Reflection for the Third Sunday of Advent

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Why!

Have no anxiety at all, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, make your requests known to God. Then the peace of God that surpasses all understanding will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.

Today we listen to words of joy, encouragement, gladness, and exultation. We hear of God’s provision for His people. We are reassured that we share in love because God is among us. We also share in the wonderful gift of forgiveness and renewal. We follow John the Baptist’s admonition to repent before the coming of the Lord.

The events of this week in Newtown turn the message of rejoicing on its head. How can we rejoice? How can we be glad and exult? Faced with these words we turn to God with hearts and minds full of questions, maybe questions tinged with anger.

Philosophers and theologians have explanations for all this, but what good are explanations when our hearts are filled with sadness and grief? Can explanations help when our hearts are downcast and our minds fearful? What has happened? God, couldn’t you have intervened!?!

Then we consider our confession and repentance. We look at our sins, and we think, my sins are so small, so insignificant, so trifling. Why should I feel guilt and remorse for my small sins, to have to repent, when there is such serious evil and so much sickness in the world?

In a few days, the next ugly thing will happen. Some person, claiming to be Christian, will burst out with blame for one group or another, and say that God is purposefully punishing us.

We, who follow Jesus can be reassured that God’s peace surpasses our human understanding. Christ came to live among us, not just to appear and go back. He did not come to punish, but to bring healing and renewal. He is not just an antidote to evil, someone we can conjure up in hard and sad times, but the light that destroys evil.

In our confession and repentance we bear witness and re-align ourselves with right and truth. We stay on the right track and call the world to do the same. Renewed, we set out to be God’s light, bearing Christ with us. We bring love where there is little, joy where there is none, comfort where there is despair. Healing to the sick.

God has not left us abandoned and alone. He is intervening every day through us. This Sunday let our hearts take comfort and overcome. Stand up and rejoice in the face of despair and sadness because in the midst of horrible tragedy we will bear the light of Christ to the world – a light that no darkness can overcome.

Prayers for Newtown

Seeing the crowds, he went up on the mountain, and when he sat down his disciples came to him. And he opened his mouth and taught them, saying: “Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.” — Matthew 5:1-2,4

We join with people across the country and around the world in offering up prayers for those horrifically and tragically killed in Newtown, Connecticut today. We stand in sorrow and fellowship with the families of those killed, and the aid workers, first responders, and everyone so affected by this sorrow.

Let us resolve to love more greatly as Jesus asked, to grow in community, in fellowship, and in our resolve to help those who are damaged and in need of help.

O Merciful God, Father of the Crucified Christ! In every sorrow which awaits us may we look up to Thee without doubt or fear, persuaded that Thy mercy is ever sure. Thou cannot fail us. There is no place or time where Thou art not. Uphold us in our grief and sorrow, and in our darkness visit us with Thy light. We are Thine; help us, we beseech Thee, in life and in death to feel that we are Thine. Through Christ our Lord. Amen. — A Prayer In Time of Sorrow — from A Book of Devotions and Prayers According to the Use of the Polish National Catholic Church, Published by the Mission Fund of the PNCC, 7th edition, May 1, 1984.

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Soup on Sunday

Starting Sunday, December 30th and on the last Sunday of every month at Holy Name of Jesus Parish Hall, 1040 Pearl Street in Schenectady (between Crane and Chrisler Avenues). Come enjoy a great bowl of homemade soup and a beverage (plus more) in a safe place. Everyone is welcome.

Soup on Sunday is absolutely FREE!!!

What: Soup on Sunday
When: Sunday, December 30, 2012
Where: 1040 Pearl St., Schenectady
Time: 11:30am till 1:30pm
Other: Free, open to all, a great bowl of soup, a safe place to enjoy a meal.

