This week’s memory verse: On His robe and on His thigh He has a name written, King of kings and Lord of lords. — Revelation 19:16
Pray the Week: Lord Jesus, grant me humbleness of heart. Make me Your servant. Grant that I may witness to You by telling all I encounter about the joys of Your Kingdom where we worship and adore You. Amen.
“…have others told you about Me?”
For seven Sundays this summer we journeyed with Jesus and His apostles coming to understand that we receive Him.
Jesus’ journey continued as He moved from Galilee into Judea and on to Jerusalem. He is now at the end of His journey, standing before Pilate, awaiting torture and death. Along the way of this journey Jesus has discussed the many ways we are to apply His presence within us.
Pilate begins his interrogation of Jesus by questioning Jesus’ kingship. We have an opportunity here to explore a bit about Pilate.
He was a member of the Equestrian Order which were Roman Cavalrymen who came from the landed gentry. That means he was educated and already had wealth, and political and social connections as a young man that further grew through his service to Caesar. He was appointed governor and prefect of Judea which gave him immense power over the military (who were really police), taxes, judicial power including the power to condemn people to death. He could mint coins and grant certain measures of control to local authorities.
Like many politicians, Pilate was skillful, competent, and manipulative. He reigned as governor for ten years, which is quite long, this thought owing to his skill. Historians from Pilate’s time also note that he was a cruel and obstinate man.
One interesting note is that he liked to poke the bear in that he would purposefully provoke the Jewish leaders and people.
This little vignette of Pilate is intended to show that he had absolutely no interest in the Jewish religion, nor did he have any regard for it. This is why Pilate clearly says: “I am not a Jew, am I?
Pilate knew nothing about Jesus, His claims, teaching, miracles, or of the Kingdom He said, “is at hand.” All he knew is that an accused man was presented before him for execution.
Jesus’ question to Pilate was somewhat rhetorical. He knew that Pilate knew little to nothing of Him. That question however confronts us with how we live out our obligation of witness to Jesus and His Kingdom. Hear Jesus saying this to us: “Have you told others about Me?”
The presence of Jesus within us calls us to a life of witness, of talking about Jesus and inviting those we encounter to join us in meeting Him and entering His Kingdom.
Indeed, if Jesus is our King, Leader, Ruler, and ultimate Judge we need to be telling everyone about Him. Come to church with me. Meet Jesus, the King.
Fr. Jim is digging out some old family recipes and will be providing a take-home/take-away American Goulash dinner on Sunday, December 8th starting at 11:30am until sold out. Drive up and pick-up. Food will be brought to your car or you can stop in to the church hall. This filling and comforting dinner is just perfect for the season. Dinners are available in a 64oz family size or individual 16oz servings accompanied by fresh bread.
Be sure to reserve your dinner by pre-ordering below. We look forward to serving you.
Individual 16oz dinners are $10 each.
Family 64oz dinners are $30 (save $10).
All dinners include Italian bread.
Order Family Size Dinners
Order Individual Dinners
This week’s memory verse: “And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also.” — John 14:3
Pray the week: Lord Jesus, we await Your return in glory. Grant that we may witness to You in this day and in every way. May we live lives endued with Your Divine wisdom and justice. Amen.
“They will see ‘the Son of Man coming in the clouds’ with great power and glory, and then He will send out the angels and gather His elect from the four winds.”
For seven Sundays this summer we journeyed with Jesus and His apostles coming to understand that we receive Him.
Jesus’ journey continued as He moved from Galilee into Judea and on to Jerusalem. He is now very near the end of His journey. His arrest and crucifixion are now hours away. Along the way of this journey Jesus has discussed the many ways we are to apply His presence within us.
In certain ways we can understand the darkness of Jesus’ discussion with his disciples. His life was quickly coming to an end, and He knew it. Just prior to today’s gospel passage, the disciples were pointing out all the magnificent stuff around them in the Temple area.
We would be wrong to just say, well Jesus is in a dark time and write it off with that. Instead, we are called understand what Jesus is talking about and is asking of His disciples and us. He wants us to take our focus off stuff and place it on what is most important.
