Monday 7 November

Monday 7 November

Nov 6, 2022 | DAILY BREAD

Monday of week 32 in Ordinary Time Gospel - Luke 17:1-6 “Obstacles are sure to come, but alas for the one who provides them! It would be better for him to be thrown into the Sea with a millstone put round his neck than that he should lead astray a single one of these little ones. Watch yourselves!” Jesus is speaking about obstacles. About persons who provide the obstacles. How wretched is their situation. And then he immediately speaks of: “ If your brother does something wrong, reprove him and, if he is sorry, forgive him. And if he wrongs you seven times a day and seven times comes back to you and says, “I am sorry,” you must forgive him.’” So, what is the real obstacle? The real obstacle is not forgiving from the heart. Every time we don’t forgive, we are creating an obstacle for the other person and for ourselves. Obstacle for the other person to correct and to come back. Obstacle for us to accept that person as a person loved by God with all his mistakes. That is why when I am not forgiving, I go to the wretched state of being thrown into the Sea with a millstone put around my neck. Let’s us forgive from our heart anyone any number of times not to be an obstacle.  
Sunday 6 November

Sunday 6 November

Nov 5, 2022 | DAILY BREAD

32nd Sunday in Ordinary Time Gospel - Luke 20:27-38 “Now he is God, not of the dead, but of the living; for to him all men are in fact alive.’” Often, we want that the God be God of the dead and not of the living. Because when God is God of the dead, He is not my God because I am still living. Then I can make my own gods. Or we can configure God according to our necessities. We can disregard everything and everyone as God is only God of the dead. My principles and my convictions become god. Because of this, Jesus said, God is God of the living. God of the living is love because it’s His love that keeps everything alive. Even death does not affect us, in fact with the death, everyone turns into children of the resurrection. God of the living cannot be put into my framework or cannot be configured. God of the living demands that I respect each one as each one is alive in Him. And then the relationship with God is not a static lifeless one but a dynamic living relationship. It’s an eternal relationship which gives eternal life. God of the living stands above everything because He is life. Therefore, the Gospel puts before us the question: Do you feel alive your relationship with God?
First religious vows

First religious vows

Nov 5, 2022 | NEWS

You hear He says it: Become fire to Fire! Become fire in me, live only with love.   On October 30, 2022, in the chapel of our Motherhouse in Wrocław, I was able to respond to the voice of Jesus that I heard, who cried out to be a witness of His love in the world. After a two-year period of novitiate, I made my first vows of chastity, poverty and obedience infront of Provincial Sister Magdalena Zabłotna, which give me not so much a duty as a right to build a closer relationship with God, not so much to imitate as to remain with Jesus, but thus continuing to become more and more like Him. The vows I took - the evangelical counsels - made me His property to love everyone in Him; to make faith my wealth; to seek only God's will, not mine. A joyful day, a solemn day, because apart from the religious family, my relatives, family and friends were witnesses of the event. The solemn Holy Mass was presided over by Fr. Wiktor Trojnar and the homily was delivered by Fr. Kamil Cieliński, assuring that it will not be easy, but it will be beautiful;) The joy of the act of profession was extended by sharing a common table in the refectory, during a gala dinner and the joy of mutual presence. With my prayer, I embrace all those who have supported and support me on the path of consecrated life which is only just beginning. The end of the novitiate is not the finish but the start, step by step to be led by God to be the sister He wants me to be.     Sr. Justyna Wijatyk
Our connections and relationships

Our connections and relationships

Nov 5, 2022 | POSITIVE IMPULSES

Our connections and our relationships are not the same. Connections are making use of each other. Relationships are walking together. Connections are selfish motivated. Relationships are selfless. Connections move forward based on maintaining common interests. Relationships move forward based on sacrificing individual interests. Connections end when one is no more useful. Relations are forever. We can add lot more differentiating elements. Invest in relations and not in connections. Because relations are sacred, connections are fleeting. Don Giorgio
I am the vine (John 15:5)

