He directly was saying that the words of Jesus: “This is my body for you”, should be the “Formula of Life” for us. Our own sacrifice. Self-offering. The center of spirituality of priests… And, he encouraged to make more deep the spirit of constant gratitude to God for the gift that we have received. He learned this gratitude from John Paul II. His former secretary was learning it. Today, he says that the Pope has embarrassed many people that despite his increasing age and illness, he did not neglect his priestly duties. He baptized, gave confirmation, confessed. That he spent a few hours a day praying. That he did not attach himself to material things; he did not have any belongings almost at all. Moreover, many times he appealed to priests to live modestly – recalls Archbishop Mokrzycki. So, what Pope Francis says today is nothing new. Except that these words fall in another, more difficult time for the Church. The Holy Father understood this mechanism well. He was afraid that priests who did not live modestly would cease to be credible to the faithful. He has also talked about this many time in Poland. As in 1987, in Szczecin: “You have to be in solidarity with the people. Your lifestyle should be close to the average, yet, rather poorer family.”
With the permission of Archbishop Mieczysław Mokrzycki – “A place for everybody”
“Znak” Publishing House, Krakow 2013
