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Day: October 21, 2007

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Homilies,

Heritage Sunday

Nations shall walk by your light, and kings by your shining radiance.

When God created the heavens and the earth He created the United States, Poland, Italy, Japan, Russia…

Well, we know that’s not true. Yet, by His Holy Will we were created nations, peoples and cultures. God created man in such a way so that the gifts of humanity would be shared between us. He created man in such a way as to:

—…fill the earth and subdue it; and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the air and over every living thing that moves upon the earth.”

God created the world in such a way as to apportion its gifts, its flavors, its beauty, and from that apportionment came the peoples we know today.

Brothers and sisters,

Raise your eyes and look about; they all gather and come to you

While God apportioned His gifts, everything He has taught us about Himself, from His commandments on Mount Sinai to the incarnation of His Son, Jesus Christ, tells us that God is One and we are to be one like Him.

So how do we take the places, the cultures, the families, and the history we each represent and become one?

The only way, the only perfected method is in Jesus Christ, at the Holy Altar, in His Holy Church.

In a Sermon on the Church on March 22, 1914 Bishop Hodur said:

We built a house of God. We desired God to come down and live among us. And He fulfilled our desires.

As diverse peoples we need to bond into a common purpose. We need to bond together in a common desire. Our purpose and our desire is that God live among us. This is why God has given us our Holy Church.

The Holy Church is the unifying force, the Body of Christ on earth. We are all part of that unified body, regardless of class, color, national origin, or culture. We are different, yet we are united.

This unity is not a false unity. It is not the unity given by governments, by the sword, by the promise of politicians. It is not a unity that requires dilution of our gifts. It is not a unity which says be different for no particular reason. Rather use your gifts for our common purpose and goal – that we all be joined in the heavenly Kingdom.

We teach that the natural gifts given to mankind are of Divine origin. That the cultures and heritage we each own is provided for a purpose. That purpose it the raising of our voices to God. To bring the gifts that are from and of our heritage into God’s Holy Church.

Of course we must use care.

In achieving the goal we must not toss heritage aside like so much refuse. In doing that we sin against the gifts we have been given. We call into question God’s wisdom.

To toss heritage aside is false unity, and it is no better than tossing food aside as part of a false diet. Heritage is a gift from God, and rightly understood, a gift to be used for God’s work.

At the same time, our heritage is not a fortress wall, a rampart intended to keep others out.

My friends,

From our immigrant experience we know the trials and tribulations faced by that —other— face in the crowd. We know the pain or rejection, of being thought of as less of a human being.

It cannot be that way in God’s house.

We welcome all so that by sharing our gifts in unified purpose, we might show the world Jesus Christ.

As St. Paul writes

For all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ.

The gifts we have been given are brought to perfection when they are clothed in Christ.

Brothers and sisters,

We are blessed by our heritage. It is diverse, but focused to one end.

“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.—

The Great Commission is the task we must take up.

We must speak to all, drawing them and their gifts into the Church. We must build up the Church so that God may come and live among us. We must proclaim the name of Jesus to all, teaching all to live within the Body of Christ, rejecting sinfulness and joyfully sharing their gifts for the fulfillment of the Kingdom.

Amen.

Perspective, Poland - Polish - Polonia, Political

Polish election news

From the NY Times: Opposition Heading to Victory in Poland

Polish Mountaineers (Górale) vote

WARSAW, Poland (AP) — A pro-business opposition party that wants to bring Poland’s troops home from Iraq was headed to an overwhelming victory in Sunday’s parliamentary elections, exit polls showed, setting it up to oust the prime minister’s staunchly pro-U.S. government.

It would be a stinging defeat for Prime Minister Jaroslaw Kaczynski, whose conservative Law and Justice party was elected two years ago and has since been criticized for its combative approach to the European Union and efforts to purge former communists from positions of influence.

Appearing before supporters late Sunday, Kaczynski said ”we didn’t manage in the face of this unprecedented broad front of attacks,” referring to the opposition’s campaign.

Donald Tusk, the leader of the opposition Civic Platform party, said the election showed that Poles want to focus on the economic opportunities presented by the country’s membership in the EU, which Poland joined in 2004.

”It is Civic Platform’s intention to make Poles feel much better in their own country than they have felt so far,” Tusk told cheering supporters. ”We are going to do huge work and we will do it well. You have the right to rejoice today.”

