We start March with Lent and end (well not really end) with Easter. Read our March 2013 newsletter and check out our calendar available right here. Tons of events: Passiontide, Our Annual Penitential Service, Palm Sunday, Holy Week, EASTER, Soup on Sunday, and more. You may view and download a copy right from this website.
Cut it off!
Give it a bit.
“‘For three years now I have come in search of fruit on this fig tree but have found none. So cut it down. Why should it exhaust the soil?’ He said to him in reply, ‘Sir, leave it for this year also, and I shall cultivate the ground around it and fertilize it; it may bear fruit in the future. If not you can cut it down.’â€
We have all felt like the orchard owner. We try at things and put a lot of effort into them. It seems some are an uphill battle; we don’t seem to be getting anywhere for our effort. We’d like to cut that failure out of our lives and start over; put it behind us.
This experience can happen on lots of levels. Perhaps it is that plant that just won’t flourish on our windowsill, perhaps it is bigger things: our job, friendships, education, or our marriage.
Today’s first lesson is about perseverance. Jesus tells us the story of the orchard owner who has invested a lot to get this tree to grow, and it has failed him every year. He’s ready to cut it off, cut it down, get that failure out of his life, start over, or just put it behind him. The gardener tells the orchard owner and us that we need to give it more time.
Imagine that you’ve had a couple tough years in a marriage, or at work. You’re ready for that divorce or to quit. Then this parable comes to mind and you relent, you give it another year. A year later you look back and…
Hopefully you look back at your marriage and find that it has settled down, flourished, and produced fruit – love, a deeper relationship, and respect. You look back at your job and find good productivity, a promotion and success.
Our Lenten message is that that we cannot just leave the fix to itself for a year. The gardener didn’t just tell the orchard owner and us to give it more time. He understood that the owner needed to “cultivate the ground around it and fertilize it.†In other words, time alone is not enough – we have to put the work in.
That marriage, job, education, friendship, plant on the windowsill all need work and commitment to flourish. Our investment in our faith in Jesus, our love for Him and His Church take commitment and work. Our sinfulness doesn’t end by itself. Things don’t fix themselves.
Thankfully, we don’t work at any of this alone. The gardener by our side is Jesus. He offers us those graces of forgiveness, fellowship in faith, communion with Him and each other. He cultivates and fertilizes our work with His grace that heals perfectly. The next time we’re ready to cut it off, don’t. Turn instead to Him and get to work.
What do I look like?
Jesus!
“But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we also await a savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. He will change our lowly body to conform with his glorified bodyâ€
Our theme for this year is You + Jesus + Community = Success.
Today we recall Jesus’ transfiguration. In this moment we see the glory of Jesus, which is also the promise of our glory in Him.
When we join ourselves to Jesus in faith and baptism we are made part of all that He is. This includes every aspect of what Jesus is: priest, king, servant, healer, prophet, light, teacher, and so many more things. He is everything good, wonderful, and righteous.
The world looks at us and tries to discern in our words and actions what Jesus might be for the world. As such, they will only know Him, and what they can be, if they see Him in us.
It is said that six out of every ten people do not know Jesus, what He truly represents. Certainly, many might think Jesus was a nice person who gave us wise words. They may look at Him as a teacher on par with their favorite teacher or philosopher. How is He any different from those others?
They will only know His difference and the value of His promises if we proclaim and model what oneness with Him is.
We must take on all that He is and represent that before the world. We are to be Jesus as priest, king, servant, healer, prophet, light, and teacher to everyone we encounter.
In the transfiguration we see Jesus as more than just Moses – who delivered the law to the Jewish people and led them out of captivity. We see He is more than the prophets, represented by Elijah, who offered wise teachings and guidance to the Jewish people when they were going astray. He is what Moses and Elijah represent, but so much more too. He is God. We hear the Father acknowledge and state that from the cloud, “This is my Son, my Chosen; listen to him!”
When we join ourselves to Jesus we obtain the fullness of His promises, including the fact that we will share in His glory as citizens of heaven – the glory we observe today. As St. Paul tells the Philippians: He will change our lowly body to conform with his glorified body.
By joining ourselves to Jesus, by being Him before the world, we proclaim His truth. He is God who has joined Himself to us, and asks us to join ourselves to Him. In union with Him we offer the truth of His promises – that by joining with Him we will achieve eternal glory and true success.
Choices, choices…
Decisions, decisions…
“If you are the Son of God, command this stone to become bread.â€
“I shall give to you all this power and glory; for it has been handed over to me, and I may give it to whomever I wish. All this will be yours, if you worship me.â€
“If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down from hereâ€
Lent is a time for choices. What will we do to discipline our lives, to follow Jesus more closely, to reach for perfection in the Christian way of life? More than those choices, we face the choice of how hard we will work at what we choose. How will our choices affect our decisions?
Jesus was drawn into the desert to undergo the discipline of fasting and prayer and in doing so to draw closer to His Father. He chose to follow His Father’s will and decided to do all the things His Father required.
