Recent Posts

Most Used Categories

Year: 2007

You are Here :
Calendar of Saints, PNCC

March 26

The Annunciation

Solemnity of the Annunciation of the B.V.M. (translated)
St. Castulus, Martyr, (286)
St. Felix of Trier, Bishop, (400)
St. Ludger of Munster, Bishop, (809)

The Polish Hymn Archanioł Boży Gabriel (Archangel of the Lord, Gabriel)

Archanioł Boży Gabriel,
Posłan do Panny Maryi,
Z Majestatu Trójcy Świętej,
Tak sprawował poselstwo k’Niej

Zdrowaś, Panno, łaskiś pełna,
Pan jest z Tobą, to rzecz pewna.

Panna się wielce zdumiała
z poselstwa, które słyszała.
Pokorniuchno się skłoniła;
jako Panna wstrzemięźliwa

Zasmuciła się z tej mowy,
nic nie rzekła Aniołowi.

Ale poseł z wysokości,
napełnion Boskiej mądrości,
rzekł Jej: Nie bój się Maryjo,
najszczęśliwsza, Panno miła,

Znalazłaś łaskę u Pana,
oto poczniesz Jego Syna.

Jezus nazwiesz imię Jego,
będzie Synem Najwyższego;
wielki z strony człowieczeństwa,
a niezmierny z strony Bóstwa,

Wieczny Syn Ojca Wiecznego,
Zbawiciel świata całego.

Temu Panna uwierzyła,
przyzwalając tak mówiła:
O, Pośle Boga wiecznego,
gdy to wola Pana mego,

Toć ja służebnica Jego,
stań się według słowa twego.

Homilies,

Passion Sunday

For his sake I have accepted the loss of all things
and I consider them so much rubbish

Taken from the Letter of St. Paul to the Philippians, Chapter 3, Verse 8

I have nothing, yet I have hope.

That is an important message for the days ahead. We enter into the Passiontide today. We plainly see the church outfitted in mournful, sorrowful array. Yet we have hope.

It is not that I have already taken hold of it
or have already attained perfect maturity,
but I continue my pursuit in hope that I may possess it

The thread that runs through today’s reading and gospel is one of hope. Hope that God is acting in our lives. Hope that we may be one in Him, possessing all things in Him.

In our first reading God asks us :

Remember not the events of the past,
the things of long ago consider not;
see, I am doing something new!

If we live in the past we have no hope for God’s continuing action in our life. This reminds us that Jesus is far more than just a moment in time. He is here and now. He is the Alpha and the Omega, the entirely of the past and the fullness of the future.

God is always active and alive, doing something new in our lives. That new thing is the transformation that occurs in us. We are changed by the hope that we have. We are Christians and that makes us people of hope.

If we lived in the past and mourned our present, there would be no reason to go on. But we have Jesus Christ ever with us; God making everything new. Recall these words from the Book of Revelation:

I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, God’s dwelling is with the human race. He will dwell with them and they will be his people and God himself will always be with them (as their God). He will wipe every tear from their eyes, and there shall be no more death or mourning, wailing or pain, (for) the old order has passed away.” The one who sat on the throne said, “Behold, I make all things new.”

God is not distant or far off. He is right here, right here inside each and every one of us.

Have any of you seen the billboards around the area. They picture Jesus and in English and Hebrew say— —If you call Him He will come. — We should remember that when we’re found lacking in hope.

When we miss the fact that God is with us. All we need do is call Him. He is active and engaged, past, present, and future.

Paul reminds us that there is nothing we can offer, nothing we can do by our own merit, to attain Jesus Christ.

It is only by Christ that we have hope. We are, each one of us, helpless children. All we can do is call out, in faith, Jesus come to me.

Brothers and sisters,

Do you think that the woman caught in adultery had any hope?

She caught a break for a few minutes, and I’m sure she was aware of it. They didn’t stone her on the spot, which should have happened. She caught a break so she could be used as bait in the Pharisees trap.

I’m also sure that she was aware of the fact that they weren’t going to let her go once they were done. Having been used, perhaps all her life, she would be used one more time, then be permanently disposed of.

