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Month: March 2012

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Homilies,

Reflection for Passion Sunday

Mom, Dad, tell him to stop bugging me!
Can’t you get along?

“He became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey him.”

On Monday morning, October 2, 2006, a gunman entered a one-room Amish school in Nickel Mines, Pennsylvania. In front of twenty-five horrified pupils, thirty-two-year-old Charles Roberts ordered the boys and the teacher to leave. After tying the legs of the ten remaining girls, Roberts opened fire on all of them, killing five and leaving the others critically wounded. He then shot himself as police stormed the building. His motivation? “I’m angry at God for taking my little daughter,” he told the children before the massacre.

The story captured the attention of broadcast and print media in the United States and around the world. By Tuesday morning some fifty-television crews had clogged the small village of Nickel Mines, staying for five days until the killer and the killed were buried.

The blood was barely dry on the schoolhouse floor when Amish parents brought words of forgiveness to the family of the one who had slain their children. The outside world was incredulous that such forgiveness could be offered so quickly for such a heinous crime.

Three weeks after the shooting, “Amish forgiveness” had appeared in 2,900 news stories worldwide and on 534,000 web sites.

Fresh from the funerals where they had buried their own children, grieving Amish families accounted for half of the seventy-five people who attended the killer’s burial. Roberts’ widow was deeply moved by their presence as Amish families greeted her and her three children. The forgiveness went beyond talk and graveside presence: the Amish also supported a fund for the shooter’s family.

Today we are presented with the gift of forgiveness. As the family of God we are offered this wonderful gift, this chance, and not just once, but over and over. Jesus did become the source of salvation to all who obey Him, and the words we must obey, as the family of God, are to forgive. We are to forgive as the Amish did.

Next week the crowds will greet Jesus with adulation, and we will strike the cross with our sins. We will then hear Jesus say clearly: “Father forgive them…” for no sin is so great that it cannot be overcome by His love. Let us stand in awe – and always remember that regardless the burden, God’s heart is open to us.

Poland - Polish - Polonia, Xpost to PGF, , ,

Ś+P Tadeusz Sawicz laid to rest

The Last ‘Battle of Britain’ Aviator Laid to Rest
By Raymond Rolak

TORONTO– Tadeusz Sawicz, a former Polish World War II Air Force Officer, was honored with full military ceremonies when his remains were flown to Warsaw, Poland from Toronto, Canada for a state burial recently.

Polish Defense Minister Tomasz Siemoniak, Polish Air Force troops, and soldiers from Britain’s Royal Air Force attended the arrival. Siemoniak said with reverence, “General, welcome in Poland, we shall always remember what you have done for the Republic of Poland.”

The honor ceremonies were historical because Sawicz was the last surviving Polish aviator that flew combat in the “Battle of Britain.” Brig. Gen. Tadeusz Sawicz died October 19, at the age of 97. He had been confined to a suburban Ontario nursing home. His ashes arrived at the military airport near Warsaw and his remains were interred at the military Powazki cemetery. His widow Jadwiga and daughter Anna attended the solemn event. The memorial started with a Catholic Mass.

With the RAF Queen’s Color Squadron present, Polish military spokesperson Czeslaw Mroczek said that Sawicz gave us an example of “true patriotism.”

He got his wings at the Aviation Cadet School in Dęblin, Poland in 1935. At the start of World War II in 1939, Sawicz flew in Poland’s air protection against the invading German Nazis. He was a member of the famed “Pursuit Brigade” which defended Warsaw in September of 1939. After the formidable power of the German Luftwaffe collapsed Warsaw’s air defenses, he joined Polish pilots fighting in France. Shortly after, when Paris surrendered, he joined thousands of Polish airmen, soldiers and sailors who traveled to Britain to take up the fight once again.

In the summer of 1940, General Władysław Sikorski – the head of Poland’s Government in Exile in London – signed an agreement with the British Government to form a Polish Air Force in Britain.

