Apr 1, 2021 | NEWS
And when he had washed their feet, put on his garments and took his place again at the table, he said to them, “Do you understand what I have done to you? You call me “Teacher” and “Lord” and you say it well because I am. So if I, the Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you should also wash each other’s feet. For I have given you an example that you should do as I have done for you. ”
In the evening of Holy Thursday we begin the Easter Triduum, remembering the Last Supper of Jesus with the disciples in Jerusalem. He prays with them, breaks the bread and shares the chalice. With these gestures He anticipates the gift of Himself on the cross and illuminates its meaning. He then washes disciples’ feet so that they can understand the new way of life that He is giving them. Every time we take part in the Eucharist, we sit at table with Him, as at the Last Supper.
Lord Jesus,
at your Last Supper you give us the sacrament of your love.
We are called to your table you feed us with your Word,
and the gift of your body and blood.
Stay with us and invite us again to become your witnesses in the world
to wash the feet of the poor, the humble and the needy.
Let us imitate you every day, without sparing ourselves, and only out of love.
Florenzo Salvi
Giampietro Polini
Mar 31, 2021 | NEWS
Then one of the twelve, named Judas Iscariot, went to the chief priests and said, “What are you going to give me, and I will hand him over to you.” And they assigned him thirty pieces of silver. From then on, he looked for an opportunity to hand him over. [Mt 26, 14-16]
What could have prompted Judas to betray the Master and hand him over to his enemies? He was chosen by Jesus himself and called to follow him, he lived with him, he listened to his sermons, he saw miracles … But all this was not enough to convince him. Jesus did not match his expectations and those who were waiting for the Messiah, but certainly not like him! When our expectations are too high or do not match what a person is and can give, then what Judas did to Jesus may happen.
Judas, an insincere and rebellious friend,
also we are!
Forgive us, Lord!
How many times do we not hesitate to betray you and sell you for a few coins.
How many times do we turn our backs on you because we think you have let us down!
How many times do we accuse you of not being and you’re not acting like you should!
You know our fears and uncertainties the bitter taste of our Judas kisses
and after all, you always greet us as friends.
Fiorenzo Salvi
Giampietro Polini
Mar 30, 2021 | NEWS
Simon Peter said to him, “Lord, where are you going?” Jesus replied, “Where I am going, you cannot follow me now, but later you will follow.” Peter said to Him, “Lord, why can’t I follow You now? I will give my life for You. Jesus replied, “Will you lay down your life for me? Truly, truly, I say to you, the cock will not crow until you have denied me three times. [Jn 13: 36-38]
Long-suffering and fragility shine in Peter. He is ready to give his life for Jesus, but also to deny Him in order to save himself. It is a contrast that is also inherent in each of us. We are ready to do what is good and what is right, but we are also blocked by fear of the price to be paid. Only humble awareness of our handicaps helps us not to be surprised by fear in the moment of trial. Peter, only after acknowledging and crying over his denial, will he be ready to give his life for the Master.
How we are like Peter,
Lord Jesus.
We are your fearful students
who don’t know how to stay by your side
at the time of trial.
How easy it is to deny you
how dangerous it is to claim to be a friend!
How easy it is to cheat on you
when something is offered to us
which seems worth more than you.
Don’t leave us in temptation.
Forgive us and trust us again if we’ve done wrong.
Florenzo Salvi
Giampietro Polini
Mar 29, 2021 | NEWS
Six days before the Passover, Jesus came to Bethany, where Lazarus lived, whom Jesus had raised from the dead. Here a dinner was given in Jesus’ honor. Martha served, while Lazarus was among those reclining at the table with him. Then Mary took about a pint of pure nard, an expensive perfume; she poured it on Jesus’ feet and wiped his feet with her hair. And the house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume.
[John 12, 1-3]
Jesus also had friends. The family of Martha, Maria and Lazarus was certainly a point of reference, and he loved being in this house where he felt welcomed and loved. During the last supper with them, Maria makes a surprising gesture. Her love for him is so profound that she finds no other way to express it than with this very expensive perfume, poured out with exaggerated abundance, applied with gestures of extreme tenderness. It is the last real consolation for Jesus, before His Passion.