Her hope was running out, the break was almost over, there she was before Jesus and the stones were ready to fly.

Everyone always wonders what Jesus wrote on the ground. Frankly, He may just as well have drawn a picture of a cow. He was ignoring the Pharisees.

Brethren,

We all know how sin is. The longer we get to stew in our sin, the longer that sin gets to eat at us.

Jesus let the Pharisees and the woman stew —“ and in the end He gave them the opportunity to repent. Only the woman stayed and He gave her hope, forgiveness of sin, and new life. She was ready, the Pharisees walked away, aware of their sinfulness. That’s the shocking part of the whole exchange. They were aware of their sin yet held no hope for forgiveness. In sin they walked away from God.

It’s time. It is time to stop stewing in our sin like the Pharisees; time to stand before Jesus, like the woman, like a small child, filled with faith and hope. It is time to stand before the Lord with trust in Him. If we do that He will make us new. He will not condemn us; He will not cast us out.

That is the gospel, the message of hope. I know I have nothing, yet I hope for everything, that is eternal life in Christ Jesus.

Perspective,

Good health, science, dead babies

I received the occasional E-mail newsletter I get from the American Diabetes Association (ADA). As I’ve mentioned here before, I am a diabetic.

Their lead story was: NIH Chief: Stem Cell Ban Hobbles Science

Lifting the ban on taxpayer funding of research on new stem cells from fertilized embryos would better serve both science and the nation, the chief of the National Institutes of Health told lawmakers Monday. Allowing the ban to remain in place, Dr. Elias A. Zerhouni told a Senate panel, leaves his agency fighting “with one hand tied behind our back.”

“It is clear today that American science will be better served – the nation will be better served – if we allow our scientists to have access to more cell lines,” Zerhouni told two members of the Senate health appropriations subcommittee during a hearing on the NIH’s proposed 2008 budget. The NIH, with a nearly $29 billion annual budget, is the main federal agency that conducts and funds medical research…

Stem cells are created in the first days after conception and typically are culled from frozen embryos, destroying them in the process. Because they go on to form the body’s tissues and cells – Zerhouni called them “software of life”…

The ADA has a position paper on stem cells. Because of their position I do not support the ADA, and I strongly encourage people to drop any financial support they offer the ADA.

The testimony of Doctor ‘Mengele‘ Zerhouni is chilling. Human babies as software. Killing babies to “serve both science and the nation“. The man is as murderous as Dr. Mengele. He even uses the same excuses:

The subjects of Mengele’s research were better fed and housed than ordinary prisoners and were for the time being safe from the gas chambers. To Mengele they were nevertheless not fellow human beings, but rather material on which to conduct his experiments. On several occasions he killed subjects simply to be able to dissect them afterwards.A quote from Doctor Miklós Nyiszli’s book Auschwitz: A Doctor’s Eyewitness Account, emphasis mine.

Everything Else, ,

Supporting adoption

From Christian Newswire: Brownback, Kudlow Help CFF Promote Adoption at Lincoln Center

Gala Benefit will help fund Pregnancy Resource Centers and Safe Haven Program in the Tri-State Area

Pro-life U.S. Senator Sam Brownback, and Larry Kudlow, CNBC host, will speak at the Children First Foundation’s “Gala Concert for Adoption” at Lincoln Center on Wednesday evening, April 11, 2007, at 6:30pm.

CFF’s “Gala Concert for Adoption” is part of a national effort to raise greater awareness about the important “Safe Haven Laws” that have been enacted in 47 states during the month of April so that, as stated by Tim Jaccard, “not one single baby is ever thrown in the garbage pail again.”

Senator Brownback, the Gala’s keynote speaker, is an adoptive parent and a congressional leader who understands the importance of promoting adoption, family values and a Culture of Life in our nation and the world. Larry Kudlow, the benefit’s emcee, is a renowned economist, host of CNBC’s “Kudlow & Company” and a strong advocate of conservative values in the media.

