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Reflection for the Solemnity of the Institution of the Polish National Catholic Church 2022

Made whole.

He will not break off a bent reed, nor put out a flickering lamp. He will persist until he causes justice to triumph.

Jesus came to fulfill what Isaiah had written about centuries before. Isaiah writes about a ‘bruised reed’ and a ‘smoldering wick.’ Jesus came, not to destroy the reed or put out the wick, but to take brokenness and the smoldering away. Jesus has healed and re-ignited us. Jesus has brought us into the Kingdom, into lives vastly different.

As we journey through this Lenten season, we reflect and act on our call to be true citizens of the Kingdom, to live up to our call. We look at our inward selves and our outward actions and reform them through more ardent prayer, sacrifice, study, worship, and giving. We come to really connect with the fact that those in the Kingdom live like that year-round, not just during Lent.

One day a Rabbi walked into a classroom full of Jewish religious students. The class was full of excitement. Rabbi, Rabbi, they said in unison, the Messiah has come. The Rabbi walked past the students and went to the window. He turned around, went to his desk, and told his students to sit. He said: The world looks no different; therefore, the Messiah has not yet come.

This is a powerful statement.  We know the Messiah; the Christ has come. We know that He is Jesus, the Son of God. Yet the world looks little different with its wars, obscenities, angers, covetousness, and all the other evils that surround us. What has changed?

One hundred twenty-five years ago a group of people looked about them and said the very same thing. They were immigrants, faithful and hardworking, but their lives were not getting any better. They were persecuted and called names. Their pastors continually castigated them. How could they have a Messiah if nothing changed?

They joined together and in a great act of faith and trust in Jesus and organized the Polish National Catholic Church. It would be faithful to the teachings and structures of the pristine undivided Church. It would have the passion of the first Christians who not only believed but acted on the fact that they had been healed and ignited by the Messiah. It would be the Kingdom Church Jesus had established, where they, their descendants, and anyone seeking the Kingdom could fully live out the Kingdom life, be the change Jesus called us to carry out, where life is indeed different, holy, loving, giving, and self-sacrificing.

So here we are in this body called the Church, with all necessary to live the Kingdom life fully, to bring about justice, to live in dignity together as Jesus’ body. So let us continue in prayer, sacrifice, study, worship, and giving. Let us continue to be different and call others to be saved, to share in life that is vastly different because of Jesus.

Christian Witness, Homilies, , ,

Reflection for Low Sunday 2021

Say what?

Thomas, called Didymus, one of the Twelve, was not with them when Jesus came. So the other disciples said to him, “We have seen the Lord.” But he said to them, “I will not believe.”

As usual, on this Low Sunday, we consider the consternation St. Thomas faced when confronted by the news of the resurrection.

The consternation St. Thomas faced is what we might call ‘say what-ed-ness.’ We all do that, don’t we? Someone tells us something and we proclaim, ‘Say what?’ We shake our heads in a state of perpetual disbelief. I don’t get it. I can’t accept it. This is too foreign to me.

If you ever want to test your own or others ‘say what-ed-ness,’ tell them what the Church teaches in truth and power. Jesus is God and man – He is not just a nice teacher. His words are the Word of God and must be obeyed. We must take up our cross and follow Him, walking the gospel path. All people are the children of God, and each of the baptized are co-heirs with Jesus to the promises of the Father. The Church’s teachings are not just an option but required belief. Say what?

Within the first three Chapters of the Book of Acts we learn that: The community of believers was of one heart and mind, and no one claimed that any of his possessions was his own, but they had everything in common. With great power the apostles bore witness to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus.

We do not even have to imagine the ‘say what’ reaction of the people who witnessed the life of the early Church. The reaction of the established leadership was negative. It is well recorded throughout Acts and the Epistles. We can hear the voices: What do you mean? They sell everything they have and share in the proceeds equally? They proclaim Christ without fear, with no apprehension, but publicly and with great power? Say what? We need to shut them up. That still rings true today.

