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Month: December 2006

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Everything Else

Come to save us, Lord our God

O Emmanuel,
Rex et legifer noster,
expectatio gentium,
et Salvator earum:
veni ad salvandum nos,
Domine, Deus noster.

O Emmanuel,
our King and Lawgiver,
the one awaited by the gentiles,
and their Savior:
come to save us,
Lord our God.

O Emmanuelu,
nasz Królu i Prawodawco,
oczekiwany zbawicielu narodów,
przyjdź, aby nas wybawić
nasz Panie i Boże

Come thou long expected Jesus! Come, O come, Emmanuel —“ God with us.

You are with us indeed, ever present on the altar and in the tabernacle. You are present in our coming together and in our work. You are present in our solitude and in our pain.

Lord, you are with us. Not just as a man, or as a spirit, but as the God-man. You are the perfection to which we are drawn. Yours is the kingdom which is now, but not yet. We are part of it, still striving toward it, and fully acknowledging that which is unfulfilled. Our thirst remains.

The vision of You is what we long for, not in the accidents of bread, but You in all Your reality and power, face to face. You, as Moses saw You. You, who swept across the waters and breathed life into the nostrils of the first man. You, for Whom we are sorely unprepared.

Lord, our God, Emmanuel, we cannot quench our thirst. We know we can only be complete in You, in Your totality and your reality.

Come to save us. Come Lord Jesus come!

Saints and Martyrs

December 15 – St. Nino (Św. Krystyna)

Św. Krystyno, jaśniejąca anielską czystością, a wśród ucisków wierna Chrystusowi! Wyproś nam u Boga tę łaskę, abyśmy zwyciężali wszelakie pokusy do grzechu, a w miłości Bożej wzrastając, wysłużyli sobie oglądanie Boga w niebiosach. Przez Chrystusa Pana naszego. Amen.

St. Nino, wmida nino

O all-praised and wonderful equal of the Apostles Nina. truly great adornment of the Orthodox Church and great boast of the people of Iberia, thou who didst enlighten the whole land of Georgia with the divine teachings, and with apostolic deeds didst defeat the enemy of our salvation, by labour and prayer thou didst plant there a vineyard of Christ and increase its fruit many-fold Celebrating thy holy memory, we approach thy holy image and with reverence kiss the miracle-working cross, the highly praised gift to thee from the Mother of God, which thou hast encircled with thy clear hair, and tenderly ask thee, as our constant intercessor: protect us from all evil and sorrows, and from the opponent of piety guard thy flock which hath been saved by thee, and beseech our all-good God and Saviour, before Whom thou art now standing, that He may grant us peace and many years, and that the Lord may bring us into His kingdom, where all the saints praise His holy name, both now and ever and unto the ages of ages. Amen.

Christian Witness, Perspective

Be all that you want to be – and be comfortable

It appears that the Episcopal Church in New Jersey is reaching out to and proselytizing Roman Catholics (and other Catholics). The simple message: Be and believe whatever you judge to be right. You decide what is best for you.

Of course if you are looking for a church that lets you do your thing I would agree, TEC is the way to go. You don’t believe the whole creed but do like saying it —“ no problem, just cross your fingers during the parts you don’t believe. Believe in the Eucharist – kind of (or not at all) – no problem. No such thing as sin, but the U.N. has identified all of the world’s problems – you’ll fit right in.

The message from Grace Church in Newark (Episcopal) states in part:

A Message to Disaffected Roman Catholics From the Clergy and People of Grace Church in Newark (Episcopal)

Some Roman Catholics whose spiritual lives are grounded in the Mass and in the sacraments are, nevertheless, unable to concur with the Vatican’s position on issues such as the role of women in the church, contraception, remarriage of divorced person, homosexual relationships, or abortion. They have become increasingly disaffected as the hierarchy’s response to dissent has grown more strident and authoritarian.

If you are among them, you may find a comfortable spiritual home at Grace Church in Newark…

They then blather on about how they are really Catholic not Protestant and how their Church rests on the shoulders of St. Augustine of Canterbury.

Uh, yeah.

It looks like the Episcopalians of Newark are so desperate (because the entire Church’s membership has dropped precipitously) that they’ve turned into vagantes, going on and on about how they are really Catholic with valid orders and bishops and all. But we are Catholic, we are, see… we have bishops and music and mass.