The Children First Foundation’s “Gala Concert for Adoption” will begin at 6:30 pm with a New York Philharmonic performance of the Shostakovitch Violin Concerto No. 1 followed by a Post-Concert Reception on the Grand Promenade at 8:00 p.m. CFF will honor Tim and Aedan Jaccard of the AMT Children of Hope “Safe Haven” Program and six Pregnancy Centers located in New York, New Jersey and Connecticut.

“The Gala’s important goal,” says Dr. Elizabeth Rex, CFF’s President and Co-Founder, “is to help fund these outstanding organizations that generously provide desperate women with the financial and moral support they so often need in order to choose life and consider adoption for unwanted pregnancies or unwanted newborns.” Charles Rex, a CFF Director and Co-Founder, is a concert violinist with the New York Philharmonic and helped organize CFF’s festive fundraiser at Lincoln Center.

CFF’s Benefit Committee includes leaders of the New York State Right to Life Committee, the Connecticut Right to Life Committee, the New Jersey Family Policy Council and the Family Institute of Connecticut, organizations that support CFF’s efforts to promote Adoption and Safe Havens as positive, compassionate and life-saving choices that deserve greater public understanding, appreciation and support.

Benefit Tickets begin at $250 and must be purchased in advance. Please call the Children First Foundation toll-free at 1-877-386-3236. Donations are greatly appreciated and are tax-deductible.

Poland - Polish - Polonia

The communion of saints

There was a great genealogy article from the Detroit Free Press, wich was brought to my attention through the Polish American Forum newsgroup.

As you may know, I have an interest in genealogy. I think of it as more than a hobby. Genealogy reminds me of my connection to the past, to the people of faith who came before me, and that the dead are not dead, but alive forever in Christ in the communion of saints.

From the Detroit Free Press see: Remembering Piotr

Cecile Jensen wants headstones on her ancestors’ graves, starting with her great-grandfather’s

On a windy day last week, Cecile Jensen and Russell Burns, director of the historic Mt. Elliott Cemetery in Detroit, counted their paces across a snowy stretch of ground at the back of the sprawling site. Using directions from a century-old ledger, they were determining the location of an unmarked grave.

“There are thousands of others, just like this one, spread out across the back of the cemetery,” Burns said.

When they finally stopped, Jensen spread her arms wide, “I’m trying to feel it. Just think! Right here, 110 years ago, my great-grandmother and her seven children stood at my great-grandfather’s grave.”

Jensen is haunted by the thought of poor immigrant Piotr Wojtkowiak, laid in an unmarked grave to save money to feed his children. A host of memories connect the retired teacher and author from Rochester Hills to the curly-haired Polish immigrant who died of typhoid fever at 34, while leading a crew digging Detroit’s sewer system.

Among the memories are family stories about his wild hair, so unruly that a hat wouldn’t stay on his head.

He was a multitalented man. He’d been a locksmith on the staff of a nobleman’s manor in his native Poland, and he could bake a tasty apple pie, too. When he and his wife, Marianna, arrived in Detroit in the late 1880s, he first worked at a mining camp in the Upper Peninsula. Later, he found work closer to home in Detroit.

The family stories cover painful details, as well. In the years after his death, for instance, Marianna took in laundry to support her family and was plagued by bleeding hands.

“Their whole story, even my great-grandfather’s unmarked grave, is a part of the story of the thousands of Polish immigrants who helped to build this city,” Jensen said. “He wasn’t alone even in death. There are thousands of unmarked graves in Detroit just like his.”

That’s why Jensen spent several years researching two of Detroit’s historic east-side cemeteries: Mt. Elliott, which Catholic churches opened in 1841, and Mt. Olivet, opened in 1888 because the portion of Mt. Elliott that was reserved for poor people was filling up rapidly.

“Just look at the causes of death listed for the people around Piotr,” Burns said, as he and Jensen examined the old ledgers
chronicling many of Mt. Elliott’s 75,000 burials. “Typhoid, pneumonia, diphtheria — a lot of this, I’m sure, was related to the
city’s terrible water back then.”

The column in the ledger listing age at death speaks eloquently of hardships in immigrant families. On a page near Piotr’s burial, the
ages listed are 6, 6, 7, 1 hour, 1 day and 10 minutes.

