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Year: 2006

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Homilies,

The Solemnity of the Circumcision

This is my covenant with you and your descendants after you that you must keep: every male among you shall be circumcised.

And Jesus Christ came not to abolish the Law but to fulfill it.

When eight days were completed for his circumcision, he was named Jesus

Our first reaction to today’s readings and Gospel might be a certain level of discomfort.

It is the eighth day of Christmas, and we are still wrapped in the afterglow of the festivities. We just celebrated New Years Eve, perhaps spending time with family and friends in celebration. Who wants to hear about this bloody stuff?

The point is; we make the Christmas season and New Years into a celebration of ourselves, a celebration of what we would like to celebrate. We like to pause for a moment every winter and bathe in the light of the manger with the pretty Madonna and St. Joseph watching over the cute little baby. And we feel good.

We feel good and cheery because God came to be among us, even though we cannot quite put our finger on the meaning of that. We feel good and cheery because we decided to give something of ourselves, a gift, a card, or a visit.

And here we are, slapped with reality. God among us has to suffer along with us. That’s what it means to be fully human; He had to take on the pain as well. That was His ultimate gift, to suffer and die for us.

The Holy Church reminds us that we have to break through the glass window protecting our crèche as a show piece. We have to get down on the ground and experience the crèche as it was, and the reality of life, the life God freely took upon Himself for our salvation.

Yes, God had to be born in a manger, surrounded by the animals and dirt, smells and all. He had to be worshiped by migrants. He had to be taken to the local mohel to perform the Brit milah. He shed His blood for the first time today, the eighth day after His birth.

Listen to the first verses from today’s psalm:

May God have pity on us and bless us;
may he let his face shine upon us.
So may your way be known upon earth;
among all nations, your salvation.

So He did have pity on us, He let His face shine upon us, He came to show us the way.

Yes, God is not separate from us —“ He is part of us, our lives, and our experiences – the complete reality of it all.

God among us is here to challenge our complacency and our perceptions. He is among us to tell us that He loves us more than we deserve. He is here to tell us that He faced every pain and every temptation by coming as man. And, He is here to tell us that the door to the real, the living, and the challenging Jesus is open.

Thomas said to Jesus, “Lord, we do not know where You are going. How can we know the way to get there?” Jesus said, “I am the Way and the Truth and the Life. No one can go to the Father except by Me. If you had known Me, you would know My Father also. From now on you know Him and have seen Him.”

Amen Lord, we know You are here and that You are real. Come to us Lord Jesus.

Saints and Martyrs,

One project down – what’s next

As many of my regular readers may know, I spent 2006 transcribing and posting daily prayers from Żywoty Świętych – a Polish language lives of the saints. That book was published in 1904 by J. Steinbrenner, Catholic Book Publishers. Its author was the Rev. J.A. Łukaszkiewicz.

For 2007 I will be posting the PNCC Calendar of Saints on a daily basis. I will also be transcribing Polish Language hymns from the Śpiewniczek Kościelny on occasion.

The full title of the book is:

Śpiewniczek —“ zawierający Pieśni Kościelne z Melodyami – Dla Użytku Wiernych (Hymn Book —“ inclusive of the hymns and melodies of the Church for the use of the faithful)

The book was assembled by the Rev. Jan Siedlecki and was published in Poland in 1901, imported and sold by Regulski-Polaski, Inc., 21 Murray St., New York, NY.

As to the PNCC Calendar of the Saints and the Sanctoral Cycle:

The calendar was developed from a review of the many thousands of saints that are commonly recognized by Catholic bodies throughout the world. The Church has not included every recognized saint, but rather has provided a selection of at least three commemorations for each day.

The clergy of the Church are not required to observe commemorations, but are encouraged to do so to add variety to Eucharistic worship and as an expression of union with the rest of the Catholic Church.

Saints were included based on:

  • Commemorations that are universally and traditionally honored on certain days.
  • Individuals who by their lives and work reflect universally accepted Catholic teaching.
  • Saints reflected in the early PNCC work, “33”
  • Polish saints
  • Bishops Hodur and Padewski

It should be noted that general rules of precedence apply to the Sanctoral Cycle:

Solemnities
of our Lord
of the Blessed Mother
of St. Joseph, Guardian of our Lord
of All Saints
of St. John the Baptist
of St. Stephen, Proto-martyr

Feasts
of Holy Angels
of Apostles
of Evangelists
of All Souls

Memorials
of Old Testament Saints
of Abbots
of Bishops
of Confessors
of Doctors
of Deacons
of Kings
of Martyrs
of Priests
of Virgins
of Widows
of Queens
of First Prime Bishop Francis Hodur
of Bishop Joseph Padewski, PNCC Bishop and Martyr

As to Sundays of the year, there are Sundays of the First Class, Second Class, and Ordinary Sundays

