Uplifting Christmas Concert in the time of Pandemic – PACC, December 2020

 

“The House of Christmas” by G.K. Chesterton

…This world is wild as an old wives’ tale,

And strange the plain things are,

The earth is enough and the air is enough

For our wonder and our war;

But our rest is as far as the fire-drake swings

And our peace is put in impossible things

Where clashed and thundered unthinkable wings

Round an incredible star.

To an open house in the evening

Home shall men come,

To an older place than Eden

And a taller town than Rome.

To the end of the way of the wandering star,

To the things that cannot be and that are,

To the place where God was homeless

And all men are at home.

***

We presented the short Christmas Program a couple of days before Christmas. You can watch our program on Youtube: PACC 2020 Christmas Show

 

 We welcomed all our guests in front of a computer screen. We were touched to be able to connect with you on the stage at the Center in the hope of a better tomorrow and to convey the Good News to you before Christmas. The news of love and hope. For many years, it has been a tradition of PACC to meet on Christmas Eve at a traditional Polish table, lavishly filled with Christmas Eve treats. There were also Christmas carols or a nativity play. It has been like this for years. This year is different. Because this year also requires other activities and a different kind of meeting with you. The Center remains closed for security reasons, but our hearts remain open and sensitive to others, perhaps especially around Christmas. Because these holidays also have a special message – about closeness, hope and love – all those values that we can always lean on, now too. These values can never and will never be closed to us, as long as our souls and minds remain open.

The time has come, the Lord gives us a sign, let’s not miss it. Time for sensitivity, the little one at home and the social one. Time to reflect on what is important to us, the most important thing, what we cannot live without, and what we can get rid of without regret. The pandemic verifies needs, desires, even connections. It brings fear and a lot of pain, but it also gives us hope, great hope that we still have something to do here! He proves that they can close everything for us, but the door of the human soul will always remain open, where there is always enough space for what is beautiful. The pandemic will end at last. And there will still be sunrises, minutes, hours and days.

All the accumulated fears, nurtured in solitude will suddenly be forgotten and normality will be again. Such normal normality when you look at another person without suspicion. May the grace of peace and peace, tranquility and hope flow upon us all. A special grace on these holidays. The grace of knowing that everything we have does not depend on us and does not belong to us, that we have it for free, just like that … Let the magic of life become the essence of these magical time, and let this grace change our families and ourselves.

We hope you had a nice Christmas and we wish you a Happy, Healthy and Prosperous New Year! May this 2021 will bring us the change we are waiting for… May we all meet again!

 

„Where there is our powerlessness, there is also strength.

Wherever our poverty is, there is also our greatness.

Where there is darkness there is light also …

However, only faith can tell us about this and only hope allows us to hear it.”

 

Agata Wojno