A century later, a nonprofit corporation oversees the two Detroit cemeteries. The Mount Elliott Cemetery Association has properties in several counties.

“After all our ancestors gave us, it’s not right that there’s nothing to mark their graves,” Jensen said. “So, my goal is to honor them, starting with Piotr and then I’ll move on to my ancestors in Mt. Olivet.”

To finance this effort, Jensen used her research and artistic background to create two picture books, “Detroit’s Mount Olivet
Cemetery” and “Detroit’s Mount Elliott Cemetery.” Published by Arcadia ($19.99 each), the books are available online and at major
bookstores.

Profits from such books are modest, but Jensen is hoping she’ll make enough to purchase tombstones.

“I’m already thinking about the gathering we’ll have at his grave to dedicate the stone,” she said. “Just imagine! All these years later, there’ll be hundreds of his descendants gathering from all over, coming back to the city once again to honor him.”

Poland - Polish - Polonia,

Literary introduction

The Consulate General of Poland in New York invites you to the De Lamar Mansion Salon of Arts & Ideas, Thursday, March 29, 8pm, for the formal introduction of a new work of historical fiction JADWIGA’S CROSSING by Aloysius A. Lutz and Richard J. Lutz with Readings by co-author Richard J. Lutz.

Photo ID is required for admittance to the Consulate

233 Madison Avenue (at 37th Street), Manhattan, New York City, NY

Media, Poland - Polish - Polonia

Polish Film Awards – Eagles (Orły)

From Cineuropa: 2007 Eagles bring no surprises

It seemed like a repeat of the Gdynia Polish Film Festival at the 2007 Eagles (Poland’s top film awards) ceremony yesterday evening.

The event threw up no surprises, with Saviour Square taking the top honours. Krzysztof Krauze and Joanna Kos-Krauze’s film took four of the major awards: Best Film, Best Director, Best Actress and Best Supporting Actress (Jowita Budnik and Ewa Wencel respectively).

This was not Krauze’s first time at the Eagles, having won Best Screenplay (Jerzy Morawski) and Best Director for his film The Debt in 2000.

However, in terms of statuettes won, Jan Jakub Kolski’s Jasminum beat out Saviour Square with its six prizes: Best Actor (Janusz Gajos), Best Cinematography (Krzysztof Ptak), Best Music (Zygmunt Konieczny), Best Set Design (Joanna Doroszkiewicz), Best Costume Design (Ewa Helman-Szczerbic), and —“ as Kolski emphasised —“ the most prestigious of all, the Audience Award.

Another highly recognised title was Marek Koterski’s We’re All Christs, which won Best Editing (Ewa Smal) and Best Screenplay (Koterski).

Pedro Almodóvar’s Volver (see Focus) predictably took Best European Film of 2007.

The Award for Best Lifetime Achievement went to distinguished DoP Witold Sobociński, who has worked on over 40 films (notably by Andrzej Wajda, Wojciech Jerzy Has, Jerzy Kawalerowicz and Roman Polański) and will soon celebrate his 80th birthday.

The cinematography maestro received his prize from Minister of Culture Kazimierz Ujazdowski to a standing ovation.

The Winners

Best Film
Saviour Square

Best Director
Krzysztof Krauze and Joanna Kos-Krauze – Saviour Square

Best Actor
Janusz Gajos – Jasminum

Best Actress
Jowita Budnik – Saviour Square

Best Screenplay
Marek Koterski – We’re All Christs

Best Cinematography
Krzysztof Ptak – Jasminum

Audience Prize
Jasminum

Best Supporting Male Role
Krzysztof Kiersznowski – Statyści

Best Supporting Female
Ewa Wencel – Saviour Square

Best Score
Zygmunt Konieczny – Jasminum

Best Set Design
Joanna Doroszkiewicz – Jasminum

Best Costume Design
Ewa Helman Szczerbic – Jasminum

Best Editing
Ewa Smal – We’re All Christs

Best Sound
Jacek Hamela – Jasminum

Best European Film
Volver – Pedro Almodóvar

All Right Reserved © 2005 - 2023