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Month: June 2010

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Perspective, Poetry, Poland - Polish - Polonia, , , , , ,

Dr. John Guzlowski – out, about, and reflecting

It is great to see John well on the road to recovery and writing. Two recent posts for your reading pleasure:

Charles Simic and Me: DP Poets

I got an email yesterday from a friend. He asked me what I thought about Charles Simic. He’s a poet that some of you might have heard of. He was the poet laureate of the US a couple of years ago. I think my friend was asking me about him because he figured that Charles Simic and I shared some history. We both came to the US after the war as Displaced Persons, refugees…

A really interesting reflection, and followed by a selection from Charles Simic and a new poem by Dr. Guzlowski, “A Dog Will.”

And for Father’s Day: Father’s Day

My father didn’t teach me to fish or play ball or paint a fence or drive a car. He couldn’t do any of those things. He was an orphan who worked on his aunt’s farm in Poland until the Nazis came and took him to a concentration camp. When he got to America after the war, he was too busy working to do much of anything else…

Also, compare and contrast to: My Father’s Gift to Me by Nicholas Kristof from the NY Times.

When I was 12, my father came and spoke to my seventh-grade class. I remember feeling proud, for my rural school was impressed by a visit from a university professor. But I also recall being embarrassed —” at my dad’s strong Slavic accent, at his refugee origins, at his —differentness.—

Perspective,

Messing with the economy, and people’s lives

From the National Employment Law Project: More Americans Cut Off as Congress Sacrifices Jobless Aid and Economic Stimulus in Jobs Bill

Since last December, Congress has made a series of ill-advised and deeply flawed choices handling the jobs crisis, the National Employment Law Project said today. On two occasions this week alone, Congress failed to move a jobs bill critical to the economic recovery and the millions of Americans out of work.

—In the last three weeks, Congress has let over 900,000 workers run out of jobless benefits, jeopardized health care for hundreds of thousands relying on the COBRA subsidy, and is now allowing a crucial $25 per week federal supplement to unemployment checks to phase out. The mantra of many is about cutting spending; well they have cut spending —“ the spending of the unemployed,— said Christine Owens, Executive Director of the National Employment Law Project.

—Lawmakers have a choice between investing in job growth or giving into platitudes about deficits that cut stimulus designed to keep the economy moving in the right direction. Sadly, platitudes and election year posturing are winning. Congress is throwing a wrench in the recovery as it chips away at the safety net and yet preserves and attempts to strengthen loopholes for the wealthy. The choices Congress is making are outrageous and unacceptable,— Owens said.

A summary of recent delays and cuts in H.R. 4213, the American Jobs and Closing Tax Loopholes Act, includes:

  1. Benefits Expiration. The window to renew jobless benefits expired at the end of May —“ the fourth time this year Congress has failed to meet an extension deadline and left jobless workers and state agencies dangling. As a result, since the beginning of June, over 900,000 workers have run out of jobless benefits, and by next week that number will hit 1.2 million. Additionally, as a result of the lapsed extension deadline, thousands of workers collecting unemployment checks under the 13-20 week Extended Benefits program are being cut off in the middle of their claims, unable to finish out their current tier of benefits.
  2. COBRA Elimination. More than 2 million workers have benefited from the 65% subsidy to continue health care through COBRA —“ but the House has chosen to eliminate it and many in the Senate are threatening to follow suit. NELP estimates that 144,000 individuals per month will lose out on the subsidy due to the discontinuation. For these workers, health coverage will be nearly impossible to afford and as each month passes, more unemployed people will become uninsured.
  3. $25/Week Cut in Unemployment Checks. The Senate’s proposal to phase out the Federal Additional Compensation (FAC) passed under last year’s stimulus package will reduce unemployment benefits by roughly $100 per month and effectively remove $6 billion in crucial stimulus to communities throughout the country. Ending this stimulus could result in thousands of job losses before the year’s end, and in many Southern states in particular, where jobless benefits are extremely low, it means over a 10% cut in benefit checks for the unemployed. This week NELP issued a state-by-state summary of what the $25 per week means for the unemployed, and the Economic Policy Institute estimates that failure to continue FAC could result in job loss of up to 60,000.

