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Reflection for the Solemnity of the Humble Shepherds

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He called,
they and I answered.

“I will turn their mourning into joy, I will comfort them, and give them gladness for sorrow. I will feast the soul of the priests with abundance, and my people shall be satisfied with my goodness, says the LORD.”

There are several very good reasons for our Church to have established this special Solemnity, that of the Humble Shepherds.

Our initial thoughts go to the remembrance of those men, who kept watch over their flocks by night, to whom the angel first appeared to announce the good news of the Lord’s birth.

Since God deigned to provide first news of His birth to these men, the Holy Church should rightly honor them and their witness to His coming. The community of the Church, each of us, should also take after their example by listening, responding, and taking action.

Next, our thoughts should go to those men around us that God continues to speak to and through. They work among us as leaders. They draw us to the goodness of the Lord. These are the shepherds among us; they are the bishops, priests, and deacons of our Holy Church.

What does it mean to be such a shepherd?

Like the shepherds on that hillside, today’s shepherds must listen. Listening is difficult, especially if the one speaking to you doesn’t use the phone, Facebook, E-mail, texting, or smoke signals. His word comes in very subtle ways, and they seem easy to set aside and ignore. Yet, if we dare to listen, we will hear Him speaking to us, setting forth a vital mission and challenge that we need to take on.

Like those shepherds, today’s responded and went. They left everything they thought they might be behind. They went to be what He wants them to be. Whether drafted, or going voluntarily (even reluctantly sometimes), they still chose to respond. They didn’t sit on the hillside wondering, “What if?” They didn’t miss the chance.

Also like the shepherds that went that night, they took something away with them, the experience of meeting the Lord who challenges us, who supports us, who is our best friend and confidant. They met Him and were changed in that meeting. They then took what they learned, and with the Lord’s help went out on mission, to build the Church, to gather co-workers, and to build family and community.

They lead because they have heard and seen abundantly. They tell others, many of who and astonished and do not accept their word. Those that do hear, who may also be astonished at first, but who then follow by listening, responding and taking action themselves are God’s witnesses in the world.

Christian Witness, Saints and Martyrs

St. Stephen the Proto-Martyr

A wonderful reflection from Jim Kushiner, Executive Director, The Fellowship of St. James: The Truth About St. Stephen’s Day

46392_462077173855168_1103209793_nDec. 26, St. Stephen’s day in the West (Dec. 27 in the East) is also known in some countries as “Boxing Day”–there are various explanations for the name, as well as various customs–some may date back to late Roman times and the collection of funds in boxes on St. Stephen’s Day.

My thoughts today center on St. Stephen himself, proto-martyr. What has St. Stephen to do with Christmas?

We think of Stephen as one of the first deacons, and picture a practical man. Yet, says Luke, he was “full of grace and power,” and “did great wonders and signs among the people.” At his death, this deeply spiritual man saw the man Jesus standing at the right hand of God. No apostolic witness prior to this makes such a claim. The apostles had seen Christ ascend, but it is not said that they saw into heaven itself. What’s different here?

Martyrdom. The supreme witness of the martyr is that he grasps, by charism of the Holy Spirit, we should add, the fullness of his life in Christ: the martyr is keenly aware that he belongs to a different world by virtue of being in Christ, and that he is “not of this world.” His faith is full. Stephen saw his true home just as he was about to depart from this world. He saw, as it were, the Big Picture.

The truth of Christmas is not just Christ’s Birth, but the full arc of His salvation, as we sing, for example in the Christmas song, “Good Christian Men, Rejoice!”–“He has op’ed the heavenly door and man is blessed evermore.” The door opened is the one to paradise, which Christ promised to the Good Thief. St. Stephen, first martyr, witnessed not only this open door, but also the One who is Himself the Door. Jesus is the Way, and Stephen saw Him as the final destination of his own way.

