Holy Week and Easter 2022 Schedule

Holy Week and the celebration of the Solemnity of the Resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ are the true central point of our life as Christians and of our liturgical year. In this time, we are called in a special way to walk with Jesus from His triumphal entry into Jerusalem, to the Last Supper, through His passion, death, and entombment, to His glorious resurrection. Come, join in as a member of God’s Kingdom.

Holy Week

  • Sunday, April 10, Palm Sunday. Holy Mass with the Traditional Blessing and distribution of Palms at 10am. Second Holy Mass at Noon.
  • Monday, April 11, Holy Monday. Holy Mass at Noon.
  • Tuesday, April 12, Holy Tuesday. Clergy Conference and Chrism Holy Mass at St. Stanislaus Bishop and Martyr Cathedral in Scranton, Pennsylvania starting at Noon.
  • Wednesday, April 13, Spy Wednesday. Holy Mass at Noon. Private Confessions 12:45 until 2pm.

Pascal Triduum

  • Thursday, April 14, Maundy Thursday. Reception of Oils, Holy Mass of the Institution of the Eucharist, Procession, Reposition of the Blessed Sacrament, Vespers, and Striping of the Altar at 7pm. Church remains open afterward for private devotion.
  • Friday, April 15, Good Friday. Church opens at Noon for private devotion Seven Last Words at 1pm. Bitter Lamentations / Gorzkie żale at 2pm. Liturgy of the Presanctified and Opening of the Tomb at 3pm. Church remains open afterward for private devotion.
  • Saturday, April 16, Holy Saturday. Liturgies of the day (New Fire, Blessing of Holy Water, Proclamation of the Exhortations, Renewal of Baptismal Promises) at 10am followed by the Blessing of Easter Baskets. Church open until 2pm for Blessing of Baskets and private devotion.

Solemnity of the Resurrection

  • Sunday, April 17, Solemnity of the Resurrection (Easter). Solemn Resurrection Procession and Solemn High Holy Mass at 8am. Second Holy Mass at 10am. Easter repast (SwiÄ™conka) after each Holy Mass.

Bible Study for the 1st Week of Passiontide 2022

This week’s memory verse: Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.

2 Corinthians 5:17
  • 4/3 – 1 John 1:9
  • 4/4 – 2 Peter 3:9
  • 4/5 – Matthew 9:13
  • 4/6 – Acts 2:38
  • 4/7 - Romans 10:10
  • 4/8 – 2 Corinthians 7:10
  • 4/9 – John 3:16

Pray the week: Lord Jesus, thank You for making me new, for wiping away my sin. Grant me the grace to press forward to the goal of excellence in the Kingdom life.

Reflection for Passion Sunday 2022

Made whole.

He will not break off a bent reed, nor put out a flickering lamp. He will persist until he causes justice to triumph.

Isaiah prophesies about a ‘bruised reed.’ and a ‘smoldering wick.’ In fulfillment Jesus came, not to destroy the reed or put out the wick, but to take brokenness and smoldering away. Jesus has healed and re-ignited us, has brought us into the Kingdom, into lives vastly differently.

Through this Lent we reflected and acted on our call to be vastly different. We looked at our inward selves and our outward actions and have worked to reform them through more ardent prayer, sacrifice, study, worship, and giving. We came to realize that those in the Kingdom live like this year-round, not just during Lent.

Today, St. Paul speaks of that change in him. Paul accomplished much in his youth; he was at the top of his profession. He contrasts his life in Christ to that prior life, not in exaggerated detail, but in broad strokes. 

Paul tells us that everything he was before, all that he had, is loss – i.e., nothing, worthless, even a waste. Everything before his encounter with Jesus, and his acceptance of Christ in faith, Paul says with more than a little hyperbole, is rubbish compared to where he is and where he is going. 

That seems extreme until we realize how much more excellent life in Christ is. Paul got that! Paul came to realize, very clearly, what he was before Jesus. Indeed, Paul was, a bruised reed, a smoldering wick giving neither light nor warmth. Now all things are different. Jesus has changed him, and he now presses forward, as in a race, to attain, to possess the fullness of life in Christ we will know in heaven.

Paul challenges us to go forward in faith with eyes on the heavenly prize of eternal companionship with Christ. Faith is not backward-looking, nor does it rest on its laurels. We must constantly continue our pursuit of excellence in the Kingdom life, in walking the gospel path.

We see, brothers and sisters, the realization of God’s promises in Isaiah, the new thing He is doing, that is our Kingdom life today begun in Christ Jesus. That new thing is the removal of the bruise in us. It is the re-ignition of the fire within us. His doing is not at all reliant on our past, for it is out of complete mercy that He gives us that same new life Paul lived.

Illustrating all this in such a poignant way is Jesus in the confrontation over the sinful woman. In this confrontation the scribes and Pharisees remain steadfast in their past, they live so completely in the past that they fail to see the Messiah standing before them, they walk away. On the other hand, the woman recognizes the new thing God present is doing in her life, she goes forward, like Paul, changed – the past bruise is gone, she is reignited.