Sawicz served with distinction in the Polish Air Force in Britain from the 1940 “Battle of Britain” until 1947, and was credited with shooting down three German aircraft. He had been awarded Poland’s highest military honor, the Order Wojenny Virtuti Militari in 1943 and numerous other British, U.S., and Netherland aviation medals.

During the “Battle of Britain” German bombers devastated England’s airfields, cities and ports in a bid to destroy its defenses in preparation for a planned invasion. The Nazi’s had hoped they could bomb Great Britain into submission for surrender or a favorable negotiated peace.

In preparation for the invasion, Adolph Hitler had written in his famous Directive #16, “The English air force must have been beaten down to such an extent morally and in fact that it can no longer muster any power of attack worth mentioning against the German crossing.”

During the “Battle of Britain” the highly trained and battle hardened Polish airmen had the highest kill rates of all the RAF pilots that took part in this specific window of WWII. They were credited with 203 confirmed airborne kills.

Sawicz had time with the famous 303 Polish Fighter Squadron and also the 315. The 316th Warsaw Squadron, which flew Hawker Hurricanes, was under his direction in 1941. He also served under the Polish-American ace Francis Gabreski in the 56th Air Group. Sawicz suffered injuries in a 1944 on ground airfield collision when another Spitfire ran into him. He then was Polish Wing Commander at Coltishall, England and later in France coordinating advanced bombing raids into Germany.

Gabreski had been assigned to the Polish Squadron right after the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941 in Hawaii. His mission was to learn the 303 Kosciusko Squadron tactics because of their high German kill rate. Aggression and Nazi hatred was the key to the Polish airmen’s success. They also had the faster Spitfire. The Spitfire was built for speed which allowed it to accomplish its mission so successfully against enemy aircraft. With its sleek elliptical wings which had a thin cross-section, it allowed for a higher top speed than other fighters of its time, including that of the Hawker Hurricane.

Gabreski, known famously as Gabby, stayed in the U.S. service and later commanded a wing of F-86 Sabres at Selfridge Air Force Base in Macomb County during the Korean conflict in 1950. The two would periodically rendezvous and last got together for a reunion and aviation art exhibit in Toronto in 2000. Gabreski passed in 2002.

Sawicz also commanded the 131 and 133 Polish Wings and was demobilized as a Major in 1947. He stayed on in England after the war because of Russian occupation of his home area. He emmigrated to Canada in 1957. He was both a gentleman farmer and had worked for a Regional Canadian Airline. In 2006 he was named an honorary Brigadier-General by Polish president Lech Kaczynski.

There is a dedicated Polish War Memorial monument in the London Borough of Hillingdon that honors the Polish Airmen that defended Britain. In 2010 the monument was refurbished for the 70th anniversary celebration honoring those that participated in the “Battle of Britain.”

The 145 Polish aviators honored in London in the official RAF Role of Honor that had flown in the ‘Battle of Britain’ are now known affectionately as the “The Few.” This is from a phrase made famous by a Winston Churchill speech. There is a special stained glass window in Westminster Abbey honoring them.

'Battle of Britain' memorial stained glass windows at Westminster Abbey in the Polish RAF Aviators alcove, London, England.
Homilies,

Reflection for the Fourth Sunday of Lent

Are we there yet?
its only 5,615 miles…

Thus says Cyrus, king of Persia: All the kingdoms of the earth the LORD, the God of heaven, has given to me, and he has also charged me to build him a house in Jerusalem, which is in Judah. Whoever, therefore, among you belongs to any part of his people, let him go up, and may his God be with him!”

We’ve all heard or seen those instances on a trip where someone in the car or airplane asks: “Are we there yet?” It is usually a small child who is impatient with the trip.
Our Lenten journey can be like that. By the time we close in on Easter we might ask ourselves (or others), “Are we there yet?”

If we were saying that now, it wouldn’t be uncommon because from a time perspective we are more than half way there. Yet we may still be at the bottom of the hill.
The Jewish people had been exiled from Jerusalem for 70 years.

