Celestine the bishop to the holy Synod assembled at Ephesus, brethren beloved and most longed for, greeting in the Lord.
A Synod of priests gives witness to the presence of the Holy Spirit. For true is that which we read, since the Truth cannot lie, to wit, the promise of the Gospel; “Where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.” And since this is so, if the Holy Spirit is not absent from so small a number how much more may we believe he is present when so great a multitude of holy ones are assembled together! Every council is holy on account of a peculiar veneration which is its due; for in every such council the reverence which should be paid to that most famous council of the Apostles of which we read is to be had regard to. Never was the Master, whom they had received to preach, lacking to this, but ever was present as Lord and Master; and never were those who taught deserted by their teacher. For he that had sent them was their teacher; he who had commanded what was to be taught, was their teacher; he who affirms that he himself is heard in his Apostles, was their teacher. This duty of preaching has been entrusted to all the Lord’s priests in common, for by right of inheritance we are bound to undertake this solicitude, whoever of us preach the name of the Lord in various lands in their stead for he said to them, “Go, teach all nations.” You, dear brethren, should observe that we have received a general command: for he wills that all of us should perform that office, which he thus entrusted in common to all the Apostles. We must needs follow our predecessors. Let us all, then, undertake their labors, since we are the successors in their honor. And we show forth our diligence in preaching the same doctrines that they taught, beside which, according to the admonition of the Apostle, we are forbidden to add anything. For the office of keeping what is committed to our trust is no less dignified than that of handing it down.
For do not tell me that this or that man is a runaway slave, or a robber or thief, or laden with countless faults, or that he is a mendicant and abject, or of low value and worthy of no account; but consider that for his sake the Christ died; and this suffices you for a ground for all solicitude. Consider what sort of person he must be, whom Christ valued at so high a price as not to have spared even his own blood. For neither, if a king had chosen to sacrifice himself on any one’s behalf, should we have sought out another demonstration of his being some one great and of deep interest to the King —” I fancy not —” for his death would suffice to show the love of him who had died towards him. But as it is not man, not angel, not archangel; but the Lord of the heavens himself, the only-begotten Son of God himself having clothed himself with flesh, freely gave himself on our behalf. Shall we not do everything, and take every trouble, so that the men who have been thus valued may enjoy every solicitude at our hands? — Paragraph 5.
From the Polish [Roman] Catholic weekly Niedziela: Blue is the colour of faith.
A lot of interesting facts and figures on Marian feasts, images, prayers, and pilgrimages.
While the article presents a wholly Roman Catholic view of Marian piety, the following excerpt from Bishop Hodur’s May Sermon I, 1902 indicates the strong tradition of Marian piety within the PNCC even though we reject the Roman Catholic trend toward dogmatization of that piety.
Preoccupied the whole year with matters of this world, perhaps more than one of us forgot the veneration which should surround the Mother of God. We will have an opportunity to bow our heads before her and humble our hearts and call upon her mediation and care. And we need her mediation very much. For who of us does not suffer many afflictions? Therefore in this our adversity to whom are we to tum? Between God and a person is the Most Holy Mother. As the Ark of the Covenant contained within it the law of the Old Testament and the root of Jesse, so the Mother of God brings into the world the Savior, Christ the Lord. Yet not only that she is our confidant but also our most holy healer.
Through the sins of the first people humankind lost the health of the soul, that is, the grace of God. Weak humankind became more capable of sin than of virtue, as the Apostle Paul complained: Unhappy a man am I … for it is not what I wish that I do … I do what I do not wish.
A medicine and help for us is the Mother of God, who is our mediator, the cure of the sick and the refuge of sinners. To her we must always turn and seek her help. — from Bishop Francis Hodur, Sermon Outlines and Occasional Speeches 1899 – 1922, (c) 1999 Theodore L. Zawistowski, Polish National Catholic Church, Central Diocese
First reading: Isaiah 22:19-23
Psalm: Ps 138:1-3,6,8
Epistle: Romans 11:33-36
Gospel: Matthew 16:13-20
For who has known the mind of the Lord
or who has been his counselor?
Or who has given the Lord anything
that he may be repaid?
Today we are given the challenge. Today we are asked to consider the Church as the sole means to knowing the mind of the Lord.
We come to our parishes each week and we sit in the pew. We participate in the action of the Church by doing so, but we never seem to delve too deeply into the character, the reality, or the presence of the Church. How is it that the Church is the teacher of God’s truth?
As members of God’s Holy Church we are faced with the same question Jesus put to His disciples: —But who do you say that I am?—
Let’s consider the alternatives.
