Appreciation(Jesus is the reason)

Both God the Holy Spirit and His Blessed spouse, the blessed Virgin Mary, are subject to many misunderstandings. Such a sad attitude will, unfortunately, be the case until we realize that without Mary's fiat to Holy Spirits' activity, Jesus, the Divine Person so dear to each and every Christian, might not have entered the world we live in.

Holy Spirit, our best Guide, be with us,
Mary, our sweet Mother, teach us how to trust...
And, by your graces and merits, show us the way to Jesus...

--
Tomasz, Racibórz

The Fullness of Love

The symbol of French royalists(used by them during the war in the Vendée) . Of course hearts of us all shall be moulded after the Sacred Heart of Jesus

Sometimes love, this most beautiful of interpersonal relations,  is symbolized in the arts by the heart alone. Undoubtedly, such depiction refers to the romantic situation that may, at least to some extent, unite two people.  Still the symbol of a cross mounted on a heart seems to serve better as a sign of the genuine love:

The sole heart often seeks only its own pleasure, whereas  the cross enables people to love each other in season and out of season, binding the same heart tightly with its duty.

--
Tomasz, Racibórz

PS Please pray for the Italian girl, Melissa, who has been killed in recent bomb attack. And do not forget about her killers...

Do not wait for tomorrow

However everything in the Divine Economy has its reason, sometimes it is difficult to figure out what to do with particular gifts a person is granted with...

Fortunately, no matter what your gifts happen to be, there is a special key that may unlock them all at the proper time.

Ask Baby Jesus, the Blessed Virgin Mary, or St Augustine. They, among many others, will tell you: "Love and do whatever you like, so the fruits of your life may be mature...Just like your future choices."
--
Tomasz, Racibórz

PS.Thanks, M. for a bit of inspiration :).

The Shelter

How to be happy in this world, even before getting to heaven? Of course with Jesus! If you want to find Him start your journey with His Mother: no matter of the starting point, She will show you the Way. Just emulate Her –  pray, discern and then maximize your effort to see Christ...Repeat these three simple steps, just like Mary did... Then someday, hopefully, your heart may be spacious, warm,  and... Mary-like enough to shelter Our Lord himself.
--
 Tomasz, Racibórz

All Generations Will Call Me Blessed

“From now on all generations will call me blessed” 


Luke 1:48 

 Jesus and the Mother of God pointing at each other. The image, crowned with the crowns blessed by John Paul II, is displayed at Racibórz's Matka Boża Sanctuary. The Sanctuary is, by the way, my parish church.

***

Mary, no other Person in this world is accused more of distracting the faithfuls and leading them away from Christ. Mary does not need my defense since She achieved the ultimate victory over Her enemies long time ago; still I would like to sum up some facts  –  this may convince many of my Protestant friends that She has been doing more for the whole word than anyone else would ever do(with the exception of Her beloved Son). 
Below you will find only a few lines in defence of Our Lady against misinterpretations of some who falsely believe that we, the Catholics, worship Her. This is not the case since we honor Mary above any other human being, but not above Her Creator(Greek hyperdulia vs latreía).

But why to pay such a great respect to the Blessed Virgin? My answer for this is simple: Because of the role that Jesus plays in Her life. Moreover, Christ himself may confirm the following, four sure and orthodox facts about His Mother:


*Mary is filled with graces by God (should not we be like Her?),


*Under Mary's heart Jesus has been formed (do we even know how to make our hearts worthy of Him?),


*Jesus was everything for Her (could it not be said that for us all, at least sometimes, everything seems to be more important than Him?),


*She has been directed by the Will of God rather than by Her own feelings(the famous ''FIAT'' response), whereas so-called modern men seem to be driven by their emotions alone... 


Now the following question may arise:  Can't we go directly to Jesus doing this without Miriam's holy intercession? Of course we can, yet just-mentioned journey may prove extremely hard for us. 


Undoubtedly there are three dimensions in each and every man ( the spirit, body and mind); sometimes both the physical and mental spheres dominate over the spiritual one. When, in the middle of earthly affairs, thinking about God is a hard task to do, Mary is always here to point at His holy and real existence. Sometimes if a person is blessed she or he may even hear Mary's encouraging words of wisdom: ''Do not be afraid – sanctity is for human beings as well. Just try my FIAT and trust.''


Look at Her, ask God that you may be like Her, and try, as much as you can, to emulate the beautiful path of Her life: I am sure that she will shape your heart and open it to Christ, His Spirit, and eventually God the Father. You may choose to get to Heaven without Immaculata's help, but it would be far more better if you follow, whenever it is possible, the footsteps of Jesus himself...


The One who –  in His greatest Wisdom – has chosen to have Her at His side from His birth to His heavenly joy.  

-- 
Tomasz, Racibórz

The touchstone of love

Love, sacrifice and pain –  these three dimensions of the human existence are tightly interconnected.
Pain, whatever we may think of it,  is not useless – even God himself had to suffer for our common good. It is impossible, however, to bear it without love. Mix your hardship together with devotion, in other words –  flavor it with love; if you do so, each and every of your painful experience would flourish, becoming sacrificial, showing the loved ones that your love is genuine at the same time. Jesus knows it, that's why he did not end his Mission on the Holy Cross but rather began it from there, instructing us all that the real love shall serve God and His creatures without any excuses or restrictions, namely  ''In season and out of season''.
--
Tomasz, Racibórz

PS. Please pray that, if this is God's Will, I may meet, get know and marry the woman (not a girl) who is not afraid of a cross...

The Two Oceans

Sometimes people are haunted by their sinful past or – on the contrary – are afraid what will their future be. Neither the first nor the second attitude, however, may serve as a guidance for the true Christian; the one who relies on the Divine Mercy(no matter of his past) and the Divine Providence (whatever the future may bring) – the two Oceans of Hope that gushed forth from Jesus' Sacred Heart for each and every occasion.
--
Tomasz, Racibórz

Ufać(PL)

Ostatnio –  za sprawą Koleżanki (dziękuję Ci  M.) –  zacząłem medytować nad znaczeniem, rolą i specyfiką zaufania. Wierzę, iż jest tak, iż ufać można tylko Bogu  lub (zdając sobie sprawę z oczywistej różnicy) Najbliższym, których On nam dał – innym tylko wierząc. Bo zaufanie to głębsza, wzbogacona formuła wiary. Tej, która nigdy nie będzie kompletną, gdy zabraknie kochającego serca...


Warunkiem koniecznym, drugim imieniem i dopełnieniem do ufności jest –  w moim przekonaniu –   właśnie sama miłość. Ufać bowiem, to oddać serce w czyjeś ręce, oddać bez reszty – przez i dla Boga –  wiedząc, że to dobre ręce. Można wierzyć bez Miłości, przyjmując lub dając tylko słowa, lecz by ufać, potrzebne jest serce, które KOCHA i WIE.


Dlatego właśnie zaufanie zawsze dotyczy osób: nie ma zaufania bez prawdziwej miłości, ani miłości bez zaufania. Wiedzieli o tym Obrońcy Jasnej Góry, którzy wierzyli w swoje bojowe umiejętności, ale zaufali tylko Jezusowi; odwdzięczył się Im On najpiękniej jak mógł – Sercem i płaszczem własnej Matki.


Dziękuję Ci Boże za Polskę i za Maryję.


--
Tomasz, Racibórz


PS. Poniżej naprawdę godny Niej Hymn, raduj się, Matko:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0csj9I-EQSA&feature=related