Reflection for the Solemnity of Christ the King

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My Lord and King
remember me

Let us give thanks to the Father, who has made you fit to share in the inheritance of the holy ones in light. He delivered us from the power of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.

It is said that there are 3 kinds of people: Those who MAKE things happen; Those who WATCH what happens; and Those who WONDER what happened.

In today’s Gospel we read of these three sorts of people.

The Roman soldiers, the Chief Priests, the Pharisees, and the other leaders thought they had all the power. They could MAKE anyone die on the cross, and today it is Jesus along with two thieves. They considered themselves as the powerful movers and shakers. They were wrong.

Others stood by to WATCH. There was Mary, the other women who supported Jesus, and John. And, there were the thieves hanging there with Jesus. We could say that they were watching too – they had little choice.

One thief thought he could MAKE things happen. If he could mock and taunt Jesus enough, maybe there would be a grand miracle and he could go on his merry way freed from certain death. He too was wrong.

The other thief wasn’t going to stand by and just WATCH. He was not going to MAKE things happen either, at least not of his own accord. He reached into himself and found the exact kind of humility that REALLY MAKES things happen. He found the strength to place his trust in this Man, hanging next to him, badly beaten, bloody, humiliated, and dying. He saw through the blood and gore to the right and true. He saw that this Man was not just a man; rather He was God’s Son, the Messiah, who MAKES everything happen, Who will save him completely and forever.

That thief reached out in humility. He saw Jesus as the promised King whose power would free Him from death in sin to eternal life. “he said, ‘Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.’”

People have stood by for centuries WONDERING what happened. Caught up in sin and hopelessness they have looked at this scene and have failed to trust or find humility before their King Who MAKES all things possible. They have failed to ask Jesus to remember them.

We renew our assurance that Jesus will MAKE things happen in our lives, things that bring us goodness, rest, peace, and freedom from sin. We cannot just WATCH, nor should we WONDER. We must be that 4th kind of person – the men, women, and children of FAITH who ask and are assured.

Free Lunch – Sunday, November 24th

Please come and join us for Free Lunch on Sunday, November 24th, from 11:30am till 1:30pm. This event is always free and open to all. This month we’re featuring beef stew, sandwiches, desserts, drinks, and kid friendly food. Free Lunch on Sunday is held at Holy Name of Jesus in our parish hall located at 1040 Pearl St., Schenectady (CDTA Route 353 – Pearl Street stop).

Free Lunch on Sunday Flyer

Bible Study for the 33rd Week in Ordinary Time
    Bible study

  • 11/17 – 1 Corinthians 1:8 – Lord Jesus, You sustain me and wash away my transgressions in Your blood. Grant me the grace to stand fast by my faith in You.
  • 11/18 – Philippians 1:6 – Lord Jesus, You called me to faith by Your grace. Help me to work diligently; accomplishing the work You called me to do.
  • 11/19 – Philippians 1:9-10 – Lord Jesus, by Your grace cause my love to overflow more and more as I come to know You better. Prepare me to stand pure and blameless before You.
  • 11/20 – 2 Peter 3:10 – Come Lord Jesus. Grant that I may put faith in what is eternal and not in what is temporary.
  • 11/21 – 2 Thessalonians 2:1-2 – Lord, grant that I may hold to the true teaching of Your Holy Church. Help me to avoid the speculation of false prophets and those who do not recognize each day as Your day.
  • 11/22 – Zephaniah 2:6-7 – Lord, grant me confidence in Your promise of salvation. You told me that You have prepared a place me. Grant me confidence in the beauty and joy that awaits Your faithful.
  • 11/23 – Isaiah 2:17 – Lord, You will make all things right. Your justice will prevail. I trust in You.

Pray the week: Jesus, grant that I may cast all my uncertainties, fears, and doubts on You. Grant me certainty by my faith in You.

