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Year: 2010

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Christian Witness, Perspective,

A primer on Christianity understood

Nicholas Kristof writing in the NY Times: Learning From the Sin of Sodom

A pop quiz: What’s the largest U.S.-based international relief and development organization?

It’s not Save the Children, and it’s not CARE —” both terrific secular organizations. Rather, it’s World Vision, a Seattle-based Christian organization (with strong evangelical roots) whose budget has roughly tripled over the last decade.

World Vision now has 40,000 staff members in nearly 100 countries. That’s more staff members than CARE, Save the Children and the worldwide operations of the United States Agency for International Development —” combined.

A growing number of conservative Christians are explicitly and self-critically acknowledging that to be —pro-life— must mean more than opposing abortion. The head of World Vision in the United States, Richard Stearns, begins his fascinating book, —The Hole in Our Gospel,— with an account of a visit a decade ago to Uganda, where he met a 13-year-old AIDS orphan who was raising his younger brothers by himself.

—What sickened me most was this question: where was the Church?— he writes. —Where were the followers of Jesus Christ in the midst of perhaps the greatest humanitarian crisis of our time? Surely the Church should have been caring for these ‘orphans and widows in their distress.’ (James 1:27). Shouldn’t the pulpits across America have flamed with exhortations to rush to the front lines of compassion?

—How have we missed it so tragically, when even rock stars and Hollywood actors seem to understand?—

Mr. Stearns argues that evangelicals were often so focused on sexual morality and a personal relationship with God that they ignored the needy. He writes laceratingly about —a Church that had the wealth to build great sanctuaries but lacked the will to build schools, hospitals, and clinics.—

In one striking passage, Mr. Stearns quotes the prophet Ezekiel as saying that the great sin of the people of Sodom wasn’t so much that they were promiscuous or gay as that they were —arrogant, overfed and unconcerned; they did not help the poor and needy.— (Ezekiel 16:49.)

Hmm. Imagine if sodomy laws could be used to punish the stingy, unconcerned rich!

…

One of the most inspiring figures I’ve met while covering Congo’s brutal civil war is a determined Polish nun in the terrifying hinterland, feeding orphans, standing up to drunken soldiers and comforting survivors —” all in a war zone. I came back and decided: I want to grow up and become a Polish nun.

Some Americans assume that religious groups offer aid to entice converts. That’s incorrect. Today, groups like World Vision ban the use of aid to lure anyone into a religious conversation.

Some liberals are pushing to end the longtime practice (it’s a myth that this started with President George W. Bush) of channeling American aid through faith-based organizations. That change would be a catastrophe. In Haiti, more than half of food distributions go through religious groups like World Vision that have indispensable networks on the ground. We mustn’t make Haitians the casualties in our cultural wars.

A root problem is a liberal snobbishness toward faith-based organizations. Those doing the sneering typically give away far less money than evangelicals. They’re also less likely to spend vacations volunteering at, say, a school or a clinic in Rwanda.

If secular liberals can give up some of their snootiness, and if evangelicals can retire some of their sanctimony, then we all might succeed together in making greater progress against common enemies of humanity, like illiteracy, human trafficking and maternal mortality.

The only aspect of the article I would say wasn’t covered well was the subtle shot at the Church’s defense of life. That’s part of a continuity rarely understood. That said, the subtle shot makes the point, Christians should not be single issue people. We should take heed of our very teachings on the continuity of life. As with the mite and the beam (Matthew 7:3), if we cannot care for our brothers and sisters, how can we criticize those who do not respect life.

Homilies, PNCC

Solemnity of the Institution of the Polish National Catholic Church

First reading: Wisdom 5:1-5
Gradual: Psalm 30:2-4
Epistle: 1 Timothy 4:1-5
Gospel: John 15:1-7

Everything God created is good

Lord for us your wounds were suffered. O Christ Jesus, have mercy on us.

Life skills:

When I was about 14 or 15 I decided that I could do many things for myself, that I really didn’t need mom to hand hold me or do a lot of other stuff. Now, I have to admit that my effort was not totally in vain. I was smart enough to go to my mom and other adults and ask them to show me the way.

Getting shown the way (hopefully not the door) was a really smart thing to do. I learned how to cook, clean, wash my clothes, iron —“ all those life skills that make a young man a decent marrying prospect, and prevents him from being a total slob.

Life skills are key to survival, and to living a good, peaceful, and comfortable life. While Google isn’t the definitive word on all things, I think we can infer the importance of life skills by the more than 61 million links to websites about them.