Our ability to elicit ‘say what-ed-ness’ from the worldly is founded upon the power we have as recorded in St. John’s writings: Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ is begotten by God… Whoever is begotten by God conquers the world. And the victory that conquers the world is our faith.

As a people empowered by the salvation and inheritance we have in the risen Jesus – the God-man who overcame for us – we need to be a people of resolute faith, a people who truly believe and own, within our hearts as well as shown by our actions and words, the power of the Risen One.

We are called then to go out, dressed in Easter joy, with power, to challenge the ‘say what-ed-ness’ of the world. We are called to proclaim truth and liberty, freedom from death in sin to life in the resurrected Christ. The next time we hear ‘say what?’ let us respond with ‘Let me tell you about Jesus.’ “My Lord and my God!” He lives.In Him we have life. Come and believe.

Christian Witness, Homilies,

Reflection for the 3rd Sunday of Easter 2020

Realization.

“Were not our hearts burning within us while he spoke to us on the way and opened the Scriptures to us?”

Let’s start again this week from music. Would we happen to know how many songs talk about ‘hearts on fire,’ ‘hearts aflame?’ There are at least twelve. Probably a lot more.

Songwriters like the image of hearts on fire because it evokes a passion and desire so necessary to them in drawing pictures of love and even loss. Bryan Adams ‘Hearts On Fire’ is from his album ‘Into The Fire.’ Those titles, cobbled together, speak to what the disciples on the road to Emmaus were experiencing. They went from hearts burning within them to hears on fire for the gospel, for bringing people to the knowledge of Jesus. Their hearts would not let them stop as long as there were souls in need of salvation.

In their journey with Jesus the disciples felt their hearts being enkindled by the words of scripture, and in fact by Jesus’ very presence. They were experiencing God with us, Emmanuel, Jesus in their midst. They felt. within themselves, an urge for more.

Hearts on fire is a motivator to action and to living the gospel way. We, like those disciples, are called by the fire within us to go out into the fire, to bring Jesus word and way to souls in need of salvation. 

St. Paul traveled about, proclaiming the gospel message, often to people who wanted nothing to do with it. He could not, nor would he, stop. We might ask ourselves why he did it. After government officials, Jews in the diaspora, followers of empty stone rejected him over and over, after they tried to stone him, after numerous arrests and ninety-nine plus percent of people rejecting his message -why still try? Because the fire would not let him stop, not even rest. It needs to be the same for us.

In this time of crisis, we feel the fire deeply. If we long for normality, if we long for something in particular, how much greater our longing should be for, our fire be, for the salvation of souls.

The debate over faith of the heart or the brain has gone on for ages. Is faith felt or intellectualized? The reality is that Jesus speaks to each of us in the way that best ignites the fire, the passion, the drive to be His witnesses to all who are without hope, whose hearts and minds also cry out to be lit aflame by the Lord. Now is the time to self-listen, to recognize our hearts already aflame with the Lord, His gospel, and to help others realize their faith and hope are in God.

Christian Witness, PNCC,

Bishop Bernard’s Pastoral Letter on Discipleship

January, 2019

HAPPY NEW YEAR to all of you in our Central Diocesan family, and welcome to the Year of Discipleshipin our holy Church!

In the words of our national PNCC Future Direction Sub-Committee recently given to us..…..As our Lord said to His disciples “Follow Me” for His public ministry, He continues to call us to follow Him and wants our relationship with Him to grow and strengthen as the days, months and years goes by.  Our PNCC is calling us to renew our Discipleship in our Lord this year and as we begin 2019…. 

Soooo – let’s get a handle on this idea of discipleship, shall we?

Not too long ago I was watching a Netflix presentation about the Masons, with a focus on their place of origin, Freemasons’ Hall in Great Queen Street, London.  As I became drawn into the narrative of this society’s founding and growth, I was struck by how clearly they laid out the expectations of a mason.  By contrast, I was struck by how often our Church is hesitant to name the expectations of discipleship for its members. 