In addition, I knew that as Catholics we all missed the point about Jesus’ message to the rich, to the Pharisees, and to all of us sinful folk. I knew that He was wrong when he talked about repentance, conversion, the narrow path, the tough choices, denying oneself, and the cross.

Thankfully Grace Episcopal has straightened it all out. It is really about being comfortable. Jesus’ real message was I’m ok, you’re ok (or was that Eric Berne?)

I also didn’t know that when St. Augustine went to England he was really there to tell the pagans that whatever they believed was ok. It was all a vacation for him and a chance to enjoy the comforts offered by King AEthelberht…

No, being a follower of Christ is demanding, painful, and not at all easy. It requires a complete conversion of heart —“ something we are outfitted to accomplish, but something that will not be easy nor ‘comfortable’.

You can take the wide and easy road. I, and no clergy, bishop, or pope can stop you, but before you do consider what the blogger over at Impassioned Imperfections asks in The Normal Christian Life:

Is It Possible?

It is easy to look at the book of Acts and remain in wonder at what the believers accomplished. It is another thing to truly ask oneself if such a life is possible, and something even deeper to ask if such a life is normal to the Christian. The book of Acts makes it apparent that there was no secret to such a life other than a genuine submission to the plan and purpose of God. The Holy Spirit was the driving force of the believers as recorded in the book of Acts. The Bible does not seem to imply that the experiences of the Early Church were just exclusively for them. Therefore we can conclude that such a life is allowed, possible, and even normal for the Christ-follower. The normal Christian life is an all-encompassing love relationship with the Master, and a principle-driven love relationship with the Church. The Christian life is all about dying to self and living for God, and learning to reach to others as we grow together in community.

Dead In Christ —“ A Revolutionary Approach To Living

—…We died to sin; how can we live in it any longer? Or don’t you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life. — Romans 6:2-4 (NIV)

Living for Christ is one thing, but dying to ourselves something that many of us would rather not do. For us to live the Christian life, and I mean truly live, we must learn the art of dying to ourselves. We need not look further than Christ Jesus Himself, who died willingly upon a cross that deserved Him not. Dying to yourself is a God thing…

If you need more check out Huw Raphael’s Viva La Difference! which begins:

A DEACON Once asked me if I thought I was “different” from him because of my self-identified gayness. I promptly and without hesitation replied “I don’t know.”

All of us struggle with issues – and all are called to conversion.

Fr. Martin Fox also makes a great and very ecumenical proposal in A Message to Episcopalians in Newark:

If you want to be part of the Church Jesus Christ founded, feel free to check out either the Catholic Church, in her various rites, or the Orthodox Church, in her various rites, or one of the Ancient Churches of the East [or the Polish National Catholic Church].

Come as you are, but don’t expect to stay that way…

Perspective, Poland - Polish - Polonia, Political,

25th Anniversary – Martial Law

State of War - stan wojenny

On a cold and snowy Sunday morning on December 13, 1981 the Poles woke up to find their country under Martial Law (literally – The State of War or “stan wojenny”). The Martial Law was imposed by the Military Council for National Salvation lead by, then, prime minister Gen. Wojciech Jaruzelski and consisting of 20 other high ranking military officers.

The WRON declared Martial Law to “defend socialism”. They felt threatened by the members of the first independent trade union behind the Iron Curtin – the Solidarity (Solidarnosc). The Solidarity had been founded only 18 months earlier, in August of 1980 after several weeks of strikes. The workers had gone on strike to protest poor living conditions and lack of independent representation. With the birth of the Solidarity hopes were high that the new trade union would help to pressure the government to introduce economical reforms and ease restrictions. The government quickly realized that the Solidarity was a threat to the system. Several road blocks were created to derail the Solidarity but the union seemed to grow stronger. The situation made the Soviets very worried and they, on he several occasions, pressured the Polish government and the Polish Communist Party (PZPR) to de-legalized the Solidarity. For the Polish government it soon became apparent that the union was too strong and far too popular to simply de-legalize it. A drastic action was need to oust the Solidarity, so martial law was imposed.

The Constitution stated that martial law could be imposed for defense or national security reasons. The Constitution allowed the State Council (Rada Panstwa) to impose a martial law while the parliament (Sejm) was not in session. Although the parliament was in session, the State Council headed by Henryk Jablonski unconstitutionally passed the law under pressure from the military. Only one member of the Council, Ryszard Reiff, voted against the resolution. The vote took place in the early morning hours of December 13 while Martial Law was under way: people arrested, restriction imposed. The State Council merely rubber stamped the decision of the military that took over the control in the country.

