Our holy Founder encouraged the Oblates that, like the Apostle Paul, we preach Jesus Christ, and Him crucified... and this is what the mission preachers who have come to our Province to preach Lenten retreats in our Polish parishes are doing.

One of them is Fr. Sylwester Maćkiewicz OMI, who comes from Iława, a missionary oblate since 2007 when he made his first vows. Why did he become an oblate? As he said himself, he can't explain it. “I trusted in the confluence of events and the people I met, such as my friend Sławek and the fathers Kazimierz and Mirosław. When I got to know the figure of St. Eugene de Mazenod, everything became clearer.”

Father Sylwester was ordained a priest in 2013 in Obra. At first he worked in parish pastoral ministry and for the past nine years he has been ministering as a preacher, and retreat leader. He lives in the Oblate community in Grotniki near Łódź where, as he says, is his “starting point” for the entire Poland, and now, also for more than half of Canada.

This is Fr. Sylwester’s first time in Canada. What impression does the Canadian land make on him? “Canada's nature is beautiful. The people, although of different nationalities, live rather peacefully. Traffic on the streets is calmer than in Poland. As I heard, it is probably because of fear of fines 😊. I also notice and experience a lot of kindness.”

When asked about his ministry, Fr. Sylwester answered this way:
“The ministry of a retreat leader has, as the classic saying goes, positives pluses and positives minuses. Because, in contrast to the arduous, difficult and demanding pastoral work, the time of retreat is a time of special work of God's grace, which allows people to experience a beautiful encounter with the Lord Jesus. On the other hand, there is a danger of which we have to be aware, that is, there may be a temptation that the people will give all the credit to the preacher for this encounter. Of course, God can do infinitely more and better without a preacher. It is true - that He entrusts this work to me, because He has so decided; in this way He shows His love to me. However, one must be careful and not allow a human praise to replace humility”.

And how is preaching a Lenten retreat to compatriots in Canada?

“Well. I came here quite tense, stressed, probably very unsure of myself. However, the very first retreat in Hamilton helped me relax. That is, I felt at home, I felt under my feet as it was Polish soil. Each next parish, each confrere and each compatriot I met made me preach with more and more confidence. In general, I can say that there is not much difference between preaching here and retreats in Poland. The same is true of attendance. I can see that material prosperity (not the only factor, of course), which in Poland is reaping a growing harvest of apostasy, has already reaped it in great abundance in the West. And it is still reaping.  Apart from the generation of older people who came to Canada with the faith and remain in it, young people (20 - 40 years old) in the church are really few. They are not there, nor are the children.

What to do about it? Is there a remedy? Some pastoral idea for the Canadian Polish community? And at the same time for the Polish community in Poland?

I hope that we all see more and more clearly that assimilating to the world’s way of thinking does not build the Church, but as always destroys. That the adoption of various ideologies, the introduction into the Church of novelties that have not been there for twenty centuries, or ideas of the coolness of the Christian life work to the contrary. For ultimately it is not our efforts, but God's grace, which is poured into the Church through the ministry of priests, that transforms people's hearts and unites them to Christ. Our role is to enable God to do this, or at least not to impede it.

Therefore, I propose the idea of St. Pius X, of which Benedict XVI reminded the Church years ago: ‘Renew everything in Christ’. But not in the Christ of our imagination, but only in the Christ hidden in the Eucharist. For it is the one true Christ.

It is therefore necessary to renew faith in the real presence in the Eucharist of the same Jesus Christ who walked the earth two thousand years ago and died on the cross. The One who performs the work of salvation during the Mass. The same One who did not stop healing the sick and raising the dead. The One who touched lepers and did not spread disease. The One before whom one must humbly fall to one's knees, even if His Body is barely visible to the naked eye. The One who is worthy of our Adoration, of our time, of our sacrifice, even to the point of giving His life in the manner of St. Tarsitius, for example.

If we priests, in Poland and Canada, and all over the world, treated the Body of Christ as it is worthy of it, with faith and respect, then it would be easier for lay people too to accept this truth that for this piece of Bread it is worth coming to church, traveling even tens of kilometers, sacrificing several hours. It is necessary to show our faithful that the church is not a place of social gathering, but a place of abode of God, who, although He is everywhere, it is only at Mass that He gives His Body as food for eternal life. It is necessary for all of us to grasp that Holy Communion must be received with the greatest reverence, and not like cookies....

This is the only, or at least the most pressing pastoral idea I have discovered in these twelve years of priesthood. I discovered, not invented, because this is, after all, what the Church was founded by Christ to do.

The second idea is to encourage the beautiful, patient, reverent celebration of the Sacrament of Penance and Reconciliation, because, after all, it is closely related to and flows from the Eucharist. Of course, the second idea, in fact, is the same thing. Because with the Eucharist and Confession is like the commandments of love: there are two, but love is one.

In conclusion, we can say that as long as there are ministers of these sacraments, let us not throw up our hands, but let us be converted ourselves. Let us prayerfully ask for a deep faith for the whole Church, which is not only priests and bishops, but most of all the laity. Let us also pray for holy vocations to the priesthood, because without them it will be bad. I think an analogy can be used here: a woman confessed that she prayed for a good husband, and she has a good husband; and the husband did not pray for a good wife, so he has what he has....
The same can happen to us: if we don't pray for good, holy priests, it will be... you can imagine yourself.

My very warm greetings to all readers!

And maybe - see you around!”

With blessings +

Fr. Sylwester Maćkiewicz OMI

(transl/correct: TJ OMI/D.Janulewicz OMI; photos: Fr. Sylwester, Anna Ottowicz)