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Month: June 2010

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From New York’s Commissioner of Labor to unemployed workers

Statement on the Failed Unemployment Extension Bill

Albany, NY (June 25, 2010) – As many of you know, the unemployment bill to extend the eligibility dates for benefits was not passed by the US Senate last night. The bill needed 60 votes to pass but the package fell short – 57 to 41. The Senate is now in the process of determining what happens next but efforts have ended for this week. If further action is to be taken on this bill it’s likely it will not happen until after the July 4th recess (after July 12th).

In order to keep your claim active you should continue to certify each week in case legislation does pass that has a retroactive component (although this has not been proposed). In the meantime, as we wait for the next step, we urge all unemployment insurance claimants to go to New York’s myBenefits website —“ immediately. The site makes it easy for anyone to check if they may qualify for help to buy food, get health insurance, or meet other family needs. As we hear more, we’ll keep you updated.

Homilies

Thirteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time (C)

First reading: 1 Kings 19:16,19-21
Psalm: Ps 16:1-2,5,7-11
Epistle: Galatians 5:1,13-18
Gospel: Luke 9:51-62

—No one who sets a hand to the plow
and looks to what was left behind is fit for the kingdom of God.—

How was I changed?

Have I been changed by Jesus? Was my call, through God’s grace, and my acceptance of Jesus a single event that changed who I am? Yes and no. That call and my acceptance of that call changed me, but I am in need of constant change and renewal.

A little personal testimony. Some may have notice that I’ve lost some weight. 35 pounds to date. How isn’t really the issue, but I’ll give a shout out to Weight Watchers as a means. The real question is why?

I’d been looking at myself over and over for 4 or 5 years and I hated what I saw. I derided myself, told myself that I had to change. I went from loathing and self hated to thinking of ways I could do it. I looked, it got no better. I tried, it got no better. I cut back on the beers, it got no better. About 6 months ago, during the sacrament of penance, I threw my sinfulness down before God and asked his forgiveness for my gluttony. I prayed, and recognized that I was not the author of my destiny or my weight loss. No amount of personal derision or will could bring change to my weight or my life. I asked God, for forgiveness and for the grace to stop my sins against His commandment, Thou shalt not kill. I was killing myself. God stepped in. In an instant He gave me the necessary grace to overcome this sin and to be changed. I wasn’t miraculously made thin and fit, but I was given the grace necessary to accomplish God’s plan for my life. I trusted in Him and was healed. Not my will, His. Not my plan, His. Not my body, His.

Our presence here, in this parish church, this day, is an outward sign that each of us is a changed person. God’s grace is alive in us and we are more than idle bystanders. Yet, while we are changed, we remain yet to be changed, yet to take the next step, to put it all down before God and let His will be done.

Context

Outwardly, today’s readings seem simple. Do it all for God, leave family and obligations behind. In studying up the readings and the Gospel I found that there are so many messages, so many levels of complexity that we could spend weeks on the themes. I am going to concentrate today on Elijah and Elisha.

Our first reading comes from the end of 1 Kings 19. At the end of Chapter 19 Elijah has been re-energized and has returned to the world and his ministry. Elijah underwent enormous change, and the focus of the story is the renewal of a fearful and burned-out prophet.

At the beginning of Chapter 19 Elijah is so afraid and discouraged that he flees from the world and his prophetic ministry. He runs into the desert and lies down exhausted, praying for death. In his discouragement and fear Elijah blames everyone else for his problems, downplays God’s saving actions, and overstates all the negatives.

Right in the middle of the Chapter God intervenes, and brings about Elijah’s renewal. God is at the center of the story, He is at the center of every change, as He is in our lives.

Thus in today’s first reading Elijah has been reconfirmed and has set out on the way God showed him. His first stop was to confirm Elisha as his successor, and invest him with the mantle of a prophet.

Elisha who?

