A great book and sequel by James Conroyd Martin: Push Not the River
From Fr. Randy Calvo of Holy Name Parish:
Just after the New Year the house of Doug Bialecki and his family burned to the ground. Doug is the son of Janet Sadowski. He now lives in Georgia. Every summer his two daughters worship with us for two Sundays when they come north to spend time with their grandmother.
Doug awoke in the middle of the night to a red glow in the house. None of the smoke detectors went off so the assumption is that the fire climbed up the exterior walls of the house and then engulfed the entire building. Less than a half hour before all this happened, a neighbour was outside with her dog. There was no sign of anything wrong at that time. This blaze happened extremely quickly. Thank God Doug had been startled awake by the light from the fire. He only had time to get his wife, two daughters and pet out of the house. With only the pajamas on their backs, his cell phone and wallet, they had to watch as the entire structure burned to the ground. All of their possessions were lost. Even their cars, parked in the garage beneath the house, were lost. Eventually, insurance will kick-in to help them re-build, but as you can imagine, in the meanwhile things are not easy. Furniture, computers, clothes, food, everything we take for granted in our homes, all of this, was lost in a few short moments. My parish decided to accept a free will donation from her members on the behalf of the Bialecki family, the only problem being that we have had two very snowy Sundays since then, and therefore, two very poorly attended Sundays. The quicker the better it will be when it comes to our help. We can’t wait for another Sunday.
We are requesting that PNCC members, and all our brothers and sisters in Christ, who may be able to help, consider sending a check to the Bialecki family. If your situation in life allows, the address is: Doug Bialecki, 321 Homestead Circle, NW, Kennasaw, GA 30144-1335. Thank you for anything that you can do for them. And whether you are able to help financially or not, please keep the Bialecki family in your prayers.
Holy days, public holy days
and the days after Christmas
None of which have been forgotten.
I ate pastries, ate cakes,
kissed my aunt’s hand.
I ate at the vigil, ate borsch
and now I am a year older,
after the herring and sardines
in the empty place
where the tree stood.
Translation by Dcn. Jim Konicki
Święta, święta i po świętach
nikt już o nich nie pamięta.
Zjadłem placki, zjadłem babki,
całowałem ciocię w łapki.
Zjadłem wilię, zjadłem barszczyk
i już jestem o rok starszy,
po śledziku i sardynce
w pustym miejscu po choince.
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Posted a tweet on Twitter.
@triciagoyer re the roast you made – have you every tried Vegeta. It is an excellent seasoning and very multipurpose
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They sleep well here whom Allah loved and kept
And treasured in his vineyard fair and fine,
Most lustrous of the Orient pearls that shine,
Which youth found where the waves of passion swept.
Here, where in peace perpetual they have slept,
A turban beckons where the roses twine,
A banner flutters out in silken line,
And sometimes here a Giaour’s name is kept.Oh! roses of this paradise of old,
The eyes that loved not Allah saw you not,
Nor arms that prayed not eastward could enfold!
But now a Christian treads this hallowed spot;
Wise Allah, curse not him who bows his head
Amid the marble shrines of Allah’s dead!
Translated by Edna Worthley Underwood and provided under a Project Gutenberg license.
Tu z winnicy miłości niedojrzałe grona
Wzięto na stół Allaha; tu perełki Wschodu,
Z morza uciech i szczęścia, porwała za młodu
Truna koncha wieczności do mrocznego łona.Skryła je niepamięci i czasu zasłona,
Nad niemi turban zimny błyszczy śród ogrodu,
Jak buńczuk wojska cieniów, i ledwie u spodu
Zostały dłonią Gaura wyryte imiona.O wy róże edeńskie! u czystości stoku
Odkwitnęły dni wasze pod wstydu liściami,
Na wieki zatajone niewiernemu oku.Teraz grób wasz spójrzenie cudzoziemca plami,
Pozwalam mu—”darujesz o wielki Proroku!
On jeden z czudzoziemców poglądał ze łzami.
First reading: 1 Samuel 3:3-10,19
Psalm: Ps 40:2,4,7-10
Epistle: 1 Corinthians 6:13-15,17-20
Gospel: John 1:35-42
—Here I am. You called me.——¨
Isn’t that interesting. —Here I am. You called me.— Usually we say something like —Here I am. You called me?— Samuel was sure of the call. Samuel had certainty and that’s our message for today. In faith we have certainty.—¨
The world is uncertainty
If we approach everything from the world’s point of view we live in a state of perpetual doubt. Worldly doubt plays our inner conflicts and opposes our need for certainty and stability. Worldly doubt weakens us and we begin to question everything. That, my friends, is occasion to sin. We doubt fidelity in marriages and in social relationships. We doubt the honesty of people. We doubt ourselves and our decisions. We face the future with fear and trepidation, with doubt and uncertainty.