Sundays of the First Class (these Sundays give place to no other feast except as noted):

  • the First Sunday of Advent
  • the four Sundays of Lent (The Institution of the PNCC falls on the second Sunday in March and takes precedence over the first four Sundays of Lent, but not Passion Sunday)
  • Passion Sunday
  • Palm Sunday
  • Easter
  • Second Sunday of Easter (Low Sunday)
  • Pentecost

Sundays of the Second Class (these Sundays give place only to Solemnities)

  • Second, Third, and Fourth Sundays of Advent
  • Septuagesima, Sexagesima, and Quinquagesima Sundays

Ordinary Sundays (these Sundays give place to Solemnities and Feasts

Homilies,

Solemnity of the Humble Shepherds

Once they saw they understood what had been told them concerning this Child

The Gospel has interesting bookends. Toward the beginning of the Gospel we read of the Humble Shepherds who heard, went in haste, saw, understood, and proclaimed what they saw.

At the other end of the Gospel we have Peter and John running to the tomb. They heard, went in haste, and saw. At that moment John believed.

It took the rest of the apostles a little while to catch on. Thomas, incredulous, would not believe until he saw the living Christ.

For forty days Jesus worked with his apostles and disciples. He appeared to them, healed them, and reassured them. He gave them the gift of the Holy Spirit, and ten days after His ascension the power of the Holy Spirit was fulfilled in them and they began to preach —“ to proclaim Him.

St. Paul tells Titus:

He saved us through the baptism of new birth and renewal by the Holy Spirit. This Spirit He lavished on us through Jesus Christ our Savior, that we might be justified by His grace and become heirs, in hope, of eternal life.

Brothers and sisters,

The poor shepherds were there at the beginning. They heard, went in haste, saw, understood, and proclaimed Him. Later the apostles and disciples, aided by the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, heard, went in haste, saw, understood, and proclaimed Him.

Today our Holy Church celebrates the witness of those men, the memory of the humble shepherds who took action.

[They] returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, just as it had been told to them.

Now it has been told to you. You have been baptized, you have received the Holy Spirit, the Word of God has been proclaimed to you. We are past the bookends of the Bible and into the reality of life lived as witnesses to the Word, to the Gospel.

Witnessing is a living and breathing thing. Your witness is alive and vital —“ and God, while He doesn’t necessarily need it, asks it of you, for through you all men will come to be saved, not on their own merit but because of His mercy.

From St. Matthew:

Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, until the end of the age.”

From St. Mark:

He said to them, “Go into the whole world and proclaim the gospel to every creature.

And From St. Luke:

Then he opened their minds to understand the scriptures. And he said to them, “Thus it is written that the Messiah would suffer and rise from the dead on the third day and that repentance, for the forgiveness of sins, would be preached in his name to all the nations, beginning from Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things.

You are witnesses of these things. The Bible is replete with references to the Lord. Co-eternal with the Father He came as man, taught us, healed us, suffered for us, died for us, was buried, and was raised as our hope and as St. Paul tells us the first fruits of all those who have died.

Jeremiah began today with a simple instruction:

Hear the word of the Lord, O nations, proclaim it on distant coasts.

The shepherds in their humility got it right. The apostles, some incredulous, got it right. We too must get it right.

We must hear, go in haste, see, understand, and proclaim what we see. Through us, our witness, all will be brought to Jesus Christ, regenerated through baptism, and made alive in Him.

Christian Witness, Current Events, Perspective, Political

Saddam is dead…

…but is President Bush satisfied? He has avenged his father with his Texas brand of justice, but any joy his blood lust brings him this evening will turn bitter in his mouth.

But judge thy neighbor according to justice. Thou shalt not be a detractor nor a whisperer among the people. Thou shalt not stand against the blood of thy neighbor. I am the Lord. Thou shalt not hate thy brother in thy heart: but reprove him openly, lest thou incur sin through him. Seek not revenge, nor be mindful of the injury of thy citizens. Thou shalt love thy friend as thyself. I am the Lord.

Christian Witness, Current Events, Perspective, Political

Saddam – death

I’ve had this rather unwell, sick feeling all day – not because of any illness per-se, but because we, as a country and occupier are going to kill a horrible dictator – and I don’t like it.

Maybe ten years ago I would have said C’est la vie – and good for him. I can’t do that anymore. I cannot witness Christ and stand by and say OK, C’est la vie – and good for him. I can pray and I can say we are wrong. The merchants of death are wrong, and this is not what it means to be a Christian.

Mr. Hussein was not good by any stretch of the imagination. He was murderous, power hungry, and brutal. He was also our tool and vassal for a time. In the end it turns out that he was sick and deluded. But hey, the U.S. specializes in killing the mentally ill and incompetent.