So who was Elisha? Elisha was a very rich man. The reading tells us that Elisha was plowing with twelve yoke of oxen. Now if you farmed in those days you likely did it by hand. If not by hand, and you were blessed enough to have an animal, you did it yourself with your one animal. Elisha had 12 yoke, that is 24 oxen, and each pair had its own plowman. Elisha guided the 12th yoke. Elisha was the rich corporate mega farmer of his day with workers and machinery. Elisha was about to be changed.

The change

Elijah shows up on the farm. Now picture this huge mega farm. Pretend you’re in Iowa driving along one of these miles long corn farms. Elijah started from one of those roads and walks across the miles of fields to reach Elisha, and:

Elijah went over to him and threw his cloak over him.

Then Elijah walked back toward the road. He didn’t say anything. He didn’t do a ceremony, other than to place the prophet’s mantle on Elisha. Elisha was changed in that instant. Like you and I he was changed, but not yet changed. Elisha runs after Elijah.

Elisha left the oxen, ran after Elijah, and said,
—Please, let me kiss my father and mother goodbye,
and I will follow you.—

Elijah makes an interesting response.

The reply:

—Go back!
Have I done anything to you?—

We might see that as a rebuke of some type. We may say things, in a moment of anger, like, —What have I done to you?— That was not what Elijah was saying. Rather, Elijah was giving some very key wisdom here. I didn’t change you, God did.

Elijah has done nothing to Elisha but follow the Lord’s will by placing the prophet’s mantle on him. Elijah didn’t call Elisha of his own accord or of his own power, but of God’s will and power. Elijah’s message was that he hadn’t done anything to Elisha; —Have I done anything to you?— He hadn’t changed Elisha, and Elisha was not accountable to him. Elisha was changed by God and was now accountable to God. For Elisha, nothing was to matter except to do God’s will and live out the change God affected in his life.

So, Elisha leaves it all behind. Elisha burns the bridges to his former way of life so that he can be faithful to God’s call. Elisha butchers his yoke of oxen; for an Israelite farmer this was equivalent to a modern farmer torching every farming implement, tractor, and machine he owns.

In a deeply symbolic move, the butchered meat is fed to the people. Eating meat was a rare treat for ordinary Israelites, and so Elisha’s feeding of the people symbolizes the value of his call to be prophet to the people. Elisha fed them this nourishing food, a metaphor for God’s life-giving word. Elisha then bids farewell to his parents, and sets off to follow Elijah.

Elisha’s journey is our journey, from initial change to the journey. Elijah’s journey is our journey. From burned out follower, to re-energized prophet. Like us, from our initial acceptance of Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior, to the next steps on the journey of our ‘yet to be changed.’

Total faithfulness:

This road of change is key. It has its starting point and its end is eternal life. For us, the faithful life is more than one sacrament, one ceremony, one event, one moment of change. I can baptize one child, one adult, or 10,000, but he who remains and lives a Christian life, who faces constant renewal and change into the likeness of Christ, will be the one who is victorious.

Stanley Hauerwas is one of the preeminent theologians of our times. Commenting on the reception of Hannah’s Child: A Theologian’s Memoir he says:

—That I have spent my life thinking about God, moreover, has gotten me into a lot of trouble. I did not expect to discover that being a Christian might put one crossways with the assumptions that shape ‘normality’ — assumptions that make war unproblematic — but like it or not, I became convinced that Christians cannot kill. I even think that Christians must tell the truth — even to those they love. As a result, I have never found being a Christian easy.—

We have to live that kind of changed life; a life of total commitment, total faithfulness to the Gospel way of life, the Christian life and its narrow and difficult road.

In the moment of change we are confronted with the Jesus of great joy, a brief moment glimpsing the happiness we will find. Sin is washed away and we feel whole and energized.

Then we set to work, and the road gets tougher, rockier, steeper, and narrower. People we thought of as friends, and even family, shy away from us. Odd, you the Christian… Him, her, I never thought… I don’t get why they need all that religion stuff… The world’s absolute truths and doctrines fall away in change that comes from the light of faith. And, we are constantly called to that light, to change, to change over again and become Gospel and light to the rest of the world.