God’s Field November 2013 Issue Now Available

God’s Field, the official newspaper of the Polish National Catholic Church, has returned and is being published on a monthly basis. The November issue is available on-line at the official Polish National Catholic Church website and Facebook page.

God's Fie;d November 2013

During the first transitional year of publication the Church will mail several hard copies of the newspaper to all PNCC parishes. By January 2015 a new subscription database will be completed and new annual subscription rates for online and hard copy issues will be announced.

Parishes are encouraged to submit articles for each issue by the first of each month. All articles arriving at the God’s Field office after the first of the month will be published in the following month’s issue. Articles may be submitted by E-mail or postal mail to:

GOD’S FIELD
Polish National Catholic Church
1006 Pittston Avenue
Scranton, PA 18505-4109

Reflection for the 33rd Sunday in Ordinary Time

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Lo, the day is coming, blazing like an oven, when all the proud and all evildoers will be stubble, and the day that is coming will set them on fire, leaving them neither root nor branch, says the LORD of hosts. But for you who fear my name, there will arise the sun of justice with its healing rays.

Waiting for Godot is a play by Samuel Beckett, in which two characters, Vladimir and Estragon, wait endlessly and in vain for the arrival of someone, named Godot. Godot’s absence, as well as numerous other aspects of the play, has led to many different interpretations. Mary Bryden observed, “The … God who emerges from Beckett’s texts is one who is both cursed for His perverse absence and cursed for His surveillant presence. He is by turns dismissed, satirized, or ignored, but He, and His tortured Son, are never definitively discarded.”

Malachi prophesied that the day of the Lord was coming. He lived about 445 years before Jesus was born. Thirty more years would go by before Jesus began His public ministry. Today’s gospel shows Jesus to be 33, in Jerusalem, and days away from His sacrificial death on the cross.

Throughout Jesus’ ministry many who followed Him had a level of self-assurance that He would free Israel from earthly captivity. When Jesus refused to be proclaimed an earthly king many lost faith in Him. They never saw that He was there to free them from a much greater captivity. They missed the day of the Lord. They deceived themselves.

Jesus said that no matter what: “See that you not be deceived.” Complacency is the way we deceive ourselves. Waiting in vain is deception. Waiting and missing “it” is deception.

We deceive ourselves when we sit around speculating on the “last day.” Rather than waiting for God we have to go out and seek Him. We have to follow His word, walk in His path, and bring others to share in fellowship with Him. We must live in Him and proclaim with the wisdom He gives us through His teaching: His day is today!!!

Research has shown that, when a fire alarm rings, people do not act immediately. They talk to each other, and they try to work out what is going on. They stand around – waiting. Do you remember your last fire drill? Instead of leaving fast, people wait. They wait for more clues – the smell of smoke, or advice from someone they trust. So often those who wait end up dead.

We can trust Jesus. The fire alarm is going off every day. We needn’t worry about the fire itself, but rather whether we have listened to Him in the midst of the fire and are on the path to life. Walk toward life, do not sit and wait. Recognize today as the day of the Lord.

Bible Study for the 32nd Week in Ordinary Time
    Bible study

  • 11/10 – Joel 2:32 – Lord, You have called me to faith. Your call alone is enough to assure me. Grant me the grace to proceed confidently in doing Your will.
  • 11/11 – John 10:7-10 – Lord, You have called me to enter into life with You. You are my comfort and assurance. Grant me the grace to listen to Your voice and enter each day through and in You.
  • 11/12 – Matthew 6:25 – Lord, You give me every good thing and provide all I need. Grant me the grace to set aside concerns over small matters and stand confident of Your care; concerned only for Your will.
  • 11/13 – Luke 10:41 – Lord, grant that I might focus on You, participating in my parish community, worshiping and listening to Your sacramental word. Take away my anxieties over what I perceive as important so I may concentrate on what You declare as important.
  • 11/14 – Romans 8:32 – Father, You gave me Your Son out of love for me. I trust in Your great and unceasing love. Grant me the grace to recognize Your love as enough for me.
  • 11/15 – Philippians 4:6 – Lord, I stand before You. Hear my cries, pleas, and prayers. Know that I am thankful for Your constant care.
  • 11/16 – Psalm 55:22 – Lord, keep me firm in the foundation You have prepared. Help me to cling to Your Son, my Lord, Jesus. I trust in Him.