The first alternative is found in Jesus’ first question: —Who do people say that the Son of Man is?—
This is the world’s opinion of the Church. Who does the world say that we are?
Some say we are an evil, the harbinger of everything bad, the restraint on unlimited freedom, the key component in every evil that has ever existed. Others see the Church as a pleasant gathering place, where nothing much is required, where people can come to reflect and ponder in a peaceful atmosphere – you can even get wine and bread, and a pretty good cup of coffee afterward. Some see Church as an undefined path, a means by which we get to pick and choose what we believe. Some see the Church as a rigid structure of rules, leaders and followers, immeasurable and indiscernible doctrines. In the end, whether positive or negatively viewed, the world sees the Church as a menu of choices, choices and decisions that the world gets to make, a merely human institution.
Another alternative is found among those who mistake power for the Church. It is an alternative espoused by those who claim unique authority, an authority unknown to us, and to the Church of the first millennium. It is the error made by those who see Peter, and Peter alone, as the Church. In doing so they miss the Church. At worst they completely confuse Church and earthly power.
The proper choice is found in Jesus statement to Peter:
—Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah.
For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my heavenly Father.—
This is more than a choice. It is a blessed revelation and realization that the Church is something God provided for us. It is God’s creation, the Bride of Christ, the earthly presence of Christ, guided by the Holy Spirit, and with us as our mother.
Brothers and sisters,
If we realize that the Church is God’s creation, God’s spouse, and that it is guided by God we will clearly see something new. It is this: The Holy Church is the infallible guide and pathway to heaven. In adhering to the Church’s teaching, what Jesus allowed by giving the Church the keys to the kingdom and the power to loose and bind, we hold the truth. In adhering to the teaching of the Church as our obligation we draw ever closer to the reality of God’s Kingdom among men.
The Holy Church in its proclamation of the Gospel, in its teaching and preaching in accord with the Gospel and Tradition, in its witness to Christ, in its work among all men, in its gifts given from, through, and with the Holy Spirit, and in its continued action in opening up the graces given by our Lord into our care, opens to us the revelation of, and path back to, God. In our adhering to the Church’s teaching, in our believing and in our making the Church’s teaching our own teaching, even when we feel we cannot agree, we climb the narrow path to perfection. Through the Church we see as a goal, and move toward, a changed reality — our regeneration in faith. It is our walk home to heaven with our mother, our guide, at our side. This is the only reality that matters.
Friends,
You may ask, ‘Deacon, wasn’t Jesus asking about Himself in the Gospel, not the Church?—
I ask you to consider the words in John 1:14: And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, full of grace and truth
The Church is Jesus among us, full of grace and truth, dwelling here and now. The Church is Christ’s means of proclamation to the world and the way He has chosen to leave His presence in the world. The Church is the means by which He chose to bring about the Kingdom.
So to us. Our duty and obligation is to act in unity with the Church and her teaching authority. We don’t get to discount teachings because they are inconvenient, because ——we—— don’t agree, or because Her teaching doesn’t suit our particular tastes or informed opinion. Instead we must focus on our revealed mission, the light God has given us in proclaiming who Jesus really is:
—You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.—
This is a heavy burden on us, yet a beautiful burden with an ultimate reward. In our unity with the Church we have Jesus’ promise that what we are taught is true. We have His guarantee that what we do and what we teach, when doing and teaching what the Church teaches, is truth. Jesus has laid out a pathway and He has given the Church the tools and resources necessary to navigate that pathway. We have those tools and resources at our disposal as members of the Church.
Brothers and sisters,
The road to God is not easy. It has been referred to as the ancient path and the narrow road. The Prophet Jeremiah (Jer. 6:16) proclaimed:
Thus says the LORD:
“Stand by the roads, and look,
and ask for the ancient paths,
where the good way is; and walk in it,
and find rest for your souls.
In Matthew 7:13-14 Jesus tells us that the narrow path, the harder choice, is the correct choice, the choice that leads to life:
“Enter by the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the way is easy, that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many.
For the gate is narrow and the way is hard, that leads to life, and those who find it are few.”
We are all plagued by doubt and uncertainty as to what we are doing. Some say that the doubts are less as you get older, but I’m not sure. We know that following the path to God, humbling ourselves to the will of God is difficult. We know that discipline is exceptionally hard. When confronted by those doubts, uncertainties, and the need for humility let us be reassured — God is with us along this narrow path, this ancient way. So let us set to conforming ourselves to what the Holy Church asks of us, even if… In doing so we will know the mind of the Lord and we will do His work. Amen.