On the day after Christmas, remember what St. Stephen saw. Christ is our destination, too. We, having “an assurance of things not seen,” may also see this by faith. “Christ was born for this, Christ was born for this!”

Homilies

Christmas Reflection

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Beloved:
The grace of God has appeared, saving all

Here we stand, at the manger, at the answer.

We have been inundated by the negatives of the world, particularly over the last several weeks, even in the last 24 hours, but here we stand, before the answer.

In this decrepit, shoddy stable, the answer came to us. The answer came with a one way ticket. The answer, this little baby, came with a one way ticket and brought a new dawn.

The one way ticket is for God intervening, providing us with the way from darkness and sin to light and life. He came to save – Jesus – the name that means God saves. God has come to save His people that are you and me, all of us.

The one way ticket is for God who promised He would come to save, not just temporarily, or for a short time, but forever. He came to stay with us, and in us, as the answer.

This saving work, this answer continues among us. He is here, in this small parish, on a small street. He is in our big and welcoming hearts – the heart of Jesus which we reflect. He is in our community. He is in the many blessings we have received, and the struggles and work we face together. He is in the beauty of our children and the wisdom of our elders. The answer is in Him and His promises – that are for us – here and now.

The answer is among us. God is among us, with us, here to stay. Thank you Lord Jesus, thank you for this holy night. Amen.

Christian Witness, Homilies, PNCC,

Reflection for the Fourth Sunday of Advent

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Because He said it…
believe it!

“Blessed are you who believed that what was spoken to you by the Lord would be fulfilled.”

The Annunciation – that moment where the angel Gabriel told Mary that God had chosen her. The dialog goes on and we hear Mary say yes to God. She says yes to the impossible.

Months before that Zechari’ah was serving in the temple when the Gabriel appeared to him and told him that his elderly wife Elizabeth would have a baby. Zechari’ah didn’t believe that the impossible could happen, even with an angel telling him (a seemingly impossible event in and of itself). Because of this disbelief Zechari’ah was left without speech.

Today, we hear of the confluence of these events. Mary travels to see Elizabeth, to serve her in her pregnancy. As Mary arrives, and sounds her greeting, the seemingly impossible happens. John, still in his mother’s womb leaps for joy. John leapt for joy not just because of the sound of Mary’s voice. He leapt because of the presence of God in her womb. How could this be possible?

Throughout salvation history the impossible has happened. A small tribal people became God’s people. They were saved in miraculous ways. In the fullness of time God came to us through them, and offered Himself for our redemption and salvation. He died and rose from the dead, and from there His word spread throughout the world at the hands of fishermen, tent makers, tax collectors, and others. That word went out and was accepted by new groups of people and nations who all became God’s chosen people.

Consider too that the time of the impossible has not ended. The saints and martyrs – and all who hold and profess our common Christian faith have accomplished the impossible. In the history of our Holy Church, a small group of people worked together, and democratically, to organize a new society of faith, a new Church to carry out the seemingly impossible. Now its work is spreading around the globe.

As with Mary’s example, we must be prepared to believe that there are no barriers in God. With Him, nothing is impossible and conversely, the impossible is nothing to us. God’s grace is powerful and can accomplish everything. We must take up and accept that grace, agreeing to be His allies and His workers in carrying out the impossible.

Walter Cronkite used to say: “And that’s the way it is.” Let us be joyous as Elizabeth and the pre-born John were, that God continues to speak to us, to call us, to accomplish the impossible through us. That is the way it is with God. Because He says it, believe it! We are blessed who believe.

Christian Witness, Homilies, , ,

Reflection for the Third Sunday of Advent

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Why!

Have no anxiety at all, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, make your requests known to God. Then the peace of God that surpasses all understanding will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.

Today we listen to words of joy, encouragement, gladness, and exultation. We hear of God’s provision for His people. We are reassured that we share in love because God is among us. We also share in the wonderful gift of forgiveness and renewal. We follow John the Baptist’s admonition to repent before the coming of the Lord.

