Join caroling, nativity plays, sharing the Christmas wafer, wishes, friendly atmosphere, all these accents put in the Christmas mood of supporters and members of the John Paul II Foundation, who gathered at the annual Christmas meeting, on December 11, 2022, at the Princess Manor restaurant in Greenpoint. The official part was opened by the president of the New York Chapter of the John Paul II Foundation – Mieczysław Pająk, who welcomed the gathered, mentioned the Polish tradition of sharing the Christmas wafer and made wishes to all guests. Fr Józef Szpilski, the Chaplain of the Chapter, blessed the Christmas wafers and talked about the religious and spiritual character of Christmas, as well as the symbolism of breaking the Christmas wafer: “The sign of breaking bread is a family gesture of love. Bread is a symbol of love and life. We must be like bread to others. Let mutual love be our best, as the most Christlike, wish for Christmas.” After these words, everyone took the Christmas wafers and made Christmas and New Year wishes to each other.
The artistic program featured students of the Polish School of Education operating at the Our Lady of Czestochowa and St. Casimir parishes of Brooklyn. Young people presented nativity plays interspersed with carols, which put us in a joyful, festive mood. An important part of the ceremony was the renewal of the oath of the board of the New York Chapter, which was accepted by Fr. Andrzej Salwowski. During the meeting, a raffle was held, the proceeds from which was transferred to the further development of the John Paul II Foundation. Gifts were given by St. Nicholas who came to the ceremony. The chronicler Zofia Twarowska encouraged to generously support the organization, who made contact with the scholarship recipients of the Foundation from the Foundation’s Home in Lublin and quoted their words of gratitude to all donors for scholarship help for young people studying at the Catholic University of Lublin and the John Paul II University in Krakow.
Our Christmas meeting ended with dinner and join Christmas carols singing. This annual ceremony was attended by members of the Foundation, priests from Polish parishes and from Poland as well as representatives of Polish diaspora organizations: the Polish-Slavic Center, the Central Office of Polish Supplementary Schools in America as well as teachers and directors of Polish schools with students.
Zofia Twarowska