Bible Study for the Second Week of Advent
  • 12/9 – Ephesians 4:32 – Lord Jesus, grant me the grace to recognize the tremendous gift of Your forgiveness and that I may be as ready to forgive others as You have forgiven me.
  • 12/10 – Matthew 5:23-26 – Lord Jesus, help me! Grant me the strength and grace to go to all those I have hurt seeking reconciliation with them.
  • 12/11 – Colossians 1:20 – Lord Jesus, Your sacrifice on the cross washed me clean in Your blood. Grant me the grace to be continuously thankful and to never despair of Your forgiveness.
  • 12/12 – Luke 23:34 – Lord Jesus, You forgave those who mocked, beat, and crucified You. Grant that I may let go of my small grudges and hurts, and continuously grow in living up to Your example.
  • 12/13 – Hebrews 12:14 – Lord, You do not seek an army of conquerors, or victory as the world demands, but rather the victory of peace and love. Grant me the grace to seek peace and reconciliation in all conflict.
  • 12/14 – Romans 6:23 – Lord Jesus, You have saved me from death and opened up the gates to eternal life. Grant that I may recognize Your free gift of life and that I respond to it in faith.
  • 12/15 – Romans 3:23 – Lord, I recognize that I fall short and can do nothing to repay You for my sin. Thank You for freeing me from sin so that I might have eternal life in You.

Pray the week: Lord Jesus, grant that by Your grace I straighten the path of my life so I may attain Your salvation.

Special Note – Events and Times for Sunday, December 16th

Repent therefore, and turn again, that your sins may be blotted out – Acts 3:19

Next Sunday, December 16th, we observe the Third Sunday of Advent, the lighting of the Third Advent Candle. On this Sunday we traditionally add to our Advent preparations during Holy Mass with a special Advent Penitential Service.

Proper Advent preparation requires that we free ourselves of sin. This is our opportunity. In this special preparatory moment we are better able to examine our conscience and put forth our best effort to make things right with God and our neighbor. These special penitential services occur only twice a year – so it is vitally important that we attend, participate, and celebrate together.

Following Holy Mass we will take time to enjoy fellowship, our Youth Christmas presentation, and join in preparing all those wonderful meatless dishes we will share with each other at our Vigil Dinner starting at 11:30am.

To allow sufficient time for our Penitential Service, Holy Mass, our Youth Presentation, and our Vigil Dinner we will begin at 8:45am with the lighting of the Advent Wreath immediately followed by our Penitential Service, receipt of the Sacrament of Penance, and Holy Mass. We are pleased to have Fr. Rafał Dadiełło from Holy Spirit Parish in Little Falls join us to administer the Sacrament of Penance and to offer Holy Mass.

St. Paul reminds us: All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation — 2 Corinthians 5:18. God gave His Holy Church the power to loose us of our sins -– come and be made free once again in the love of God who has reconciled all things to Himself in Christ Jesus. Then free, join in celebrating the coming season with each other.

Reflection for the Second Sunday of Advent

I can’t believe it!
I guess you didn’t not see it…

A voice of one crying out in the desert: “Prepare the way of the Lord, make straight his paths. Every valley shall be filled and every mountain and hill shall be made low. The winding roads shall be made straight, and the rough ways made smooth, and all flesh shall see the salvation of God.”

If we read the caption above, we note the double negative: “didn’t not.” Writing this, my word-processing program kept pointing to my error.

Word-processing programs are a wonderful invention for someone like me who has terrible spelling skills. Either a red or green underline shows up. Red if the word appears to be misspelled, green if the grammar is incorrect.

Let’s think of John the Baptist as God’s word-processor. He went out to proclaim a wonderful gift, that people could renew their lives if they would only repent, make straight their ways. Salvation was theirs if they would take the steps to correct themselves.

Like my word-processing program, John pointed out serious errors, especially of the so-called “leaders” of the day. He put really big red underlines under all sinfulness.

His call to repentance was just like that of the word-processor. The error is obvious, its been pointed out. But now what? We have to recognize that red underline; we have to see it. Then, we have to take action to fix it. We have to correct the spelling and grammar of our lives, bringing them into alignment with God’s way.