Of course we could teach the civilized manner of dealing with a criminal. We could turn him over to the Hague. Let them kill him in bureaucratic meandering. Let those who seek justice have their chance to speak – and let him speak. But perhaps too much would be laid out in the open.

Must we pile up more bodies, invite more hate, vengeance, and glory in death? Must we pile one more body on the overwhelming stack we have created? Certainly Mr. Bush will rejoice – but you know, the law of unintended consequences hasn’t been all that good to him thus far, maybe he should back-off.

Our country will bury a president. The majority of Iraqis will rejoice in the death of theirs – welcome to demonocracy.

An excerpt from the NY Times: Iraq Prepares to Execute Hussein

BAGHDAD, Dec. 29 —” The close of the final chapter on the brutal reign of Saddam Hussein drew ever closer today, as Iraqi officials prepared the last legal notice necessary before his execution, a red card that will be presented to the former dictator to inform him that his end is near, Iraqi officials said.

—We will do it very soon,— Muneer Haddad, a judge on the Iraqi High Tribunal who will represent that body at the execution, said today. He said the execution would likely be —tonight or tomorrow.—

The pace of events left some of the American legal advisors working on the case stunned, according to one Western official. For all the guidance the Americans provided, in the end the dictator’s demise did not go the way they expected, the officials said.

—It just goes to show that the Iraqis call the shots on something like this,— the official said.

Ah, plausible denial – we didn’t want to kill him this way – those crazy Iraqis did it.

It is still possible that the execution could be delayed, Western and Iraqi officials cautioned. One senior Iraqi official said there may yet be other legal hurdles.

However, Mr. Haddad said that all that remained was the technical legal matter of court officials filling out a —red card,— a formal notice of impending death created during the Saddam era and widely used by his much feared secret police.

—We have almost finished his red card,— Mr. Haddad said.

It was unclear whether the red card has been presented to Mr. Hussein or whether he knows that his death may be imminent.

Iraqi and American officials have kept outsiders, including his legal team, from contacting him, according to Najib al-Nauimi, one of Mr. Hussein’s lawyers who is in Qatar…

Ah, and then a glimpse of the future American legal system – we don’t need to stinkin’ lawyers…

Christian Witness, Current Events, Perspective, Political

Be careful – what you agree to

Jacob G. Hornberger asks the all important question: Whether or not you would follow a President’s order, based on a contract you signed, to go and kill for no good (or just, or moral, or ethical) reason in Would You ‘Support the Troops’ in Bolivia?

It is a question faithful Christians should always ask. It is a question good and faithful Christians should be prepared to suffer and die for even asking —“ for that may very well happen.

The Young Fogey points to Mr. Hornberger’s article in: The president as a substitute conscience wherein he validly points out that we apply quite a different standard to the war criminals and dictators we don’t like, a standard that doesn’t apply to US.

On the face of it, no other man can assume responsibility for our conscience. It is the one and only thing we have certain and sole responsibility for. We cannot contract our conscience or soul away – regardless of the petty justifications we so readily acquiesce to.

A story on NPR today, Army to Court-Martial Soldier Featured in PTSD Story points to a factor Mr. Hornberger missed when he discussed our troops ‘contract’ with the government.

You see, Sgt. Tyler Jennings signed such a contract and went to serve on the President’s orders. He came back, along with his comrades, unable to cope and quite mentally ill. He sought help, got none. He turned to drugs to cope, and sin of sins he spoke out. Now the army is going to Court Martial this Sergeant.

You see, the contract employer —“ the Army —“ can award you a Purple Heart for your physical injuries, and leave your mental, emotional injuries untreated. The contract doesn’t cover the Army’s or the government’s responsibility toward you. If you no longer meet the requirement for contracted materials they will throw you out as just so much surplus.

Beyond that, they will readily ask you to kill the non-existent enemy and to do so without valid reason, your eternal soul not being a factor therein. As Mr. Hornberger points out:

Indeed, where is the morality in signing a contract that obligates a person to go kill people who haven’t attacked his country?

—But we signed the employment contract thinking that we were defending America,— soldiers say. —We’re just trying to be patriots.—

But everyone knows that presidents don’t use their standing army to defend America. They use it to attack countries that haven’t attacked the United States. After all, how many times has America been invaded by a foreign army in the last 50 years? (Answer: None!) What country in the world today has the military capability of invading the United States? (Answer: None!)

Can you sign a contract that you know, on its face, is a lie, and then follow through and perform on that contract? A question every parent should teach their children to ask. A question everyone who signed has the obligation to ask. Will you be punished for asking – certainly, but I’d rather take that punishment to the kind of punishment Sgt. Jennings will never escape, or the long lasting punishment of eternity – all for no good, moral, just, or ethical reason.

Pray for Sgt. Jennings, the men and women like him – so badly damaged, and for all servicemen and women, and most especially for our country. May we do justice and walk in the way of the Lord.

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