They longed to return. They lost their music, their joy, and in their penance found reconciliation with God.

We must continue on our journey to find reconciliation with God. We may need to refresh and renew our Lenten sacrifice. We may need to reconnect to where we should be, and get back on the road.

The days ahead will be an uphill struggle. Penance will increase. We will find it harder to comply with the Church’s requirements and with our best intentions.

This is where family becomes essential to our journey. We do not need to travel 5,615 miles to get to Jerusalem the city or to family. The city is of no matter because it is only a place. Where we’re headed is the new and heavenly Jerusalem. This is our family dwelling, the house that belongs to us because we are His children.

We can be assured that our acceptance of Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior, in faith, has put us on the road. Our membership in the family of faith, the Church, gives us the love and support we need to get there.

“Are we there yet?” Yes. “Are we still on the road?” Yes, that too. We have both a home and a family to support us as we journey there.

Homilies, PNCC,

Reflection for the Solemnity of the Institution of the PNCC

If I’m part of the vine…
can I drink more wine?

“I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in me, and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.”

We have been studying family as our Lenten theme. Today, we lighten our Lenten practice a bit and engage in a celebration of – no wait – yes family. Amazing isn’t it?
Today we celebrate the organization of our Holy Polish National Catholic Church.

Church can be a lot of things to a lot of people, but one thing it certainly isn’t is a stagnant shell of a corporation based on dusty old books.

Church is the reality of our relationship as family in Christ. There are so many quotes about that, but a key one is taken from St. Paul’s letter to the Ephesians, Chapter 4:4-6:

There is one body and one Spirit… one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of us all.

We have been grafted onto Jesus. He is the vine and we are the braches. That makes us one being, one entity, and sharers in His nourishment and love.

If Church were dusty old books, it would not be a living entity. If it were a stagnant shell, we would have no reason to be part of it, or feel alive in it.

Being part of the vine does give us reason to celebrate, to become intoxicated with the happiness that comes from being part of the living body of Christ.

Our Holy Church is a beacon and the joy of life. It is a place of happiness, reconciliation, mutual labor and support, the one place where we can endeavor together to reach God.

In the Holy Church we find ourselves already connected to God, part of Him, members of His family – and as St. Paul focuses on, one in every aspect of who we are.

We are not strangers who bump into each other on occasion. We are Polish National Catholics who live and abide in Jesus Christ, who bring His life filled Church, His life-giving message, to the world. There we will gather and join others to the life-giving vine, the place where we will all drink the wine of joy!

PNCC,

Ś+P Bishop Jan Dawidziuk

The Bishop Emeritus of the Western Diocese of the Polish National Catholic Church has entered into his eternal rest. The Rt. Rev. ś.p. Jan Dawidziuk passed the morning of Tuesday, March 6th.

Arrangement are as follows:

St. Mary’s PNC Church in Parma, Ohio

Wake/Viewing: Thursday, March 8th from 4 – 8 p.m.
Requiem Vespers: Thursday, March 8th at 7 p.m.
Funeral Mass & Burial: Friday, March 9th at 10 a.m.

More information to follow.

Eternal rest grant unto your servant, priest, and bishop Jan and may the perpetual light shine upon him. Amen.

May he rest in peace.

Boże, któryś pośród Apostolskich Kapłanów sługę Twego Jan biskupią–kapłańską–godnością obdarzyċ raczył, a teraz łaskawie z ucisku i walk tego świata wyprowadził, spraw, prosimy Cię, ażeby z Twego Miłosierdzia w poczet świętych Twoich zaliczony został. Przez Chrystusa Pana naszego. Amen.

Wieczny odpoczynek racz mu dać Panie
A światłość wiekuista niechaj mu świeci.

Niech odpoczywa w pokoju. Amen.

Bishop Emeritus Jan Dawidziuk, former Bishop Ordinary of the Western Diocese of the Polish National Catholic Church died Tuesday, March 6, at Parma Community General Hospital. He was 74.

