"You received without paying, give without paying"

According to old Catholic traditions, Advent, four weeks before Christmas, is time for tranquility and meditation, not for hunting in the boundless fields of malls:) Fortunately, there still are possibilities to run accidentaly into some small church, sideway from the main shopping routes, and find yourself "far from the madding crowd".

We had an Advent lesson in Jieznas gymnasium. As a motto, we took words from Gospel of Mattew (10:7): "You received without paying, give without paying". We invited the priest of the local parish to help us discuss what does the word "benevolent" mean. Is it easy to be benevolent when you have to make a difficult, or even a dangerous, choice. "Survival in Sarajevo" was an appropriate introduction to the discussion. I was glad once more to hear the voice of Edward Serotta, whom I introduced as "an American (I am a teacher of English), a Jew (our Centropa project), whose grandparents are from Kaunas (Edward told it himself when we first met in Vilnius in 2012). All my activities with Centropa is my duty of fidelity to my native town - too pompous but true:)

There are some photos of Kaunas: http://www.lrytas.lt/lietuvos-diena/aktualijos/kauna-sildo-sviesos-fontanai-o-po-egle-sutelpa-visos-svajones.htm