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Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time – 2012

28 January 2012 - By

First reading: Deuteronomy 18:15-20
Psalm: Ps 95:1-2,6-9
Epistle:1 Corinthians 7:32-35
Gospel: Mark 1:21-28

Brothers and sisters:
I should like you to be free of anxieties.

Anxiety:

Maria was beset by anxiety attacks. They progressed over time, but eventually became so severe she could no longer function, could no longer have a normal life. These attacks were debilitating, she felt constant fear, and her mind wandered through all the possibilities and probabilities that something terrible would happen. Not only would Maria feel anxiety, her anxiety was compounded because she knew something was wrong with her, and she feared that too.

The word anxiety is derived from the Latin word which literally means “to choke.”. Maria felt choked. She couldn’t acknowledge her fears so she could deal with them, she had no help, and she felt she had nowhere for her anxiety to go. Her breath was almost cut off.

Paul on anxiety:

St. Paul is addressing a group of questions posed by the church members, people like you and me, the early parishioners at Corinth saying that he would like them to be free from anxieties. St. Paul addressed the problem of anxiety with the parishioners at Philippi as well. He told them:

Have no anxiety about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God.

Paul talked a lot about anxiety because it is real, something present in our lives, but which he knew we could be freed from.

1897:

There was a lot of anxiety in 1897. The people of Scranton had scrimped and saved to build a church. The parish they had built, that their generous donations supported, didn’t want them. They had been ejected from their former parish by a cruel pastor who demanded only obedience, who derided the hard working people, threatening them will hellfire. He sought only to be the lord and master of the people.

Think of their anxiety. They were outcasts, without a parish, without a pastor, without a spiritual home. Their investment in a spiritual home was gone and its doors were shut to them. In their anxiety they reached out to God and in doing so found comfort in a pastor, a shepherd who made the grace of God available once again. Not a pastor who demanded to be their lord and master, but a pastor who was their brother, teacher, and guide. A pastor whose heart was for the people.

The end of anxiety:

God sent Ś.P. Bishop Hodur to take their commission. He let them know the one key way to alleviate anxiety. It was not submission to priests, bishops, and a pope who defined themselves as royalty, as lords and masters, but instead knowledge of the one Lord and Savior who frees us.

Bishop Hodur showed them the true Jesus who came to give us His word, to teach us, to show us the way to the Father. He showed them that Jesus was not preparing hellfire for His people, but rather the joys of heaven. He pointed and led to Jesus who takes up every one of our anxieties, big and small, and frees us. Jesus, who promises us joy.

Today:

Today we stand on the foundation Bishop Hodur and those free men and women built. We are not slaves to lords and masters, to bishops and popes. We stand free with the knowledge and grace given through God’s word. Our priests, deacons, and bishops stand along side us, teaching us, working with us. Because we are free, no one can close our church, shut doors to us, take away our voice and vote, send us to hell, or tell us that God is not for us. God, working through history, has freed us from all those anxieties and has given us the light of His Holy Polish National Catholic Church.

Hezekiah:

In 2nd Kings we read of Hezekiah, the 14th king of Judah. His enemy, the Assyrian king, sent messengers with a letter. This letter is one of those that cause great anxiety. What did Hezekiah do? He went before the Lord and spread the letter out in front of God. Hezekiah did what what the Lord asks all of us to do, what St. Paul strongly encourages: put all anxieties before the Lord. St. Paul tells us that when we do that:

the peace of God which surpasses all understanding will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.

Reassurance:

Anxiety literally means to choke. When we choke our outlet is blocked. Anxiety does that when, like Maria, we see no out, when there is no place for troubles and anxieties to go. How terrible to be trapped, and bound.

But we, we are free. In our democratic Church, a true treasure among all the Churches, we stand with each other and support each other. Most of all, and best of all, we have a Father in heaven who loves us. No matter the anxiety, no matter problem, big or small, we can spread them out before Him. We are able to tell God of our anxieties because He is our outlet and our relief. He is our hope, He frees us.