Meanwhile, at the same time it is slashing vitally needed aid for jobless workers and their communities, Congress is choosing to preserve part of a major loophole that favors wealthy investment fund managers. Under the latest bill, one-quarter of the income of investment fund managers will still be taxed at the low 15% capital gains rate —“ lower than most working Americans pay —“ rather than the 35% income tax rate for the highest earners.

—Congress has become so concerned about reining in future deficits that it’s cutting spending by the unemployed and threatening to cut the heart out of the recovery. Many may shrug at the dollar amount, but eliminating the $25 weekly supplement will take away the basics from needy families —“ medicine, shelter, food —“ and sap consumer spending. That Congress would make these cuts while unemployment is still sky-high is a real betrayal of hard-working Americans,— said Owens. —The American people don’t support these choices,— she added.

In the face of deficit concerns, a recent poll found that Americans overwhelmingly support the continuation of health and jobless benefits for unemployed workers. When asked which statement they agree with more, 74% agreed that —With unemployment close to ten percent and millions still out of work, it is too early to start cutting back benefits and health coverage for workers who lost their jobs,— while only 21% agreed that —With the federal deficit over one trillion dollars, it is time for the government to start reducing spending on health care subsidies and unemployment benefits for the unemployed.—

Workers may contact the NELP Benefit Questions page or call 212-285-3025 x 309.

Of course, what they fail to realize in their bickering over deficits is the longer lasting impact that structurally unemployed and uninsured persons will have on the economy and the deficit. As one’s life deteriorates, and one becomes homeless, there is less and less chance of finding a job, or even the retraining needed to move most workers back into the workforce. Further, both federal and state budgets will be hard hit by the new destitute, who will move to welfare, food stamps, and medicaid to fill the gaps that temporary unemployment once filled. Yes, we need to get working again, but until the jobs recovery begins, we need to support those who are ready, willing, and able to work. Oh, and if you think it doesn’t affect you, you will be hit too because every dollar in UI benefits contributes $3 to the local economy, that jobs in stores and the other places where UI benefits get spent. No one is sitting on UI and living the high life (yes, I’m sure there are a few scammers out there, but they are more easily detected and prosecuted these days).

PNCC, , , ,

Another tribute to Ś.P. Walter Lasinski

From Fr. Randy Calvo of Holy Name of Jesus Parish in South Deerfield, MA: A Free Church

On May 27th a friend of mine and a dedicated historian of our church denomination passed away. His name was Walter Lasinski. He had visited our parish here in South Deerfield on several occasions over the years, always with his beloved wife Florence. His last visit was on May 31, 2008 when we hosted a talk by the local author Suzanne Stempek Shea. Mr. Lasinski would travel throughout our denomination to attend events that interested him about history, literature and music. When he was here, he took pictures of our church and cemetery for the extensive files that he maintained and constantly updated about all of our parishes. He even photographed the then-named St. Stanislaus Roman Catholic Church in South Deerfield since that was the parish from which we emerged in 1929. If Mr. Lasinski was anything, it was thorough.

He devoted much of his life to our church, and that only became more true after his retirement. Many of his vacations were planned around seminars and his historical inquiries. No one could make better use of a business card than he could. With his card as a church historian in hand, his extensive knowledge of our religious history, an amazing memory and gift for gab, doors opened.

He absolutely loved the original ideals of this church. He saw in them the emancipation of mind and soul, and an entire generation of immigrant believers. He always maintained a profound admiration for Bp. Hodur and a respect for those early generations who built this church with him. He wasn’t a cheerleader for the church, shouting her praises no matter what. He respected what the church was, what it could be, and also took the time to compliment a parish or a person when they did something good for the church in the present.