Our minds and souls call out, they struggle, searching for the certain. If we can’t find it we try to dull the pain of uncertainty, to fill the gaps in our lives with the world’s ready solutions. By the time we see the reality of what the world represents, we realize we have been lost in a morass of uncertainty. We face the end of life knowing that our direction has come from within, and has not risen above ourselves. We pass from this world questioning a direction we invented from our needs and wants. We question whether we have made a real difference in the world.
People without faith often comment on the fact that a person can be ‘nice’ without God. I am certain that they are mistaken. Niceness is little more than self-fulfillment without objective goodness; it felt good so I did it. We’ve all been there and we know the skeletons in our closets, the bodies we left behind, with hurt and tears; the broken relationships that fell to our whims. If one lives by one’s own code there is nothing, no touchstone, against which one may judge the goodness, the rightness of one’s actions. Sure, without faith we could say that we judge niceness by how it makes us and others feel. I am sure any one of us could make ourselves and others feel nice, all the while doing more harm than good.
Simply, there is no niceness, no goodness, no rightness without an objective measure. The objective measure is perfection in love and goodness. That objective cannot be the laws of men – laws which allow for killing, war, and theft. It cannot be some unattributed internal compass. It can only be God.
God is certainty
In baptism we receive a gift, an opening into a world of certainty. How opportune that John the Baptist would point the way to certainty.
—Behold, the Lamb of God.——¨
Our post baptismal life of faith defines the road we follow, the path of faith and relationship with God. This is the path of certainty, of absolute assurance. We see ourselves, we who have been regenerated in water and the Spirit, as assured. The path we follow has an absolute outcome which is eternal life. That is an awesome thought, that eternity awaits us. Greater still is fact that more than eternity awaits. What awaits is an eternity of absolute love and perfect assurance; the assurance of God’s grace, compassion, and mercy.
We could talk about sin, and create devils, with horns and pitchforks, living in fire and brimstone. We could use those images as a method to force faith through fear. If we take that approach our faith is little more than a transaction. I give God faith because the alternative is horrible. That method is used in many Churches and in other faiths. That path appeals to base instincts, and sadly is used by men who believe that people are uneducated, unable to see the truth, to understand it, and to live it.
Our Holy Polish National Catholic Church teaches us that faith is the door to assurance. God leads us to the door we can open with our intellect, our prayer, and our labor. Faith is the path we follow, a path created by God Himself, who is perfection. It is not a path reserved for theologians, bishops, and popes, but the path for all who come with a sincere heart, in search of the certainty that is God. It is the path where we set ourselves and our desires aside, giving up the false certainties of the world for the objective good that is God. God is absolute certainty and the call we feel, the draw to certainty, comes from Him. Recognizing this we can state, with certainty, —Here I am. You called me.——¨
Was Andrew the crazy brother?
Reading today’s Gospel we see St. Andrew, known as the first called. Now think on this a bit. Peter was at home, with a wife, mother-in-law, a boat, nets, and a business to run. His brother Andrew is hanging out with John the Baptist, listening to him tell of the One that will come after him, One who was before him.
Peter had to wonder. Was Andrew crazy, running off to the dessert with a locust and honey, hair shirt wearing baptizer who confused the past and future tense? Where was Andrew’s responsibility? Why wasn’t he in tune with the practicalities of life?
Now it gets worse. On a word Andrew runs after a new preacher. Andrew asks the Teacher: —where are you staying?—
They went to see
Andrew and the other disciple went to see Jesus’ place. I can assure you, it wasn’t a Hilton Garden Inn. On another occasion, when a prospective disciple asked Jesus if he might follow Him, Jesus replied:
“Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests; but the Son of man has nowhere to lay his head.”
Andrew chose to go along for the ride, knowing well that worldly comfort and self-directed fulfillment weren’t to be had. Andrew went along for the ride, and asked Peter to join him, because he knew that there was something more, something really vital, something greater than worldly fulfillment and comfort.
Yes, in the eyes of the world, Andrew was crazy, but Andrew had something.
Why was Andrew certain
Andrew had certainty. That certainty came from faith and the call. Andrew had faith, faith in God, faith in the certainty that exists beyond the moment. That faith helped him in recognizing the call when it came, the call that moved him and moves us to recognize God as our ultimate end and the means to true happiness and fulfillment. Recognizing the call Andrew responded like Samuel did: —Here I am. You called me.—
This is a senseless proposition. The world says that this makes no sense. Andrew should have been at home, working alongside his brother, perhaps competing with him. Andrew should have relied on himself, and he should have abandoned his childish — some would say child like (Mark 10:13-16) — search for certainty. Andrew should have run when Jesus showed him His place. If Andrew was foolish enough to go along he should have abandoned the quest when Jesus pointed to Calvary. Yet, Andrew, Peter, John, James Philip, Bartholomew, Matthew, Thomas, James the son of Alphaeus, Jude-Thaddeus, and Simon the Zealot, plus Matthias, Paul, and the seventy all knew that they were called to act with the certainty that comes from faith.