Thousands of Solidarity leadership and activists were arrested and imprisoned without court sentence. Among those arrested was Lech Walesa, the legendary Solidarity leader. The WRON, in an obvious public relations stunt, also arrested some prominent figures from the previous government.

The borders were sealed, airports were closed and road access to main cities was restricted. Travel between cities required permission. Curfew was imposed between 10 pm and 6 am. Telephone lines were disconnected. Mail was subject to censorship. All trade union and other independent organizations were de-legalized. All TV and radio transmissions were suspended (except one government TV channel and one government radio station). Public administration, health services, power generation stations, coal mines, sea ports, train stations, and most of the key factories were placed under military management. The employees had to follow military orders or face a court martial. Classes in schools and at universities were suspended.

From the early morning hours the only TV channel and the only radio station transmitted Gen. Jaruzelski’s address . The anchors wore military uniforms. Only newspapers controlled by the Communist Party or the military were published.

The Poles actively resisted the Martial Law by organizing strikes and street marches, but any resistance to the Martial Law was brutally crushed. On December 16, 1981 the police killed 9 striking coal miners at the Wujek Coal Mine in Katowice. The Poles continued to oppose the WRON – many Solidarity members worked underground. They established, the so called, Revolutionary Solidarity and were involved in publishing independent newspapers, organization of street protests, broadcasting radio programs usually cut off by the government jammers). Thousands were arrested and prosecuted.

Martial Law was suspended on December 31, 1982 and terminated on July 22, 1983. Some of the restrictive legislation introduced during the martial law remained in force through the end of the eighties. The failure of the WRON and the ruling Communist Party became clear in 1989 when the Solidarity won by a land-slide in the first free election after World War II.

The story above from Martial Law in Poland, Videofact

My friends in Poland, young, newly married lived in the bloky (concrete apartment blocks built by the communists). The husbands were still conscripts and they didn’t come home that night. They weren’t on the street, they were locked in at their base. The government didn’t want the soldiers armed or out there. The Milicja (police actually) and the dreaded Zomo (convicts let loose) were on the street.

My friends recounted their stories to me, but it wasn’t until we knew each other quite well. The Poles are very open about their private lives. Nothing seems private in a friendly discussion, even among acquaintances. But this issue, this pain, required a different level of closeness. The fear and the pain is very real and lasting.

I pray for them today, for those injured, killed, or imprisoned then and now – including those jailed and tortured by our own government. Were our ideals fashioned solely for the fight against communism, or are they deeper than that? I don’t really know.

All I can say is that it is very important that we do not forget, that we do not loose sense of what we stood for and what we stand for. It can happen here, martial law, shortages, an inability to speak openly. It is happening subtly right now. God have mercy on us.

Other Resources:

A personal reflection on living these events in Remembering the martial law from Arthur Chrenkoff

A Brief History of Polish Underground Publishing During Solidarity by Wanda Wawro, Cornell University Library Slavic & East European Studies

Solidarity and Martial Law in Poland: 25 Years Later, The National Security Archive

Martial law in Poland, from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Saints and Martyrs

December 13 – St. Lucy of Syracuse (Św. Łucja)

Francesco del Cossa, St. Lucy, c. 1470

Wysłuchaj nas Boże Zbawicielu nasz, abyśmy ciesząc się z uroczystości błogosławionej Łucji, panny i męczenniczki Twojej, uczuć gorliwej pobożności nabywali. Przez Chrystusa Pana naszego. Amen.

Saint Lucy, your beautiful name signifies light. By the light of faith which God bestowed upon you, increase and preserve this light in my soul so that I may avoid evil, be zealous in the performance of good works, and abhor nothing so much as the blindness and the darkness of evil and of sin.

By your intercession with God, obtain for me perfect vision for my bodily eyes and the grace to use them for God’s greater honor and glory and the salvation of all men.

Saint Lucy, virgin and martyr, hear my prayers and obtain my petitions. Amen.

Perspective

A job?

Found this in my RSS search results from CatholicJobs.com:

Diocese of Fairbanks, Fairbanks, AK
Rural Deacon Director and Trainer
OTHER
FT Employee

0-2 years
Graduate Degree

JOB DETAILS

Rural Deacon Director and Trainer

The Diocese of Fairbanks has an opening for a director/trainer for the Rural Deacons in the Yukon-Kuskokwim Region of the diocese. Responsibilities include recruiting, training, and supporting local deacons for the 24 primarily Yup’ik Eskimo parishes in the region.