Our God is the God of everything. We are able to have peace, because as St. Paul says, God will take all our anxiety away. Let us spread out our anxieties before God and trust that the God who gave us freedom and eternal life in Jesus, will free us of all anxiety. Nothing can truly harm or take away what Jesus has won for us. Amen.

Tags: ι ι Categories: Homilies, PNCC

Art for the Conception of the B.V.M.

8 December 2011 - By

Conception of the Theotokos, Icon

Church Tradition teaches that St. Anna, the mother of the Virgin Mary, was the youngest daughter of the priest Nathan from Bethlehem, descended from the tribe of Levi. She married St. Joachim, who was a native of Galilee. For a long time St. Anna was childless, but after twenty years, through the fervent prayer of both spouses, an angel of the Lord announced to them that they would be the parents of a daughter, who would bring blessings to the whole human race. The Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary by St. Anna took place at Jerusalem.

The PNCC does not accept the teaching that the Mother of God was exempted from the consequences of ancestral sin (death, corruption, or sin) at the moment of her conception by virtue of the future merits of Her Son. Only Christ was born perfectly holy and sinless, as St. Ambrose of Milan teaches in Chapter Two of his Commentary on Luke. The Holy Virgin was like everyone else in her mortality, and in being subject to temptation, although she committed no personal sins. Mary was not a deified creature removed from the rest of humanity. If this were the case, she would not have been truly human, and the nature that Christ took from her would not have been truly human either. If Christ does not truly share our human nature, then the possibilty of our salvation is in doubt.

“Let Mary be in honor, but let worship be given to the Lord.” — Sergei Bulgakov

Tags: ι ι Categories: Art, PNCC

Appointment of a reluctant bishop

7 December 2011 - By

From the Sun-Sentinel: Calling of a reluctant bishop

South Florida priest appointed to New England diocese, just in time for Christmas

The Very Rev. Paul Sobiechowski is a reluctant bishop. He never wanted to leave his warm little parish in Davie, where he has served for nearly three decades.

But the fourth time was the charm when the Polish National Catholic Church asked him to become a leading shepherd. This time he said yes.

Sobiechowski will say his final Mass on Dec. 11 at St. Joseph’s Polish Catholic Church in Davie, the exact 28th anniversary of his first Mass there in 1983. The next day, he and wife Karen will pack and move to Holy Trinity Cathedral in Manchester, N.H.

“I liked being a priest; I never wanted to do anything more,” Sobiechowski, 57, said after a morning liturgy at the church. “But now that I’m called to this, I just hope I can do what I need to accomplish [God's] will.”

Sobiechowski was actually chosen in October 2010, during the general synod in Toronto. Polish National Catholic practice, though, elects qualified people before they are needed; that way, there’s always a supply. In May, he was assigned to the Eastern Diocese, 20 parishes in New England, on the retirement of Bishop Thomas Gnat.

Sobiechowski’s name had come up three times before, and he had declined. But this time, he says he heard an inner voice: “I want you to stand for election.” He accepted.

The move will end his work not only in his parish but the community. He was a member of the Davie-Cooper City Rotary Club and a board member of the EASE Foundation, which serves the poor in western Broward.

For 20 years, he and Karen coordinated an annual Advent candlelight service for neighborhood churches. The evening included choirs, sacred dancers, instrumentalists and a buffet. Also included was an offering for Sunset School, a center for special needs children.

Sobiechowski also headed the ecumenical chaplaincy at Memorial Pembroke Hospital, and served as state chaplain for the Polish Legion of American Veterans. And Oct. 18 was declared Bishop Paul Sobiechowski Day in Davie.

He shepherded the church and the 35 residents in its retirement home through three hurricanes and a tornado. Wilma dumped four feet of water on the center of the property. The land has lost some 200 trees altogether; Sobiechowski says he once blew out an arm trying to cut up fallen trees with a 20-inch chainsaw.

“Typical priest work,” he says with a smile.

