On Sunday, June 26, 2022, at 11.00 a.m. a Holy Mass was celebrated in the John Paul II Foundation Home in Lublin. The Mass was celebrated at the end of the academic year 2021/2022 and the farewell of the fifth year, for students who are ending the scholarship program. Our prayers were also extended to the Director of the Foundation’s Home, Fr Jan Strzałka, whose name day fell a few days earlier.
The Eucharist was celebrated by Fr Jan Strzałka along with Fr Robert Ptak and the scholarship recipients. At the beginning, Fr Jan thanked the scholarship recipients for the academic year they experienced together and for a gift from this year’s graduates – a new edition of the Roman Missal for Polish dioceses.
In his homily, Fr Robert recalled the words of St. John Paul II, saying that young people are the future of the world, the hope of the Church and her hope. The preacher sensitized the graduates to the fact that even after the end of the scholarship program they still remain part of the Foundation community and are to bring Christian values to the world. Referring to Fr Jan (John), he emphasized that following the example of his patron Saint John the Baptist, he points to Christ, calls for a change of life and sensitizes scholarship recipients to spiritual matters.
After the Mass, scholarship recipients Anna Prosiekova and Olga Shpynda presented several pieces for organ and violin by composers such as Johann Sebastian Bach, Charles Gounod, and Georg Fridrich Haendel.
The further part of the ceremony took place in the hall, where this year’s graduates thanked the Foundation for everything that they received and made wishes to Fr Jan for his name day. Then there were wishes and gifts for the scholarship recipients who were finishing the scholarship program and refreshments for all who were present.
Saint John Paul II, we want to be Your hope, the hope of the Church and the future of the world!
Olena Kaflovska
Photo: Agnieszka Soroka