Bishop Dawidziuk, had served parishes in Illinois, Wisconsin, and St. Louis before his assignment as pastor of St. Mary’s Polish National Catholic Church in Parma, Ohio in 1986. In 1999, he was elevated to the office of bishop after being elected to the office at the Church’s Special Synod that same year. He served as Diocesan Bishop of the Western Diocese, which includes parishes in Illinois, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Michigan, Indiana, Ohio, Florida, Missouri, and Washington from 2003 to 2009. In his retirement he assisted by serving at St. Mary’s parish.

“The church is the same everywhere, and people are almost the same,” Bishop Dawidziuk told the Mosinee Times of Wisconsin in 1983.

St. Mary’s current pastor, Rev. Stanley Bilinski, said Dawidziuk was a peacemaker. “He hated conflict. He sought to see all sides. He always sought resolution and collaboration.”

Bishop Dawidziuk was born in Kolczyn, Poland and raised mostly in Siedlce. The Germans invaded before he turned 2. He graduated from a seminary in Seidlce and was ordained in Poland in 1960. He earned master’s and doctoral degrees at the Academy of Catholic Theology in Warsaw, doing some of his research in Rome. Besides his native Polish, he learned Latin, Greek, Hebrew, German, Italian and English. He taught at the academy and high school levels in Opole, Poland.

In 1981, Bishop Dawidziuk emigrated to the United States with his family. He also joined the Greater Cleveland Ministerial Association and held many positions in the Polish National Catholic Church, including delegate to its Supreme Council in Scranton, Pennsylvania.

Bishop Dawidziuk retired in 2009 and moved to Berea, Ohio. Survivors include his wife, the former Anna Fedorowicz, a daughter and a grandson.

Art, Media, Poland - Polish - Polonia, Xpost to PGF, ,

Feel – American Tour Review

“Feel” Connects on American Tour
By Raymond Rolak

HAMTRAMCK– After a standing room only concert here at the PNA Concert Hall on Conant Avenue, the rock-pop band FEEL from Katowice, Poland had to rush off to play a gig in Chicago. The entourage took the train from Detroit to Chicago the next day to play The Club in Burbank, Illinois.

Post concert, FEEL was gracious after their Detroit performance and signed CD’s and posters and mingled with their supporters. With a few piwa’s to re-hydrate, after concert talk was primarily in Polish and the band members all knew that Techno-Music had its roots and history founded in Detroit.

The PNA Concert Hall in Hamtramck rocked as lead vocalist Piotr Kupicha wowed with an over two hour set and energized his audience while interfacing with the crowd. It was obvious that his on-stage presence connected with an all-age audience as “Feel” went through their repertoire of Polish hit songs.

The evening was a Polish musical showcase as local Polish-American rapper Dzejo started with a warm-up set and then Magda Kaminski got things really moving along. Kaminski did a few numbers from her CD, “This is Me.” The venue lent a good platform as Marcin Kindla showed off his warm but powerful vocals with some softer stylings. He also really connected with the primarily Polish crowd that rushed in to be front and center of the stage.

The presentations started late so the audience was ready. Emcee Rafal Nowakowski kept everyone informed so the attendance was anxious and anticipating the main attraction. “Feel” worked without a break and Kupicha had the audience wanting more as he did a couple of interaction numbers. The group sang all their popular Polish radio hits with two encores.

Before the concert Kupicha told me music was in his in his heritage as his grandfather, also Piotr, was a professional musician in Silesia. “Dzia-Dzia was a violinist,” he said in broken English. “So strings are in my bloodline,” he added smiling. He laughed even more with my broken Polish and the band members giggled with halting sign language augmentations. There was no barrier with communication though and we talked a bit about the international language of music. “Music is the global ambassador, I agree,” added the talented songwriter. Polish native Anya Nowakowski helped with the tougher translations and in depth questions. She was laughing with enthusiasm also. Idioms don’t get translated well sometimes.