Whenever we hear John’s cry “Prepare the way… make straight the paths… fill-in the valleys… make low the mountains and hills…make the winding roads straight… the rough ways smooth” we also begin to think like construction workers. We laugh, get me a bulldozer and a big crew and we can do it. Construction takes engineering, study, process, and hard work. John wasn’t talking about construction! He was shouting about the engineering, study, process, and hard work we have to do to make our lives right before God.

Let us be dedicated to making our lives straight, smooth, and level; getting rid of the red underlines, living lives based on God’s desires for us. Doing so, we have the guarantee of finding peace, renewal, and seeing His salvation.

The Jewish people were carried away to captivity and spent generations there. When they were freed they didn’t see it coming. We already know Jesus is returning. We do not need to foresee the moment for we know we must prepare. Prepare His way and be ready to rejoice. Stand ready to share in peace and great joy at His Salvation. Come Lord Jesus!

Conception of the B.V.M. and the Feast of Divine Love

When our church was young, Bp. Hodur and the Church’s Holy Synod transformed the so called Feast of the “Immaculate Conception” of Blessed Virgin Mary to the Feast of Divine Love.

The entire construct of the so called immaculate conception was based on a legalistic understanding of “original sin.” If everyone is born in a sinful state, in original sin, inherited from their parents through the sexual act of procreation, then there has to be a specially created individual – Mary – who was preserved from original sin. Some have even extended Mary’s uniqueness and separateness from the rest of humanity by arguing that Jesus’ birth was a bloodless, painless event where the infant simply floated out of the Blessed Virgin’s womb.

St. Thomas Aquinas wrote against the innovation that Mary’s birth was unlike that of others. He argued that this contradicted the very purpose of Jesus’ Incarnation, which was that He received our human nature through Mary. If her nature is unique, then Jesus’ connection with the rest of humanity is severed. (ST 27 2r).

We have not dogmatized this belief, nor do we recognize it. This is not an article of Divine revelation. As Polish National Catholics we believe that Mary was preserved from sin, and remained sinless and pure from the time of her birth. But, we do not need to construct a special status for Mary because her birth and our birth are all without sin. We do not countenance the idea of original sin in such a legalistic way. We do not accept accept that humans are sinful in their birth.

Instead, we teach that we are all created in the image and likeness of God. We profess that creation is not evil, but that it is an expression of Divine Love. Evil is certainly real, and present in the world, the result of humanity’s fall. We all fall into sin, but it is our responsibility for failing to act according to goodness of our creation.

Creation is good says Genesis, and human creation is very good. Rather than speak of the unique status of Mary, the Feast of Divine Love speaks about the goodness of creation in general as an expression of a good Creator.

The Feast of Divine Love encapsulates so much of what is positive about our Church, its focus on love and human potential. To the 1928 Synod our organizer declared: “Everything else [besides God] is transitory, but this divine element [of love] is immortal.” God never abandons His love toward us even though we do fall into the sinfulness that exists in the world.

Our Church sees Divine Love in God’s sharing of wisdom and free will. The Divine Love of creation is that we are made “very good” (Genesis 1:31) in the image and likeness of God. When we fall into sin, we know that we can always turn to God. God loves us so much that He sent His only Son to us to redeem us from our fall into sinfulness; from our unfortunate propensity to reject God’s Divine Love.

Advent Charity – food gathering and fresh water wells

Rather than lamenting the trends of society, and complaining about the secularization of Jesus’ birth, let’s resolve to do something positive.

Let our preparation focus first on prayer – a prayer of hope and anticipation for God’s coming among us. Pray for reconciliation and an end to greed.

Let us then also sacrifice for those in need.

This Advent we will put out a donation basket. Our contributions will be used toward the purchase of a well for people in need of fresh water through Operation Christmas Child/Samaritan’s Purse. Women and children in developing countries usually walk miles to reach the nearest water source—which might be a stagnant pond or polluted stream. Samaritan’s Purse is working to solve this problem by building and repairing hundreds of wells, along with providing pumps and other equipment, across Asia, Africa, and Latin America. Costs range from $400 for a hand-dug well serving a few families to $10,000 for a deep-drilled well serving an entire community.

