I am the way, the truth and the life.

Wyjechałem na kilka dni. Mogę wymienić kilka powodów: żeby morze wyleczyło moje ręce. I kostkę – chyba o kostce nie wspominałem; żeby spotkać się z Polakami; żeby zrobić kilka przemyśleń zanim zacznie się zawierucha ze zmianą parafii. Morze jest cudowne, ale tym razem szczypało!!! Cóż, mam jedną koszulkę z napisem NO PAIN NO GAIN – modyfikacja łacińskiego PER ASPERA AT ASTRA.

Przez trudy do gwiazd.

Przy okazji ułożyłem kazanie. Oczywiście te najbardziej kwieciste zdania ściągnąłem z Internetu, lub ktoś podpowiedział mi jak wstawić moje myśli w angielską gramatykę. Ale napracowałem się nad całokształtem i jutro wygłoszę je w parafii. Zagram też na gitarze, a co tam!

Przyszło mi też do głowy, że od czasu do czasu mogę podzielić się z Wami moim kazaniem. Ci, którzy mają problem z angielskim – sorry, musicie sobie jakoś poradzić.

NO PAIN NO GAIN.

5 Niedziela Wielkanocna, 18.05.2014

Aha – to rocznica naszych święceń. Pozdrawiam moich kursowych!

Jesus gave His disciples a farewell speech, every single sentence of this speech is important but I will use only one for today’s reflection -  “I am the way, the truth and the life.” As we reflect on these words, let me tell you true stories from three different books.  Sometime ago National Geographic published the list ‘THE 100 GREATEST ADVENTURE BOOK OF ALL TIME.’ I was glad when I found that some books that I read before and really liked were on the list. I would like to tell three stories from these books, keeping in mind our theme – I am the way, the truth and the life. 

The first book is WIND, SAND AND STARS by Antoine de Saint-Exupery. Saint Exupery was a writer who was also a mail pilot in the 1920’s. Remember, at that time there was no GPS and so he travelled from France to Spain across the Pyrenees to the Andes mountains through all kinds of weather.  He had bad maps, no radio and the engine of his plane would quit from time to time. Once he crashed in the Libyan Desert and had to survive without water.  His book contains 8 stories and the second story tells of Guillaumet who crashed in the mountains and had to endure the high altitude with no food or water.  However, he had the determination to defy the odds and found his way back to his fellow pilots after a week.  I cannot understand what he went through but he sums it up in this statement, “I swear that what I went through, no animal would have gone through.”

The second book, KON TIKI is by the Norwegian Thor Heyerdahl and tells the story of his travels from Peru to Polynesia on a raft made of 9 balsa wood logs, a big square sail, a bamboo ‘cabin’ with a roof made of banana leaves.  He and his companions put his life at risk to discover the truth – that the South Pacific was settled from the East.

The third book Annapurna, by Maurice Herzog (1952) No one had ever climbed an 8,000-meter (26,250-ft.) peak when Herzog led a team of the best climbers in France to Annapurna in 1950. Maps were sketchy; they had trouble even finding the peak. They climbed without oxygen. The weather was bad. Nevertheless, Herzog and Louis Lachenal made it to the top. But on the descent, disaster: lost gloves, frostbite, an avalanche. When rescue came, Herzog had almost given up and could hardly move. He lost all his fingers and thus did not write but dictated this book.

What are the essential parts in a great adventure story? The Latin root of the word, oddly enough, means "an arrival," but adventure almost always entails a going out, and not just any going out but a bold one: Sail the Pacific on a balsa raft; pit your skills against K2 peak; sledge to the South Pole. It is a challenge whose outcome is unknown but whose risks you can feel, a challenge someone meets with courage, brains, and effort—and then survives, we hope, to tell the tale.

I am the way, the truth and the life. Jesus wants our life to be an adventure. He wants us to live our life to the fullest and His invitation is to everyone.  It doesn’t matter how much money you have.  When you travel on this path you do not need expensive equipment and your age doesn’t matter.  It is never too late to start this adventure and it is never too early – it is always the right time.  Jesus does not demand that we climb the K2 peak or to sail across the ocean. The challenge He gives us is different.

The Ten Commandments

1.      I am the LORD your God:
you shall not have
strange Gods before me.

2.      You shall not take
the name of the LORD your God in vain.

3.      Remember to keep holy the LORD'S Day.

4.      Honor your father and your mother.

5.      You shall not kill

6.      You shall not commit adultery.

7.      You shall not steal.

8.      You shall not bear false witness
against your neighbor.

9.      You shall not covet
your neighbor's wife.

10. You shall not covet
your neighbor's goods.

This is the adventure that Jesus calls you to.  I am the way - do you have the determination like Guillaumet to find the way? I am the truth – are you as brave as those on the raft to live in the truth? I am the life – the one who climbs the Himalayas takes the risk, the one who dives takes the risk – some say it is foolishness. But another one says ‘no risk, no fun.’ Are you ready to take the risk and do everything to gain Eternal Life?

Humans hunger for adventure and most times it is voluntary – people choose to go out and explore or climb or fly alone across vast oceans. However, adventure is sometimes thrust upon us. These, too, are tests of courage and endurance. We stay up all night to see what happens. If someone wrote a book about your relationship with God, would it be an adventure story?

Brothers and sisters, once I promised to sing for you – we know that the rest of my time here at Sts. Peter and Paul is short and now I will pray for you through song and entrust our way of life to Jesus. That is what this song is about. I will sing for you in Polish but let me read the translation.

When fate mixes up the ways

And when it covers eyes with haze

Have faith

And do not be afraid

And when anger surrounds your world

and the envy starts spreading like weed

Have faith

And do not be afraid

Please,  guide me

I entrust my way to you

Please  guide me

My Lord

Guide me just as you guide him

Through the straightest ways there are

And show me one

Show me one of them

And when I hear your voice

And keep feeding myself with it

Have faith

And do not be afraid.

Gdy drogi pomyli los zły

I oczy mgłą zasnuje

Miej w sobie tę ufność

Nie lękaj się

A kiedy gniew świat ci przysłoni

I zazdrość jak chwast zakiełkuje

Miej w sobie tę ufność

Nie lękaj się

Ty tylko mnie poprowadź

Tobie powierzam mą drogę

Ty tylko mnie poprowadź

Panie mój

Poprowadź jak jego prowadzisz

Przez drogi najprostsze z możliwych

I pokaż mi jedną

Tę jedną z nich

A kiedy już głos Twój usłyszę

I karmić się będę nim co dzień

Miej w sobie tę ufność

Nie lękaj się