Boże, który dla rozpowszechnienia chwały Imienia Twego, przez błog. Ignacego Twój Kościół wojujący nowym walczącym hufcem wzmocniłeś; dozwól, abyśmy naśladując jego przykłady, i z pomocą modlitw Jego mężnie walcząc na ziemi, zasłużyli być z nim uwieńczonymi w niebie. Amen.
Boże który objawieniami swemi rzeczy skryte św. Brygidzie objawiłeś, i napełniłeś ją słodyczą błogosławieństw Twoich, spraw prosimy Cię, abyśmy za jej przyczyną przez czystość życie wstępując w jej ślady i coraz ściślej z Tobą się zespalając, szczęśliwie do Ciebie dojść zdołali. Przez Chrystusa Pana naszego. Amen.
—Gather the fragments left over,
so that nothing will be wasted.—
Today we gather another of the fragments left over. Today we gather in another member of the Holy Church. Today we sing out with praise, for in this small measure of water a great sacrament begins.
In our gathering up of the fragments of humanity around us we are acting on Jesus command:
Go therefore and baptize all nations in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost.
Jesus asks us to waste nothing, to write-off nothing, to act and to gather, and to take this duty and command seriously.
Indeed, the regeneration that occurs in this child today makes Him a part of Christ. It joins him to the body of the Church. It commits him to achieving the perfection promised to humanity. It is a gift offered to all who desire to be known by the name Christian.
In today’s psalm we hear:
The LORD is just in all his ways
and holy in all his works.
And what exactly are His works?
They are what you see around you. This child is His work, the people in this church are His work, all of humanity, every man, woman, and child, and you yourself are His work. Every person and aspect of creation is holy and pure —“ indeed, it is good.
My brothers and sisters,
Baptism is the doorway to perfection.
Many of us have a very low opinion of ourselves and of our humanity. We forget that the Lord’s works are holy —“ and that our Lord, with the cooperation of our parents, breathed life into us. We are indeed beautifully and wonderfully made.
Listen to the words of Psalm 139:
You formed my inmost being; you knit me in my mother’s womb.
I praise you, so wonderfully you made me; wonderful are your works! My very self you knew;
my bones were not hidden from you, When I was being made in secret, fashioned as in the depths of the earth.
Your eyes foresaw my actions; in your book all are written down; my days were shaped, before one came to be.
How precious to me are your designs, O God; how vast the sum of them!
Can we pause for a moment and look at ourselves? Can we say that we are made in the image and likeness of God? Can we acknowledge that God’s designs, and our part in those designs is wonderful?
God came to earth and took on human flesh. Jesus Christ came as a child and:
The child grew and became strong, filled with wisdom; and the favor of God was upon him.
That was not an act. It was not a show that God put on so that we would like Him more. God’s action is the reality of our salvation, our knowing that the very flesh that covers our bones is worthy of God. The wonder of our faith is the message that God redeemed the world, His creation, because He deems us worthy of salvation.
Today Adam Andrew enters the door of the Church through water and the Holy Spirit. Today we will rejoice with his parents. Today we will pledge to work together, first his parents and godparents, and then all of us as a parish. We will pledge our Christian fealty and love and see to it that Adam lives in a manner worthy of the call he has received.
Today we proclaim together that there is:
one Lord, one faith, one baptism;
one God and Father of all,
who is over all and through all and in all.
Adam’s human potential, all his possibilities are inextricably tied to our common life in Christ Jesus.
Rejoice Adam, and continue on the road to perfection. Rejoice all Christians, and continue on the road to perfection. The road we embarked on at our baptism. The road to which we are all called. The road marked by constant striving for the love, unity, community, and brotherhood we can only know in Jesus Christ.
[dels]homilies, sermons[/dels]
Najłaskawszy Zbawicielu, który dom św. Marty nawiedzać, gościnę i posługi od niej przyjmować raczyłeś, prosimy Cię, abyśmy naśladując jej miłosierdzie, za jej przyczyną do niebieskich przybytków przyjętymi zostali. Przez Chrystusa Pana naszego. Amen.
Boże który dla wsparcia nieudolności naszej na drodze zbawienia dałeś nam przykłady i pomoc świętych, dozwól nam godnie uczcić zasługi św. Wiktora, biskupa i męczennika, abyśmy wspomożeni jego opieką, szli za jego przykładem. Amen.
This week’s issue of the Evangelist (the Albany R.C. Diocese weekly) has a very nice interview with a Polish priest that visits the area every summer. See: Polish priest has adopted Albany Diocese.
Fr. Krzysztof Podstawka is the rector of a parish in the Lublin Archdiocese and is editor of the Archdiocesan weekly newspaper.