Our Future Directions Sub-Committee has begun laying out these expectations and will continue that effort throughout the year.  I’d say, it all boils down to five basic opportunities to “grow and strengthen our relationship with Jesus.” 

Worship – We worship God together, through his Son Jesus.  Worshipping regularly is a part of who we are as Catholic Christians. The people of God join together in the house of God to worship and honor God (Psalm 150). Worship is about community: the Christian community gathers to worship, to pray together, and to continue its growth in the faith.

Grow – We become affiliated with a parish society, Bible study, the School of Christian Living to grow in faith and our walk with Jesus.  Jesus went to the synagogue “as was His custom” (Luke 4:16).  Synagogue for Jesus was a place of discernment, learning scripture, and growing in the knowledge and love of God and neighbor.  We join with other PNCC-ers here in order to grow together.

Mission – We are called to love our neighbors.  We are encouraged to be involved in some mission emphasis.  Jesus had a special place in His heart for the poor, marginalized, outcast, and lost. We are called to be the hands, feet, and voice of Jesus Christ in our world.  We seek to love and serve others and believe this is vital in our Christian walk.

Talents and Abilities – All of us have talents and abilities that can be used for the glory of God.  Some have the gift of teaching or leading.  Others have the gift of administration, or may be gifted in finance and can help the church to be faithful stewards of the gifts offered for ministry and mission.  Some have the gift of compassion, or love to send cards to those who are sick. Some feel called to reach out to the unchurched, while others have the gift of hospitality.  Yes, all of us have some God-given gift, talent, or ability that we can use for the glory of God.

Proportional Giving – Stewardship is a spiritual discipline and an act of worship.  Our offering is a recognition that everything we have and are is a gift to us from God.  We are all blessed.  We are all called by God to offer our first-fruits and our [portion] to God for the work of His kingdom (Leviticus 27:30-33; Deuteronomy 14:22-29).  Our offering at a regular percentage of giving is an act of gratitude, an act of obedience, and an act of our covenantal agreement with God.  Our offering is used, then, in ministry and mission on behalf of our Lord Jesus Christ.     

So let’s take time to reflect on these five expectations as we undertake a life of Catholic Christian discipleship.  After all, God proved he loves us so much by giving His only begotten Son to liveamong us, to teach us of God’s love and kingdom, to diethat we might be forgiven, and to rise that we may have eternal life.  God has promised to be with us always.  Discipleship, then, is our faithful response to this God who “so loves the world”  (John 3:16)      

Peace and grace to all.

Bishop Bernard 

Christian Witness, Homilies, , , , ,

Reflection for the 14th Sunday in Ordinary Time 2015

walking-the-walk

And You are
Who?

When the Sabbath came he began to teach in the synagogue, and many who heard him were astonished. They said, “Where did this man get all this? What kind of wisdom has been given him? What mighty deeds are wrought by his hands! Is he not the carpenter, the son of Mary, and the brother of James and Joses and Judas and Simon? And are not his sisters here with us?” And they took offense at him.

Do we mimic Jesus’ encounter with the people from His native region by failing to recollect His reality and how very important and essential He is to us?

Of course, very few people would say they hate Jesus. Where they fail is in seeing the reality of Jesus. Like the people of His native village, the world wants Jesus to be who they want Him to be. They neither expect nor want God to walk among them, to enter into their lives, or to challenge them to go His way.

The gospel shows us that the people of Jesus’ native place expected a carpenter. They pigeonholed Jesus. When He upset their apple cart and challenged them to see differently, they were offended rather than changed.

What do we expect to find when we meet Jesus? Was He only a man, a philosopher who said nice and helpful things that we can choose to accept or ignore? Is He the god of our own making who exists merely to confirm and accept whatever we wish confirmed and accepted? Is He the god of magic blessings and cures? Is He a ‘plumber,’ on call in case of emergency? Do we keep Him safely on a refrigerator magnet, the bookshelf, or the Rolodex just in case? Is He the god of unchallenging love?