Jesus calls us to live the life He demands.

Our moment of change and our constant change, our presence here, indicates to the world that we are His disciples, His light among the nations.

Our trip through the Gospel reveals that God graciously gives the time necessary for change. Remember, James and John asking Jesus for the ancient equivalent of nuking the enemy: “Lord, do you want us to call fire down from heaven to destroy them?”

Jesus’ action speaks for itself. He rebukes them and keeps walking on to the next place. The disciples are not to wield their power as a club of judgment. God is giving the Samaritans in that village time. God gave Elijah and Elisha time. He gives us time in the same way, time for the first step, and time to continue our change; time to be re-energized. Time, all along under His grace.

As in my testimony, change came and by the grace of God I was forgiven my sin. I set on the road of change with the aid of God’s grace, but while changed, I am not there yet. There is still further to go, more to do. There are setbacks, but then I am re-energized.

We are His disciples and we cannot back off from the task. Our discipleship must never be a second job, a moonlighting task, a weekend encounter, an ice-cream social or a hobby. The change in our lives, and the change we are to disciple to the world, is the product of God’s calling. As disciples we are to preach this awesome opportunity for salvation, for change. Change may come to those we meet in time. For us, change has come, and we need to face, accept, and work on the constant change God requires. God constantly asks the basic questions. Are we loving sacrificially, are we gluttonous, selfish, closed, lacking in total commitment to the Gospel way of life. We must constantly renew and evaluate what we do, what we believe, in light of the constant change we must undergo.

We are here as a people called and changed, endowed with God’s great grace, but not yet fully changed. Let us set to work on the road to fulfilling the change Christ calls us to, to living the life of Christians without excuse, without looking back once we have set our hand to the plow. It begins when we put it all down before God and let Him set to work in our lives. Lord, continue the change begun in us. Ever renew, and re-energize us as Your people. Amen.

Christian Witness, , , ,

Advertising and Christian belief 101

From Christian Newswire: Ground-breaking Christian iPhone Application

Want to ride the Jesus wave into the 21st century? There’s an app for that!

Revolutionary new media company DV8 Media has released “The Life Of Jesus“, the first-ever comprehensive mobile phone application dedicated to the life of the Christian savior…

With the power of the iPhone, a talented international production team, a jaw-dropping fashionable aesthetic and the power of inspirational music, we can break down old paradigms and bring the teachings of Christ to a new, younger international audience,” explain Geoff Tyson DV8 Managing Director…

The literal meaning of this article seems to indicate that Jesus Christ came to save Christians — as if they existed before Christ came. Talk about historic predetermination! Indeed, this would be a new paradigm — but of course would only “bring the teachings of Christ to a new, younger international audience” of people who are already Christians.

Digging a little deeper (not much) I guess they are saying that other “saviors” are somehow just as valid, you know, the Christian savior, the Buddhist savior, the humanist savior… Is Jesus the “Christian savior” or something more?

The marketing department at DV8 needs a little training in scripture, Christian history, and theology. I believe I can sum it up for them though: Jesus Christ came to save the world (i.e., all people). He also said (John 14:6): “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” As Christians, we should all know that much.

Christian Witness, PNCC, , ,

¡Bienvenidos! – leveraging Facebook among ethnic communities

From friends at the Captura Group: Hispanic online publishers turn to Facebook to engage Hispanics

In my previous post I challenged marketers to engage with Hispanics through social media. Since that time, many marketers have done just that, but what is most interesting to me is how Hispanic online publishers have suddenly planted flags on Facebook.

According to ComScore Media Metrics, Facebook is now the fourth most popular website among Hispanics and growing. Facebook reaches close to 10.55 million Hispanics per month, nearly 45% of all online Hispanics. This massive Hispanic audience coupled with Facebook’s free social media platform represents the best place to build a community of online Hispanics. Instead of building and maintaining social networks of their own, it seems that Hispanic publishers have figured out that it makes more sense to build communities on Facebook.