My pastor met Fr. Podstawka after the funeral of Albany’s former bishop. Fr. Podstawka remembered giving a retreat in Poland at which my pastor was a participant. I was impressed when I learned of his sharp memory for such details.
The interview, in Q&A format, was put together fairly well. The most interesting sections were on the differences between the ‘American’ Church and the Church in Poland.
Fr. Podstawka spoke of a priest’s normal duties in Poland, daily confessions (at least forty minutes), three wedding per week (more in the spring and summer), teaching religion in the parish, daily mass, devotions, and seven masses every weekend (with a homily for each).
The funniest question was as follows (emphasis mine):
Q. The Albany Diocese has some guidelines for foreign priests who want to become part of the Diocese, such as a minimum three-year stay, the ability to speak English understandably, and the necessity of understanding American culture and ecclesiological differences. What do you think of those guidelines?
A. They are good guidelines. When a priest comes here from another country, there is a lot to learn. The priest must be able to speak the language of the people. Even if he knows the language, it might be difficult for him in the beginning to fluently speak English.
If we speak about ecclesiological differences, we must be careful. We are one Church; our faith is the same everywhere. But small things about the Mass and other celebrations are different from what they are in Poland. [For example,] the power of the laity [here] is much bigger than in Poland.
Fr. Podstawka gets in right, small cultural differences, no ecclesiological differences.
That is a strong statement. Having been in the Albany Diocese over eight summers, and being as sharp as he is, he knows the glaring ecclesiological differences. This was his moment to teach —“ and he didn’t waste it.
Błogosławiony Czesławie naucz nas pogardzać zaszczytami świata, a starać się gorliwie o to, co potrzebne nam do zbawienia duszy. Oby modlitwa Twoja skuteczną była nam obroną przeciw rozmaitym wrogom, którzy wszelkimi sposobami starają się wytępić naród nasz ów naród nauczony przez Ciebie chwalić modlitwą Różańca świętego Królową Nieba Marją. Amen.
Fr. Jim Tucker has an excellent post on CNN’s recent interviews with Evangelical Protestants who are longing for the end of the world. They think they can tell God the time and the place (as opposed to what the Word of God states —“ something they say they believe in). Check out Apocalypse Now.
It appears that these loons actually have access to your government, including Congress, the White House (of course), and the CIA.
Besides the notion of access to our government, which is really scary, what is the media doing even talking to these sky-is-falling folks. They are no different than the world is ending now sign carriers famous from the 1960’s or any other millennialist cult (Jehovah’s Witnesses anyone).
If our government and the media are so interested in discussing theology, get a real theologian —“ you know a Catholic one (R.C., Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, Armenian, PNCC). Better yet, steer clear of theology and stick with taking care of your constituents. And no, that doesn’t mean helping us get to heaven —“ we can make that commitment on our own.
Metropolitan Herman, Primate of The Orthodox Church in America
SYOSSET, NY [OCA Communications] —” As the crisis in the Middle East widens, His Beatitude, Metropolitan Herman, Primate of The Orthodox Church in America, sent letters of support to His Beatitude, Patriarch Ignatius IV of Antioch and All the East, and His Beatitude, Patriarch Theophilus of the Holy City of Jerusalem and All Palestine, in which he shares the concern and prayers of the hierarchs, clergy, and faithful of the Orthodox Church in America.
The text of the letters, dated July 26, 2006, reads as follows.
“It is with deep sadness and profound distress that we watch the conflict in the Middle East escalate to such already devastating proportions. We deplore the continuing bloodshed and violence that afflicts those lands rich in Biblical history and Christian ancestry. And we call upon all persons involved to negotiate an immediate cease-fire and to work together for a just, peaceful, and lasting solution, not only to this present crisis, but also to the many probems that are the source of such conflict.
“We implore all persons of good will to prayerfully reflect upon the evil nature of the violence that continues to plague the Middle East. We urge them to remember that Our Lord, Jesus Christ, never condoned violence or war in any form, but rather calls upon us to ‘love your enemies’ [Matthew 5:44]. And we encourage them to seek an enduring peace, which alone is the final solution to all human strife and discord.
“We join Your Beatitudes and the entire Patriarchates of Antioch and Jerusalem in praying for the innocent people, of all faiths, whose lives are, and will continue to be, torn apart by the untold violence, suffering, and death that are the results of such conflict. And we especially pray for the Lebanese, Syrian, Palestinian, and Greek Orthodox Christians, so often ignored by the world community as an insignificant minority. Knowing that every human life is precious in the sight of God, we are asking our faithful to unite all the more fervently in ‘prayer and fasting’ [Matthew 17:21], that this present crisis will be resolved quickly, ending its toll of suffering and death.