Those important things are the traits He says the elect will have: Knowing that He is near; We will all awaken from death; The wise will shine brightly; and Those who lead the many to justice shall be like the stars forever. It is also important to know and acknowledge the alternative.
So, what about us? We can certainly know He is near. That is no problem, but am I wise, and do I lead many to justice?
I think back to those days when I helped my children with their school projects. I thought I could lead and that I was wise. What I quickly learned was that I was not wise or a great leader when the grades they received with my help were – well let’s say – not great.
Most of us can connect to those thoughts. If I am not wise and leading people to justice, if I’m not all that great, how will I ever make it?
What needs to happen, is like the disciples, we need to change our focus. We place emphasis on greatness, accomplishment, stuff, and success. Jesus never asked us to be great – rather servants. He did not ask us to be accomplished or successful, but rather to be disciples and witnesses. He did not ask us to acquire stuff, but to sacrifice all we have for the Kingdom.
We are the elect because we do as Jesus asks. We are those wise leaders when we give example, live in Christian witness, and stay focused on our real home.
This week’s memory verse: And those who know your name put their trust in you, for you, O Lord, have not forsaken those who seek you. — Psalm 9:10
11/10 – Proverbs 3:5-6
Pray the week: Lord Jesus, Grant me the full trust in You. Grant that my life be marked by eager anticipation of the fulfillment You will bring. Clear my life of those things I cling to uselessly. Amen.
So also Christ, offered once to take away the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to take away sin but to bring salvation to those who eagerly await Him.
For seven Sundays this summer we journeyed with Jesus and His apostles coming to understand that we receive Him.
Jesus’ journey continued as He moved from Galilee into Judea and on to Jerusalem. He is now there about a week before His arrest and crucifixion. This is Jesus’ ultimate journey to the sacrifice He would offer for our salvation which the Letter to the Hebrews speaks of. Along the way, Jesus has discussed the many ways we are to apply His presence within us.
Today we hear of God’s great provision. We start in First Kings with Elijah’s visit to the widow of Zarephath. Jesus would speak of this visit and God’s provision when He went back to His hometown of Nazareth. Jesus pointed out to the Nazoreans that this woman acted in faith toward the One true God despite her desperate situation – and because of that she was rewarded. It was not because she was Jewish – in fact she wasn’t. The people of Zarephath worshiped various gods and stone columns. Yet she changed, not based on facts or teaching, but rather based on inspiration. The people of Nazareth refused that inspiration and the asked for change in their lives.
Our witness to Jesus’ presence within us is how we changed in our reactions. For us, we must act as the widow – inspired by trust in God’s mighty provision.
In our Gospel lesson, Jesus points to the trust of the poor widow. He is reinforcing the call to trust. The opposite of that, as Jesus points out, is the self-preservation and the building up of the Scribes egos.
Listen carefully to our prayer over the gifts today where we will hear: May we realize that we are truly rich only when we are truly Yours.
Our witness of trust is best exemplified in our ability to give of ourselves beyond measure, beyond respectability and caution, against practicality. The Letter to the Hebrews points out Jesus’ total self-giving and speaks of our call to eagerly await Him.
Over the next two weeks Jesus speaks of the end times and approaches His crucifixion and death. The journey from Nazareth to Galilee to Judea and Jerusalem comes to completion and we are saved.
Now we await Him, His second coming not to take away sin but to bring salvation to those who eagerly await Him. How we witness to Him in us and await Him counts. Let us, like the widows, do so unburdened and with trust.
This week’s memory verse: The unfolding of Your words gives light; it imparts understanding to the simple. — Psalm 119:130
Pray the week: Lord Jesus, Grant me the full embrace of Your Law within me. May Your statutes of love guide my very being, my outward and my hidden life. Free me from the burdens of adherence to worthless things. Amen.
And when Jesus saw that he answered with understanding, He said to him, “You are not far from the kingdom of God.”
For seven Sundays this summer we journeyed with Jesus and His apostles coming to understand that we receive Him. For the rest of Ordinary Time and the special Solemnities of our Church, Jesus discusses applying His presence within us. How do we do it?
