God's Day"

It was supposed to be an ordinary, typical day. November raindrops drummed softly on the windows, yellowed leaves lay limply on the path leading to the church, and the faint rays of sunlight struggled to penetrate the thick clouds.

"Father, please get up!" a melodious voice announced.

Father Karol's eyes widened. "Another day in God's service," he thought, still lying in bed.

"Father, breakfast is waiting!"

He got up and, after saying his morning prayers, went downstairs.

This day, though so typical and gray, was an extraordinary one for Father Karol Wojtyła. Today, at afternoon Mass, he was to celebrate the sacrament of baptism for the first time in his life. This was all the more extraordinary because the child he was to baptize belonged to his friends: Halina and Tadeusz Kwiatkowski. In general, the last few years had been very extraordinary for him. He had just been ordained a priest, and in a few days he was supposed to leave for Rome for further studies. However, for now, he was assigned to his home parish in Wadowice.

Just as he was about to enter the dining room, he heard the voice again

: "We're falling asleep, are we? There was no need to read the Bible so late yesterday."

He whirled around. All his hopes of being able to eat breakfast quietly and sneak off to church without running into Mrs. Kazia were dashed. The owner of that voice appeared before his eyes. Her clean, slightly too short, cleaners' outfit barely hugged her curvy figure. A white, speckled ribbon held back her neatly styled, sparse hair. The woman stood with her arms folded, her gentle, green eyes staring at him as if they wanted to bore a hole.

He liked this woman, but she was too... protective.

"A good priest is a punctual priest, Mr. Karol." A motherly smile appeared on her face as she said this.

"Am I late for anything? I start hearing confessions at...

" "Seven," she finished for him. "Is it?

" "Oh my god!" he exclaimed, looking at his watch. "Thank you for breakfast, but I'll eat it later!"

He quickly grabbed his cassock from the closet and began to put it on hurriedly.

"How can you do this without breakfast? Wait, you're only in your pajamas!"

She didn't get a reply. "Father Karol was already gone.

" XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

He hurried out, fastening his clerical collar as he ran. "For the first and last time," he thought, "For the first and last time I'm late for anything." The weather wasn't particularly nice, but fortunately, the church was very close. Dodging mud puddles, he ran to the door and slipped inside. The house of God wasn't huge. It didn't gleam with splendor or gilding. Wooden Stations of the Cross hung on the walls, illuminated by faint rays of sunlight. There weren't many stained glass windows either—just three: the Virgin Mary, Joseph, and the crucified Christ. Above the altar was a painting that Father Karol greatly admired. It depicted God in the form of a kind old man, with the whole world at his feet.

Although the place wasn't lavishly furnished, it became his favorite. It was here that he received his First Communion and baptism. It was here that he immersed himself in prayer and conversation with God. This place was full of memories. Good memories.

There was no one inside (as befits the hour). The priest walked along the neat row of pews and then sat down in the dark confessional. Perhaps ten minutes had passed when he heard the subtle creak of the temple door. He peered cautiously through the opening but saw no one. "Strange," he thought. And when he sat down again in the confessional, he heard a voice so unexpectedly that he jumped with surprise.

"Praised be Jesus Christ," the emaciated man whispered quietly.

"For ever and ever, amen."

Despite the thin wooden bars that separated the confessor from the man, he was able to get a better look at him. The man was not tall. The blue shirt he wore bore numerous traces of dirt, and his trousers were badly torn.

The man looked at him and after a moment of reflection replied

, "My name is Jacek. "

A smile appeared on the priest's face.

"Nice to meet you, but what brings you to me...Jacek?

" "I won't bother you, Father...

" "Oh no," Karol said, smiling pleasantly. "You, my friend, don't bother me. You came here to confess. Now tell me what's on your conscience, because God wants to hear you.

" "Father, you say God?

" "Yes, he does."

"Good," Jacek said. "And So...

"Speak, I'm listening.

" "It doesn't make sense," the man's tone faltered. "What I did... it can't be forgiven. Even God will condemn me."

And although the corner where the confessional was located was dimly lit, the priest managed to spot a tear rolling down the man's cheek.

"God never condemns those who want to improve. He is faithful even when, instead of responding with love to God's love, a person opposes Him as a rival, when a person, overconfident in their own power, deceives themselves and breaks the bond with the One who created them. And today, on this God's day, you came to improve, so God will hear you.

" "So much wisdom. And do they really apply to me?

" "They apply to all people. Because despite all our sins, He loves us.

" "I... I," he began, "I stole."

Karol fell silent for a moment. However, after looking him straight in the eye, he said

, "Why did you do it?

" "Out of greed," the man replied curtly. "I had no choice...

" "You had no choice?" he asked

. "My parents died when I was ten. I was left alone. Completely alone. At first, I only stole food, but then... those bad thoughts... then I stole out of greed, and not necessarily food.

" "You were left alone? Did no one take care of you?

" "Alone." I grew up on the streets. Even a priest doesn't know what it's like to lose your parents...

" "I know," Karol interrupted. "But we always find comfort in the fact that the One Upstairs is with them now."

Jacek fell silent. The silence was so long it might seem irritating to someone. But Father Wojtyła didn't break it. He knew what the man was thinking now.

"What if my parents didn't get in? I don't remember them very well, but everyone said they were good people. Unfortunately, poverty ran in the family, so I don't know if God would be willing to take them...

" "Our Father doesn't care about money. Where your parents probably went, the only wealth that counts is the wealth of the soul. You don't even know how money can hinder people's entry into the Kingdom of God.

" "What about my thefts? Can God forgive them?

" "If only you repent.

" "I repent.

" "And do you promise God now to improve and find an honest job?"

This confessional should get used to silence, because it had returned. The man's expression darkened.

"I know," Karol said, "that it will be difficult for you to start your life over, but penance and conversion: that is the path not to sadness, but to liberation."

Jacek looked at the confessor once more and said confidently

, "I promise. Now, before God, I promise to improve.

" "Good, now repent of your sins."

When they finished praying, suddenly the sound of footsteps and police sirens could be heard near the church.

"It's the police," Jacek said before the priest could ask a question. "They came for me because they were chasing me from the beginning. I don't want... I'm afraid to go there.

" "You confessed to God, and before Him you are innocent. That's the most important thing. But now you must answer for your actions; you must make amends."

"Is that what you say, Father?"

He nodded.

"So, I'll go there. But now I won't be sad because God is with me. Thank you, Father, for everything." Karol again noticed tears on his cheeks, but this time they weren't tears of sadness. "I'm sure that...that Father will be a great man someday. Even greater than he is now and will change many lives! Thank you again!"

The priest smiled and watched Jacek depart. The only sounds left were the voices of policemen and the screeching of car tires. There were no more people in the church wanting to confess.

Wojtyła

left the church and walked slowly toward the rectory. It wasn't so cold anymore, and the clouds had disappeared, letting in bright rays of sunlight. He stopped for a moment. He sat down on a nearby bench. He looked toward the church, then said to himself

, "I will become a great man. "

He stood up and set off down the muddy path again .

"Who knows, who knows..."