Pray the week: Jesus, grant that I may cast all my uncertainties, fears, and doubts on You. Grant me certainty by my faith in You.

Pampered Chef Party Next Sunday – Tons of Free Gifts!

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Fall is in the air ….and you’re invited to join us! Come join us as we celebrate the season of anticipation prior to the holidays ahead, a time where we will gather as family and friends around the table to share our joy.

We invite you to a fun afternoon of great food, great fun and terrific products that will make your love of cooking or desire to cook that much easier, faster, and a lot tastier on Sunday, November 17th starting at 11am.

We invite YOU….and everyone else that could use a fabulous brunch out! Brunch will be served.

Come by yourself, or bring a friend or two. Better yet, reserve a table for friends.

  • Come by yourself….get a gift!
  • For each friend that you bring, they will get a gift, and you will receive an additional gift when you check out!
  • Reserve a table for 6 or more…..and you will receive a table gift as a thank you! Reservations are requested, but not mandatory for groups over 6.

People who can’t come can still place an order online.

Collect $100 in orders and receive a gift! The person with the highest amount of outside orders (over $250) will receive a $25 gift certificate

To place orders online click “Shop Online,” option one and type in Holy Name of Jesus as the organization (so our parish receives credit for the orders)

Call Barbara Porter, Pampered Chef Consultant with any questions about the products, ordering, or to reserve a table at 518-372-8119

Reflection for the 32nd Sunday in Ordinary Time

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We often wonder
what if?

But the Lord is faithful; he will strengthen you and guard you from the evil one. We are confident of you in the Lord that what we instruct you, you are doing and will continue to do. May the Lord direct your hearts to the love of God and to the endurance of Christ.

The Sadducees confronted Jesus intent on embarrassing Him so they could prove their political point of view. The party of the Sadducees believed that there would be no resurrection of the dead. The Pharisees believed in the resurrection.

The conflict over the resurrection was one of several between the Pharisees and the Sadducees. They had a conflict of class, wealthy versus the poor, priests and aristocrats versus ordinary people. Another conflict was cultural, between those who favored Hellenization and those who resisted it. The Pharisees emphasized the importance of the Second Temple with its rites and services, while the Sadducees emphasized the importance of other Mosaic laws. They differed too on the Torah and how to apply it to Jewish life, with the Sadducees recognizing only the written Torah and rejecting oral tradition. The historian Josephus tells us that the Pharisees had the backing of the common people.

The problem of political and philosophical conflicts – as we know – aren’t limited to the times of Jesus. It even rears its ugliness in conflicts between Christians. When will the end come, what will it be like, how should the Church be organized, who should lead, how should we worship…? It goes on and on.

Each political point of view tries to provide the answer to “what if.” They try to ease our wondering and our wandering, but their answers are not the truth. Jesus is the truth. Unfortunately neither the Pharisees nor Sadducees saw that – their politics got in the way. We still fail when we seek answers to “what if” from politicians and the world even though the answer of Jesus is within our grasp.

The Maccabees were certain. They knew that surety in God was more important than the “what ifs” of today. They suffered and died, not asking “what if,” but saying, “I know.” the mother who, seeing her seven sons perish in a single day, bore it courageously because of her hope in the Lord.

For us there can be no reliance on politics. We needn’t question “what if,” but rather need to stand strong and sure. Jesus never promised more questions but promised absolute certainty to His faithful – life everlasting.

