’s fill our hearts with gratitude and love. This is very important to underline again the loving presence of God assured for 2023, so that we can see the glory of God present by His grace in each moment of our life.

Christmas in Świnoujście

Dec 30, 2022 | NEWS

"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