We are healed and made on fire for the Kingdom of God.  We are made whole. Our Lenten journey has revealed what God has done for us. Then let us let go, forget the past as God has, and press on to fulness of life here and forever with Christ.

Bible Study for the 4th Week in Lent 2022

This week’s memory verse: All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation.

2 Corithians 5:18-19
  • 3/27 – Ephesians 4:32
  • 3/28 – Romans 5:10
  • 3/29 – Luke 17:3
  • 3/30 – Hebrews 12:14
  • 3/31 - 1 Peter 4:8
  • 4/1 – Colossians 1:20-22
  • 4/2 – Matthew 5:24

Pray the week: Lord Jesus, thank You for my vastly different life, given by Your reconciling me to Yourself. Grant that by self-giving like You I may draw many to the Kingdom.

Reflection for the 4th Sunday in Lent 2022

Made whole.

He will not break off a bent reed, nor put out a flickering lamp. He will persist until he causes justice to triumph.

Jesus came to fulfill what Isaiah had written about centuries before. Isaiah writes about a ‘bruised reed.’ and a ‘smoldering wick.’ Jesus came, not to destroy the reed or put out the wick, but to take brokenness and smoldering away. Jesus has healed and re-ignited us, has brought us into the Kingdom, into lives vastly differently.

As we journey through this Lenten season, we reflect and act on our call to be vastly different. We look at our inward selves and our outward actions and reform them through more ardent prayer, sacrifice, study, worship, and giving. We come to really connect with the fact that those in the Kingdom live like this year-round, not just during Lent.

Today, Jesus presents us with a perfect example of someone who is bruised and smoldering, the youngest son of a very generous father. How is he made vastly different?

There are two key elements in Jesus’ parable, the first being the self-imposed bruising of the son. This is the way sin works for us too. 

The son, not content in the father’s house and service wants ‘what is his,’ and takes off with every intent of harming himself. 

The son did not outwardly say: I am going to go hurt myself. Certainly, he thought he was getting his way with what was his – and that very self-centeredness was at the root of his many sins. The rejection of the father’s house, the partying and the prostitutes were the expression of his self-centered life. It was the way he pulled himself out of the kingdom and put himself in the world. He bruised himself and he did it hard, full speed.

The second key is how the son was changed, healed, and reconciled.

Many have stated that the moment of turn around by the son, repentance, a change in direction back to the kingdom and away from himself and the world was his getting up amid the swine – as Jesus says: he came to his senses.  But not so fast – he was still self-centered, thinking about his father’s servants and food.  Something greater had to change within him, his life had to be made vastly different by something more powerful than just return and food.

The great change in the son was the moment of forgiveness, of full welcome back. This really spoke to his selfish heart and taught him – there is another way to live. There is a vastly different way – that of the father who gives his all not for his own pleasure – but for the sake of me. That is the way the kingdom started, by God giving His all for us, and that is the way it works today where we give our all for the purpose of reconciliation as Jesus asked, one for another who are in the kingdom. 

Lent is about return certainly, but more so about true understanding of our life in and encounter with the One whose great love and self-giving greatly changes us. Changed, we then are the vastly different of the Kingdom who self-give as the Father does to draw many to Jesus and into His Kingdom.

Bible Study for the 3rd Week of Lent 2022

This week’s memory verse: Bear fruit in keeping with repentance.

Matthew 3:8
  • 3/20 – Galatians 5:22-23
  • 3/21 – 2 Peter 1:5-9
  • 3/22 – James 2:14-18
  • 3/23 – John 15:8
  • 3/24 - Philippians 1:6
  • 3/25 – John 15:16
  • 3/26 – Galatians 6:7-8

Pray the week: Lord Jesus, thank You for my new and renewed Kingdom life. Grant that I may produce abundant fruit for the Kingdom. Strengthen me against weariness.

Reflection for the 3rd Sunday in Lent 2022

Made whole.

He will not break off a bent reed, nor put out a flickering lamp. He will persist until he causes justice to triumph.

Jesus came to fulfill what Isaiah had written about centuries before. Isaiah writes about a ‘bruised reed.’ and a ‘smoldering wick.’ Jesus came, not to destroy the reed or put out the wick, but to take brokenness and the smoldering away. Jesus has healed and re-ignited us. Jesus has brought us into the Kingdom, into lives vastly differently.

As we journey through this Lenten season, we reflect and act on our call to be true citizens of the Kingdom, to live up to our call. We look at our inward selves and our outward actions and reform them through more ardent prayer, sacrifice, study, worship, and giving. We come to really connect with the fact that those in the Kingdom live like this year-round, not just during Lent.

Over the past two weeks we have been reminded of our healing from our bruises and how we have been re-ignited to passionately partake in God’s work. We live in the reality that we have been made new, whole, and on fire for the gospel, and to do each day all that this status entails. 