Take confidence in the way of the Lord. Do not wonder “what if.” Be sure only in Him Who guides us, is faithful, and gives us the answer we need.

Bible Study for the 31st Week in Ordinary Time
    Bible study

  • 11/3 – Ephesians 4:13 – Lord Jesus, help me to live in unity with all Your followers and to grow constantly in my faith and knowledge of You so I may better do Your will.
  • 11/4 – Hebrews 5:12-13 – Lord Jesus, I am Your child. Grant that I may grow through the study of Your word and Your way. Help me to do all I might for You.
  • 11/5 – 2 Peter 3:18 – Lord Jesus, through Your Holy Church You give me the grace I need to grown in knowledge of You. Help me to be one with You through Your community of faith.
  • 11/6 – 1 Timothy 4:7 – Lord Jesus, You came once to redeem us. Help me to avoid silly myths, visions, and appearances; instead growing in godliness through study of Your word and reception of the sacraments You gave us.
  • 11/7 – 2 Timothy 3:16-17 – Lord Jesus, teach me through your word. Reprove, correct, and train me in righteousness. Make me proficient in doing Your will and equip me for every good work.
  • 11/8 – Psalm 119:105 – Lord Jesus, help me to live in Your word. Help me to follow Your path. Help me to do all it takes to grow in relationship with You and my family in the faith.
  • 11/9 – Psalm 1:1-3 – Lord Jesus, grant that I may love You with all my heart, mind, soul, and body and my neighbor as myself. By Your grace help me to yield fruit and prosper.

Pray the week: Jesus, grant me the grace to do whatever it takes to grow in relationship with You and to do Your will.

Reflection for the 31st Sunday in Ordinary Time

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Doing whatever
it takes

Now a man there named Zacchaeus, who was a chief tax collector and also a wealthy man, was seeking to see who Jesus was; but he could not see him because of the crowd, for he was short in stature.

Zacchaeus was not a good person. As we learned last week, people despised tax collectors. Zacchaeus was not just a tax collector – but was the chief tax collector!

Zacchaeus may likely have suffered from what we might call a Napoleon complex (although he lived long before Napoleon). A Napoleon complex is an informal term describing a psychology that is said to exist in persons, usually men, of short stature. People with a Napoleon complex compensate for their short stature by being overly aggressive and domineering.

So here you have Zacchaeus, short, the chief of the thieves, living the high life – nice house, great food, all the luxuries who is also aggressive and domineering.

We consider what may have motivated Zacchaeus to see Jesus. He certainly heard of Jesus, and likely knew Jesus’ reputation – He was a healer, a prophet, and was known to have broken the rules by spending time with sinners. Jesus invited a tax collector to follow Him (Luke 5), His feet were bathed by the tears of a prostitute (Luke 7), He healed those possessed by evil (Luke 8, 9, 11), tax collectors and sinners were all drawing near to hear him (Luke 15:1).

The power of grace moved Zacchaeus to see Jesus. He was moved to do whatever it took to see Him. He was moved by the possibility of Jesus, the remote chance that Jesus might notice him and heal the smallness of his soul.

Zacchaeus’ hopes were met when Jesus stopped, looked up, and said “Zacchae’us, make haste and come down; for I must stay at your house today.”

Grace motivated Zacchaeus to seek the Lord, and the Lord replied to Zacchaeus’ response, not just by saying ‘you are forgiven,’ but by emphatically stating that He MUST stay with Him. Zacchaeus did whatever it took and Jesus answered. Zacchaeus was raised up out of sin and into new life – repenting and doing whatever it took to make his life right before God: And Zacchae’us stood and said to the Lord, “Behold, Lord, the half of my goods I give to the poor; and if I have defrauded any one of anything, I restore it fourfold.”

We are given grace every day, called to do whatever it takes to be raised from smallness of life to greatness of life in Christ. Jesus notices when we respond, and He responds by staying with us, healing us, freeing us, and making us great in the kingdom of heaven.