The desert or wilderness was the place in which the Prophets such as Elijah, Elisha, Moses, and John the Baptist, as well as Jesus, the Son of God, lived for at least a time, if not most of their lives. The rugged, arid conditions of the wilderness became their molding ground. Alone, they wandered through deserts, forests and mountains, awaiting God’s command. In the rugged desolate country they were set apart for God’s special work. In the wilderness God fashioned their character, making them obedient vessels, who then went forth to carry out God’s will.
For most of us the wilderness (dense forests, deserts and mountains) are only for the adventurous in spirit. It can be vicious to all forms of life – human, animal and plant. Only the most hardy can survive. No soft disguises of civilization can survive here. Wilderness life hones the nature of those who venture there. In the wilderness our true substance is exposed, and we are purified to do God’s will. It is not a place for the foolhardy, or the faint-hearted.
At the end of Jesus’ desert time He was tempted, put to the test in a very severe way. He is offered everything the world might think would fill a person after forty days of fasting and loneliness – food, power, and security. Having been purified and made one with His Father through the desert experience He was able to make the right decisions in the face of these very strong temptations.
Our Lent is a time in the wilderness, to withdraw a bit and draw closer to God. Our Lenten choices and practices, and our choice of how hard we work at them, prepare us to make right decisions when faced with temptation. They mold us, set us apart, and make us obedient servants who decide for God’s way.
All are welcome to come and join in our Lenten observances at Holy Name of Jesus. Located at 1040 Pearl Street in Schenectady, we are your small church on a small street with a big and welcoming heart.
We begin Lent this Wednesday, February 14th with Holy Mass along with the blessing and imposition of Ashes at Noon and 7pm.
Journey along with Jesus as we pray through the Stations of the Cross every Friday at 3pm.
A sung devotion originating in Poland in the 18th century. The devotion is a reflection and meditation on the Passion of Christ from the perspective of and through the sorrows experienced by the Blessed Virgin Mary. The devotion consists of a three-part cycle. One part of the cycle is held on each Sunday at 3pm. The entire devotion is sung on Good Friday.
Come join in weekly worship every Sunday at 10am or Noon. Jesus’ community gathers each week to learn about His life and mission, His teachings, and to show Him proper worship. We also have weekly School of Christian Living classes for children and youth. Investigate the claims of Jesus with us as we strive to know and serve him better. Whether you are working, studying or living in the Schenectady area or throughout New York’s Capital Region, we look forward to welcoming you.
The practice of Lent motivates us to expand our charity towards our brothers and sisters. Holy Name is participating in a Directed Giving program for Lent. Food and gathered items are delivered to Schenectady area food programs:
Our Directed Giving Program suggested offerings:
During Lent we also abstain from meat on Wednesdays and Fridays. This small practice of denial helps us in regulating our minds and bodies. We need to practice for all endeavors, whether sports or hobbies. So too spiritually. If we practice small denials we are better prepared to reject things that are truly damaging to our lives.
It is February 1st and lo and behold – a newsletter is here on-time! Our February 2013 newsletter and calendar is complete and now available. Tons of events, Soup on Sunday, everything you’d ever want to know for your Lenten journey, and a few surprises too. You may view and download a copy right from this website.
Our Brother did this for us.
No words can express our gratitude.
“Jesus gave a loud cry and breathed his last.”
How would we thank a brother or a sister who gave their all for us, who sacrificed everything? How would we recognize their gift, a gift so wonderful and remarkable that it gave us complete happiness, fulfillment, and a great life that lasts forever?
Our Lenten theme has focused on family. Now we are at the pinnacle of that Lenten journey. We enter Holy Week recognizing already that at the end we will walk away with a tremendous gift – a gift that our brother gave us.
Jesus said many times, “this is what I have come to do.†He came to sacrifice His life so that we would have life. He came to bear our sins in the form of a heavy cross, scourging, nails, mockery, and abandonment. This was NO ACCIDENT.
Jesus came with a plan – to show us that we have a heavenly Father who loves us so deeply that He would offer up His Son for us. He didn’t do this for show, but to create a real relationship, to break down the barriers we create to separate ourselves from Him.
St. Paul worked hard to convince the Romans of the power of what Christ had done. He said:
When we were utterly helpless, Christ came at just the right time and died for us sinners. Now, most people would not be willing to die for an upright person, though someone might perhaps be willing to die for a person who is especially good. But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners.
Our Brother came at the right time. He came to a family that either didn’t recognize their Father, or thought they were smarter than their Father. He came to a family that didn’t recognize Him. He came to a family that bickered with their Brother, and eventually killed Him. That’s all of us. And in return…?
In return we know we will live forever, are saved, washed clean. We know we are members of God’s family.
Let’s take time this Holy Week to sit with our Brother, to keep Him company in His time of suffering, abandonment, and need. Let’s take this time to whisper a thank you next to His grave so that on Easter morning we can greet the new day – the day we received our Brother’s gift.