I would like to learn from Martha how to serve you,
from Lazarus to be with you,
from Maria, to show you my generous love
poured out like precious oil with exaggerated abundance.
I would like your presence to smell in my home, in my family, in my community …
Jesus, let me live each day in deep friendship with You.
Fiorenzo Salvi
Giampietro Polini
Mar 24, 2021 | FORUM, NEWS
I was born in Berlin on September 12, 1937, at nine o’clock, on a Sunday.
I am the only child.
After the First World War, my parents emigrated from Poland, near Berlin, to the town of Burgwall. There we had a large shop that had everything: food, toys, bedding. I have always been happy to be there. I remember that the store was visited not only by Poles, but also by Jews, Russians and Germans.
When I was 4, my father was shot. After this situation, my uncle took my mother and me to Poland, near Chojnice. We moved to Lipka (Złotów poviat), where I spent my later childhood and adolescence.
When I was 8 my mother got married for the second time.
As my parents did not want a flat in Lipka, we moved to Słupsk. I graduated from primary school there. As a teenager, I started working with my mother, cleaning catechetical rooms at the parish. I also earned extra money by cleaning the dentist’s office and the rooms at the Canonesses.
I went to Chojnice for a year, to a boarding house for girls, which was run by the Franciscan Sisters of the Passion. There were seventy girls there. There we gained knowledge in the field of good manners. The sisters taught us to behave properly at the table and in different places, we did various manual work, we learned to cook. Later I returned to my family home.
From childhood, I wanted to become a nun. There were sisters in Słupsk, where I lived with my parents, but I did not want to go to any congregation that was close to my family home, but to go somewhere further.
When I was about twenty, I found an address for our sisters in the “Catholic Guide” newspaper. Then I told my mother that I wanted to go to the monastery. My mother took this information very calmly, she even said: “When my cousin went to the convent, you can also go, she was an only child and you are an only child.”
It was evident that it was good news to my mother, so I decided to write a letter to the address I found. Mom read it, agreed to send it, and then saw an envelope with the address to which the letter was to be sent. After a moment of reflection, she said: “You are going to those sisters with whom I gave birth to you.”
I was surprised by what my mother said, I did not understand it and seeing my surprise, she told me what it was like when I was born: “There were Elizabethan Sisters not far from our house in Burgwall, and when I had labor pains, I went to see them because they had a delivery room. Unfortunately, due to the fact that there were no more places in the hospital, they refused to admit me, so I drove 50 kilometers further, all the way to Berlin. There I found a delivery room at the Sisters of Mary Immaculate. And that’s where you came into the world with them. ”
And so I found out that I was born in Berlin to our sisters, whom I wanted to join as an adult girl. God guides us in amazing ways.
* * * *
My mother taught me to forgive, thank, apologize and pray, and not resent the other person. She repeated that she should always be reconciled, despite the fact that each of us is different. I have to always pray and forgive.
This is what my mother taught me and I tried to practice this in my religious life, and I wish this for each of us in this Year of Unity in our Congregation.
S.M. Kryspina
Mar 17, 2021 | NEWS
In the Church, every Year we have feast of St. Joseph. It is March, the month when in our Congregation, through novena, fasting and pilgrimage to the Shrine of the Guardian of Families in Kalisz, we are preparing for the celebration of the Spouse of the Blessed Virgin Mary.
It was in this context that I had the thought to share with the Sisters that what I have experienced recently.
When Sister Provincial Superior called me in the spring of 2019, I was at school, I had a “window” between lessons. The conversation concerned postgraduate studies organized by the Child Protection Center at the Ignatius Academy in Cracow. I was surprised because after over twenty years in catechesis, having many household chores, I did not take into account such an eventuality. I thought, are there no younger Sisters in the Province? And the name of the course was also not attractive: prevention of sexual violence against children and youth! At the same time, I felt that this wish was a kind of challenge for me. I saw the continuity between the issues of the suggested postgraduate studies and the earlier preparation for teaching, not only religion, but also family life education. The Provincial Sister also said that the representative of the Child Protection Center sent through the Consultation information to the Major Superiors of Religious Affairs and a request to send representatives of their congregations for such training in connection with the increasingly revealed problem of sexual abuse in the Church. So I took up the challenge. Later it turned out that the majority of our faculty are middle-aged people. You can see some life experience was necessary to bear the burden of the issues discussed.
