Hello, my name is Paweł Antosiak. For the last six years, I have worked for the international organization Aid to the Church in Need, and recently, I have been working for the Polish-Kenyan Foundation, which helps victims of human trafficking and prevents this practice. Therefore, during our meetings, I will try to share several examples from my work with you.

The most difficult truths in our lives are often the most obvious—those that we know best. For example, that God loves us. Do you know that? And how many of you, before our meeting, have ever thought that God loves you? He loves me limitlessly. Who of you thought about it yesterday before going to sleep? Or who woke up with that as your first thought: “God loves me.”? Honestly? Me neither. The first thing I thought of in the morning was that I needed to have a cup of coffee.

Meanwhile, the entire Holy Scripture tells a great story about God's love for humanity. When God creates the world, on the first day He makes one thing, and on another day, He creates other things. What does God create last? On the sixth day, He makes the best for last. On that day, God creates man, who is the only one to receive a part of God. And what does God do on the seventh day? He rests. But how can He- who creates everything with one word-get tired? We have already spoken so many words today; are we tired of talking? I once read a commentary suggesting that if we were to translate these words literally, we would say that God sat down in amazement.

What was God so delighted by? Well, it was man. This is very interesting. After all, God knew that people would soon doubt His love, that He would cast them out of paradise, and that He would send a Son – Jesus, whom they would kill. Yet He looks upon man and is in love. Because nothing can change God's love for us. God is love. So why does He expel people from paradise? He could have left us there. Yes, but in paradise, everything is eternal. Thus, doubt in His love would also be eternal. That is why He tells people to leave.

He knows He will find a way to convince them of this love again. And He does. He sends His Son to them. They reject Him and crucify Him. You are mostly parents and grandparents – think how incredible the love of God must be to allow His son to suffer like this out of love for us. How much He must love us, deciding to make such a great sacrifice.

I would like the fruit of this retreat to be something so simple. Before going to sleep, the last thought I will recall will be that God loves me. The first thought after waking up will be the same - God is infinitely in love with me. The experience of being loved gives strength. It is the power of man. I remember when I was a child, various guests would come to our home. My parents, proud of their son, would call me and ask if I would dance to a popular Polish melody for the guests. I didn't have to be asked twice. I wasn't afraid to do it and I even did it with great joy because they, my parents, were there. It gave me strength.

I once read words that suggested if we wanted to summarize the Gospel in one word, it would be "Father." This is the most important message of the Gospel: We have a Father in heaven. God is the Father of each of us, and nothing can change His love for us. The problem lies on our side—specifically, to what extent we are able to accept this love.

As parents, let me ask you: if a child is dirty, do we love them less? And if they are very dirty, do we love them less? And if they are so dirty that we wonder if we have the right child—do we love them less? No. We simply have to scrub them longer. We love them just the same. So why do we sometimes think that God loves us less?

South Sudan is the youngest, poorest, and most dangerous country in the world. A few years ago, I was there providing help to regions of the country where, due to a lack of security, many humanitarian organizations, including the World Food Bank, could no longer reach. During one of the meetings with catechists—members who came after preaching the gospel—one of the men asked me if I wanted to meet his family. I agreed. We went to his tiny hut hidden by grass, where I met his family: his wife and twelve children. Apparently, two were absent at the time. Surprised by the question, “Is this all yours?” he replied, “Yes, now this is my family.” He then told me how he lost his brother and sister during the civil war.

He took their children and gave them a home. This man is a catechist and shares the Gospel with others, emphasizing that God is Father and God is Love. So I asked him if, after all this, it is difficult for him to express that. He looked at me, surprised, and said that he didn’t understand me. I asked him again - Is it difficult for you to talk about God, who is Love? Then he, an uneducated man from distant Africa, gave me the best retreat. He told me: I believe that my brother and sister are in heaven; we are safe here. The children go to school, and they receive one meal a day (and sometimes that is all). God loves me, and He loves me very much. Then I understood that I am so blind in my life because I receive so much more. I recognized how much I am loved by God in my life. The hardest part of my new job- helping victims of human trafficking- is convincing them that they can be loved and helping them believe in love again. A person who has been hurt - and they have often been sold by their family members - does not believe in love. For them to start a new life and rise up, they must believe again. That is why I wish that after this retreat, everyone experiences anew how much God loves them. May this be our strength and give us hope for each day. Amen.

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