The events of this week in Newtown turn the message of rejoicing on its head. How can we rejoice? How can we be glad and exult? Faced with these words we turn to God with hearts and minds full of questions, maybe questions tinged with anger.

Philosophers and theologians have explanations for all this, but what good are explanations when our hearts are filled with sadness and grief? Can explanations help when our hearts are downcast and our minds fearful? What has happened? God, couldn’t you have intervened!?!

Then we consider our confession and repentance. We look at our sins, and we think, my sins are so small, so insignificant, so trifling. Why should I feel guilt and remorse for my small sins, to have to repent, when there is such serious evil and so much sickness in the world?

In a few days, the next ugly thing will happen. Some person, claiming to be Christian, will burst out with blame for one group or another, and say that God is purposefully punishing us.

We, who follow Jesus can be reassured that God’s peace surpasses our human understanding. Christ came to live among us, not just to appear and go back. He did not come to punish, but to bring healing and renewal. He is not just an antidote to evil, someone we can conjure up in hard and sad times, but the light that destroys evil.

In our confession and repentance we bear witness and re-align ourselves with right and truth. We stay on the right track and call the world to do the same. Renewed, we set out to be God’s light, bearing Christ with us. We bring love where there is little, joy where there is none, comfort where there is despair. Healing to the sick.

God has not left us abandoned and alone. He is intervening every day through us. This Sunday let our hearts take comfort and overcome. Stand up and rejoice in the face of despair and sadness because in the midst of horrible tragedy we will bear the light of Christ to the world – a light that no darkness can overcome.

Christian Witness,

Prayers for Newtown

Seeing the crowds, he went up on the mountain, and when he sat down his disciples came to him. And he opened his mouth and taught them, saying: “Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.” — Matthew 5:1-2,4

We join with people across the country and around the world in offering up prayers for those horrifically and tragically killed in Newtown, Connecticut today. We stand in sorrow and fellowship with the families of those killed, and the aid workers, first responders, and everyone so affected by this sorrow.

Let us resolve to love more greatly as Jesus asked, to grow in community, in fellowship, and in our resolve to help those who are damaged and in need of help.

O Merciful God, Father of the Crucified Christ! In every sorrow which awaits us may we look up to Thee without doubt or fear, persuaded that Thy mercy is ever sure. Thou cannot fail us. There is no place or time where Thou art not. Uphold us in our grief and sorrow, and in our darkness visit us with Thy light. We are Thine; help us, we beseech Thee, in life and in death to feel that we are Thine. Through Christ our Lord. Amen. — A Prayer In Time of Sorrow — from A Book of Devotions and Prayers According to the Use of the Polish National Catholic Church, Published by the Mission Fund of the PNCC, 7th edition, May 1, 1984.

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Christian Witness, Homilies, , , , ,

Reflection for the Second Sunday of Advent

I can’t believe it!
I guess you didn’t not see it…

A voice of one crying out in the desert: “Prepare the way of the Lord, make straight his paths. Every valley shall be filled and every mountain and hill shall be made low. The winding roads shall be made straight, and the rough ways made smooth, and all flesh shall see the salvation of God.”

If we read the caption above, we note the double negative: “didn’t not.” Writing this, my word-processing program kept pointing to my error.

Word-processing programs are a wonderful invention for someone like me who has terrible spelling skills. Either a red or green underline shows up. Red if the word appears to be misspelled, green if the grammar is incorrect.

Let’s think of John the Baptist as God’s word-processor. He went out to proclaim a wonderful gift, that people could renew their lives if they would only repent, make straight their ways. Salvation was theirs if they would take the steps to correct themselves.

Like my word-processing program, John pointed out serious errors, especially of the so-called “leaders” of the day. He put really big red underlines under all sinfulness.

His call to repentance was just like that of the word-processor. The error is obvious, its been pointed out. But now what? We have to recognize that red underline; we have to see it. Then, we have to take action to fix it. We have to correct the spelling and grammar of our lives, bringing them into alignment with God’s way.