Facebook is quickly becoming an important referrer of Internet traffic. By building large, engaged communities on Facebook, Hispanic publishers can generate incremental traffic to their websites which in turn will boost revenues…

…or believers and congregants. One of the greatest areas of growth in the PNCC is among Hispanic believers. They, of course, understand the importance of the gifts they have been given as a community: language, traditions, culture, and way of meeting God. They also see that self determination and control over their parish assets in a democratic church supports the needs of the community. ¡Bienvenidos! i Dios te bendiga.

Poland - Polish - Polonia, ,

Articles from the Polish Culture website

Mark Twain’s Polish Acquaintances

Vienna in 1897 was the vibrant capital city of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, that comprised more than a dozen nationalities, including Poles. The Empire had taken southern Poland in the 18th century partitions and called it the province of Galicia. Its residents became Austrian citizens and Vienna draw a share of opportunistic Poles. By the end of the 19th century, one in five Viennese was Polish….

Midsummer in Poland

At the end of June, at the time of Summer Solstice, when night is shortest and Nature bursts with blossoms and growth, we celebrate the Holiday of Fire and Water, also called Noc Kupaly, Sobótka or Kres…

The Black Madonna of Derby – Review

“The Black Madonna of Derby” is very readable and enjoyable novel about complexities of the life of a Polish origin family settled in Derby, England…

…plus many other interesting articles. Check out their good work.

Christian Witness, PNCC,

Bishop Ackerman’s shout out to the PNCC

To the PNCC from his address to Forward-in-Faith, from VirtueOnline:

Witnessing the breaking of relationship with the Polish National Catholic Church for many of us a tragedy, because he happen to live in areas where that was a viable ministry between Episcopal parishes and Polish National Catholics The ending of ecumenical relationships, or at least a pause. It didn’t look all that bright…

Of course, not a bright moment, but a sad consequence of becoming less than Catholic.

I fully understand his points, the “stew” issue. That said, there is Catholic and non-Catholic and the PNCC chose Catholic, therefore no deaconesses, priestesses, and other such innovation which is apart from Scripture and Tradition. The stew comes from good ecumenical relation and working to common purpose: making Christ known, peace, the heavenward journey. As Bishop Hodur pointed outSee: Address in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, 1902 from Bishop Francis Hodur, Sermon Outlines and Occasional Speeches 1899 —“ 1922, (c) 1999 Theodore L. Zawistowski, Polish National Catholic Church, Central Diocese, we raise scandal when we criticize and ignore others who follow Christ. At the same time, we cannot be who we are not.

As my fellow blogger, the Young Fogey, might point out, you must decide who changes whom. Either the Church changes you or you change the Church. One way is Catholic, the other Protestant. Regardless of the selection, we all should stand together in witnessing the charism of the Spirit active in the Church’s many expressions. It does not mean we can abjure Scriptures and Tradition, because they are part of who the PNCC is – its central being. Each must choose their way, and as Bishop Ackerman points out, continue love each other as family without becoming who we are not.

Christian Witness, Poland - Polish - Polonia, , , ,

From the pulpit: crucify him

From Interia: Podpadł księdzu, bo ogrodził działkę

Mieszkaniec Rakszawy (woj. podkarpackie) ogrodził swoją działkę, przez którą niektórzy parafianie chodzili na skróty do kościoła. Nie spodobało się to proboszczowi parafii w Trzebosi, który skrytykował go za to z ambony. Sprawę nagłośniły nowiny24.pl.
Chociaż podczas kazania nie padło żadne nazwisko, na efekt słów proboszcza nie trzeba było długo czekać – jeszcze tej samej nocy ktoś pomalował panu Sławomirowi Prucnalowi sprejem elewację domu i budynku gospodarczego. Pojawiły się tam napisy “złodziej” i “zrób bramę”.

