The beginning of September is a time for making plans, but also for evaluating the past pastoral year. We begin this new year with great hope, as seminarian Krystian Grabowski has joined our community for his pastoral internship.
September 5th marks the feast day of Mother Teresa of Calcutta, a daughter of this nation and a source of pride for Albanians. Although she was born in Skopje, in what is now North Macedonia, she grew up in an Albanian family. As a child, she spoke Albanian, and her mother (Drane) and sister (Age) are buried in the cemetery in the Albanian capital, Tirana, not far from our mission.
For this reason, early September is a time filled with meetings, conferences, concerts, and the publication of books dedicated to the Saint. We also organize such gatherings in our parish. This is noteworthy, because in this country, where 70% of the population is Muslim, the respect and esteem with which Saint Mother Teresa is welcomed are a ray of hope and a bridge to other religions in the field of evangelization.
This is also a joyful moment for our community, as we have been collaborating with the Missionaries of Charity for many years on evangelization and social issues. The nuns run homes for the abandoned and sick, providing medical care and ensuring their wards have food and a roof over their heads. They teach catechism and visit the poorest families. We Redemptorists, for our part, accompany the nuns and their wards in their spiritual care, practicing our charism of preaching and service in the confessional, as apostles of Divine Mercy.
Our Redemptorist ministry is multifaceted. Its focal point is the missionary parish of St. Alphonsus Liguori in Kamez, where we serve and continue our charism of proclaiming abundant redemption for the most abandoned and poor. We also strive to establish missions modelled on St. Alphonsus and support local priests in their ministry in places like Vlora, Bilaj, Puka, and Rrëshen.
We also collaborate with women’s religious congregations and ecclesial movements, supporting them in their evangelizing and charitable ministries. A special place is given to working with children and young people, who are the hope of this country. In addition to catechism, we try to organize various forms of recreation for them, so they can experience an encounter with the living Church and with God.
One challenge is working with lay people and preparing them to take on ever greater responsibility for the Church’s work and ministry for the good of the Church and others. We believe that even small communities of just a few people are worth dedicating time and energy to, because it is a seed that we believe will bear fruit a hundredfold in the future.
We therefore enter the new pastoral year with great hope, but also with the awareness that God’s greatest miracles are hidden in the human heart. And although they are difficult to quantify or report in written reports, they have a real impact on daily life and on people’s relationships.
Fr. Andrzej Michoń, CSsR.
