From Father Przemek

Welcome Fr. Przemek
 
My name is Fr. Przemysław Kasprzak. I was born in Slupsk, Poland in 1984. I grew up with my parents and my younger sister. My father, Mariusz, is a professor at the University teaching physiology of the animals, and my mother, Danuta, is the Principal of a school. My sister Aleksandra is married and has two children. In Poland 99% of people are Catholic and so were my parents. However, they did not practice their faith and they would go to Church, only at the occasion of Christmas and Easter. Until I was 11 years old, my mother would take me and my sister to Church with her. Since then, by God’s grace, I and my younger sister have been going to Sunday Mass without my parents ever needing to push us. I grew up in a good home with parents who never used violence on us, and still we were well disciplined. However, when I was 19 years old my parents got divorced because their love towards each other grew cold.
During my high school and time of the university I was a typical young man looking for happiness.  On the third year of my university I met the girl that I wanted to marry. However, God had a different plan. When I did my master’s degree in production engineering and management, I was engaged, I was working in the big printing company as the right hand of the boss, I was earning good money (I was “all set” as they say) and at that moment God called me to leave everything behind and become his holy priest. Shortly after that I was sent by chance to Redemptoris Mater Seminary in Boston. Some members of my family thought that after 2 months they would “ship” me back to Poland because they knew that in Poland for many years, I could not learn English. God proved them wrong and here I am writing to you in English.
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The time of the seminary was a discovery of God’s love towards me. God knowing that I have difficulties with my short memory helped me to study philosophy and theology which is not my cup of tea. That is why in Poland I was studying at the computer science department, so I did not have to memorize much but rather resolve some equations. During my formation I was sent for three years to Kiribati in the Pacific. It is a little island in the middle of nowhere. I had to live in the very poor conditions with mosquitos, 95% of humidity, getting drinking water from the rain etc. I also needed to deal with local “pets.” I would enter the kitchen and the rat would run over my foot or his buddy would be waiting for me in the restroom with no fear in his eyes that I would do anything to him. I also had a “choir” of roosters close to my window crowing from 3 to 6am every 15 minutes. I would get some local sicknesses and bad allergy from the red ants who particularly liked to show me their “affections” by biting me. Still in the midst of this human “horror” I found loving God providing for me and giving me zeal to announce Good News to the local population. It was wonderful to see that God is enough. God also showed me love by allowing me to visit other places like New Zealand, Fiji, Guam, Marshal Islands, Hawaii, Hong Kong where I received a lot of love from the other people. I am very happy in the call that God has bestowed on me. Right now, I am a priest and I hope that this love that I have received for free I will be able to give for free to the people of Marlborough!