State TV projections showed the Civic Platform party and its preferred coalition partner, the small Polish Peasants Party, winning a majority of seats in the lower house, which would allow them to form a government together and knock Kaczynski from power.

An exit poll for TVP state television showed 43.7 percent of people voting for Civic Platform and 30.4 percent choosing Kaczynski’s Law and Justice party.

A TVN24 private television exit poll showed a 44.2 percent to 31.3 percent edge for Civic Platform, and also showed Civic Platform’s preferred coalition partner, the Polish Peasants Party, with 7.9 percent — enough to give the two parties a majority of the popular vote.

Exactly correct on bringing the troops home, exactly correct on good relations with neighboring countries, exactly correct on telling President Bush and company: ‘Thanks for nothing.’

An interesting aside, the Leader of the Civic Platform (PO – Platforma Obywatelska) is Donald Tusk – ethnically a Kashubian.

Media, Poland - Polish - Polonia

Lectors – not just for church anymore

From The Wall Street Journal: On Polish TV, Desperate Wives Sound Like Guys

Voice-Over Artists Strive To Keep Dialogue Flat;

WARSAW — When Walt Disney Co. brought the hit ABC TV series “Desperate Housewives” to Poland, producers found just the right local actor to do the voices of the show’s sexy, tempestuous female stars: Andrzej Matul, a 59-year-old guy with a deep voice and a flat delivery.

Mr. Matul is a lektor. In Poland, American shows aren’t dubbed by actors mimicking the original, English-speaking actors. A lektor, the Polish term for voice-over artist, simply reads all the dialogue in Polish. While the lektor drones on, viewers hear the original English soundtrack faintly in the background.

On Polish TV they can be heard every day: lektors, men who read the voices of every part in foreign TV shows, including women and children. See some examples and a report by WSJ’s Aaron Patrick. The approach is popular in Poland, where viewers still feel comfortable with a style deeply rooted in the country’s communist past. Lektors, traditionally men with husky voices, pride themselves on their utterly emotionless delivery, a craft honed through thousands of hours in recording studios. Fans appreciate the timbre of their voices, often tempered by years of cigarette smoking.

Jan Wilkans, 49, who got his first lektoring job narrating a pirated version of the movie “Dead Poets Society,” says he has his own rule: “Interpretation, yes; expression, no.”

Lektoring is also popular among American TV distributors. It offers them a low-budget way to get their programming into a market with a young population and strong economy.

As a result, lektoring is booming, just when it should be dying out as viewers all over the world are coming to expect higher production values.

About 45 foreign channels started up in Poland in the past five years, including the Discovery Channel, ESPN and HBO Polska. Last week, the British Broadcasting Corp. said it is starting three channels with lektored programming in Poland. The Disney Channel began broadcasting in December. On the main networks there are often more than eight hours a day of lektors reading in Polish what is being said in English and other languages.

“It doesn’t seem right to Westerners,” says Costa Kotsianis, managing director of Hippeis Media Ltd., which translates shows throughout Europe from its headquarters in London. “But the very good lektors can record a whole show in one take. It saves a lot of money.”

One little problem is that Polish words are generally longer than English words, and they’re rich in consonants. A lektor can’t fall behind the action and he needs to read in a steady, slow, low voice. So, the dialogue is simplified.

In “Desperate Housewives,” for example, a seven-word apology from prim Bree Van De Kamp to her husband at his hospital bedside becomes three, with Mr. Matul saying, “Mam wyrzuty sumienia.” (“I have pangs of remorse.”)…

The same applies to films. No reading subtitles, just the lektor.

On my visits to Poland I found it off putting at first, but grew to like it. I listened to the characters for the drama and inflection, and listened to the lektor for the words. No different than the little voice in my head reading the subtitles, among other things 😉 .

Poland - Polish - Polonia, ,

14th Ann Arbor Polish Film Festival

14th Ann Arbor Polish Film Festival, 2007 at the Michigan Theater, 603 Liberty Street, Ann Arbor, Michigan.