While relaxing in the ready room Kupicha had questions about the Detroit Red Wings as most of the group knew about the local long time NHL ice-hockey success of this area. Group spokesman, Wojtek Grzesiok, told of the time a few years ago that former Polish hockey star Mariusz Czerkawski got Kupicha to play in a celebrity ice-hockey game in Poland. “No one expected Piotr to be so fast,” added Grzesiok. “Just like on the guitar, Piotr skated fast.”

In one of Kupicha’s songs he reached the audience with a soft staccato feel, “Listen-Listen,” he sang in Polish. It was colorful and touching to the audience. Offerings from their new CD “Feel-3” were front and center throughout the sets. An old favorite, “And When the Dusk Comes” got the crowd really moving (A gdy jest już ciemno).

Grzesiok said they had been looking forward to the Detroit date as it was the first time for “Feel” to play in this area. After this performance it won’t be the last. The only wrinkle in the evening was that the very popular Sebastian Riedel popped a disk in his back and was trying to recuperate at the band’s hotel. He wasn’t able to perform in Chicago either.

Local music promoters from Telewizja-Detroit and Kozi Vodka had the small concert ballroom set just right. Co-producer Tomasz Czuprynski said, “This is a great location and with this response we will do it again here.”

Hamtramck sausage provider Srodek’s was popular with the band and their post concert smoked sausage and pierogi offerings were well received. On this tour, “Feel” had previously played in New Britain, Connecticut, Brooklyn, New York and Passaic, New Jersey.

FEEL- Piotr Kupicha– Lead Vocals and Guitar, Łukasz Kożuch– Keyboard, Michał Nowak– Bass, Michał Opaliński– Percussion, Paweł Pawłowski- Guitar

"Feel" the pop-rockers from Katowice, Poland did a two hour plus performance at the PNA Concert Hall in Hamtramck and lead singer Piotr Kupicha wowed at the standing-room-only event. The concert was promoted by Telewizja-Detroit. Photo courtesy of the ROLCO SPORTS NETWORK

Homilies, ,

Second Sunday of Lent 2012

First reading: Genesis 22:1-2,9-13,15-18
Psalm: Ps 116:10,15-19
Epistle: Romans 8:31-34
Gospel: Mark 9:2-10

“This is my beloved Son.”

Relatedness:

Today we continue our Lenten study of family focusing on the topic of relatedness, how we relate to the Father, Jesus, the Holy Spirit and each other as well as the things that mark, or indicate that relationship.

The dictionary tells us that relatedness means a particular manner of connectedness or relationship. The opposite, unrelatedness means to be disconnected.

In educational psychology human relatedness is defined as the ability to bond emotionally with others.

Allison:

Allison grew up in a loving and supportive family. She was an honor student whose life stalled, then careened dangerously downhill because of alcoholism. Throughout her life she felt disconnected, unrelated, and was unable to develop friendships. It was only after “hitting bottom,” and a chance encounter with a struggling member of Alcoholics Anonymous, Mike, that her own life was put back on track. At her second AA meeting Allison was invited to speak. There, she found her Higher Power. She recognized God in the faces of the people in the room. She said: “I saw it…the understanding, the empathy, the love…This is what I had been looking for all my life.”

Allison found relatedness. First in Mike who “got her,” understood where she was and her need. Then in that AA meeting she broke through and saw the love of God in her connection to others. What she experienced was a sense of belonging, relatedness.

Allison’s life bloomed. She is gainfully employed, supporting herself financially, with plans to buy a house. She has friends because, as she described it, she had learned how to be a friend, to be related. She went on to find a special man for her life with whom she has been involved for almost five years.

God created:

In our study of family, we realize that God’s creation is centered on our relatedness, our connection to others starting with our parents, siblings, and our extended families. We reach out from there to friendships and larger social relationships.

As we discussed last week, God works through families and the larger social family. In His creation, these relationship, this relatedness is at the heart of His design for His family.

References:

In today’s readings and Gospel we hear about relatedness. Abraham was put to the test, and the test required him to do the hardest thing possible. It is why its description is so stark, so shocking. Abraham was asked to sacrifice the son that he loved.