He considers the stresses worth it for the 150 parishioners, who he says show a “cornucopia of nationalities”: Polish, African American, Asian, Caribbean, several kinds of Hispanic. Sobiechowski says the Spanish-language Mass is the best attended.

More than diversity, Sobiechowski has enjoyed the family atmosphere. “If someone gets sick, everyone is on the phones. If someone gets a birthday, everyone sings ‘Happy Birthday.’

“I love being a priest. You’re always with the people. You get to know families. As a bishop, it’s not just you and the community. It’s 20 communities.”

Even the rectory will expand. He and Karen have become accustomed to living in 800 square feet. He says the bishop’s rectory in Manchester is more than four times larger.

He still sees some pluses to his new home. He likes lobster. He’ll be an hour from Boston. New Hampshire has no state income tax. And people are people, in every state.

“God looked at his creation and said it’s good,” Sobiechowski says. “And if the winters are cold [in New Hampshire], the warmth of the people has to be exceptional.”

“Whatever challenges you have, somehow, with God’s help, we always survive,” he says. “We always pray, ‘Thy will be done.’”

Tags: ι ι ι Categories: Christian Witness, PNCC

Art in Honor of the Occupy Movement

25 November 2011 - By

The Uprising, Honoré Daumier, ca. 1860

Tags: ι Categories: Art, Christian Witness, Current Events, Perspective, PNCC, Political

Art for All Saints Day

1 November 2011 - By

Synaxis of All Saints, Russian Icon, early 17th century

After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude which no man could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and tongues, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands, and crying out with a loud voice, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits upon the throne, and to the Lamb!” And all the angels stood round the throne and round the elders and the four living creatures, and they fell on their faces before the throne and worshiped God, saying, “Amen! Blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and might be to our God for ever and ever! Amen.”

Then one of the elders addressed me, saying, “Who are these, clothed in white robes, and whence have they come?” I said to him, “Sir, you know.” And he said to me, “These are they who have come out of the great tribulation; they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. Therefore are they before the throne of God, and serve him day and night within his temple; and he who sits upon the throne will shelter them with his presence. They shall hunger no more, neither thirst any more; the sun shall not strike them, nor any scorching heat. For the Lamb in the midst of the throne will be their shepherd, and he will guide them to springs of living water; and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.” Revelation 7:9-17

Tags: ι Categories: Art, Christian Witness, PNCC

From the Consecration of the Rt. Rev. Paul Sobiechowski

1
24 October 2011 - By

On the Feast of Saint Luke the Evangelist, our Holy Church entered into a new reality. The Very Rev. Paul Sobiechowski was consecrated to the office of bishop in the Holy Polish National Catholic Church. Bishop elect Paul chose Rev. Stanley Bilinski and Rev. Raymond Drada as his chaplains. The principal consecrator was the Most Rev. Dr. Anthony Mikovsky, Prime Bishop of the PNCC. All bishops of the PNCC, active and retired were co-consecrators. Prime Bishop Mikovsky celebrated the Holy Mass assisted by Rev. Bruce Sleczkowski as deacon and Rev. Gregory Młudzik as subdeacon of the Mass. The readings and Holy Gospel were proclaimed in English, Polish, and Spanish. As part of the consecration rite, bishop-elect Paul chose to sign the Declaration of Scranton, which was first signed by our organizer, Bishop Francis Hodur, and signed by every bishop candidate ever since. Over 400 faithful participated in the Holy Mass.

Significant not only in its ritual and celebration, the Holy Rite was witnessed by ecumenical clergy from various jurisdictions from around the globe: Bishop TIKHON of the Orthodox Church in America; Most Rev. James C. Timlin, retired bishop of the Roman Catholic Church, Scranton diocese; Rt. Rev. Richard W. Lipka, from the Anglican Church of North America (ACNA), with whom we have recently sought dialogue; and Abbot-elect Luis A. Gonzalez, OSB, also of ACNA, whom Bishop Paul will witness his installation at St. Benedict’s Abbey in Bartonville, Illinois. These present were significant in showing the viability the PNCC has within the ecumenical world, as well as its place in the community of Christian Churches.