Needed Qualities: Catholic in good standing, background in theology, experience in teaching, coordinating, and supporting ministers, self-starter, flexible, able to work with a team, able to travel extensively, sometimes do without conveniences, live in small villages (500 – 1000) and travel by small plane (5 seater).

The Diocese of Fairbanks is an equal opportunity employer. Salary and benefits information available on request. Start date: August, 2007

Send inquiries to: kradich@juno.com, or call 907-438-2597 by March 1, 2007.

OK, I understand the idea of remoteness in Alaska and the need to keep deacons in the far flung reaches of the Fairbanks Diocese connected with the See, but this just strikes me as inappropriate.

The deacon is the eyes, ears, and hands of the bishop. He is connected in his ministry to the bishop both in reality and mystically. The deacon’s ministry flows from the bishop and is under the bishop’s direction. Here you have the very real possibility of having a lay director over the clergy. This is wrong.

I won’t even go into the whole subject of minimal qualification for the job: “0-2 years” experience? a “background” in theology? Anyone with a modest background in Catholic theology would realize that the deacons should be managed and directed by their bishop. Oh, and as an equal opportunity employer, whatever that is supposed to mean, it may very well be that the bishop’s charism will flow through a woman as director.

The whole idea of this being a job is silly. The R.C. Church in the United States, cutting corners and bending rules – do whatever it takes. To what end, who knows?

Saints and Martyrs

December 12 – St. Odilia (Św. Otylja)

Św. Otyljo, jaśniejąca anielską czystością i cierpliwością, uproś mi u Boga, aby za przykładem twoim wszelkie nasze czynności były skierowane na większą chwałę Boga i pożytek ludzi, i abyśmy wysłużyli po śmierci uczestnictwo wiecznego z tobą pokoju w niebie. Przez Chrystusa Pana naszego. Amen.

Everything Else,

The lucky survivors

I received the following in the E-mail a few days ago. It speaks, in a humorous way, to the issues raised in my previous post.

Dedicated to those born between 1930 and 1979!

To the survivors:

First, we survived being born to mothers who smoked and/or drank while they were pregnant. They took aspirin, ate blue cheese dressing, tuna from a can, and didn’t get tested for diabetes.

Then after that trauma, we were put to sleep on our tummies in baby cribs covered with bright colored lead-based paints.

We had no childproof lids on medicine bottles, doors, or cabinets and when we rode our bikes, we had no helmets, not to mention the risks we took hitchhiking.

As infants and children, we would ride in cars with no car seats, booster seats, seat belts, or air bags. Riding in the back of a pick up on a warm day was always a special treat.

We drank water from the garden hose and NOT from a bottle. We shared one soft drink with four friends, from one bottle, and NO ONE actually died from this.

We ate cupcakes, white bread, and real butter and we drank Kool-Aid made with sugar, but we weren’t overweight because

WE WERE ALWAYS OUTSIDE PLAYING!

We would leave home in the morning and play all day, as long as we were back when the streetlights came on.

No one was able to reach us all day.

And we were O.K.

We would spend hours building our go-carts out of scraps and then ride down the hill, only to find out we forgot the brakes. After running into the bushes a few times, we learned to solve the problem.

We did not have a Sony Playstation, Nintendo, X-box, no video games at all, no 150 channels on cable, no video movies or DVD’s, no surround-sound , CD’s or iPods, no cell phones!, no personal computers , no Internet or chat rooms…….

WE HAD FRIENDS and we went outside and found them!

We fell out of trees, got cut, broke bones and teeth and there were no lawsuits from these accidents.

We ate worms and mud pies made from dirt, and the worms did not live in us forever.

We were given BB guns for our 10th birthdays, made up games with sticks and tennis balls and, although we were told it would happen, we did not put out very many eyes.

We rode bikes or walked to a friend’s house and knocked on the door or rang the bell, or just walked in and talked to them!

Little League had tryouts and not everyone made the team. Those who didn’t had to learn to deal with disappointment. Imagine that!!

The idea of a parent bailing us out if we broke the law was unheard of.

They actually sided with the law!

These generations have produced some of the best risk-takers, problem solvers and inventors ever!

The past 50 years have been an explosion of innovation and new ideas.