He worshipped in many places, in many churches. He knew clergy of various denominations, and he knew just about all of the priests of our church. In our frequent phone conversations if I mentioned a priest or a parishioner from anywhere, I would invariably hear in reply, —Oh yes, so-and-so is a good friend of mine.— I would also wager that he had visited every parish of our church at one time or another.

I am certain that I am not alone in benefitting from Mr. Lasinski’s voracious reading of newspapers, periodicals, church pamphlets, religious publications and most recently of the internet. If there was anything that he thought any of us should know, out came the scissors and tape to make articles fit neatly on a regular sheet of paper, and off they were mailed to us, always in a neat folder, always with his return mailing address attached so that we would remember from whence it came. I do not know how many such pertinent gems Mr. Lasinski mailed me over the years, but they were always appreciated.

One article that he did not need to mail me was written anonymously by him and printed in God’s Field on September 4, 1993. There he writes:

—In any research project in which you are reviewing page upon page of printed materials, looking for key events or facts in a person’s life that would be worthy of historical interest today, certain words or phrases, at times extraneous to the topic at hand, keep coming to the fore through constant repetition. … The word that appears constantly throughout the Polish texts in the pages of Rola Boza and Straz is wolny (free) and it always precedes the name of the church … as though it is an integral, inseparable part of the name of the Polish National Catholic Church.—

I share this selection of his with you during this month of Independence Day. I believe Mr. Lasinski was the first to point out to me that Fr. Hodur waited until the Fourth of July to bless the cornerstone of his church in Scranton. This reinforced the idea that by nature and design we are a —free— church.

Mr. Lasinski would work all day long at Scranton’s archives and sleep at the Seminary to save himself and the church money, and there, back in the day, we would share a beer at the end of the day. I hope to raise another glass with him again some day, but until then, may he rest in peace, and may he always be remembered for his good work.

A fitting tribute to Ś.P. Walter and also his co-workers who have passed before us.

They believed in a Church that was both Catholic and free. They belonged to the Church that espoused Scripture and Holy Tradition in combination with the gifts of freedom and culture which God provides to every nation and people. They knew that the Church’s lay members could and should have a voice and a vote over the resources they contributed to found and support the Church, and that no one could take the Church from them. They followed behind Bishop Hodur, in the Apostolic line, who followed Christ as our ultimate leader, teacher, and guide. They were the ones who stood firm against the whims of men for a Church that is Catholic in opposition to whatever current trends or popularity dictate. They were firm in adherence to the Catholic Church and its teachings, to the sacred ministry that cannot be changed by men who think they know better/more than the Church. They knew that freedom is not license to change the Church – and indeed why we did not melt away into just another Protestant sect changing with the breeze. May it ever be so.

PNCC, , , ,

In Dupont, PA

From The Dispatch: Sign-ups every Friday for Fred Lokuta Golf Tourney

The 4th Annual Fred P. Lokuta Memorial Golf Tournament will be held on Saturday, September 25, at Edgewood in the Pines Golf Course, Drums.

This favorite local tournament is sponsored by the Fred P. Lokuta Memorial Committee and the Polish American Citizens Club. All proceeds from the event benefit Dupont Borough Religious and Civic interests.

Last year more than $4,000 was raised and the monies raised were shared by: Sacred Heart of Jesus Church, Holy Mother of Sorrows PNCC and the Dupont Children’s Fund Christmas Party.

Cost is $75.00 per golfer and includes: green fees, cart, continental breakfast and lunch at the Polish American Citizens Club. Cash Prizes will be awarded for the longest drive, the —Packy Piechota— closest to the pin and 1st, 2nd and 3rd Flight Champions.

It will be a Captain and Crew 4 Man Scramble format with a shot gun start at 9:00 a.m. Registration and continental breakfast will begin at 8:00 a.m. Lunch will be served beginning at 2:30 p.m.

The committee has begun accepting reservations. For tournament information and/or registration contact Fred Lokuta at 451-1269; Michael Lokuta at 299-7212 or Joe Lacomis at 655-6337.