The ritual was performed with the utmost dignity and jubilation. It was my personal honor to be of assistance to the National Liturgical Commission helping in procession and sanctuary logistics.

Following his consecration, Bishop Paul becomes the Diocesan Ordinary of the Eastern Diocese. He plans to be in residence sometime prior to the Christmas holiday.

Please continue to pray for him, his family, and his ministry.

Tags: ι ι ι ι Categories: Christian Witness, PNCC

The Consecration of the Very Rev. Paul Sobiechowski

9
17 October 2011 - By

By determination of the Prime Bishop, with the concurrence of the Supreme Council, the Consecration of the Very Rev. Paul Sobiechowski to the Office of Bishop in the Holy Polish National Catholic Church will take place on the Feast of St. Luke the Apostle and Evangelist, Tuesday, October 18th.

Fr. Senior Paul was elected to the Office amidst the work of the Church’s 26th General Synod last fall.

Very Rev. Paul Sobiechowski was born in Detroit, Michigan’s East Side. His father was an autoworker and his mother was a homemaker. Fr. Senior Paul spent his formative years at All Saints Polish National Catholic Church. He graduated from Wayne State University with a degree in history and Polish Language, completed his studies at Savonarola Theological Seminary, and was ordained to the priesthood in 1979. Father Paul served All Saints Cathedral Parish in Chicago for 4 1/2 years as assistant to Bishop Joseph Zawistowski.

From December 1983 through March 2011 Father Paul served as Administrator of the Bishop Kardas Memorial Home and continues to serve as Pastor of St. Joseph’s Polish National Catholic Church, Davie, Florida. The administrative senior of PNC parishes in Florida, he has served the general church as a member (past chair) of the Commission on Mission and Evangelism and as a member of the Supreme Council. For many years he has been a member of the Liturgical Commission and the PNC/RC Dialogue. He is chair of the PNC/Anglican Dialogue. Additionally, Father Paul has been the chaplain for the Polish Legion of American Veterans (state of Florida) and has coordinated an ecumenical chaplaincy program at a local hospital in South Florida for more than 20 years. Father Paul has embraced the challenges and joys of serving a culturally diverse congregation, preparing and celebrating liturgies in Polish, English, Spanish, and most recently Haitian Creole.

Following his consecration, Bishop Paul becomes the Diocesan Ordinary of the Eastern Diocese of the PNCC. Please continue to pray for him, his family, and his ministry.

Tags: ι ι ι Categories: Christian Witness, Events, PNCC

Prayer Service on the Opening of the 66th Session of the United Nations General Assembly

13 October 2011 - By

On Monday, September 12th, the Roman Catholic Archdiocese Of New York, The Permanent Observer Mission of The Holy See To The United Nations, and the Roman Catholic Church Of The Holy Family at 315 East Forty-Seventh Street, New York hosted a Prayer Service on the Opening of the 66th Session of the United Nations General Assembly.

The service was led by the Most Reverend Francis A. Chullikatt, Apostolic Nuncio and Permanent Observer of the Holy See to the United Nations and was attended by members of various Churches who joined in prayer for the work of the United Nations.

Rt. Rev. John Mack of the Central Diocese of the Polish National Catholic Church attended the service accompanied by Rev. Gregory Młudzik of Transfiguration Parish in Wallington, New Jersey. The Orthodox Church in America was represented by Metropolitan Jonah along with Archimandrite Christopher [Calin], Dean of Holy Virgin Protection Cathedral, New York, NY; Protodeacon Joseph Matusiak, Secretary to the Metropolitan, and Mr. Michael Zachariades, Assistant to the Metropolitan. His Eminence Mor Cyril Aphrem Karimx of the Syriac Orthodox Church of Antioch was represented by Very Rev. Fr. Shamoun Asmar and Rev Fr. Aziz Hadodo.