Saturday, November 10, 2007

  • 4:00 p.m. Grand Opening
  • 4:15 p.m. The Lilpop Sisters and Their Passions (Siostry Lilpop i ich miłości) directed by Bożena Garus-Hockuba, 2005 (87 min., documentary): The story of the four Lilpop sisters from a well-known family in pre-war Warsaw. It is the portrayal of their more or less happy relationships. The movie, in focusing around a series of private histories, also reveals significant aspects of Polish history from pre-war times to the realities of the post-war immigrant community.
  • 6:00 p.m. Saviour Square (Plac Zbawiciela) directed by Joanna Kos and Krzysztof Krauze, 2006 (105 min., drama): [12] A true story showing the crisis of the contemporary family life. The loss of a chance for a new flat, the lack of understanding between husband and wife, and the enormous efforts made to fulfill their desires lead to the breakdown of the family. The film tells about the necessity of empathy, the need for discerning and respecting the needs of other people as well as love, which is capable of overcoming even the most difficult, seemingly hopeless situations.
  • Intermission
  • 8:15 p.m. Breaking the Wall (Głową mur przebijesz) directed by Grażyna Ogrodowska and Leszek Furman , 2006 (45 min., documentary): A film about the Fighting Solidarity Organization: “It wasn’t a political party or any sort of secret resistance, we were just banging our heads against the wall of ideology, of Communism, of lies, and we managed to smash it”.
  • 9:15 p.m. Testosterone (Testosteron) directed by Tomasz Konecki and Andrzej Saramonowicz, 2007 (125 min., comedy): A quiet town prepares to welcome a famous wedding into its suburbs, only to discover that not everything is going to go as planned …

Sunday, November 11, 2007

  • 2:00 p.m. The 52 Percent (52 procent) directed by Rafał Skalski, 2007 (19 min., documentary): 52% is the perfect leg length to height ratio. This is one of the most important criteria for admitting children to the Russian Ballet Academy in Saint Petersburg. Ałła has two months to amend her proportions.
  • 2:30 p.m. What the Sun Has Seen (Co słonko widziało) directed by Micha ³ Rosa, 2006 (107 min., drama): The lives of three people in Polish Silesia, each of whom needs a large sum of money, become intertwined. They all want the same things: to change their lives, stand up for themselves and live their dreams.
  • Intermission
  • 5:00 p.m. Immensity of Justice (Bezmiar sprawiedliwości) directed by Wiesław Saniewski, 2006 (128 min., drama): Based on a crime committed in the 1990s: a television director was convicted to 25 years in prison despite the lack of evidence against him. This film attempts to describe the human nature: the of state of mind of people who, judging others, often determine their fate.
  • Discussion with Wiesław Saniewski, film director.

Biography of Wiesław Saniewski

Wiesław Saniewski, born 1948 in Wrocław, Poland, Saniewski graduated in mathematics at the Wroclaw University and went on to study screenwriting at the Lodz Film School, where he wrote several screenplays. He worked as an assistant to Andrzej Wajda. In 1971, he graduated with the short film `Big World’ (Wielki Świat) based on Alberto Moravia’s “Smells and a Bone”. His first feature film was completed in 1981,’ Free Lancer’ (Wolny Strzelec). It was his next film `Custody’ (Nadzór), made in 1983, that brought him international renown. The film received several awards at numerous film festivals: FIPRESCI Prize at the Mannheim Festival and a Gdansk Lion for the best debut, the best actress and the best cinematography. Saniewski’s films brought him into conflict with the authorities, and his films were banned until the fall of the socialist regime.

Tickets sold for blocks of films and events: $10 for adults, $6 for students and senior citizens.

All films with English subtitles.

Program subject to changes without prior notice.

Calendar of Saints, PNCC

October 21

St. Urszula by Carlo Crivelli

St. Hilarion, Abbot, (371)
Saints Ursula and Companions, Virgin and Martyrs, (2nd century)
St. Marchus, Monk, (4th century)

O God, Who hast granted to the virgins worthily consecrated to Thee, the courage to face, with Ursula as their leader, a wonderful fight whereby through the palm of martyrdom they reached the glory of Heavenly contemplation, we beseech Thee grant that we may be aided by the prayer of those who in this day after passing through the gates of death, Thou has made to triumph in Heaven. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, Who liveth and reigneth with God the Father, in the unity of the Holy Ghost, one God, world without end. Amen. — Collect for the Memorial of St. Ursula

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