Hole sponsors are available at $25 for silver; $50 for Gold and $100 for Platinum. Registration will take place each Friday at the Polish American Citizens Club between 7:00 and 8:00 p.m.

Chicken Barbecue

Tickets are now on sale for the 47th Annual Open Pit Chicken Barbecue sponsored by the Branch 2 YMS of R Holy Mother of Sorrows Church. The barbecue will be held on Saturday, July 17, on the church grounds from noon to 6:00 p.m. Ticket donation is $9.00 and can be purchased from any member of the society or by calling the rectory office during business hours.

Current Events, Political

Advocacy for the unemployed

From Interfaith Worker Justice: Our Continued Engagement Required on the Unemployment Crisis

Do you know someone who is unemployed? Almost everyone does, since the official unemployment rate is hovering around 10 percent. Maybe it’s you, someone in your family, church, mosque or synagogue who is getting an unemployment check and/or paying COBRA for health insurance. As of June 2, Congress allowed unemployment benefits and COBRA subsidies to lapse for hundreds of thousands of workers who have been out of work for extended periods of time. In a few days the Senate will decide whether to save jobs and services, help the unemployed and boost the economy.

In times of crisis, our faith communities respond with compassion. We call on the creator to comfort those affected and we engage in pastoral care that embraces a ministry of hope and solidarity. This unemployment crisis calls for our continued engagement. Our economic recovery is still weak, and the most vulnerable amoung us are still extremely fragile.

PLEASE CALL YOUR SENATORS (TOLL FREE: 888-340-6521) and ask them to Support HR 4213! This will extend unemployment insurance and provide summer jobs for youth. Tell your Senators to also vote to restore COBRA health insurance subsidies and Medicaid assistance to states.

When you call 888-340-6521 you will enter your zip code and will be directed straight to your Senator’s offices after a brief message about jobs and Medicaid aid.

Media, Perspective, ,

Writer of icons

From EK Pictures, Poland, a marvelous group of photographic retrospectives.

In Writer of Icons (Pisarz ikon), they have photographed the life and work on Ivan Shishman, 50, a father of seven, and artistic restorer from the town of Izmail, Ukraine. Ivan was a one time communist, and later the owner of a video shop specializing in pornography. His only tie to the Church was the memories of his grandmother who recalled the “old ways.” He has given up his former life and now restores churches and icons, as well as creates new works.

Also check out their series on the town of Norylsk, Siberia in Norylsk – zatrute miasto.

Norilsk hosts the biggest factory in Russia engaged in the production of “rare” metals (palladium, platinum, nickel, cobalt, and copper). The price paid by the residents is huge. Two percent of the world’s CO2 production comes from Norylsk. An area of 100,000 hectares (50,000 acres) around the city consists of burned down forests. It is widely recognized as one of the worst ecological disasters in the world, and average life expectancy is ten years less than the average across all Russia.

Perspective, PNCC, ,

10 reasons I’m a National Catholic —” Reason 4: Unity in essentials, latitude in non-essentials

There is quite a history behind the famous saying: “In necessariis unitas, In dubiis libertas, In omnibus autem caritas” (In essentials unity, In doubtful things liberty, But in all things love). This saying is commonly referred to as the “Friedensspruch” or “Peace Saying.”

The quote is sometimes attributed to St. Augustine. In reality it is properly attributed to Peter MeiderlinOn the, spurious claim that Augustine was the author, see especially Friedrich Lí¼cke, íœber das Alter, den Verfasser, die ursprí¼ngliche Form und den wahren Sinn des kirchlichen Friedensspruches “In necessariis unitas, in non necessariis libertas, in utrisque caritas!: Eine litterarhistorische theologische Studie (Gí¶ttingen: Verlag der Dieterischschen Buchhandlung, 1850), 4-6; Eekhof, Zinspreuk, 10-15., a Lutheran theologian and pastor who lived in Augsburg during the early seventeenth century. Meiderlin lived in a very troubled times, a time exposed to the ravages of the Thirty Years War and its aftermath. There was ongoing strife between Lutherans and Calvinists as well as within Lutheranism itself. The Lutheran movement had become a battleground for competing political forces and numerous doctrinal disputes based on theological differences among the leaders of the nascent Reformation.