We will also be collecting food, gloves, and hats for those in need in our immediate community. Canned, dried, and non-perishable foods, as well mittens, gloves, and hats are all needed. The latest U.S. census figures show an alarming statistic — 50.8 percent of Schenectady’s children live below the poverty line. For a family of four, that means a yearly income of less than $22,350. That number, provided as part of the 2011 American Community Survey, puts Schenectady 13th in the nation for highest childhood poverty rate among cities over 65,000 in population.

God bless you for your generosity and sacrifice in preparation for Jesus’ coming.

Bible Study for the First Week of Advent
  • 12/2 – Proverbs 13:12 – Lord Jesus, You are my hopes fulfilled. Grant that all may find life and fulfillment in You.
  • 12/3 – Acts 13:32-33 – Lord Jesus, in Your coming as man You fulfilled all of the Father’s promises made through the prophets. Grant that I may not seek new prophets or revelations, but rely solely on the completeness of Your word.
  • 12/4 – Romans 8:24-25 – Lord Jesus, Your kingdom is, and is not yet. Grant that I may await in joy the fulfillment of my hopes.
  • 12/5 – Romans 15:13 – Lord Jesus, grant me the joy, peace, and fulfillment that comes from hoping in You. Fill me with Your Holy Spirit.
  • 12/6 – Psalm 33:18 – Father, I know that You are ever watchful over Your children. Grant that I may always recognize Your care for me.
  • 12/7 – Psalm 31:24 – Father, provide me with the gifts of strength and courage so that I may live the Gospel of Your Son Jesus.
  • 12/8 – 1 Timothy 4:10 – Lord Jesus, grant that I may strive, toil, and work for Your kingdom; living up to the hope provided to me out of Your Divine love.

Pray the week: Lord Jesus, grant that I may look forward in hope for the fulfillment of Your promises.

Reflection for the First Sunday of Advent

Are you full?
Just fulfilled, thanks.

“The days are coming, says the LORD, when I will fulfill the promise I made to the house of Israel and Judah.”

Oh, to be full! Sometimes overstuffed is a better word. We eat everything on our plate because we don’t want food to go to waste or, because when we were growing up our parents would tell us there were starving children in another country. In the end we may be full but are we fulfilled? 



A typical day for a busy parent: Wake at 5:30am get breakfast, make lunches, get everyone out the door, clean the house, grocery shop, maybe wash a couple loads of laundry, pick kids up from the bus stop, help with homework, make dinner, clean kitchen, bathe kids and put them to bed, and THEN sit down for a few minutes. It was a full day, and tomorrow will be an equally busy and productive day, but are they fulfilling? 



Full is an adjective meaning completely filled; containing all that can be held; filled to the utmost capacity
 or volume. Fulfill is a verb meaning to carry out, or bring to realization, to make complete.

The days of preparation are upon us. These are the days in which we need to move from being filled up with things to finding real fulfillment in Christ. We need to move toward the place and moment where our cup overflows with the joy of being complete in God.

St. Paul exhorts us: May the Lord make you increase and abound in love for one another and for all, so as to strengthen your hearts, to be blameless in holiness before our God and Father.

Jesus wants us to be fulfilled, to be complete. It can be great to be full, but we have to be careful not to mistake fullness for fulfillment. We cannot make a full day or full stomach a substitute for a heart fulfilled in Jesus.

This Advent we need to prepare ourselves for fulfillment. We make a start by emptying ourselves of our failures, our sins, and our shortcomings. By doing so we make room for the Holy Spirit who will fill us with new attitudes and motives. Then, with a heart full of love and good, blameless in holiness, we are ready to be fulfilled, completed in Jesus.

Fulfilled in Jesus we become receivers of His promise. In Him we are made free, free to stand erect and raise our heads because our redemption is at hand.

Our hope is set on God’s promise and His fulfillment. He is coming to fulfill our lives. In receiving Him and His promise we become more than full, we are completely fulfilled.