Whenever we hear John’s cry “Prepare the way… make straight the paths… fill-in the valleys… make low the mountains and hills…make the winding roads straight… the rough ways smooth” we also begin to think like construction workers. We laugh, get me a bulldozer and a big crew and we can do it. Construction takes engineering, study, process, and hard work. John wasn’t talking about construction! He was shouting about the engineering, study, process, and hard work we have to do to make our lives right before God.

Let us be dedicated to making our lives straight, smooth, and level; getting rid of the red underlines, living lives based on God’s desires for us. Doing so, we have the guarantee of finding peace, renewal, and seeing His salvation.

The Jewish people were carried away to captivity and spent generations there. When they were freed they didn’t see it coming. We already know Jesus is returning. We do not need to foresee the moment for we know we must prepare. Prepare His way and be ready to rejoice. Stand ready to share in peace and great joy at His Salvation. Come Lord Jesus!

Homilies, PNCC,

Conception of the B.V.M. and the Feast of Divine Love

When our church was young, Bp. Hodur and the Church’s Holy Synod transformed the so called Feast of the “Immaculate Conception” of Blessed Virgin Mary to the Feast of Divine Love.

The entire construct of the so called immaculate conception was based on a legalistic understanding of “original sin.” If everyone is born in a sinful state, in original sin, inherited from their parents through the sexual act of procreation, then there has to be a specially created individual – Mary – who was preserved from original sin. Some have even extended Mary’s uniqueness and separateness from the rest of humanity by arguing that Jesus’ birth was a bloodless, painless event where the infant simply floated out of the Blessed Virgin’s womb.

St. Thomas Aquinas wrote against the innovation that Mary’s birth was unlike that of others. He argued that this contradicted the very purpose of Jesus’ Incarnation, which was that He received our human nature through Mary. If her nature is unique, then Jesus’ connection with the rest of humanity is severed. (ST 27 2r).

We have not dogmatized this belief, nor do we recognize it. This is not an article of Divine revelation. As Polish National Catholics we believe that Mary was preserved from sin, and remained sinless and pure from the time of her birth. But, we do not need to construct a special status for Mary because her birth and our birth are all without sin. We do not countenance the idea of original sin in such a legalistic way. We do not accept accept that humans are sinful in their birth.

Instead, we teach that we are all created in the image and likeness of God. We profess that creation is not evil, but that it is an expression of Divine Love. Evil is certainly real, and present in the world, the result of humanity’s fall. We all fall into sin, but it is our responsibility for failing to act according to goodness of our creation.

Creation is good says Genesis, and human creation is very good. Rather than speak of the unique status of Mary, the Feast of Divine Love speaks about the goodness of creation in general as an expression of a good Creator.

The Feast of Divine Love encapsulates so much of what is positive about our Church, its focus on love and human potential. To the 1928 Synod our organizer declared: “Everything else [besides God] is transitory, but this divine element [of love] is immortal.” God never abandons His love toward us even though we do fall into the sinfulness that exists in the world.

Our Church sees Divine Love in God’s sharing of wisdom and free will. The Divine Love of creation is that we are made “very good” (Genesis 1:31) in the image and likeness of God. When we fall into sin, we know that we can always turn to God. God loves us so much that He sent His only Son to us to redeem us from our fall into sinfulness; from our unfortunate propensity to reject God’s Divine Love.

Homilies, , , , ,

Reflection for the First Sunday of Advent

Are you full?
Just fulfilled, thanks.

“The days are coming, says the LORD, when I will fulfill the promise I made to the house of Israel and Judah.”

Oh, to be full! Sometimes overstuffed is a better word. We eat everything on our plate because we don’t want food to go to waste or, because when we were growing up our parents would tell us there were starving children in another country. In the end we may be full but are we fulfilled? 