Why go off into Lutheran and Reformation history? Really, to understand the basis for my reasons in joining the PNCC. Every confession has, to some extent, turned the “Peace Saying” on its head. This is perfected in the great departure from what was commonly believed among all Christians in the Church of the first 1,000 years to a development of unknown doctrines and laws.

Peter Meiderlin’s argument for peace is illustrated in the story of a dream he hadThe account of the dream is found in Meiderlin’s original Latin book, entitled Paraenesis votiva pro pace ecclesiae ad Theologos Augustanae Confessionis, based on the edition of Pfeiffer, was reprinted by Lí¼cke in íœber das Alter, 87-90.:

In the dream he encounters a devout Christian theologian in a white robe sitting at a table and reading the Scriptures. All of a sudden Christ appears to him as the victor over death and the devil and warns him of an impending danger and admonishes him to be very vigilant. Then Christ vanishes and the Devil appears in the form of a blinding light, moonlight to be exact, and claims to have been sent on a mission from God. He states that in this final age the Church needs to be protected from all heresy and apostasy of any kind and God’s elect have the duty to safeguard and keep pure the doctrinal truths they inherited. The Devil then alleges that God has authorized him to found a new order of these doctrinally pure elect, some sort of a doctrinal heritage coven. Those who join will bind themselves to an oath of strictest observance to these doctrines. The Devil then extends to our devout theologian the invitation to join this militant fellowship for his own eternal welfare. Our theologian thinks about what he has just heard and decides to bring it in prayer before God, upon which the devil immediately vanishes and Christ reappears. Christ tenderly raises the trembling Christian up, comforts him most kindly, and before he departs admonishes him to remain loyal only to the Word of God in simplicity and humility of heartFound at “In Essentials Unity”: The Pre-History And History Of A Restoration Movement Slogan by Hans Rollmann..

Meiderlin’s dream captures my state of mind in coming to the PNCC. Where was the essential Catholic faith I grew up in? Where could I find the Church which called me to hold the commonly believed truths, the foundations of the Church in Sacred Scripture and Holy Tradition, and which would stand strongly enough on those foundations so as not to attempt to control everything (Matthew 23:4).

I was trying to avoid being part of “[the] new order of [the] doctrinally pure elect, …a doctrinal heritage coven.” I understood the Catholic faith to stand on foundation of Scripture and Tradition, the infallible nature of the Church as a whole, which also acts as a guide along the path to eternal life, meeting people where they are and bringing them to Christ. I wasn’t looking for the Church that gave me free-reign to decide for myself. If I wanted that I could be Protestant, Universalist, or nothing at all, because in each, even the essentials of Scripture and Tradition are subject to debate and individual interpretation. I didn’t need doctrinal or liturgical, or sacramental innovation, nor priests and bishops who wing theology and kill Holy Tradition to suit the whims of the day. I know I needed the truth of Catholicism, but not thousands of pages of proscriptive rules and regulations no one can bear.

So, I needed truth, as well as the latitude to get to heaven in an environment that gave me peace and comfort in my struggles. I needed the essentials of the Catholic faith to be sure, and I needed that they be strictly adhered to, but I did not need regulations that acted to do no more than act as points of separation, points that made me feel unworthy and outside.

Those laws of separation are too painful. Certainly they work for the benefit of those who hold themselves as doctrinally pure, elect, and on the inside. That high standard becomes so high that it often becomes insurmountable for many. As can be seen, some just ignore what they perceive as insurmountable (they ignore their Church’s teachings and doctrines, are essentially bad Catholics, but continue to go and commune without any change of heart — they are right, the Church is wrong). Some try to change it, fighting against the mountain that will not move (they battle from the inside until they are exhausted and lose heart, because it is quite impossible to win against an administrative culture based on absolutes). Some leave, whether in anger, hurt, disappointment, or out of an unwillingness to change, and in leaving abandon all faith. — I’ve done each.