We have been called to continue to be different, to fully live the Kingdom life and call others to be saved, to share in this Kingdom life which is vastly different from that of the world.

Today, St. Paul speaks of what happened to many of the people of Israel as they journeyed to the promised land. Most were struck down because of their unfaithfulness, and that fact was written down as a warning to us, upon whom the end of the ages has come Therefore, whoever thinks he is standing secure should take care not to fall.

Now here is the key element for us who were bruised and smoldering before our entry into the Kingdom life – do we wish to continue to live?

Jesus presents us with a stark reminder of our obligation as Kingdom people. We live to bear fruit. We have been healed, we have been re-ignited, we are whole and new, and the gospel path is before us. We must never lose the passion to live differently, to walk the gospel path in the footsteps of Jesus. We must not grow weary and say, no fruit today. Yes, God’s expectations are high because His promise for us is great.

Being committed as Kingdom people to be the difference that draws others into the Holy Church, the Kingdom life, being the change necessary to transform the world is our mission. Jesus has made us whole for a reason, and this is the reason – the bearing of abundant fruit. The consequences of being barren are a warning to us.

Let us then take advantage of Jesus’ mercy – this time of allowance, this Lent, for the change needed to bear fruit. As our Entrance Hymn taken from Isaiah says: Happy the just, for it will be well with them, the fruit of their works they will eat.

Bible Study for the 2nd Week of Lent 2022

This week’s memory verse: For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking but of righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.

Romans 14:17
  • 3/13 – Romans 12:2
  • 3/14 – 1 Corinthians 4:20
  • 3/15 – Psalm 145:13
  • 3/16 – Luke 12:32
  • 3/17 - Matthew 10:7-8
  • 3/18 – Matthew 6:10
  • 3/19 – Matthew 4:17

Pray the week: Lord Jesus, thank You for my new and renewed Kingdom life. Grant that this Lent may help me fully realize all I must do for the Kingdom, the strength to do it, and the voice to call others into the kingdom life.

Reflection for the Solemnity of the Institution of the Polish National Catholic Church 2022

Made whole.

He will not break off a bent reed, nor put out a flickering lamp. He will persist until he causes justice to triumph.

Jesus came to fulfill what Isaiah had written about centuries before. Isaiah writes about a ‘bruised reed.’ and a ‘smoldering wick.’ Jesus came, not to destroy the reed or put out the wick, but to take brokenness and the smoldering away. Jesus has healed and re-ignited us. Jesus has brought us into the Kingdom, into lives vastly different.

As we journey through this Lenten season, we reflect and act on our call to be true citizens of the Kingdom, to live up to our call. We look at our inward selves and our outward actions and reform them through more ardent prayer, sacrifice, study, worship, and giving. We come to really connect with the fact that those in the Kingdom live like that year-round, not just during Lent.

One day a Rabbi walked into a classroom full of Jewish religious students. The class was full of excitement. Rabbi, Rabbi, they said in unison, the Messiah has come. The Rabbi walked past the students and went to the window. He turned around, went to his desk, and told his students to sit. He said: The world looks no different; therefore, the Messiah has not yet come.

This is a powerful statement.  We know the Messiah; the Christ has come. We know that He is Jesus, the Son of God. Yet the world looks little different with its wars, obscenities, angers, covetousness, and all the other evils that surround us. What has changed?

One hundred twenty-five years ago a group of people looked about them and said the very same thing. They were immigrants, faithful and hardworking, but their lives were not getting any better. They were persecuted and called names. Their pastors continually castigated them. How could they have a Messiah if nothing changed?

They joined together and in a great act of faith and trust in Jesus and organized the Polish National Catholic Church. It would be faithful to the teachings and structures of the pristine undivided Church. It would have the passion of the first Christians who not only believed but acted on the fact that they had been healed and ignited by the Messiah. It would be the Kingdom Church Jesus had established, where they, their descendants, and anyone seeking the Kingdom could fully live out the Kingdom life, be the change Jesus called us to carry out, where life is indeed different, holy, loving, giving, and self-sacrificing.

So here we are in this body called the Church, with all necessary to live the Kingdom life fully, to bring about justice, to live in dignity together as Jesus’ body. So let us continue in prayer, sacrifice, study, worship, and giving. Let us continue to be different and call others to be saved, to share in life that is vastly different because of Jesus.

Bible Study for the 1st Week of Lent 2022

This week’s memory verse: Jesus answered him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.”

John 3:3
  • 3/6 – Titus 3:5
  • 3/7 – Ezekiel 36:26
  • 3/8 – John 3:5
  • 3/9 – 1 John 3:9
  • 3/10 - 1 Peter 1:2
  • 3/11 – John 3:1-21
  • 3/12 – 1 Peter 1:3

Pray the week: Lord Jesus, thank You for my new and renewed Kingdom life. Grant that this Lent may help me fully realize all I must do for the Kingdom and strength to do it.