This year’s ceremonies were particularly special due to the presence of The UN Secretary General, His Excellency Mr. Ban Ki-moon, who addressed the audience on the solemn 10th Anniversary of the attacks on the World Trade Center.

Tags: ι ι Categories: Christian Witness, PNCC

Art for the Solemnity of the Christian Family

9 October 2011 - By

Holy Family, Szymon Czechowicz, ca. 1750

Now his parents went to Jerusalem every year at the feast of the Passover. And when he was twelve years old, they went up according to custom; and when the feast was ended, as they were returning, the boy Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem. His parents did not know it, but supposing him to be in the company they went a day’s journey, and they sought him among their kinsfolk and acquaintances; and when they did not find him, they returned to Jerusalem, seeking him. After three days they found him in the temple, sitting among the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions; and all who heard him were amazed at his understanding and his answers. And when they saw him they were astonished; and his mother said to him, “Son, why have you treated us so? Behold, your father and I have been looking for you anxiously.” And he said to them, “How is it that you sought me? Did you not know that I must be in my Father’s house?” And they did not understand the saying which he spoke to them. And he went down with them and came to Nazareth, and was obedient to them; and his mother kept all these things in her heart. And Jesus increased in wisdom and in stature, and in favor with God and man. — Luke 2:41-52

Tags: ι Categories: Art, PNCC, Poland - Polish - Polonia

Prayers for the Solemnity of the Christian Family

9 October 2011 - By

In Gratitude for Parents:

I thank you, God in Heaven, for my parents. When morning wakes, when daytime ends, I have the consciousness of loving hands that touch my own, of tender voice and gentleness, of thoughts that cheer and bless!

If sorrow comes to me I know that my parents will talk about the way I go. And, as the shadows fall, I know that I will raise my eyes and know with a Hope that never dies! — to You, the Dearest Parent of All.

A Parent’s Prayer — From A Book of Devotions and Prayers According to the Use of the Polish National Catholic Church:

Merciful Father, who gave me my children, and committed them to my charge to bring them up in the first place for Thee, for Thy Church and this our country, as also to prepare them for everlasting life; assist and help me with Thy heavenly grace, I most humbly beseech and implore Thee, that I may be able to fulfill this sacred duty. Make me gentle, patient, and considerate, yet firm and watchful; teach me both what to give and what to withhold; when to reprove and when to forbear; deliver me from the weakness of indulgence, as also from the excess of severity. Grant, O Gracious Father, that both by word and example I may lead them in the ways of Thy faith, love and wisdom, that as they advance in years, they may grow in grace and true piety, so that in the end, I may with them be admitted to Thy eternal glory. Through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

A Child’s Prayer — From A Book of Devotions and Prayers According to the Use of the Polish National Catholic Church:

Heavenly Father, who gave me my father and mother, and commanded me to love, honor, and obey them in all things; give me Thy grace, I implore Thee, that I may cheerfully and with my whole heart fulfill this Thy law; that I may love them fervently, honor them truly and comply with their wishes. Deliver me, O God, from pride, rebellion, stubborness, and carelessness. Make me diligent in all my duties and studies, patient in all my trials, and humble in Thy presence. Create in me a clean heart and make me strong in Thy faith, that I may grow in grace and wisdom, from day to day, to Thy glory and to the pride and benefit of my dear parents. Through Christ, my Lord and Saviour. Amen.

For Families — From A Book of Devotions and Prayers According to the Use of the Polish National Catholic Church:

Our Father, in Whose family all men are children: we remember before Thee all homes broken by separation. We pray for mothers and children separated from each other; for husbands and wives compelled to live apart; and especially for homes from which the husband, son or brother has gone forth to the service. Soften, we pray Thee, these hard blows by the comfort of the Holy Spirit. Be with the lonely. Help them to maintain the links that bind them to those they love. May fellowship in spirit be kept though bodily presence be denied. Teach us all that neither death nor life can separate us from Thy love which is in Christ Jesus, our Lord. Amen.

Tags: ι ι ι Categories: PNCC

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