Dear Parishioners and Friends,

When I am offering funeral rites, I usually choose the passage from the Gospel: “Let not your heart be troubled”. These words are full of warmth and comfort. I’m also struck by the untroubled nature of the apostles, their enrapture in the moment. “Lord, we do not know where you are going. So how can we know the way? “Thomas asks this question at the Last Supper. He still does not understand much. He is lost and asking: “Lord Jesus, what do you mean?” Even today a man faithfully following Jesus does not always grasp everything. Sometimes he asks like an apostle: Lord, where is this proper way? There are many things that we do not know yet, that we do not understand. “We see like it in a mirror, vaguely … I know in part …” writes St. Paul. God does not answer all our questions, He does not explain everything. He teaches us to live and move forward with our questions. Replies appear gradually. God’s truth is not the intellect but the lived experience, which is following Jesus, trying to live as He is. Humbly, trusting the Father more than oneself. When we look back on the journey, from the perspective of the years, we often discover the meaning of each event, we understand better what the Lord meant. When we look ahead, many things are still unclear.
Philip asks Jesus, “Lord, show us the Father, and that’s enough for us.” This question is also close to us. Who would not want to see God? How many years am I in the Church? How long have I traveled with Jesus? How many confessions, Holy Communion, sermons, retreats, prayers, inspirations, meetings …? Maybe, like Philip, I’m expecting something unusual, unique, and not recognizing God present in everyday life?
On Saturday, May 13th, 75 children from our School of St. Constance and Religious Education Program REP, received their First Holy Communion. This will be for you dear children, always a special day – the day when the Lord Jesus came to you for the first time in the form of the Eucharist. This year falls precisely on the 100th anniversary of the apparitions of the Mother of God, to three children: Francis, Jacinta and Lucia at Fatima. This is your next step, dear children, on the way of knowing Jesus and loving Him with all your heart. You will learn it every day by reading the Word of God, participating in the sacraments, praying with the family, and in the community of the Church.
I am very grateful to Zofia Czarny, the Coordinator of the Polish Rosary Circles, all those who pray with zeal, all members of the Living Rosary Group and all those who supported the erection of the statue of Our Lady of Fatima, commemorating the 100th anniversary of the Apparitions of the Mother of God. Thank you very much to the Chicago artist Mr. Leonard Szczur for the tremendous contribution of work in carving this statue, which is a beautiful ornament for our church. Thank you to His Excellency Bishop Andrzej Wypych, who dedicated this figure, all priests, deacons, religious sisters, and all who participated in this moving service. May Our Lady help us all to faithfully follow her Son Jesus Christ to the Heavenly Father’s House.
God bless!