And wherefore did He not ask them at once their own opinion, but that of the people? In order that when they had told the people’s opinion, and then were asked, “But whom say ye that I am?” by the manner of His inquiry they might be led up to a sublimer notion, and not fall into the same low view as the multitude. Accordingly He asks them not at all in the beginning of His preaching, but when He had done many miracles, and had discoursed with them of many and high doctrines, and had afforded so many clear proofs of His Godhead, and of His unanimity with the Father, then He puts this question to them.
And He said not, “Whom say the Scribes and Pharisees that I am?” often as these had come unto Him, and discoursed with Him; but, “Whom do men say that I am?” inquiring after the judgment of the people, as unbiased. For though it was far meaner than it should be, yet was it free from malice, but the other was teeming with much wickedness.
And signifying how earnestly He desires His Economy to be confessed, He says, “The Son of Man;” thereby denoting His Godhead, which He does also in many other places. For He says, “No man has ascended up to Heaven, but the Son of Man, which is in Heaven.” And again, “But when you shall see the Son of Man ascend up, where He was before.”
Then, since they said, “Some John the Baptist, some Elias, some Jeremias, or one of the prophets,” and set forth their mistaken opinion, He next added, “But whom say ye that I am?” calling them on by His second inquiry to entertain some higher imagination concerning Him, and indicating that their former judgment falls exceedingly short of His dignity. Wherefore He seeks for another judgment from themselves, and puts a second question, that they might not fall in with the multitude, who, because they saw His miracles greater than human, accounted Him a man indeed, but one that had appeared after a resurrection, as Herod also said. But He, to lead them away from this notion, says, “But whom say ye that I am?” that is, “ye that are with me always, and see me working miracles, and have yourselves done many mighty works by me.” — Homily 54.
I read with interest an article at LRC by Peter S. Rieth entitled Oh, Me! Me! Shoot Me! A Summary of Contemporary Polish Foreign Policy
I agree with Mr. Rieth’s key point, but wholeheartedly disagree with the method he uses to get there.
In the article he states:
Of course, when speaking of something as abstract as “national psychology” or “the character of a nation,” it must be remembered that we are speaking in generalities verging on stereotypes; that there is no such thing in fact as a “national psychology,” because a “nation” is a mere historical construct; like “ethnicity” itself. Nevertheless, it is often useful to engage the archetype of a “national psychology” to explain certain tendencies in popular thought and action; that is to say —“ in politics. What, then, is it, about Polish national psychology…
Politics is all about painting your enemy, whether a person or philosophy, in the worst possible light. This article simply bathes in the top propagandist models aimed at supporting Mr. Rieth’s arguments. After exposing a great basis for his argument Mr. Rieth seems to loose focus and makes a broad appeal to the Natavist leftovers still so much a part of the American culture. It is the appeal to the “all Poles, dumb Pollacks, they got it with their mother’s milk” way of thinking. The article paints Poles as a corporate unity – all thinking, acting, and believing in the same way. Of course that argument appeals to his target audience especially when it is couched in Mr. Rieth’s brief allusion to ‘well I don’t mean everybody’ and ‘hey I’m a Pole too so I know what I’m talking about.’
His disavowal of stereotyping in the excerpt above doesn’t cut it. Mr. Rieth relies far too heavily on the idea of national consciousness, nationalism, national mythology, with a quick cross-reference to National Socialism throughout his article. He lost his way in writing this article when he failed to grasp the key point he made in saying: “…there is no such thing as a homogeneous understanding of human history.”
I have experienced the broad spectrum of Poland. It is old and new Polonia, it is cities and villages, conservative, moderate, and liberal. It is far from singular in its aspirations and thoughts. Its people are diverse and represent the best and worst in humanity, and everything in-between. Even for all its touted Roman Catholic conservatism its pew dwellers perceive even those matters differently.
What we can understand, and what would have made a better argument, is that governments make good and bad choices and that there are wise and poor leaders. We see flag waving, baby kissing leaders who fail to set a vision for the future as well as those with their sights on the future (take a listen to Lech Wałęsa when he speaks on the interconnectedness of societies, or Jerzy Surdykowski when he speaks on European history – the long view). We see leaders who sell the well being of their country on the cheap as well as those that stand on core principals. We see leaders who take the lessons of history into account in building policy and those whose history is nothing more than chauvinistic fantasy. Each country has its own mixture of these and heaven knows the U.S. has been plagued of late.