Jesus upset the expectations of those in His native place and He should upset our expectations.

The most challenging aspect of being a Christian is whether we will pigeonhole Jesus or if we will accept Him in the fullness of His godhead. If He is a mere shadow of what He truly is then He is not God. He had worked as a carpenter – and that is all His community members saw – that one side. As a result of their expectations they took offense and limited Him.

Jesus proclaimed marvelous words and a life affirming philosophy – but He is not just a philosopher. He healed and is there in a pinch, but He is more than an on-call fixer. He is never a god of our making. His message of love and way of love is always a challenge. It is a challenge to complacency and to our expectations.

Will we limit Him in our lives? Will we fail to recognize Him and how important He is? Will He be more important than anything to us? Will he offend us or will we be set free by His reality? Accepting Him and taking up His challenges sets us free. It makes us amazing in Jesus’ eyes.

Christian Witness, Homilies, , ,

Reflection for the 5th Sunday of Easter 2015

452602891_640

Times of challenge
and peace

The church throughout all Judea, Galilee, and Samaria was at peace. It was being built up and walked in the fear of the Lord, and with the consolation of the Holy Spirit it grew in numbers.

Saul has been converted and because of the generosity, friendship, wholeheartedness, and witness of Barnabas is brought into the fold in Jerusalem even though the fellowship still feared him. Saul is welcomed and he sets out with zeal to proclaim the name of Jesus. The Greek Jews, having heard Saul’s witness set out to kill him and the Church spirits him away, back to his hometown of Tarsus.

The first three years since Jesus’ ascension and the coming of the Holy Spirit had been both edifying and trying. Judas was replaced. Many believers were added. The faithful witnessed out-in-the-open. They prayed in the Temple, healed, and talked about Jesus to all who would listen. Many were added, and the Church was of one heart and soul and marked by a consistent spirit of harmony, but a price was being paid. The Apostles were hauled into court and they were whipped. Stephen was martyred.

Certainly Saul’s conversion did not end prosecution. Others likely followed in his footsteps. The Greek speaking Jews plot to kill Saul shows the hatred that existed. Yet suddenly the Church was at peace.

Some scholars point out that the Jewish leadership had to take its eyes off the Christians for a while. They were probably having bigger problems with Rome. The Governor wanted to erect a statue to Caesar in the Temple. There could be a thousand other reasons as well.

As in the early Church our faith is tested at times and at other times we find ourselves at peace. Decades ago a faith commitment was seen as a likely part of most people’s lives. Going to church and following the tenants and aims of the Christian faith were ‘normal.’ In the modern age any true witness to the reality of Jesus and commitment to following His commands would be met with laughter and mockery at a minimum. We might find ourselves thought of as old-fashioned and outdated. At the extreme we may lose friends, face ostracism at work, possible termination from jobs or clubs and organizations, and even a court appearance or two. To us these may be fates worse than death.

The common thread we hear today is that Christians must witness publicly to Jesus – to His way. We must do this whether the Church is filled with joyous zeal, is under persecution, or is living in times of peace. In all times the Church will grow in numbers by the commitment and dedication of His disciples (us) to the One who is the only truth and the true vine.

Christian Witness, Homilies, , ,

Reflection for the 2nd Sunday in Ordinary Time 2015

tunein

Do they hear
His voice?

At that time Samuel was not familiar with the LORD, because the LORD had not revealed anything to him as yet. The LORD called Samuel again, for the third time. Getting up and going to Eli, he said, “Here I am. You called me.” Then Eli understood that the LORD was calling the youth. So he said to Samuel, “Go to sleep, and if you are called, reply, Speak, LORD, for your servant is listening.”

A little background for today’s Old Testament reading: Eli is the high priest of Shiloh, the second-to-last Israelite judge. He held the highest and most responsible position among the people of God.

