On May 15, 2022, in the church of St. Joseph on Kahlenberg, a Holy Mass and a concert in tribute to John Paul II were held on the 102nd anniversary of his birth. The Eucharist was celebrated and the homily was delivered by Fr Krzysztof Wieliczko OSPPE, administrator of the John Paul II Foundation in Rome, specially invited to this ceremony. Fr Piotr Halczuk concelebrated the Holy Mass.
The ceremony took place in preparation for the 20th anniversary of entrusting the world to the Divine Mercy by St. John Paul II upcoming on August 17, 2022. The Sanctuary of Divine Mercy in Łagiewniki is the organizer of the action. On the initiative of the Rector Roman Krekora and Mrs. Agata Wiśniowska, the community in Kahlenberg joined this undertaking. Since October last year, every third Sunday of the month, called here “Sunday with St. Pope John Paul II”, Holy Masses are celebrated, during which a different fragment of the text of the Act of Entrustment to the Divine Mercy is considered each time.
“May in You, the triune God, they always find the source of hope” – developing this thought from the Act of Entrusting to the Divine Mercy, chosen for the month of May, Father Wieliczko spoke in his homily about Christ the Lord, who gives us a special hope – not only the hope of faith in Almighty God, but a great grace, “the so-called cardinal virtue, which we call the virtue of love.” However, in order to form the virtue of love, “we need the virtue of hope, which is especially important today”, the priest said, noting: “What is our life worth if we have no hope, or our hope is not anchored in the Lord God?” Therefore, in order to “gain the virtue of hope, to deserve this great virtue from God, we need the virtue of our holy faith” – emphasized Father Krzysztof Wieliczko.
Such a holy faith was passed on to us by John Paul II. Father Wieliczko mentioned May 13, 1981, recalling the next anniversary of the assassination attempt on the Polish Pope, when there was the desire to kill “our St. John Paul II, a man full of faith, strong hope in God, and love of another man” and who was saved by Our Lady of Fatima. The Blessed Mother gave him years to lead this world on the paths of salvation.”
On the day of his birthday, we should thank God for the great gift of our Pope’s life, for the fact that he led us “in difficult times of this life and this world, he led us to holiness” – continued Father Krzysztof Wieliczko in his homily. Looking at the figure of John Paul II, at his holiness, we always saw him with the Holy Rosary in his hand, kneeling in front of the Blessed Sacrament, thanking God “not only for his life, but for the life of each one of us; for the entire Polonia, for Poland, for the whole world. He was not only praying, but putting his words of prayer in the hands of Almighty God” – said Father Wieliczko.
Speaking about the approaching anniversary of the John Paul II’s entrustment of the entire Church to the Divine Mercy, the priest reminded that “this Church, this faith of ours needs holy people. But, this world also needs Divine Mercy. A world shrouded in coronavirus, shrouded in war in Ukraine, when so many good, noble people give their lives and suffer. This pain spreads to the entire world” – said Father Wieliczko, encouraging at the same time to pray and help all those who suffer the most and are injured, who “are deprived of freedom, from whom God is taken away”. We should ask God for “the great virtue of hope” for all of us, as after war and pain there will be a special time of grace and blessing.
Krzysztof Wieliczko thanked all who participated in the Holy Mass celebrated in the Church on Kahlenberg in front of Our Lady of Victory, who always saved the Polish nation and led it to salvation and goodness. “May Our Lady of Victory continue to lead you, all of us, to a great victory. May the faith continue to be strong in our Polish nation, may this strong virtue of hope that tomorrow will be better, that tomorrow will be more divine, always exist (…) and that we may be completely absorbed in the virtue of love,” loving our loved ones and Almighty God, and those around us. “So that they can see in us people of true faith who want not only to do good, but to make this world more Divine and oriented towards Jesus Christ” – concluded Father Krzysztof Wieliczko.
Maria Bober’s concert provided a beautiful accent to our ceremony. Maria Bober came at the invitation of the organizers from northern Germany to celebrate the anniversary of the birth of the Polish Pope and presented her original works about John Paul II, Blessed Karolina Kózkówna and the Divine Mercy. By profession and vocation she is a nurse, while by passion she is a singer with an angelic voice, singing to the Glory of God. Maria Bober presented her recital “God is Beautiful” dedicated to Blessed Karolina. The recital was created in 2012 in tribute to St. John Paul II on the initiative of Fr. Zbigniew Kucharski. Touching lyrics were arranged and accompanied by jazz musician Piotr Niedojadło. Maria Bober interspersed her concert with personal testimony of faith. Performing the last piece “Merciful Lord”, which was written two years ago after a serious illness, she shared with the audience not only her talent, praising God, but also made everyone aware of the mercy we are receiving every day.
Joanna Łukaszuk-Ritter
