During Lent we hear the Lord's call to perform good deeds. We could ask: what kind of deeds? They are prayer, fasting and almsgiving.
Olsztyn, March 3, 2025
Jesus Christ be praised!
Dear Benefactors,
perhaps the melodies of favorite carols are still ringing in our ears, and we are already beginning another Lent. These forty-day spiritual exercises are reminiscent of Israel's wandering through the desert. The adversities the Israelites experienced on the road brought them closer to God and to each other. God wanted this to be a time for the chosen people to purify themselves, deepen their bonds, realize their special election, and ignite their love. Paradoxically, it was in these hardships that God revealed to them a broader plan for their spiritual growth.
Sprinkling ashes on our heads on Ash Wednesday, the priest exhorts: Repent and believe in the Gospel (Mk 1:14). Conversion of the heart is a change of thinking, valuing and, consequently, of life.
During Lent we hear the Lord's call to perform good deeds. We could ask: what kind of deeds? They are prayer, fasting and almsgiving. However, they are not just a measure of Lenten asceticism. They are first and foremost a test of practical love, a stimulation to see the needs of others, to be merciful.
Lenten almsgiving has great, though often unconscious, power. In the Book of Tobias, we read: Almsgiving frees from death and cleanses from every sin. Those who give alms will be saturated with life (Tob 12:9). Contrary to appearances, it's not just about money. Today it is more about the need for heart, affection, love, presence... Sometimes it takes really little to bring joy into the life of another person.
This year we want to invite you, dear Donors, again to join us in "Lenten Alms for Missions." Thanks to the missionaries, this almsgiving, expressed in a monetary offering, will truly become an expression of your love and symbolic presence in the lives of people in need of help in Chad, the Philippines and Cameroon.
In the village of Gam, Chad, where Father Edward Ryfa works, the material needs of his parishioners are immense. The missionary tries on an ongoing basis to address the successive crises of the local population, both spiritual and material. A peculiar feature of his missionary service is his great concern for mundane matters, such as building schools and health clinics, and digging more deep wells - sources of clean drinking water. Thanks to our alms, Father Edward wishes to realize another project, insanely important for the spiritual development of the parish - the expansion of the St. Thomas the Apostle chapel into a parish church, which will be able to accommodate the ever-growing community of Catholics in the mission area.
In the latest issue of our "MISSIONS" magazine, in an interview titled: "Christ is at the center," at the end of the interview, a missionary from Finland points out the greatest need for the Catholic Church in that country - the lack of enough priests. Unfortunately, similar voices are coming from all over the world today. The Dehonian missionary community in the Philippines has for many years welcomed many candidates for the priesthood. However, several years of training and spiritual preparation for ministry entails expenses to cover theological studies at St. Francis Xavier University in Cagayan de Oro on the island of Mindanao. Tuition is $1,200 per semester. Most clerics come from families that cannot afford such an expense. Our donations will certainly contribute to the vocation of those who want to follow Christ.
Finally, the final project of this year's "Lenten Alms for Missions" is the construction of an elementary school in Nkonsamba, Cameroon. For several years, our Dehonian priests have been running a high school there, which is very reputable and popular. The facility, however, is too small to accommodate all applicants. Therefore, there was an idea to expand the building with a new wing that would serve as an elementary school for younger children from the city and surrounding villages. We can help them with this by donating our Lenten alms for this purpose.
From the bottom of my heart, I would like to wish all of us that the time we are about to begin together be as fruitful as possible in our lives. May Jesus enter your hearts, dear Benefactors, in which there is goodness and openness, and which love their neighbors - every human being. May this Lent be a blessed time for the entire Dehonian Missionary Family.
With prayer +
Secretary for Foreign Missions
of the Priests of the Sacred Heart in Poland
Fr. Zbigniew Chwaja SCJ
Bank account numbers for money transfers are:
For $: PL 52 1600 1462 1847 3641 5000 0009; SWIFT: PPAB PLPK
For €: PL 41 1600 1462 1847 3641 5000 0013; SWIFT: PPAB PLPK
For others: IBAN: PL 79 1600 1462 1847 3641 5000 0008; SWIFT: PPAB PLPK
