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Year: 2007

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Innovative spam

I received a spam E-mail from the United Nations… well not exactly.

The give away was that the E-mail from the U.S. Committee for UN (which isn’t a real organization) came from Dr. Adams Collins who directs me to send my resume/CV to: adamscollins2004@yahoo.com. Once you apply it looks like they hit you up for application and training fees.

You could also write to:

Dr.Adams Collins
Recruitment Officer
U.S. Committee for UN
Two UN Plaza, 24th Floor
New York, NY 10017

For a full exposition on this see Spam of the Week: Fake UN Agency Job Advertisement from Rik Panganiban at The Click Heard Round the World.

Lots of other interesting stuff at his blog a well.

Homilies,

The Thirtieth Sunday in Ordinary Time

The prayer of the lowly pierces the clouds;
it does not rest till it reaches its goal,
nor will it withdraw till the Most High responds,
judges justly and affirms the right,
and the Lord will not delay.

As we glance over the word of today’s readings and Gospel, we would be quick to think that God steps right up to help the poor, the widow, orphans, outcasts, the downtrodden, those in need.

We like to think of God as the loving Father, Who, as in the story of the Prodigal Son, pours out every mercy to those in need.

We even get a little upset, sometimes perturbed, sometimes downright angry with God, especially when those cries go unanswered.

We ask: How could a just and loving God, who promised to hear our prayers, be so downright cold?

Brothers and sisters,

We fail see our expectations in light of the fact that God requires something of us. His mercy is boundless, His generosity unfailing. Still, that generosity, that mercy, requires a response from us.

Listen carefully:

From Sirach:

The one who serves God willingly is heard;
his petition reaches the heavens.

From Psalm 34:

When the just cry out, the Lord hears them,
and from all their distress he rescues them.

…and:

The LORD redeems the lives of his servants;
no one incurs guilt who takes refuge in him.

The one who serves God willingly is heard, the Lord hears the cries of the just, and He redeems the lives of His servants.

The Father sent His only begotten Son to us to teach us.

He never taught: Do nothing and you shall inherit the earth. Rather He taught that those who live in accord with His teachings —“ which are from the Father, will be saved. He taught that those who pray and command in faith will have their prayers answered and their commands fulfilled.

Our expectation must be this: That God will hear and answer those who live by His teachings. He will answer us in accord with our faith.

Certainly, His arms are wide open, as with the Prodigal Son. But there is always the expectation, God’s expectation. What will your response be my child?

The Prodigal Son and the tax collector from today’s Gospel got it right.

[He] stood off at a distance
and would not even raise his eyes to heaven
but beat his breast and prayed,
‘O God, be merciful to me a sinner.’

Both the Prodigal Son and the tax collector were in need. As you might recall, the Prodigal Son looked at his situation, hungry, homeless, feeding the pigs, and said:

—I will arise and go to my father, and I will say to him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you;
I am no longer worthy to be called your son; treat me as one of your hired servants.”

Both stood off at a distance, certainly with expectation, but with something much greater than expectation, with faith.

My friends,

St. Paul, writing from prison after his trial said:

I have competed well; I have finished the race;
I have kept the faith.
From now on the crown of righteousness awaits me,
which the Lord, the just judge,
will award to me on that day, and not only to me,
but to all who have longed for his appearance.

The crown of righteousness is ours for the asking. The crown of righteousness awaits us. But, we must long for it. We must live up to it. We must seek it with faith, and with a life lived with that crown as our only goal.

All we do, all we ask, and all we seek will be judged in light of our desire to repent and to live rightly, justly, faithfully, as servants, in accord with the teachings of Jesus Christ and His Holy Church.

Seek…

and the Lord will not delay.

Everything Else,

2007 Annual Polish Film Festival – Skalny Center, Rochester, NY

The Skalny Center for Polish and Central European Studies at the University of Rochester is proud to announce the 2007 Annual Polish Film Festival.

The festival is sponsored by a generous grant from the Louis Skalny Foundation.

All films are in Polish with English subtitles.

List of Films & Show Times

SOLIDARITY, SOLIDARITY (Solidarność, Solidarność)
Directed by 13 outstanding Polish directors, 2005
November 10, 3:30 & 7:20pm

This feature, the brainchild of Andrzej Wajda, is a joint venture of 13 great Polish directors to memorialize the events of August 1980, when Polish workers went on strike across the country and began a hard-fought campaign for workers’ rights. Each of directors shot a 10-minute-long film. The plots and their genre were up to the filmmakers. The resulting 2-hour-long film feature a wide variety of forms: from a video-clip through comedy and documentary to a rarefied interview with Lech Wałęsa that echoes the famous films by Andrzej Wajda: Man of Marble and Man of Iron. The result is truly fascinating, irrespective of what you know, or can remember, about Solidarity.

JASMINUM
Dir. Jan Jakub Kolski, 2006
November 11, 3:30 & 7:20pm

Kolski is at his best with this heartwarming, beautifully told bitter-sweet comedy.