The laws and doctrines of the non-essentials, the lack of charity (not financial, but that of the heart) works then to obscure the teaching of what is essential, and loses souls. How can people understand the teaching of Scripture and Holy Tradition if they are caught up in arguments over the disciplines imposed by men? How will people walk toward God if we formulate laws that push them away? We are not speaking with children when we say “My children,” but adults. I wanted to be treated like an adult on an adult path to God.

Yes, I hold the essentials and I desire no change in them at all. The creeds, humanity as saved and redeemed by the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, the ministry and Apostolic succession as established by the Catholic Church, the necessity of regeneration, the benefit of the sacraments, the call to live as Christ demands — not as man dictates, repentance for the forgiveness of sins, and living in the community of faith at every level — Church, Diocese, Parish, and home. Yes, I desire the Catholic way of life. Yet I have no love or respect for the elevation of man made, dubious, doctrine and law which obscure (and work to block) the path to heaven. The philosopher Seneca warned of cramming the mind with unimportant things. “We are ignorant,” Seneca writes, “of essentials because we deal in non-essentials.”

Bishop Hodur clearly stated that every person is called by God and that this call is to engage in a joyous journey toward heaven. Yes, it is not without struggle, against ourselves and the allures of the world, but in community that struggling together leads to victory. I needed that community. We must “remain loyal only to the Word of God in simplicity and humility of heart.” Humility calls for the elevation of God’s way (and yes, the Church teaches His way because the Holy Spirit abides in the Church) over our ways, our thoughts, our innovations. Simplicity means we must take great care not to obscure Scripture and Tradition by that which is man-made.

Meiderlin tried to avoid both extremes during the period in which he was writing. He sought to avoid disintegrating sectarianism and of a levelling orthodoxy by taking a middle position that affirms salvific essentials while maintaining responsible freedom. His principals were just as applicable in his day, in 1897, and today. I found that principle well respected in the PNCC, which maintains both and keeps the peace in love. This life then reflects what St. Paul calls “the most excellent way” (1 Corinthians 13:1-3). This is Meiderlin’s dictum: “We would be in the best shape if we kept in essentials, Unity; in non-essentials, Liberty; and in both Charity.” That is what I sought and found. It made me free, and I found a much clearer path to the Jesus who loves me out of my sinfulness. Jesus called the sinners who came to Him to the path of repentance, a change of heart, not to the following of man made regulations which are of little consequence to the desired result – a relationship with God who saves.

The “Friedensspruch,” or “Peace Saying,” is key. I wish to live in unity with what Christ demands of me. He calls me to live in the Church He established, in which He exists through the working and inbiding of the Holy Spirit, in which we follow His way by the teaching of Scripture and Holy Tradition. I also need the latitude to be included, despite my faults and failings, because inside I will continue to walk the way, climb the ladder to eternal life.

Poland - Polish - Polonia

An account of the Siberian exile

Roma King recently read from her book, Footsteps in the Snow at Village Books in Pacific Palisades, California.

Footsteps in the Snow was written in memory of Roma King’s father, Romuald “Rom” Michniewicz. It is a love story and the true account of Rom’s amazing quest to find his wife and daughter, and their daring and dangerous journey to escape from Siberia.

As the Russian army swept into Poland during the early months of the Second World War, many Polish families were forcibly relocated to distant parts of Siberia in order to make way for resettlement of Polish lands by Russian nationals, and also to provide manual labor for the kolkhozy (collective farms). Her mother, grandparents, and she were among the hundreds of thousands of Poles who were torn from their homes and transported to Siberia with little hope of ever again seeing their families or native land.

Rom survives imprisonment by the Russians only to find that his family were among those who had disappeared. He devises an ingenious plan to find them and risks it all, undertaking a perilous journey across Siberia, to rescue his wife and child.

Christian Witness, PNCC, , , ,

Valuing children with autism in worship

From the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: More congregations structure services for children with autism

Some great insights and a shout out to All Saints PNCC in Carnegie, PA.