Are we there yet?
its only 5,615 miles…
Thus says Cyrus, king of Persia: All the kingdoms of the earth the LORD, the God of heaven, has given to me, and he has also charged me to build him a house in Jerusalem, which is in Judah. Whoever, therefore, among you belongs to any part of his people, let him go up, and may his God be with him!”
We’ve all heard or seen those instances on a trip where someone in the car or airplane asks: “Are we there yet?†It is usually a small child who is impatient with the trip.
Our Lenten journey can be like that. By the time we close in on Easter we might ask ourselves (or others), “Are we there yet?â€
If we were saying that now, it wouldn’t be uncommon because from a time perspective we are more than half way there. Yet we may still be at the bottom of the hill.
The Jewish people had been exiled from Jerusalem for 70 years.
They longed to return. They lost their music, their joy, and in their penance found reconciliation with God.
We must continue on our journey to find reconciliation with God. We may need to refresh and renew our Lenten sacrifice. We may need to reconnect to where we should be, and get back on the road.
The days ahead will be an uphill struggle. Penance will increase. We will find it harder to comply with the Church’s requirements and with our best intentions.
This is where family becomes essential to our journey. We do not need to travel 5,615 miles to get to Jerusalem the city or to family. The city is of no matter because it is only a place. Where we’re headed is the new and heavenly Jerusalem. This is our family dwelling, the house that belongs to us because we are His children.
We can be assured that our acceptance of Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior, in faith, has put us on the road. Our membership in the family of faith, the Church, gives us the love and support we need to get there.
“Are we there yet?†Yes. “Are we still on the road?†Yes, that too. We have both a home and a family to support us as we journey there.
If I’m part of the vine…
can I drink more wine?
“I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in me, and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.”
We have been studying family as our Lenten theme. Today, we lighten our Lenten practice a bit and engage in a celebration of – no wait – yes family. Amazing isn’t it?
Today we celebrate the organization of our Holy Polish National Catholic Church.
Church can be a lot of things to a lot of people, but one thing it certainly isn’t is a stagnant shell of a corporation based on dusty old books.
Church is the reality of our relationship as family in Christ. There are so many quotes about that, but a key one is taken from St. Paul’s letter to the Ephesians, Chapter 4:4-6:
There is one body and one Spirit… one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of us all.
We have been grafted onto Jesus. He is the vine and we are the braches. That makes us one being, one entity, and sharers in His nourishment and love.
If Church were dusty old books, it would not be a living entity. If it were a stagnant shell, we would have no reason to be part of it, or feel alive in it.
Being part of the vine does give us reason to celebrate, to become intoxicated with the happiness that comes from being part of the living body of Christ.
Our Holy Church is a beacon and the joy of life. It is a place of happiness, reconciliation, mutual labor and support, the one place where we can endeavor together to reach God.
In the Holy Church we find ourselves already connected to God, part of Him, members of His family – and as St. Paul focuses on, one in every aspect of who we are.
We are not strangers who bump into each other on occasion. We are Polish National Catholics who live and abide in Jesus Christ, who bring His life filled Church, His life-giving message, to the world. There we will gather and join others to the life-giving vine, the place where we will all drink the wine of joy!
Can I trade in this kid?
Ummm, NO!
“God put Abraham to the test… ‘Abraham, Abraham!’ ‘Here I am!’ he answered. ‘Do not lay your hand on the boy. Do not do the least thing to him. I know now how devoted you are to God, since you did not withhold from me your own beloved son.’”
Relatedness – The dictionary tells us that relatedness means a particular manner of connectedness or relationship. Unrelatedness means the lack of any particular manner of connectedness.
We might wonder if Abraham had any troubles with his son Isaac. Maybe, at one time or another, he regretted his relatedness to Isaac, and thought, maybe I could trade this kid in for something better.
God puts Abraham to the test, he asks him to sacrifice his son. Scripture tells us that Abraham loved his son, but maybe, somewhere in his mind he thought, maybe God is going to give me an even better son on trade. It is one of the unfortunate consequences of our humanity, our ability to set aside our relatedness. We all have someone with whom we have a strained, distant, or disconnected relationship.
Being part of God’s family, being the brothers and sisters of Jesus and of each other can put us to the test. How do we exercise our relatedness – how do we keep connected?
God Himself has told us that we are connected, we are related, and we are part of one body. He never abandons His relationship with us because we share the DNA of Jesus; it is imprinted in our hearts and souls.
Our Lenten journey is about correcting those instances where we feel we have grown unrelated. We have to recapture those markers of a healthy relationship with God. We have to rebuild what is strained between sister and brother.
We bear the signs of family, our shared birth in water and the Holy Spirit, our shared language of prayer and praise, the way we work together and support each other. We know, as members of God’s family, there are no trades allowed. The Father gave His Son for this family. What Jesus did to bring us together as one family is worth rebuilding; wherever it might be strained. Let’s set to that task.