In our Gospel, the Father overshadows Jesus and the Apostles at the Transfiguration, clearing stating for all: “This is my beloved Son.”

Saving through relatedness:

In case we might miss it, God lives in a state of relatedness. He is Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, three persons in one God. The center of that relationship is tremendous and perfect love. That is why God understood how hard of a test He was imposing on Abraham, and why He rewarded Abraham for his willingness to offer his beloved son as sacrifice.

Consider how we are saved by that exact relatedness. The Father’s Son, Jesus, was offered on the cross for us. While God stayed Abraham’s hand from sacrificing his son, God sacrificed His own Son, Who He loves with tremendous and perfect love, for all of us.

We are both saved, and assured of our relatedness to God, through the sacrifice of His Son, Jesus.

To God:

God loves us so much, so tremendously, that He gave His Son for us. We are not just bystanders, or people unworthy of love, unrelated. God loves us with the very same love He holds for His Son Jesus. In Jesus, we have become members of God’s family. We are children of the our Father. Jesus is our brother. Our relatedness to God, our connection to Him is not something we invented, but something God desired. God took action to create our relatedness to Him and to each other.

To each other:

By being made children of God we have become related, connected to each other. We are siblings.

Our relatedness exists in what we share: We have one birth into the family of God through water and the Holy Spirit. We have one faith. We have one Father in heaven and one Lord and Savior, our brother Jesus Christ. We share in the one Spirit. We speak the same language in worship and prayer. We do the things that family does – in spending time together, communicating, trusting, fulfilling each others needs during times of struggle, and celebrating together in times of joy. We share the same ancestors in faith and are joined with them, with our Blessed Mother and all the saints. They pray and intercede for us because we are all family.

In God we are connected. We are related. We are in a relationship with Him and each other. We are bonded as family, spiritually and emotionally with each other.

We have one goal, and it is not just getting to heaven because who wants to be in heaven alone. It is reaching heaven as a family where we will dwell as one. We will reach heaven through our relatedness, through the hands that help, support, and guide us, who pray for us in our mutual journey to God. This is our family of faith here on earth and in heaven. Amen.

Christian Witness, Homilies, ,

Reflection for the Second Sunday of Lent

Can I trade in this kid?
Ummm, NO!

“God put Abraham to the test… ‘Abraham, Abraham!’ ‘Here I am!’ he answered. ‘Do not lay your hand on the boy. Do not do the least thing to him. I know now how devoted you are to God, since you did not withhold from me your own beloved son.’”

Relatedness – The dictionary tells us that relatedness means a particular manner of connectedness or relationship. Unrelatedness means the lack of any particular manner of connectedness.

We might wonder if Abraham had any troubles with his son Isaac. Maybe, at one time or another, he regretted his relatedness to Isaac, and thought, maybe I could trade this kid in for something better.

God puts Abraham to the test, he asks him to sacrifice his son. Scripture tells us that Abraham loved his son, but maybe, somewhere in his mind he thought, maybe God is going to give me an even better son on trade. It is one of the unfortunate consequences of our humanity, our ability to set aside our relatedness. We all have someone with whom we have a strained, distant, or disconnected relationship.

Being part of God’s family, being the brothers and sisters of Jesus and of each other can put us to the test. How do we exercise our relatedness – how do we keep connected?

God Himself has told us that we are connected, we are related, and we are part of one body. He never abandons His relationship with us because we share the DNA of Jesus; it is imprinted in our hearts and souls.

Our Lenten journey is about correcting those instances where we feel we have grown unrelated. We have to recapture those markers of a healthy relationship with God. We have to rebuild what is strained between sister and brother.

We bear the signs of family, our shared birth in water and the Holy Spirit, our shared language of prayer and praise, the way we work together and support each other. We know, as members of God’s family, there are no trades allowed. The Father gave His Son for this family. What Jesus did to bring us together as one family is worth rebuilding; wherever it might be strained. Let’s set to that task.

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