We had freedom, failure, success and responsibility, and we learned HOW TO DEAL WITH IT ALL!

If YOU are one of them CONGRATULATIONS!

You might want to share this with others who have had the luck to grow up as kids, before the lawyers and the government regulated so much of our lives for our own good

And while you are at it, share this with your kids so they will know how brave (and lucky) their parents were.

Kind of makes you want to run through the house with scissors, doesn’t it?!

Current Events, Perspective

Ban this

Jimmy Blue posts a commentary at The Daily Evergreen regarding the recent decision by the NY City Board of Health that bans tans-fat from restaurants.

In my opinion his post nails the issue straight-on. Here’s an excerpt from Trans-fat ban neglects responsibility

More than a year ago, when the smoking ban was passed in Washington, I had mixed feelings. As a nonsmoker, I was first a proponent of the ban, I was tired of sitting in restaurants inhaling second-hand, cancer-causing, smoke. But I also realized the ban made things much more difficult for smokers and pushed smoking onto the streets and sidewalks where it still affected nonsmokers.

Today, I am unsure passing the smoking ban in Washington was the right choice. I would not be so unsure if Washington took the steps New York City has recently taken in banning the use of trans fats in all restaurants.

The New York City Board of Health voted last week to ban the use of artificial trans fats by restaurateurs in the hopes of promoting healthier eating. This is a problem for restaurants as well as people who oppose restrictions on their rights. I am in favor of helping those in need, but a ban on certain foods seems ridiculous.

There is a fine line to government intervention in the marketplace.

For instance, your ‘right’ to drive is not a right at all, but a government privilege. Government can and does restrict what you are able to do with and in a car. For example, you cannot use a cell phone while driving, you must wear a seatbelt, you must drive the posted speed, you must be licensed, you cannot use your car as a hammock when you’re out getting drunk. These are all well and good and provide for the safety of everyone.

As to smoking, well I’m happy because I don’t have to sit in a cloud in a restaurant, bar, or at work. Other people’s enjoyment ruins my enjoyment, my clothes, and my health. I shouldn’t be forced to smoke if I do not wish to smoke, and no, you cannot create an effective, efficient, or perfect smoking/non-smoking divide in any building.

Never-the-less, there must be limits to the government’s regulation of our lives. I would also agree that government is wont to go too far. Government bans related to food products (no we’re not baking pot brownies – but why should that be a problem either) are repugnant to responsible freedom.

Banning trans-fat, pate, foie gras, szmalec* or any other item from a menu is utterly invasive. It passes into the realm of government meddling and control in areas where government has no business. Can these things be bad for you – sure, as can beer, wine, eggs, red meat, fish, pie with a crust made from lard, or escargot if you eat them every day non-stop. If you’re shoving down 50 Twinkies a day there’s nothing government can do to help you.

Where government can be effective in in the area of education. With knowledge and appropriate consumer awareness (look at the massive decrease in the number of smokers – and it’s not because you can’t smoke at the local bowing alley) the market will regulate itself. Unfortunately, we as Americans want the quick fix and the short-cut. Pass a law and we think the problem will miraculously disappear (like we’re all so law abiding). Rather, invasive and nonsensical laws will end like prohibition, with the majority ignoring such laws.

As Christians we are taught (or should have been taught) to be stewards of the earth. We are given the earth’s gifts for our benefit and enjoyment. We are also commanded not to kill (that includes killing yourself). With Christian awareness and an appropriate education we can indulge once-and-a-while without tending to an unhealthy lifestyle.

I’ll enjoy a cigar once in a blue-clouded moon, drink a few too make vodka shots, eat the charred fat off my steak, and slather my Polish rye with szmalec. For dessert I’ll down a Dunkin’ Donut saturated with trans-fat plastics. In the end I’ll enjoy them and I’ll enjoy them responsibly. That’s part of the richness of God’s gifts, and God’s requirement that we be responsible, i.e., stewards, of what we have been given – and that is an area that government has no business regulating.

Szmalec is a type of Polish lard created from rendered pork fat. Homemade szmalec is typically imbued with pork cracklings, chopped and fried onion, marjoram, salt, pepper, and other seasonings. It is a classic peasant dish typically used as a substitute for the ‘rich man’s butter’ and is spread on bread. Approx. equal to one month’s supply of cholesterol on a single slice of bread. My pastor notes that szmalec and bread were the daily ration for seminarians in Poland during the dark days of communist oppression.

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