“On behalf of the hierarchs, clergy, and faithful of the Orthodox Church in America, please accept from my unworthiness our expression of solidarity and love during this difficult time.”
Archbishop Christodoulos of the Greek Orthodox Church
Greek Orthodox Church warns Israel: ‘Fear God’s wrath’
The leader of Greece’s Orthodox Church, Archbishop Christodoulos, accused Israel on Sunday of “sacrificing innocent civilians” in its bombardment of Lebanon.
“Israel’s actions within its right to self defense have long exceeded any rational limit,” Christodoulos said on Sunday.
“[They are] sacrificing innocent civilians by the hundreds, and creating refugees by the thousands,” he added, telling the Israeli authorities, “Do not provoke our consciences. Do not feed the world condemnation against you. It is not in your interest…Fear God’s wrath.”
The church has played a lead role in sheltering Greek evacuees from Lebanon who have no home or close relatives in Greece.
Philip, Antiochian Archbishop of New York and Metropolitan of all North America
Brother Hierarchs, Reverend Clergy, Esteemed Members of the Archdiocese Board of Trustees, Parish Councils and God-fearing Faithful of our Archdiocese:
Greetings in the name of our Lord, God and Savior Jesus Christ. It is with great sadness and a heavy heart that I write to you while the bombs are falling on Lebanon. As you have been hearing in the media (i.e. television, newspapers and the internet), Lebanon is being systematically destroyed, both the infrastructure and, more importantly, the people. Everyone agrees that the result is a humanitarian disaster for the people of Lebanon.
As of today, there are close to 400 Lebanese men, women and children who have been killed. The number of displaced Lebanese is approaching one million! We see in the news men, women and children being killed, maimed and burned by phosphate bombs. At the same time, Red Cross ambulances carrying the sick and wounded are being targeted; airports, communications systems, bridges and roads have been destroyed and entire neighborhoods have been leveled. To put things in real and human terms, we were recently informed of one of our faithful from the Archdiocese of Zahle who was driving with his two children. An Israeli bomb hit their car, seriously injuring the father and one child and killing the other, a 15 year old boy. Just yesterday, a family of eight was killed in their home by an Israeli bomb. These are but two stories from among thousands.
My beloved faithful, Lebanon is part of our Patriarchate of Antioch and all the East. So many of the people of our Archdiocese have their spiritual and cultural roots in Lebanon and especially in Beirut and South Lebanon (such as Jdeidet Marj’ayoun) where the majority of the destruction is taking place. Yesterday, I spoke with Metropolitan ELIAS of Beirut and he told me of the deplorable and dire conditions in his archdiocese and the Archdiocese of Tyre and Sidon (South Lebanon). He asked for our fervent prayers and help for Lebanon. I assured him of our unceasing prayers and that we will do our part to help. Therefore, I appeal to you to give generously to help the suffering people of Lebanon.
Finally, as we prepare to begin the Dormition Fast on August 1, let us beseech the most-holy Theotokos to intercede for the suffering people of Lebanon.
Your Father in Christ,
+Metropolitan PHILIP
Archbishop of New York and Metropolitan of all North America
Pope Benedict XVI
Angelus Message of Sunday, 23 July 2006
Dear Brothers and Sisters,
Thanks to you all for such a warm and cordial welcome. Thank you, Your Excellency [Bishop Giuseppe Anfossi of Aosta], for your kind words, in which you mentioned that last Thursday, in the face of the worsening situation in the Middle East, I had convoked for this Sunday a special day of prayer and penance, inviting Pastors, faithful and all believers to implore the gift of peace from God.
I strongly renew my appeal to the Parties in conflict to immediately adopt a ceasefire, to permit the sending of humanitarian aid and to seek new ways with the support of the international community to begin negotiations.
I take this opportunity to reaffirm the right of the Lebanese to the integrity and sovereignty of their Country, the right of the Israelis to live in peace in their State and the right of Palestinians to possess a free and sovereign Homeland.
Furthermore, I am particularly close to the defenceless civilian populations, unjustly stricken in a conflict of which they are no more than victims: both those in Galilee who have been forced to live in shelters and the great multitude of Lebanese who are once again seeing their Country destroyed and have had to leave everything to seek safety elsewhere.
I raise a heartfelt prayer to God so that the aspiration to peace of the vast majority of the population will be realized as soon as possible through the unanimous commitment of those in charge.
I also renew my appeal to all charitable organizations to convey to those peoples the material expression of common solidarity…
Boże, który błogosławioną Annę godną uczyniłeś łaski, że stała się Rodzicielką Matki Jednorodzonego Syna Twego, dozwól, niech obchodząc jej uroczystość tu na ziemi, uczuwamy skutki jej wielowładnej opieki. Przez Chrystusa Pana naszego. Amen.