Formation is so critical if we are serious about the salvation of our soul. After ten years of formation within the Franciscan charism, Saint Francis of Assisi introduced me to a dear friend of his, Saint Dominic. My great grandmother, God rest her soul asked her priest during the II World War what she can do to help the men and women fighting on the frontline. Her priest advised her to join the Third Order of Saint Dominic and pray for them. She left this earth in 1995 . Her Dominican Rite a small black book was left behind and one day during my special visit to see my grandmother, we were praying this one and only time in her home together. We prayed at church of course but never in her home. It was a lovely time. She also gave me the option of choosing a photo of her mother and I chose the one picture of her and my great grandfather in Poland on Pilgrimage with nuns, priest, seminarians, single, and married couples. That picture kicked off a beautiful legacy. We traveled to Poland to see John Paul II, we visited Auschwitz, and attended Our Lady of Czestochowa. It was there I learned about Maximillian Kolbe who was Martyred for his faith. That experienced changed my life, and God from that point on was inviting me more deeply into a personal relationship with him through the living legacy of my Polish ancestors. Needless to say, that defining moment of visiting the shrine, and the cell where St. Kolbe was martyred, sent my life in a direction that led me on a real journey that focused primarily on God and what he wanted out of my life. I died to myself so I could live truly live in him. This letter to my father opened up my mind so I could get to the heart of the matter. The heart of Jesus Christ living in me. I emptied myself of myself and filled myself with Jesus. And the desire to save souls. Not only in my families lineage but in a society who may want to understand Jesus more fully, and not really know how to begin.