“Od tamtej pory odczuwam wrogość ze strony niektórych mieszkańców” – powiedział nowinom24.pl pan Sławomir. “To jest moja własność. Nie zrobiłem nic złego, na wszystko mam dokumenty i wymagane pozwolenia. Zresztą do kaplicy prowadzi droga publiczna, z której każdy może korzystać, a nie jak do tej pory chodzić przez moje podwórze” – dodaje.

Prucnal mieszka w Rakszawie jednak należy do parafii w Trzebosi. Jak zaznacza, jest osobą wierzącą, praktykującą i zaangażowaną w sprawy parafii – przed tegoroczną Wielkanocą ufundował np. witraż do kościoła wart 4 tys. zł, za co otrzymał podziękowania od proboszcza. Niestety, jak się okazuje, dobra opinia na nic się zdała. Proboszcz Józef Fila twierdzi, że ogradzając swoją działkę pan Sławomir zrobił krzywdę parafianom, bo utrudnił im dojście do kościoła i gotowy jest spotkać się z Prucnalem w sądzie.

Pan Sławomir zażądał, za pośrednictwem adwokata, by proboszcz podczas jednego z kazań, publicznie go przeprosił. Do tej pory jednak się nie doczekał i wszystko wskazuje na to, że przeprosin nie będzie. “Nie pozostaje mi nic innego jak pozwanie do sądu proboszcza o zniesławienie” – stwierdził pan Sławomir.

Konfliktem na linii proboszcz-parafianin zainteresowała się komenda policji w Rakszawie, która – pod nadzorem prokuratury w Łańcucie – prowadzi śledztwo w tej sprawie.

In short, the parish priest in Trzeboś, Poland, took his neighbor from Rakszawa to task from the pulpit because his neighbor closed off a portion of his land, which he uses as a garden. Parishioners visiting the chapel next to the parishioner’s land had been using the garden as a thoroughfare to get to the chapel. The chapel is easily accessed from the road, and there was really no need for the shortcut.

After denouncing the neighbor from the pulpit, his home was vandalized.

Interestingly, the neighbor, a good Catholic and member of the Trzeboś parish, is a huge supporter of that parish, recently paying several thousands of złoty for the installation of a new stained glass window at Easter. His good efforts, of course, have been forgotten. The pastor has stated that he will take the neighbor to court for “wronging his parishioners.”

Hearing this is chilling. These towns are small, and one negative word from a local pastor can ruin a person’s life (as well as his property). It gives great power to priests who see everything as belonging to them. Of course, these little chapels and sanctuaries are huge money makers for the local pastor. It is an undertaking, engaged in by some pastors in Poland; the promotion of special shrines and chapels for the sole purpose of financial gain. Of course the people tend not to see that, but rather operate on faith, giving glory to God by their hard work and donations.

It is interesting that this happened in Rakszawa. I’ve been there. One of the churches in the area was built during communist times, at night, by the labor of people who worked the entire day before. All material were donated. The story is similar to the one concerning the building of the Arka, the only Catholic church in Nowa Huta. One apocryphal story I heard noted that when the communist authorities showed up to put a stop to the work in Rakszawa, they inquired as to who was in charge. They were consistently pointed to an elderly grandmother who sat at her kitchen table all night. She, of course, let the communists know exactly what she thought of them – she sat silently refusing to answer their questions.

Bishop Hodur spoke strongly against priests who criticized and derided their followers from the pulpit. The pulpit is the place from which the sacrament of God’s Word goes forth. It is sad that it continues to be profaned in such a way.

The priest involved is the Rev. Józef Fila of Divine Providence Parish in Trzeboś, Poland. The chapel in Rakszawa: B.V.M. of Częstochowa. Sad…

Christian Witness, Perspective, PNCC, ,

Marketing schools, incorrectly

Both my wife and I have been the frequent recipient of late of continual marketing mail from the Catholic Alumni Partnership, a firm seeking to “secure the future of Catholic education.” The organization touts Regis Philbin as their spokesperson.