While high priest and judge, he fails with his children. His sons are abusive and wicked. Eli knows what’s going on, but does not properly correct his sons. He is supposed to be govern over Israel but cannot properly govern his family. As a result God judges Eli and his family. Eli and his family were supposed to be an example to the people of God much in the same way we are called to be examples to the world. It is good to reflect on Eli’s failings and his lack of proper judgment, to measure how well we carry out God’s will and what kind of example we set.

Samuel is the son of Hannah. She prayed that God would give her a child and pledged that she would offer her child back to God. Her prayer was answered. Samuel is brought back and he is dedicated to the Lord and to be trained by Eli.

What’s interesting is that for all the training Eli was to impart to Samuel, at the time of God’s call Samuel was not familiar with the LORD. Did Eli fail to teach Samuel about the Lord, to help him hear the Lord’s voice? Did he fail as an example and witness to God’s presence for Samuel too?

The child Samuel remained true to Heaven and God came that night to call him as His witness. God went right past Eli to charge Samuel as a faith witness to His reality.

We have an important charge and choice. We are charged to witness to the Lord, to follow His word as the truth, and to judge rightly. We are to make the Lord’s truth known through our words and actions, the way we live our lives. Will we choose to witness faithfully to the Lord, will we say with confidence that we have heard the Lord’s voice and take His word seriously? Will we let others know about the Lord so He doesn’t have to pass us by in order to relate to those who do not know Him? In short, will we be an Eli or a John the Baptist. John understood Eli’s failure. John heard God’s voice and pointed Him out to everyone: as he watched Jesus walk by, he said, “Behold, the Lamb of God.” People will not hear or see unless we remain true, witness, and like John and true disciples we make Him known to the world. They must hear from us.

Christian Witness, Homilies, , ,

Reflection for the 31st Sunday in Ordinary Time 2014

Thess_2

Living the model
Church

But we were gentle among you, like a nurse taking care of her children. For you remember our labor and toil, brethren; we worked night and day, that we might not burden any of you, while we preached to you the gospel of God. And we also thank God constantly for this.

What is the model Church? Paul’s letter to the Church at Thessalonica gives us some clues of what it means to live the model Church, to be part of it, to live lives as models of Jesus’ call to discipleship.

This weekend also presents us with a vision of what will happen for those who have modeled discipleship in the model Church – they will become saints.

A model is an ideal. It may be a model practice, a model process – it is the best way of going about something so to reach success. In business we might see model sales practices or model accountability processes.

So what does it mean to be model Christians in the model Church? As mentioned, Paul gave us some clues.

To live model lives of discipleship in the model Church we must allow the Gospel to make an impact on our lives as it did on the Thessalonians. They received and lived the Gospel faithfully and Paul had praised them for it. If we take up their model practices we will live faithfully, labor diligently, and remain steadfast in the love of the Lord. We will be fully convicted of the absolute truth of Jesus’ way of life. We will imitate the lives of the saints. We will receive and proclaim God’s way of life – the Gospel – even in the face of much suffering and opposition because our true joy is in the Holy Spirit and the promise of everlasting life (something we particularly remember all of November). The model Church proclaims and teaches all these things, is godly in its conduct, and has its sole focus on leading people to God’s truth, in no way ‘watering it down.’

Paul himself lived a model life – calling non-believers to the faith, being gentle in teaching those new to the faith, working hard, not making a burden of himself, and boldly proclaiming the Gospel – never being ashamed of it; fully trusting in the Holy Spirit.

God has placed opportunity all around us. We meet people and are called to model Christ to them, to share the true faith, and to welcome them into faith. We are to work hard and even suffer by being counter-cultural – saying no to the sin of ‘everything goes.’ True and eternal freedom comes through Jesus, and faithfulness to Him. Model discipleship in the model Church, sainthood, calls us to live and work in such a way as to advance the cause of the gospel in our lives and the lives of others. We receive the word of God… accept it not as the word of men but as what it really is, the word of God. And, we put it to work.

Christian Witness, Homilies, ,

Reflection for the 6th Sunday of Easter 2014

19769

Let us see who
has given witness

Philip went down to the city of Samaria and proclaimed the Christ to them. With one accord, the crowds paid attention to what was said by Philip when they heard it and saw the signs he was doing.

