The New Wine Press vol 26 no 1 September 2017 | Page 13

PBMR: the New Creation
The Real Scream
by Magdalena Stasiak, pbmr Intern
My name
is Magdalena.
I come from
Poland. I ap-
preciate my
country, but I
never feel that
Poland is my
place in the
world. I hope
to find this
Magdalena Stasiak
place someday,
so I am open
to learning about new cultures and about the world
in general.
I grew up in a wonderful family. My parents’ love
is the most beautiful love I have seen in this world; I
always know I am wanted and that my brother and I
are the fruits of this beautiful love. I have had a very
blessed life.
In Poland I studied psychology. As part of my
program, I was required to complete an internship.
I did not know that my placement would combine
everything I had been dreaming about, such as prac-
ticing English, spending time in a beautiful place, and
experiencing the spirituality of the Precious Blood on
another continent.
As always, God has taken care of my desires and
me. He gave me the opportunity to come to the
United States and Chicago’s Precious Blood Ministry
of Reconciliation. I had no idea what my internship
would be like or what I would do there, so my travel
was full of fear. Fortunately, God is also in America,
and put so many wonderful people in my path (espe-
cially the c.pp.s. sisters with whom I live!) so that my
fears disappeared in the blink of an eye.
So what do I do in the Center? I am present and
I participate. My responsibility at pbmr is to walk
with the people I meet and get to know their way of
living, their mentality, and their stories. Therefore,
I was entrusted with the most beautiful duty in the
world. Before my arrival, I thought that my psychol-
ogy background would be helpful in some way and
that I would be serving people more than receiving
services from others. So when I found myself at
pbmr, I felt lost because it was completely the op-
posite of what I imagined before I came here.
Exactly a month ago I flew to Chicago and now
I am already experiencing what I had read and
thought about in Poland—living the spiritual life
deep in my heart.
Many times in my life I heard the answer to this
question: “What is the spirituality of the Precious
Blood for you?” The most beautiful answer I heard
at pbmr this July: “This is the spirituality that gathers
people. Those who are more open invite those who
have less courage to come.” This remark refreshed my
outlook, because I know it’s not just joining the com-
munity, but inviting everyone to join in this common
path to the most beautiful place of peace and safety.
Who are the people who have more courage to in-
vite others to this common path? A month ago I would
have said they are very well-established Catholics.
Today I would say they are all those who have expe-
rienced being
invited, want-
ed, ac cepted. I
have personally
experienced
how the people
who get hurt
so badly can
beautifully
invite others.
I thought
that as a well-
established
Catholic,
coming from
a wonderful family, having a psychology background,
I would initiate a joint trip down this path. I guess
I thought I would be a guide, someone important. I
had made my best plan to spend time here and I had
specific expectations, and it turned out very differently.
I found myself being a psychologist then a patient,
student and teacher, sheep and shepherd helper, the
continued on page 12
September 2017 • The New Wine Press • 11