Our faith grows to certainty
My friends,
Do not mistake moments of uncertainty, moments of doubt, with a lack of faith. The path to heaven is a challenge and the world continues its temptation. In those moments recall that we are on the path of faith that began at our baptism — a path that many have trod, supported by community, and lived in prayer and hard work. Our Lord and Savior gives us all that we need to come to absolute certainty, to recognize His call with certainty. We can rely on Him. Our beloved organizer, Bishop Hodur, told us that:
…the happiness of humankind depends on knowing the Highest Being and entering into a close sincere relationship with Him through faith, prayer and the noble deeds flowing from this faith.
Our coming into certainty has begun. We are enabled. We have the call to wake, like Samuel, in the middle of the night and say: —Here I am. You called me.— We prepare for this moment as we sit here, in prayer, listening to God’s sacred Word. We are given the grace to follow Him, setting aside the world and its ways for His way. Bishop Hodur went on to say:
The Christian religion gives us the most perfect convictions of the unity of the human spirit with the first cause of existence, with the inexpressible cause of everything, with God. In this adheres the principle of the endless tendency towards learning the truth, the progress of the soul and life. This is a state of the dynamic development of the human soul, the perfecting of the individual person, the nation and all humankind.
We grow to perfection if we rely upon our Christian faith. If we cling to our faith, pray over it, learn from it, and put its teachings into action we grow to certainty. Through our journey we encounter our Lord and Savior. Through our faith we become one with Him as St. Paul tells us: —whoever is joined to the Lord becomes one Spirit with him.—
It may seem crazy and the world certainly doesn’t like it, but let us resolve to live in faith, and above all to show our faith as a living example of God’s love, mercy, and compassion. Christ certainly lives in us when we live in Him. Through our faith we stand in certainty saying: —Here I am. You called me.— Yes, He called you, he called me. Of that we are certain. Amen.
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New blog post: Second Sunday in Ordinary Time (B) http://tinyurl.com/9qtvtc
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Updated status on Facebook.
Deacon Jim New blog post: Second Sunday in Ordinary Time (B) http://tinyurl.com/9qtvtc.
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Posted a tweet on Twitter.
New blog post: January 18 – The Graves of the Harem by Adam Mickiewicz http://tinyurl.com/7fr7b5
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Updated status on Facebook.
Deacon Jim New blog post: January 18 – The Graves of the Harem by Adam Mickiewicz http://tinyurl.com/7fr7b5.
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There was a youth who led a temperate life,
An aged man, devoid of gall and strife,
A rich man, who shared with the poor his grain,
An author, much pleased when others won fame,
A tax man who didn’t steal, a cobbler dry,
A soldier who didn’t brag, a rogue of fight shy;
A public servant who didn’t think of gain,
A poet, too, who checked his fancy’s reign.
Why is it a tale? All this can occur!
True, but I’ll put it in the fables’ corner.
Translated by Michal J. Mikos
Był młody, który życie wstrzemięźliwie pędził;
Był stary, który nigdy nie łajał, nie zrzędził;
Był bogacz, który zbiorom potrzebnym udzielał;
Był autor, co się z cudzej sławy rozweselał;
Był celnik, który nie kradł; szewc, który nie pijał;
Żołnierz, co się nie chwalił, łotr, co nie rozbijał;
Był minister rzetelny, o sobie nie myślał;
Był na koniec poeta, co nigdy nie zmyślał.
— A cóż to jest za bajka? Wszystko to być może!
— Prawda, jednakże ja to między bajki włożę.
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New blog post: January 16 – American Townland by Fergus O’Farrell http://tinyurl.com/95hkun
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Deacon Jim New blog post: January 16 – American Townland by Fergus O’Farrell http://tinyurl.com/95hkun.
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New blog post: Helping our brothers and sisters in Christ http://tinyurl.com/8pwrnl
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Updated status on Facebook.
Deacon Jim New blog post: Helping our brothers and sisters in Christ http://tinyurl.com/8pwrnl.
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New blog post: Honoring Dr. King in Stratford, Connecticut http://tinyurl.com/8dfatt
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Updated status on Facebook.
Deacon Jim New blog post: Honoring Dr. King in Stratford, Connecticut http://tinyurl.com/8dfatt.
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From the Stratford Star: Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., to be honored Sunday
The annual Stratford Community Interfaith Martin Luther King, Jr. celebration will take place Sunday, Jan. 18, at 4 p.m. at the Unitarian Universalist Church of Greater Bridgeport, 96 Chapel St. in the Putney section of Stratford.
This service is organized by clergy serving congregations in Stratford in an effort to create a service that is respectful to people of all religions. This year’s preacher will be Bishop Anthony Kopka of St. Joseph’s National Catholic Church.
There will be music from two church choirs and a combined choir. All who would like to sing in the combined choir are asked to arrive at the church at 3 p.m. that day for rehearsal.
Each year at this service a collection is taken to support scholarships in King’s name which benefit students at Stratford’s high schools.
Questions can be directed to the host pastor and president of the Stratford Clergy Association, the Rev. Julie-Ann Silberman-Bunn, at 378-1020.