Poniższy tekst, który napisałem w ramach pożegnań z
parafianami z Fort Collins, czytałem dzisiaj po każdej Mszy świętej. Zostanie on
opublikowany również w przyszłą niedzielę w gazetce parafialnej. Usłyszałem
dzisiaj wyjątkowo dużo miłych słów wypowiedzianych pod moim adresem. Parafianie żegnali się ze mną
bardzo serdecznie. Dostałem również wiele kartek z życzeniami i podziękowaniami.
Dziękowano mi zwłaszcza za moje niedzielne homilie. Wielu dodawało, że będzie
im mnie brakowało. I w większości przypadków miałem wrażenie, że nie były to tylko słowa zwykłej kurtuazji.
Nie przypuszczałem, że tak pozytywnie będą odbierać moją skromną osobę i posługę. Bogu niech będą dzięki, bo kiedy udaje się nam zrobić coś dobrego, to przecież niewielka w tym nasza zasługa. Jest
mi trochę żal opuszczać gościnne Fort Collins i całe Kolorado. Pobyt tutaj był dla
mnie naprawdę bardzo miłym i bogatym doświadczeniem, bogatym pod wieloma względami:
turystycznym, towarzyskim, naukowym a także duchowym. Po raz kolejny mogłem się
też przekonać, że jedną piękniejszych cech Kościoła jest jego uniwersalność. Zabieram
stąd ze sobą do Polski wiele dobrych, sympatycznych wspomnień, które na długo pozostaną w mojej pamięci. Myślę już jednak
coraz częściej o powrocie do kraju, choć zanim to nastąpi, czeka mnie na ziemi amerykańskiej (a także kanadyjskiej) jeszcze
sporo, jak sądzę, miłych i niezapomnianych chwil.
Dear Friends from Blessed John XXIII Church!
I remember that in my childhood, when I was living in my native village Koryciny
in Poland, I liked to sit in the room of my grandfather who willingly shared with
me the memories of his stay in America, often enriching them with various tidbits
of news and inclusions of English words. One thing that always came out of these
reminiscences was his great admiration for the United States as a rich and
powerful country. I remember that under the influence of his stories I dreamed
about my journey to America. After about forty years, my childish dream came
true. In January 2012, I asked my archbishop for permission to have a sabbatical
for a year in USA in order to learn English and carry out my scientific
research. He granted my request. I’ve been in this beautiful country since September
2012. For the first four months I lived in New York in Manhattan. At the
beginning of January I received an invitation from Father Roco to stay in Blessed John XXIII Parish. So, I decided to move
to Fort Collins in Colorado. As it
turned out, it was a very good decision which allowed me to acquire new
experiences and to meet many interesting and good people. Unfortunately, as we know, in a certain moment all good things must come
to an end. So, June 11 also my stay in Fort Collins came to the end. St. Thomas Aquinas once wrote: “The
obligation of gratitude is never ending.” So I would like to take the
opportunity to express my sincere and profound gratitude to all people who during
my stay in Fort Collins so often have showed me their kindness and goodness. I
am really very grateful for all the good help I received from them. First, I
would like to thank Father Rocco for giving me the opportunity to serve in this
parish and for offering me free room and board in the rectory. I am very grateful for his hospitality and friendship and also for the
testimony of his fervent priestly service in which I could see an expression of
love for the Catholic Church. I would like also to thank Father Tadeusz, who in
this time took care of me in such a friendly way. Before coming to Fort Collins
we knew each other quite well but we were not very close to one another. Now,
after these five months we have become, I believe, very good friends. I really
discovered him not only as a very good priest but first of all as a good man. I
am also very grateful for all those good people who helped me to improve my
English through our meetings and conversations. I thank also all parishioners
for their acceptance of my person. Thank you for the way you were listening to
me while preaching, for your patience and toleration for my poor English. Thank
you for everything. I will never forget your goodness and friendliness. God bless
you and see you in Poland!