In case you haven’t noticed, Jesus’ journey has been continuing. Jesus moved from Galilee into Judea and on to Jerusalem. In today’s Gospel passage He is now there about a week before His arrest and crucifixion. This is Jesus’ ultimate journey to the sacrifice He would offer for our salvation.
Thus far Jesus has been doing a great job silencing those who were seeking a reason to arrest and kill Him.
After the Herodians and Pharisees ask Jesus about taxes, His answer silences them. After Jesus answers the Sadducees about the resurrection, they fall quiet. Now the Scribes show up in the form of this one man.
The Scribes were learned men whose business was to study the Law, transcribe it, and write commentaries on it. This man knew his Mosaic Law.
In a way, the man’s question, meant to entrap Jesus, was a silly one. The Shema prayer was repeated daily by all the Jews. It is still recited by Jewish people today: Hear O Israel, the Lord is our God, the Lord is one. And as for you, you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength.
Everyone in Jesus and the Scribe’s hearing knew this was the most important thing in the Law – For Jews it was and is the bringing of everything and the mark of their relationship with God. Factually, it is for us as well.
Jesus couldn’t answer in any other way. The Scribe affirms His answer. Then something amazing happens. This man, on a mission to entrap Jesus is affirmed by Jesus. Jesus saw something much deeper in the Scribe.
The Scribe answered with understanding. This aspect of the Law was not just words to the Scribe, not just part of his studying, transcribing, and commenting job – but part of his life. The Scribe got it deep down and understood what it called him to do, and he allowed it to mold his life.
Did the Scribe then believe in Jesus? Did he follow Him or walk away afraid of rejection and the loss of approval? Perhaps he believed and followed Jesus in secret? We may never know what happened in the silence. What we do know is that we must get and live God’s Law of love, allowing it to mold us into the image of Jesus.
Beloved, we are God’s children now
On All Saints Day he heard the line above taken from the First Letter of St. John (1 John 3:1-3). What a wonderful statement of assurance for us who are His faithful people.
A primary emphasis for us on the road to sainthood is understanding the type of relationship we have with God. Our relationship is naturally centered on God’s love toward us, and His desire for a familial relationship with us. This relationship needs to be built up – which takes time – and relies on our growing into the image of Jesus. St. John is telling us that the more we resemble Jesus, the more the Father loves us as His sons and daughters.
We know the saints did their utmost to resemble Jesus. Perhaps they did not accomplish that in every way, but each saint took his or her talents and worked to grow those talents into a reflection of how Jesus showed forth that aspect of Himself. Those talents may have been compassion, community building, charity, care, gentleness, discipline, teaching, feeding, holding people accountable for their behavior, and in so many other ways. The natural consequence of our growth into Jesus’ image, and using our talents to reflect Him in our world today, is the gift of hope for eternal life and eventual glorification alongside Jesus. St. John tells us that we shall be like Him.
We know God loves us and wants relationship with us. We know we are called to respond to His love with a commitment to grow into the image of Jesus and by using our talents to reflect Him in our own unique ways. Our promised outcome is living in hope for eternal life and glory. Becoming a saint is this process of knowing, growing, and living – but it always starts in one place – that is desire. Desire for God is not something we can manufacture. Rather, it is a call within ourselves, prompted by the Holy Spirit, to love God abundantly and to move toward Him with an overwhelming yearning to be His saint. Drawn to Him, let us continually grow in desire for God and to reflect Him in every way.
Welcome to our November 2024 Newsletter. We enter into prayer this month for our faithful departed loved ones. We begin our various drives to provide comfort and assistance through the cold months to come. This includes our YMSofR Clothing Drive, Food Drive, and the support we give to families in crisis. We remember our longtime pastor Rt. Rev. śp. Stanley Bilinski. Raffles are also underway – get your tickets now. They are great gifts for a loved one or friend. We focus on thanksgiving – the holiday, personal and corporate thankfulness, prayer, and great Thanksgiving hymns. Our participation in the Pierogi 5k was a success. Study up on some background on the importance of voting and exercise your right on November 5th. Also, check out what is upcoming as we enter Advent on December 1st. All that and more in our November 2024 Newsletter.