Philip was one of the first seven deacons of the Church. The proto-martyr Stephen had just been executed by stoning (Acts 7). Saul and his men were going house-to-house, dragging out Christians and bringing them to trial, throwing them in prison, and killing them. By Acts 12 we see James the brother of John killed by Herod. The Church historian Eusebius tells us that James the Just, the Apostle and so-called Brother of the Lord was placed on the pinnacle of the temple, thrown down, then clubbed and stoned – for he would not forsake the Lord.

Leading him into their midst they demanded of him that he should renounce faith in Christ in the presence of all the people. But, contrary to the opinion of all, with a clear voice, and with greater boldness than they had anticipated, he spoke out before the whole multitude and confessed that our Savior and Lord Jesus is the Son of God. But they were unable to bear longer the testimony of the man… they slew him.

Philip was among those scattered in the first major persecution of the Church. Being scattered did not prevent him, or any of these others, from witnessing to the faith. Each of those we read about, and the countless number of Christians whose names we will never know, proclaimed the word and kept the faith in good times and bad.

This proclamation of the word and witness were not an accident. It was prompted by faith in the promises of Jesus. These witnesses lived in the Spirit Who had filled them with His gifts and strengthened them for the task.

Jesus promised those who would be baptized, who would come to Him in faith, would never be left orphans: And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate to be with you always. They would always have what is necessary to witness.

The Spirit has drawn men and women – and us – to give witness. Thus, while the Church may have been scattered in persecution (persecution that still exists in many places to this day) witness has never ceased.

As we reflect this weekend on those who have given their lives in witness to national freedom, let us also reflect on those who are giving witness to the truth that surpasses country and nation. Whether we live in relative safety or are among the persecuted – are we giving witness to the truth? Let us abide in the Spirit and ask that He give us the courage to give testimony always and everywhere.

Christian Witness, Homilies, ,

Reflection for the Second Sunday of Lent

NewView

What do I look like?
Jesus!

“But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we also await a savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. He will change our lowly body to conform with his glorified body”

Our theme for this year is You + Jesus + Community = Success.

Today we recall Jesus’ transfiguration. In this moment we see the glory of Jesus, which is also the promise of our glory in Him.

When we join ourselves to Jesus in faith and baptism we are made part of all that He is. This includes every aspect of what Jesus is: priest, king, servant, healer, prophet, light, teacher, and so many more things. He is everything good, wonderful, and righteous.

The world looks at us and tries to discern in our words and actions what Jesus might be for the world. As such, they will only know Him, and what they can be, if they see Him in us.

It is said that six out of every ten people do not know Jesus, what He truly represents. Certainly, many might think Jesus was a nice person who gave us wise words. They may look at Him as a teacher on par with their favorite teacher or philosopher. How is He any different from those others?

They will only know His difference and the value of His promises if we proclaim and model what oneness with Him is.

We must take on all that He is and represent that before the world. We are to be Jesus as priest, king, servant, healer, prophet, light, and teacher to everyone we encounter.
In the transfiguration we see Jesus as more than just Moses – who delivered the law to the Jewish people and led them out of captivity. We see He is more than the prophets, represented by Elijah, who offered wise teachings and guidance to the Jewish people when they were going astray. He is what Moses and Elijah represent, but so much more too. He is God. We hear the Father acknowledge and state that from the cloud, “This is my Son, my Chosen; listen to him!”

When we join ourselves to Jesus we obtain the fullness of His promises, including the fact that we will share in His glory as citizens of heaven – the glory we observe today. As St. Paul tells the Philippians: He will change our lowly body to conform with his glorified body.

By joining ourselves to Jesus, by being Him before the world, we proclaim His truth. He is God who has joined Himself to us, and asks us to join ourselves to Him. In union with Him we offer the truth of His promises – that by joining with Him we will achieve eternal glory and true success.

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