Mr. Rieth may want to attempt this exercise and develop an article on the national consciousness of the United States. What leads us to making such bad choices in leaders? Are we an amalgam of “keeping up with the Jones'” and to heck with everything important? It cannot be done, or at least not without too broad of a brush stroke. Those too broad brush strokes destroy the soundness of many an argument.
For my part I would encourage Mr. Rieth to rely on patience in building out his articles. He should avoid painting peoples in such a homogeneous fashion. In taking that route he is not serving intellectual curiosity, good journalism, or a sound call to change. He is just hurting his point: Poland sells itself on the cheap to the United States for the air of safety, one which doesn’t exist (see the Young Fogey’s citation of this article) and in doing so lessens its soundness and security.
The street, and the people of Poland get it, or at least a percentage of the population does. The same street moved away from the destructive tendencies of the Kaczynski twins. You cannot fool the population, in Poland, the U.S., or elsewhere forever, because enough of them see through the disguise. Sound arguments help in achieving better ends, in achieving political change. Please reconstruct your argument.
Cyprian to Caldonius, his brother, greeting. We have received your letter, beloved brother, which is abundantly sensible, and full of honesty and faith. Nor do we wonder that, skilled and exercised as you are in the Scriptures of the Lord, you do everything discreetly and wisely. You have judged quite correctly about granting peace to our brethren, which they, by true penitence and by the glory of a confession of the Lord, have restored to themselves, being justified by their words, by which before they had condemned themselves. Since, then, they have washed away all their sin, and their former stain, by the help of the Lord, has been done away by a more powerful virtue, they ought not to lie any longer under the power of the devil, as it were, prostrate; when, being banished and deprived of all their property, they have lifted themselves up and have begun to stand with Christ. And I wish that the others also would repent after their fall, and be transferred into their former condition; and that you may know how we have dealt with these, in their urgent and eager rashness and importunity to extort peace, I have sent a book to you, with letters to the number of five, that I wrote to the clergy and to the people, and to the martyrs also and confessors, which letters have already been sent to many of our colleagues, and have satisfied them; and they replied that they also agree with me in the same opinion according to the Catholic faith; which very thing do you also communicate to as many of our colleagues as you can, that among all these, may be observed one mode of action and one agreement, according to the Lord’s precepts. I bid you, beloved brother, ever heartily farewell. — The Epistle of Cyprian in reply to Caldonius.
Let us confirm one another by mutual exhortations, and let us more and more go forward in the Lord; so that when of His mercy He shall have made that peace which He promises to give, we may return to the Church new and almost changed men, and may be received, whether by our brethren or by the heathen, in all things corrected and renewed for the better; and those who formerly admired our glory in our courage may now admire the discipline in our lives. I bid you, beloved brethren, ever heartily farewell; and be mindful of me. — Paragraph 6 from the Epistle of Cyprian to Rogatianus the Presbyter, and the Other Confessors.
As I am about to speak, beloved brethren, of patience, and to declare its advantages and benefits, from what point should I rather begin than this, that I see that even at this time, for your audience of me, patience is needful, as you cannot even discharge this duty of hearing and learning without patience? For wholesome discourse and reasoning are then effectually learned, if what is said be patiently heard. Nor do I find, beloved brethren, among the rest of the ways of heavenly discipline wherein the path of our hope and faith is directed to the attainment of the divine rewards, anything of more advantage, either as more useful for life or more helpful to glory, than that we who are laboring in the precepts of the Lord with the obedience of fear and devotion, should especially, with our whole watchfulness, be careful of patience. — Treatise 9.
Gregory, servant of the servants of God, to the servants of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Since it had been better not to have begun what is good than to return back from it when begun, you must, most beloved sons, fulfill the good work which with the help of the Lord you have begun. Let, then, neither the toil of the journey nor the tongues of evil-speaking men deter you; but with all instancy and all fervor go on with what under God’s guidance you have commenced, knowing that great toil is followed by the glory of an eternal reward. Obey in all things humbly Augustine your provost (præposito), who is returning to you, whom we also appoint your abbot, knowing that whatever may be fulfilled in you through his admonition will in all ways profit your souls. May Almighty God protect you with His grace, and grant to me to see the fruit of your labor in the eternal country; that so, even though I cannot labor with you, I may be found together with you in the joy of the reward; for in truth I desire to labor. God keep you safe, most beloved sons. Given the tenth day of the Kalends of August, the fourteenth year of the Emperor our lord Mauricius Tiberius, the most pious Augustus, the thirteenth year of the consulship of our said lord, Indiction 14. — Book VI, Letter 51, from Gregory, Bishop of Rome to the Brethren going to England (Angliam).