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Santa Cruz, 30th December 2007
Today's weather is very changeable. Once it is sunny and a moment later clouds show up and it starts raining heavily. It is a little bit muggy. Only from time to time the wind brings some fresh air. Today we have the last Sunday of the year - the Holy Family Sunday. A few days ago we celebrated Christmas. Now... the New Year's Eve is before us. Another year has finished... a year which has been similar to today's weather. We have experienced all kind of feelings - joy, reverie, some failures but also new dashes and motivations to take further actions. I am waiting for the New Year with anxiety, but also with hope. I believe that God has already planned it for us and He will give us strength to carry out His plans. I wish this to you and to myself from the bottom of my heart.
How was your Christmas? Your midnight masses, Christmas trees at home, meetings with your families? Not to mention all the delicious things you tasted. After all Christmas dishes are special. Especially those traditional ones. They are different, depending on the region and local traditions and customs, but they are special for sure.
The last few days before Christmas were a little bit tiring for me. I worked on the orders and parcels for the vicariate till Friday evening. Bishop Anthony arrived at the town but we did not think that his plans would change so quickly. The next day in the afternoon we found out that the parson of Bishop Anthony's family parish had died. The priest George Obst was the shepherd of souls and the father of this parish for more than 41 years. The bishop's decision was quick... I'm going home for the funeral'. So we spent the whole evening on searching for the flight and in the morning our bishop was flying home. I have never seen him with such a small luggage... His journey was full of adventures but he finally got home. In such a way the parson of his family parish drew him not only to his funeral but also for Christmas in his homeland. I hope that he will rest a little before his long flight back to Bolivia.
Around Christmas time many people left this world. The earlier mentioned priest George Obst from Ligota Turawska. In Wrocław we said goodbye to our fellow-brother - Fr. Gabriel. I remember him well, especially from the time I worked in Zieleniec and I often had to go to Duszniki Zdrój. He always received us very hospitably. Another person who departed from this world was Mr. Paul Smolka, our fellow-brother's - Fr. Bonaventura's - father. Fr. Bonaventura also visited us in Bolivia this year. I had the opportunity to take part in Mr. and Mrs. Smolka's golden wedding anniversary. Bishop Anthony and I visited them in their house in Germany. Let all of them rest in eternal joy. R.I.P.
I spent my whole Christmas in Santa Cruz. I spent the time on doing pre-Christmas shopping and preparing small presents for the household members and for those who helped us all year long. We could not forget about them during Christmas time. We met on Sunday evening to give each other best wishes and sing carols because on Christmas Eve everybody was in his place. Everybody celebrated a few midnight masses and returned home late after midnight. I usually spend the Christmas Eve on my own but this year I was invited for Christmas dinner to the polish Elizabeth Sisters. We sang carols and the Christmas table was almost traditional as well. There was borsch, fish, dumplings, cabbage with mushrooms and even wafer. I missed the Silesian makówka (a traditional dish made of poppy seed)... but you cannot have everything.
I spent the first day of Christmas with... three bishops! Luckily it was nothing official. Our bishop Stanislaw from Santa Cruz invited me for dinner and I promised to prepare something on my own as well. The Sisters helped me. Two suffragan bishops came for the dinner as well. It was very calm and cheerfully and at the end we had a very good coffee and poppy-seed cake, which is a delicacy in Bolivia because it is difficult to buy poppy-seed here. People even do not know that it exists.
And that would be it. We do not celebrate the second day of Christmas. But the office is closed till New Year and I have more time to rest and to deal with my own business. Tomorrow in the afternoon I would like to go to visit our fellow-brothers, Staś and Felek in El Fortin (it is about 140 kilometres from Santa Cruz). Maybe Br. Mark from Concepcion and priests Paul and Kazimierz will come there as well. I will spend the last evening of the year 2007 with them. I am sure that, after the evening mass, we will wait to greet the New Year together. It will be calm, as it is usually in a village. So it will not be possible to get in touch with me neither through the Internet nor on the phone... If God allows, we will meet again in the New Year.
And what about your New Year's plans? It is an opportunity for many people to meet again. I wish you a lot of joy during these meetings.
The situation in the country is stable, but it is because of Christmas and New Year... Ant then everything will start again. What do we expect in this New Year...? God help us, so that there are less tensions and extreme situations in the country. People are tired of this. But as we see it in everyday news, there are tensions, wars and catastrophes all over the world. The world is being destroyed.
At the end of this letter I would like to thank you once again for all the good that I have received. For all the kind words, gestures, presents and financial help for me and for the whole missionary vicariate. Thank you for the spiritual support, your prayers and Holy Masses for me and the other missionaries.
I remember about you in my prayers. We daily pray for those who support us in every house and in every chapel of our vicariate.
I still ask you for further support. Please, be with me, be with us. God bless you for every gesture!!!
I wish you a joyful New Year's Eve and God's blessing in the year 2008!!!
Tarcisio Josef Lamik, ofm
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