May 23–Children ran happily up the aisle of Our Redeemer Lutheran Church in Peters, oblivious to the pastors and teachers who greeted them. The adults weren’t offended, though — they recognized the inability of those on the autism spectrum to recognize social cues.

They had come for Joyful Noise, a service held at 1 p.m. on the second Sunday of each month and designed for families in which someone has autism. The service is short and structured, with traditional prayers and opportunities to play rhythm instruments. No one minds if someone squeals during prayer or walks away during a sermon delivered by animal puppets.

“Our goal is to give them the message that Jesus loves you, and make church a comfortable, welcoming place,” said the Rev. Ann Schmid, senior pastor of Our Redeemer, a congregation of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America.

From Joyful Noise to efforts to help synagogues integrate autistic students into Hebrew School, Pittsburgh is home to pioneering efforts at religious outreach to those on the autism spectrum. A Catholic religious-education program developed at one South Hills parish has become a national model.

“Everybody has the right to be part of our faith. We have a responsibility to include everyone,” said Deacon Larry Sutton, a psychologist and manager of the state Bureau of Autism for Western Pennsylvania, who developed the catechism program at Our Lady of Grace in Scott.

People with autism range from those who can’t speak to brilliant, articulate people who are devoid of social skills and obsessed with certain topics. What they have in common, Deacon Sutton said, is difficulty in processing information, sensory stimulation and social cues.

“All that I learned about welcoming children with autism into the congregation, I initially learned from the Catholic Diocese of Pittsburgh,” said former Pennsylvania first lady Ginny Thornburgh, director of the Interfaith Initiative at the American Association of People with Disabilities in Washington, D.C.

Diocesan advocates taught her to bring those with autism into the worship space when it’s empty, to prepare them for a future service. The diocese published a picture book, “We Go to Mass,” to guide them through worship. Ms. Thornburgh encourages Muslims, Hindus and others to make similar books

She tells all of them that people with autism bring gifts, and should be welcomed as musicians, office helpers and other types of volunteers.

“I gave a speech once and a woman on the autism spectrum said to me, ‘I don’t want to be welcomed. I want to be valued,’ ” Ms. Thornburgh said.

The Catholic Diocese of Pittsburgh developed a “Best Practices Guide for Including Students with Disabilities,” with a section on autism, and sent it to every parish. Its many recommendations include constructive ways to respond quickly to potentially disruptive behavior.

It takes only one bad experience to drive a family away.

When Tina Brown moved to Scott four years ago with her autistic son, John, then 4, they attended one Mass at nearby SS. Simon & Jude. The loud music made John cry, so she took him to a vestibule. A priest who spoke to them there “told us I should look elsewhere for another parish,” she said.

Four generations of her extended family now attend All Saints Polish National Catholic Church in Carnegie, where she said the priest told them, “If people can’t handle children crying, they don’t belong in my church…”

…

Elliot Frank, chairman of the Advisory Board on Autism and Related Disorders, is always surprised when he hears of difficulties at worship. He believes that some parents are unnecessarily embarrassed by behavior that others are willing to accept.

His son, who has Asperger’s Syndrome, received individualized instruction at Temple Ohav Shalom in McCandless. At 13 he had a normal Bar Mitzvah, where the only sign of his disability was what he said in his Bar Mitzvah speech.

“He talked about how with autism he had to work to communicate with people, and Moses had to work to communicate with God. So he made a connection between himself and Moses,” Mr. Frank said.

Rabbi Art Donsky said Temple Ohav Shalom’s previous director of lifelong learning sought assistance from the Agency for Jewish Learning in Squirrel Hill, which offers advocacy and training to help synagogues serve students with special needs. Ohav Shalom also tied into “wrap-around” programs from seven school districts that provide aides to help autistic students outside of school.

…

After class at Our Lady of Grace, Ms. Cicconi takes her sons into the empty church. They have tried to attend Mass from a “quiet room,” but once the music swells, Gus can’t tolerate it.