I am the vine (John 15:5)

Nov 5, 2022 | SPIRITUALITY

Wine - as old as mankind? Wine is an ancient cultural asset. Since the earliest times, people have grown wine, cultivated it, drunk it at festivals and celebrations, and last but not least experienced its intoxicating effect. All of this can also be found in the scriptures of the Bible. In this way, Jesus also takes up the image of the vine in his preaching in order to address a beautiful theme: the bond with God.     Connected or disconnected The theme of the metaphor of the vine is actually clear. Remain in me, then I will remain in you. And only if you abide in me can you bear rich fruit. Of course, if I cut the grapes, they can no longer grow, but dry up. And if I detach myself from the mountain guide's rope during a mountain hike, it's possible that I'll slip and, in the worst case, fall. So, it seems sensible to remain connected to the vine or the mountain guide's rope.   Communion - connection with Christ In his metaphorical speech, Christ now addresses the connection to him. Only if you abide in me can you bear rich fruit. What does this bond with Christ look like? Spiritual exercise: how would you describe your communion with Christ? Prayer, having time for him, living up to his commandments...?   Communion subject to conditions? Jesus himself describes how the connection with him could look like. If you keep my commandments, you will remain in my love. The sentence reminds me of my school days: If you're good, I'll read you something. So, as students, we have to pay in advance before we get anything from the teacher. Is that the same with God? Do we have to earn His grace first?   God takes the first step The Bible has a different order: - Vocation narratives: God calls. Then comes the story of the called one; and despite all failures, God does not turn back his calling. - Rule and serve: Jesus not only speaks of serving, he is the first to do so (washing of feet); to this poem by Goethe: Legend. - Forgive: Jesus reaches out to people and this radically changes people's lives. Example: Zacchaeus. So, it is not man who makes the advance payment, but God. A gracious God. joy in the gospel A few years ago, Pope Francis issued an apostolic exhortation. Title: Joy in the Gospel. I enjoyed reading it very much. The Pope's imagery alone impressed me. "The church is not a customs post, but a father's house." And elsewhere "The church is a house with open doors." Open doors - by this the pope means not only the church doors, but open doors for the people, and open for the sacraments the church. Sacraments are not rewards for a good life, but strengthening for the weak. So, it's the other way around: we don't have to make advance payments, but rather God gives his love undeservedly and gratuitously. So, he wants us to stay on the vine and keep in touch with him.   stay in my love In his first encyclical, Pope Benedict XVI writes: about love He distinguishes between two types of love. One kind is a love that flares up quickly but then dies out just as quickly. The other kind of love grows slowly, but is long-lasting and constant. In his metaphor of the vine, Jesus invites us to search for that abiding love.   Free espresso In Naples there was once a beautiful habit. If someone was in a particularly good mood and drank an espresso in a bar, they would pay two instead of one. The second coffee was reserved for a guest who would come after him and who could not pay for it. So, a gesture of humanity. I can well imagine the surprise when someone wants to drink an espresso and doesn't have to pay for it. Surprises of this kind change life and bring light into the often-dull everyday life. In the Bible one often reads of such surprises. The fact that there is no direct encounter between the donor and the recipient is remarkable. Poor guy doesn't know who to thank. This reminds me of the rules of charity in ancient Judaism. There is a room with two doors. The givers enter through one door and deposit their offerings. After they leave, the poor come through the other door and receive the offerings. This does not create any dependency. An act of dignity for the recipient. But even the donor does not know who is getting his espresso. Maybe a friendly person, but maybe also a completely unsympathetic type. And yet he gets the support. For me, this gesture breathes a vastness that I think is great. I experience that with God. He does not make his donations dependent on sympathy or gratitude. He just gives away. A bountiful vine.   Prelate Dr. Stefan Dybowski 09/09/2022 Monthly Lecture St. Franziskus Hospital, Berlin-Tiergarten 09/20/2022 Monthly Lecture Monastery St. Augustine, Berlin-Lankwitz