The firm, a privately sponsored and funded venture, with “anonymous backers” seeks to raise funds, which I understand. They also are attempting to tie into the social network needs of the individuals they solicit using buzzwords like “Reminisce” and “Reconnect.” That seems to be more marketing than reality. Their sole strategy in that regard is to have a Facebook page.

A few things that raise questions in my mind… They are attempting to solicit alumni from schools (and often their founding parishes) long since closed. It doesn’t exactly give one a warm and fuzzy feeling to be giving money toward empty, closed, and defunct buildings — and people like me have a lot of bad feelings about that. Further, I would love to know exactly where the money is going. They present stats on their website, but I see no accountability for the outlay of the money. Is this direct scholarships to students? Is it investment in buildings and grounds? Is it paying salaries? Is it going to a diocese or a parish to underwrite their investment in education? Financial statements?

Their material paints a bleak picture for the futureThey cite a 2008-2009 report by the National Catholic Educational Association..

  • 162 Catholic schools closed last year due to financially strapped budgets. [Generally, the parents of the schools fought the closings, but were given no choice. As with parishes there’s always another one nearby, or so says the bishop.]
  • Tuition in schools covers only 54% of student costs. [Community parishes that served their members, and were part of tight knit communities, always found a way to run a school, and back in the day, without tuition. Tuition wasn’t charged in my school till I reached the 6th grade, and it was $50 a year. Now parish communities are mega-churches with 5,000 plus members and little connection as a community]
  • Last year, more than 75,000 fewer students attended Catholic elementary school than in the previous year. [By choice, due to closings, due to fear and scandal? The why is most important so that the root causes can be addressed.]
  • Catholic elementary school staff —“ once comprised of religious men and women —“ is now predominantly made up of lay men and women. In fact, nationwide, only 4% of staff is religious. [The sad aftermath of Vatican II in large measure, as well as wishy-washy catechesis by Am-Church laity. How many R.C.’s know what the Eucharist is?]

Certainly they are correct in stating that Catholic elementary schools are strained, and that families have a declining ability to pay. There very well might be a need for philanthropy. Unfortunately, the track record on school and parish closings does not lead one to want to support this effort. Before going down that road, what is necessary is that every diocese, parish, and school recommit clearly, publicly, and unequivocally to maintaining their presence. Chicken or the egg — certainly, but money cannot fix commitment. Otherwise, people are sending good money down a black hole. There is also a question sitting in the background as to where the money will go when year-over-year declines in enrollment and continued closings wipe out the last of the schools?

I do not disagree with the organization’s underlying (at least public) intent. I do disagree with marketing to people hurt by closings – yes, where is my heritage? I also disagree with the lack of a greater strategy, transparency (anonymous backers, no financials), community focus, and the overall lack of a guaranteed commitment to maintaining Catholic education from the people who are the deciders – the bishops. It is not always about money.

One other thing, my wife never attended Catholic school, in her hometown, which was certainly not in New Jersey. The organization needs to fix-up its database.

Now my plug for the PNCC. The Church is committed to maintaining its school at St. Stanislaus in Scranton. Like our parishes, a bishop cannot step in and close anything without the consent and agreement of the parishioners/those affected. That is democracy in the PNCC. Also, do you know of a Church anywhere where children and the parents are not charged for the activities the Church offers. All PNCC Parishes I know of, and their supporting organizations like the PNUA (Spójnia) and YMSofR, underwrite the entire cost for children’s participation in events. No charge or out-of-pocket for parents for Christian education, the acolyte retreat, the KURS camp, or CONVO. Pretty amazing. Couple that with college stipends and other scholarships — the Church caring for its future.

Catholic education is important, and I was a recipient of its benefits. In many ways it formed me. We used to have three schools in walking distance, now there are none. That is sad, and there are ways to fix it. That model starts with unshakable commitment where faith comes before money, and where money is never the problem.

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