How does this have to do with St. Joseph? Now, That Guardian of the Church was God’s Son’s first Guardian. He gave Jesus a home and a sense of security when as a child he was most vulnerable and exposed to many dangers. And as a righteous man he took Mary with him, although he needed God’s intervention to make such a decision and, not fully understanding everything, he protected life, he protected man.
When reports on the abuse of minors by clergy (and not only) appear in the media over and over again, their authors are rather not for the good of the Church. Listening to the sisters’ reactions to this type of material in the communities, one can often hear about a campaign, fight or lies directed at the Church. However, this relatively new situation can also be viewed a bit differently, because the problem has existed for a long time and is not isolated. It appeared in earlier centuries, and in recent decades, clear actions in counteracting crimes within the scope of the sixth commandment against minors were undertaken by St. John Paul II, Benedict XVI and now Pope Francis. Let us try to see in these events an opportunity to move from a clerical culture that favors concealing abuses, to an evangelical culture, where every human person with whom Jesus identifies himself counts more in the words:
They made the smallest of these cities ”(Mt 25:40). It is also an opportunity to move from a misunderstood culture of discretion – protecting the perpetrator and blaming the victim, to a culture of transparency – building a sense of security and respecting the dignity of every human being. Such a path can be difficult, but it serves the credibility of the Church. In this way, the words of Christ prove true: “You will know the truth, and the truth will make you free” (Jn 8:32).
Our place in the Church is with the weakest, with whom the world cares the least. This has been the case since the time of the Founder and the first Sisters of Mary Immaculate. Hence, the Patron of our Congregation is a model for us how to protect children, young people and women against violence, not only sexual but also in other forms, also in cyberspace. Looking at St. Joseph We do not find in the Bible a single word that he spoke. This is how he teaches us to listen. Listening to God and listening to man – listening attentive, compassionate, supportive, which leads to providing concrete help to specific people. This is what victims of violence need to listen to with respect, understanding, without showing strong emotions, and let them believe that they are telling us the truth. They expect help or at least some hints or indications. Saint Joseph appears to us as a man subject to religious and secular law. In this way, we learn from him, to respect and comply with applicable law. In terms of sexual abuse, it is related to the skillful response to attempts to reveal or visible symptoms of abuse present in our charges or people with whom we cooperate. It is also about taking appropriate action in cooperation with appropriate representatives of the Church and state bodies.
It is also worth bearing in mind that the perpetrators and accomplices of sexual abuse also include women, mothers, teachers and carers. Therefore, let us be transparent all the more, let us live evangelically by following the words of the Lord Jesus, which have proved so successful in the life of St. Joseph and his Immaculate Bride: “So it is not the will of your Father in heaven that one of these little ones should perish” (Mt 18:14). Let us try to protect children, because our Lord identifies with them: “whoever accepts one such child in my name welcomes me” (Mt 18: 5). Often the victim becomes the perpetrator. Thus, by conducting preventive activities, we contribute to a gradual reduction in the scale of the phenomenon causing so many human tragedies, which victims often start talking about only years later, as adults, because earlier shame and helplessness shut their mouths off.
To conclude my reflection, I would like to ask you to pray for victims of violence, especially victims of sexual violence – its unfortunate effects come after years also due to the disbelief of the environment that something like this could have happened. Working in many institutions as a catechist, I have personally encountered students who are victims of sexual violence in the family … Such wounds heal for a very long time, sometimes throughout ones life. Now, looking at the image of Saint Joseph in our home chapel every day, I am moved by the loving care with which he holds a small, defenseless Jesus in his hands. It is an invitation for me to care for those whom I serve, like the Guardian of the Son of God.
Sr. M. Michaela