A typical day for a busy parent: Wake at 5:30am get breakfast, make lunches, get everyone out the door, clean the house, grocery shop, maybe wash a couple loads of laundry, pick kids up from the bus stop, help with homework, make dinner, clean kitchen, bathe kids and put them to bed, and THEN sit down for a few minutes. It was a full day, and tomorrow will be an equally busy and productive day, but are they fulfilling? 



Full is an adjective meaning completely filled; containing all that can be held; filled to the utmost capacity
 or volume. Fulfill is a verb meaning to carry out, or bring to realization, to make complete.

The days of preparation are upon us. These are the days in which we need to move from being filled up with things to finding real fulfillment in Christ. We need to move toward the place and moment where our cup overflows with the joy of being complete in God.

St. Paul exhorts us: May the Lord make you increase and abound in love for one another and for all, so as to strengthen your hearts, to be blameless in holiness before our God and Father.

Jesus wants us to be fulfilled, to be complete. It can be great to be full, but we have to be careful not to mistake fullness for fulfillment. We cannot make a full day or full stomach a substitute for a heart fulfilled in Jesus.

This Advent we need to prepare ourselves for fulfillment. We make a start by emptying ourselves of our failures, our sins, and our shortcomings. By doing so we make room for the Holy Spirit who will fill us with new attitudes and motives. Then, with a heart full of love and good, blameless in holiness, we are ready to be fulfilled, completed in Jesus.

Fulfilled in Jesus we become receivers of His promise. In Him we are made free, free to stand erect and raise our heads because our redemption is at hand.

Our hope is set on God’s promise and His fulfillment. He is coming to fulfill our lives. In receiving Him and His promise we become more than full, we are completely fulfilled.

Christian Witness, Homilies, ,

Reflection for the Solemnity of Christ the King

Do you know a good podiatrist?
My Achilles is bothering me.

“His dominion is an everlasting dominion that shall not be taken away, His kingship shall not be destroyed.”

We may recall the myth of Achilles from our school days.

The gods gave Achilles’ mother a choice as to how her son’s life should be: short but glorious or long but obscure. Fearing for her son’s safety, Achilles’ mother chose long but obscure. His mother also bargained with the gods for additional protection from harm. They told her to immerse Achilles in the waters of the Styx River, which would immunize him from all harm. His mother did this, holding onto Achilles by the ankle. Of course, this part of the boy did not receive the protection of the gods, and proved to be Achilles downfall. Achilles died after being shot in the ankle by Paris’ arrow during the battle of Troy.

From this mythology we derive the term Achilles heel. It is the weakness, the failings we all have. We certainly have many positive and wonderful qualities, certain skills and talents, those things (and there are many) that make us special. We also know that we have that Achilles heel, the particular sin, shortcoming, or weakness that might well prove to be our downfall.

For podiatrists, the Achilles tendon is the tendon of in the back of the leg that attaches the calf muscles to the heel bone. Injuries to this tendon can require long healing time and rehabilitation.

We set aside this Sunday to recognize and celebrate the kingship of Christ. What does Achilles have to do with the kingship of Jesus?

It is in this: That Jesus as Lord and King of all things, and most particularly of our hearts and souls, has the power to overcome our Achilles heels.

Our Achilles heels lead to injury, in ourselves and in others. We might not even recognize our Achilles heels! We may think we are relatively ok.

The reality is we all lay unprotected, vulnerable, injured, in need to healing and rehabilitation. When we recognize this we might try to fix it ourselves, but that is not possible. Rather we need to throw ourselves on the mercy of our King, relying on Him. With Him we have the grace to overcome as well as His healing.

Our King, Jesus Christ, is the absolute guarantor of protection, of healing, renewal, and eternal life. Our lives will not be long and uneventful with Him. Making Him the Lord, worshiping, adoring, relying on, and serving Him, fixes every weakness in us, and gives us unending life in His Kingdom.

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