As we reflect on this 109th anniversary of the institution of the Polish National Catholic Church let us reflect on the meaning of Church, and let our reflection begin in scripture. The words from 1st Timothy ring true, do they not?

Now the Spirit explicitly says that in the last times some will turn away from the faith by paying attention to deceitful spirits and demonic instructions

So what is the Church? Is our Church solely defined by the man and bishop, Francis Hodur? Is it defined by any one person?

To this we must say no. We must be careful not to turn from faith in Christ to the glorification of any one man. Instead, we are defined by God and His incarnate revelation to all mankind, His Son Jesus Christ.

No, it is not man who defines us. We must be careful lest we slip into the errors of some of the catholic faithful who engage in the worship of a man, an idolatry of man over God, man over faith.

Again, what is the Church? Our name, the Polish National Catholic Church would lead you to believe that we worship everything Polish. That culture trumps faith.

To this we must say no. We must be careful lest our faith be overcome by the deceit of popular culture or cultural mores. We are catholic —“ universal, calling all mankind to Christ Jesus who is our salvation. No, it is not Polish culture or being Polish, it is rather being Catholic, being Christian.

This Solemnity is a day of celebration in the midst of Lent. On this day we take a moment to offer up our Lenten penance and our mortification for the increase of the one, holy, Catholic Church. Today we offer our temporal struggles so that none will turn away, so that all will be brought to Christ Jesus.

Wisdom teaches us that evil men will come to realize the error of their ways when the Just One shall confront His oppressors. They will say:

“This is he whom once we held as a laughingstock and as a type for mockery, fools that we were! His life we accounted madness, and his death dishonored. See how he is accounted among the sons of God; how his lot is with the saints!

Remember that it is He Himself that the world laughs at, now more than ever. And we, joined to Him, in this Holy Catholic Church, some since their baptism as children, others who have come here as adults to be renewed in the Catholic faith, are mocked as well.

We are one with Him, mocked and scorned with Him. As members of His Body then we are called to confront His oppressors.

You are the branches of the one true vine. Bear your fruit for the increase of the faith in the world. Stand up for the Christ even in the face of derision.

The world has it wrong. To the world Christ is either just another nice guy or as Wisdom explains, one seen as a madman who died a death of dishonor.

But Jesus tells us the truth:

Whoever remains in me and I in him will bear much fruit, because without me you can do nothing. Anyone who does not remain in me will be thrown out like a branch and wither; people will gather them and throw them into a fire and they will be burned.

Apart from Him we can do nothing.

Therefore we must, as members of His Body, and as branches pruned to bear much fruit, proclaim the truth. And the truth is this: Jesus Christ is the Son of God. Jesus Christ is the way, the truth, and the life. There is no other. Not Mohammed’s way, not Buddha’s way, not Hindu or Shinto, or Tao. Jesus alone is the way, the truth and the life —“ and all must come to Him.

The Church founded by Christ, of which we are its members, is this:

It is us praying to God, through Christ ever present in the Eucharist before us. It is us proclaiming His name above every other name. It is us bowing and kneeling before His majesty and humility. It is us remaining in Him, grafted onto Him at baptism. It is us mocked and scorned for our faith because they mock and scorn Him. It is a faith from which Bishop Hodur and so many others would not run. It is the faith of the saints and martyrs. It is the faith given to us in Christ and kept alive in us by the Holy Spirit.

So today we rejoice. I rejoice. You and I are here. We have come up to the house of the Lord. Not the Jerusalem of stone, but the new and eternal Jerusalem. We have come to the city of light standing on a hill.

Let all the tribes come here, let the world come, for all are welcome in the house of the Lord. Welcome to wash away sinfulness and pride, welcome to repent, welcome to put on clean robes washed in the Blood of the Lamb. Welcome in His Church.