A young woman, with a small daughter, arrives at a convent where she is restoring paintings. She works during the day but at night she experiments with alchemy and creates fragrances inspired by the mysterious monks who live at the convent and smell of the most incredible scents… . The inquiring mind of her charming five-year-old daughter wreaks havoc in the ordered life of the monastery, where people, buildings, and smells have their own secrets.

FORECAST FOR TOMORROW (Pogoda na jutro)
Dir. Jerzy Stuhr, 2003
November 12, 7:20pm

Poland’s most beloved actor, Jerzy Stuhr, directs and stars in this serious-minded comedy satire about a member of Solidarity who disappears to live as a monk in order to hide from repressions by the communist authorities.

Seventeen years later, accidentally found by his family and thrown out of the monastery, he does not like the new world he has to live in. During his long absence, his wife has settled down with a businessman, his son is developing a political career, his older daughter strips at a TV reality show, and his youngest daughter’s attention is focused exclusively on the internet.

Nevertheless, he tries very hard to adjust to the rapidly changing reality and to put his relations with his family on healthier basis.

COLONEL KWIATKOWSKI (Pułkownik Kwiatkowski)
Dir. Kazimierz Kutz, 1995
November 13, 7:20pm

This hilarious comedy depicts Poland during the Stalinist era and tells the adventuresome story of the title character, who travels around the country masquerading as an officer of the Polish Secret Police.

Kutz produced wonderful human portraits, including grotesque portrayals of Communist Party apparatchiks and functionaries of the State Security Bureau. The main character’s satiric use of the Communist Party lingo, as he turns its intended meanings inside out to manipulate the unwitting Party faithful, is another highlight of this film.

I AM LOOKING AT YOU, MARY (Patrzę na ciebie, Marysiu)
Dir. Łukasz Barczyk, 1999
November 14, 7:20pm

This film draws attention to important factors shaping the lives of young people after the collapse of communism in Poland: their dependence on parents and fear of the future.

Marysia is a Geology student; her boyfriend Michał works as a junior psychiatrist in a hospital. They are living together in rented accommodations and are supported by their parents. This dependency affects Michał’s self-confidence and perception of the future. He avoids making commitments, especially in terms of a family. He becomes unhappy when he learns that Marysia is pregnant. He tries to convince her to arrange an abortion, but she refuses. This is followed by Michał’s increased difficulties at work. During a speedily arranged wedding he has a mental breakdown and decides to quit his job as a psychiatrist.

All films were provided by Telewizja Polska SA

Ticket Information:

Tickets for the Little Theatre screenings can be purchased at the Little Theatre box office before each show (Little Theatre, 240 East Avenue, Rochester, NY, Telephone 585-258-0444.)

The ticket price is $8.00 for the evening shows and $6.00 for the matinée, students and seniors pay $5.00. Little Theatre Film Society members receive their membership discount.

For more information, please call the Skalny Center at 585-275-9898.

Christian Witness, PNCC,

PNCC – Roman Catholic Dialog

From the USCCB website: Vatican Documents Focus Of Recent Roman Catholic, Polish National Church Dialogue

The fall Roman Catholic —“ Polish National Catholic Dialogue in Buffalo, September 25-26, focused on recent Vatican documents on the Mass in Latin and the way the Catholic Church views other church groups.

The Roman Catholic Diocese of Buffalo hosted the meeting, which was presided over by Bishop Edward U. Kmiec of Buffalo and Bishop Anthony Mikovsky of the Polish National Catholic Church (PNCC) Central Diocese.

Part of the session centered on old business, including a discussion of the relations between Catholic and PNCC military chaplains, the possibility of further incremental steps towards unity, and a proposal regarding Canadian participation in the dialogue. The bulk of the meeting was devoted to two recent Vatican documents.

Bishop Kmiec offered a summary of Summorum Pontificum, the —motu proprio— Pope Benedict XVI issued in July regarding the use of the Roman liturgy prior to the 1970 reform, and reflected on its implications for the life of the Church.

Msgr. John Strynkowski presented —Responses to Some Questions Regarding Certain Aspects of the Doctrine of the Church,— the document of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith that was released in August. The second document in particular provided an occasion for an in-depth discussion of the way our churches view one another.

The meeting concluded with a presentation by Father Robert Nemkovich Jr. on the new PNCC Missal. There was also a discussion of the status of former Roman Catholic laity and clergy who belong to the PNCC, a question to be revisited at the next meeting. Sessions of the dialogue in 2008 are slated for May 19-20 in Scranton, Pennsylvania, and November 6-7 in Baltimore…

The USCCB now features a webpage with links to PNCC-RC dialog documents as well as citations.

One little mistake, Bishop Mikovsky is the Rt. Rev. Dr. Anthony Mikovsky not the Most Rev. Anthony Mikovsky. Most Reverend is the title proper to the Prime Bishop of the Polish National Catholic Church.

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