“At this point we are barely making it through the entrance hymn. We are making tiny, tiny steps. The point for me is to get them into a consistent habit of going to church on Sunday,” she said.

That was why she helped Our Redeemer to start Joyful Noise. Both boys attended the Lutheran church’s Noah’s Ark preschool, which has an 18-year history of welcoming children on the autism spectrum. The 30-minute service averages about 15 worshipers.

A church member made prayer shawls with weights in the hem because it calms some autistic children to be wrapped in something heavy. All have buttons or fringe that the children can twist.

Sheila and Gary Coquet of Peters attend with their sons Chase, 5, who has autism, and Grayson, 3, who doesn’t. They are grateful to worship without worrying what other people think of them.

Chase’s favorite song is “Puff the Magic Dragon.” One Sunday, in the middle of Joyful Noise, he began demanding to hear it.

“He was fixated on it and couldn’t get off of it,” his mother said. Instead of ignoring him or expecting his parents to silence him, music director Mary Helen Barr realized the nature of his obsession and played a verse of “Puff.” That allowed Chase to calm down and focus on the service.

“It’s so nice not to be embarrassed,” Mr. Coquet said.

Joyful Noise is timed so families can also attend their own churches. The bulletin invites participants to follow their own traditions, whether that means crossing themselves or praying with arms raised.

“We’re not doing this so more people become Lutheran,” said the Rev. Steven Broome, the associate pastor. “We’re doing it so people have a place that’s welcoming and safe.”

Homilies, PNCC, , ,

On the Sacrament of the Word

As you may know, the PNCC considers the hearing the the Word of God, and the preaching on it, to be a sacrament. Samuel Giere, Professor of Homiletics at the Wartburg Seminary writes on Preaching as Sacrament of the Word at WorkingPreacher, a project of the Luther Seminary.

Certainly there are a number of important vantages from which to view this question —“ biblical, theological, ecclesial, historical, liturgical, etc. What follows is a swipe at the question from the theological perspective with implications that can inform other perspectives on the whole. In addition, it may impact how we as preachers envisage what we do and what it is that happens Sunday after Sunday, sermon after sermon.

To help crack open the nut of this question, let us explore a few insights from Dietrich Bonhoeffer (1906-1948). In his lectures on preaching, given at the Confessing Church seminary at Finkenwalde (1935-1937), Bonhoeffer rooted his homiletic in the incarnation of the Word. Furthermore, he emphasized the real presence of that same Word in the ordinary words of the preacher. In his own words:

The proclaimed word is the incarnate Christ himself. As little as the incarnation is the outward shape of God, just so little does the proclaimed word present the outward form of a reality; rather, it is the thing itself. The preached Christ is both the Historical One and the Present One… Therefore the proclaimed word is not a medium of expression for something else, something which lies behind it, but rather it is the Christ himself walking through his congregation as the Word…

The question, of course, remains: What is preaching? While not wrapped up neatly with a pretty bow, we can say with respect and confidence “that Christ enters the congregation through those words which [the preacher] proclaims from Scripture.”

A very good source of reference which supports the PNCC’s declaration on the sacramentality of the Word. It would also seem that the PNCC had this down before Bonhoeffer considered the question.

Also see Theology of Preaching by John McClure, Charles G. Finney Professor of Homiletics at the Vanderbilt Divinity School for some insights.

Theologies of preaching ask questions such as: What is God doing during the sermon? What is the nature of the Word of God in preaching? It is important for preachers to consider how to understand preaching as God’s Word.

Recently, the homiletic conversation about the theology of preaching has revolved around the type of theological imagination developed by the preacher. Mary Catherine Hilkert speaks of two basic forms of theological imagination in preaching: a dialectical imagination which locates God’s redemptive work more narrowly in the redemptive actions of God in and through Jesus Christ, and a sacramental imagination which locates God’s Word more widely within the whole of God’s creation…

WorkingPreacher has a lot of great resources on homiletics and some wonderful insights on the art of preaching.

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