A list:

UNIFEF has put emphasis on life skills as a key component of education. They’ve provided a list of some of the major life skills that should be taught. Among those skills are interpersonal communication, negotiation and conflict management, empathy, cooperation and teamwork, advocacy, decision-making, critical thinking, goal setting, and managing feelings and stress; a lot more than just ironing, cooking, and cleaning.

God’s list:

God has given us a list of life skills, and as people of faith these are the life skills that rise to the top of our list. Of course, the most important of life skills are those taught by our Lord.

Jesus’ coming did more than provide a list. What He gave us was His life lived according to the life skills God wants us to know and adopt. Before Jesus came God repeatedly communicated a set of life skills that are key to our relationships.

Our first reading today was taken from Wisdom. The Wisdom books are all about life skills. The Hebrew word for Wisdom actually means life skills. The Jewish people always saw wisdom as something intensely practical, something to help you live your life. While that is true, the Wisdom books are more than a set of pragmatic, common sense skills that get us through the day, they are focused on God.

Wisdom then is about God’s relationship with us and our relationship with him and each other. Wisdom is having life skills defined by an understanding and proper respect for God and His works.

Getting it:

In today’s prophecy from Wisdom, the Just One, Jesus Christ, confronts all those who didn’t get it, and they stand back amazed and stricken in spirit. It is as if all the irony in life hit them all at once. This example is not just about irony however, nor about those who oppressed Jesus getting their due; it is more about the fact that they didn’t have an understanding of God’s way or a proper respect for God and His works.

Paul, in writing to Timothy, was giving advice on how to run the local Church. Paul was giving practical instruction as to how Timothy should live, how he should administer, and the ways in which he should prepare himself for the tough things. In our Epistle we hear that some will turn away. The reasons they turn away are not really important, but we know that those who turn away can have a devastating effect on a community. The key is that Timothy is to recognize and stand by wisdom, the life skills that make Christians who they are. In other words, Paul is saying that Christians have life skills based in Jesus, and that they are to receive what God gives —with thanksgiving.— Paul’s letter to Timothy teaches one thing: that a Christian’s necessary life skills are love and prayer. With those skills we are able to do all things.

The True Vine:

Many have argued over the passage about the True Vine in today’s Gospel. Some have used Jesus’ words as a metaphor for the Church; Jesus is the vine and there are many branches —“ or kinds of Churches. Others have used it as an argument against Church —“ I don’t need religion, that religion is just a process or an outright falsehood —“ what I really need is to be part of Jesus.

Wrong on all counts. The problem with over analysis and proof-texting the scriptures —“ picking out a verse to prove ones point —“ is that we miss the plain meaning. Jesus is discussing this very key and elemental life skill. We are to follow Him so that we might live. This key life skill is life itself. Not following Jesus is to be —like a withered, rejected branch,— that is, to have no life.

The Church:

Today we celebrate a very important and most solemn day. Today we recall the institution of our Holy Polish National Catholic Church.
The Church is many things, and like UNICEF I could make a list of all the things the Church is. I could carefully explain branch theory and prove that our Church fits the model and mandate of Jesus Christ, as well as the ways and methods set forth in the earliest writing of the Apostles and Church Fathers. I don’t think you would want to hear that.

What we need to focus on today is the why of Church in our lives and the question of why this Church. If you were to ask me: —Deacon, why are you in the PNCC?— I could offer hundreds, if not thousands of reasons, but the key is this.

Life, not death:

Our Holy Church is not about death, but about life. In 1897 it pulled itself out from under the shackles of a Church that focused on death, punishment, sin, and retribution, a Church of power and wealth blind to the cries of its children. A Church who put rule books and process before the life skills necessary — for life.

Our Holy Church spoke to the poor, the workers, the Union organizers, the immigrants with the gleam of hope in their eyes for themselves and for their children.

Our Holy Church looked at Jesus as the Divine Master who came to teach life and to provide the life skills that do more than what is practical. His life skills lead us to life that lasts forever.

That’s what I want, for myself, my family, my children, and for all of us. This Holy Polish National Catholic Church placed the gleam back in my eyes. This Church is the Church that gives us the hope and the life that Jesus was all about.

Our Church teaches that by accepting Jesus as our Divine Master, and following His way, we bind ourselves to the Vine that gives life. In our Holy Church we live a life defined by those necessary skills — love and prayer. In our Church we recognize true wisdom; that we have a relationship with God and with each other. In our Church we gain the life skills, the wisdom necessary for a true and proper understanding as well as respect for God.

We are blessed to have our Holy Church. We are not them, we are not something else, we are PNCC and we are life. Take great comfort in being in this Church and know it, learn about it, cherish it. Know that here we have the life that Jesus wanted for His branches. Amen.

Homilies

Third Sunday of Lent (C)

First reading: Exodus 3:1-8,13-15
Psalm: Ps 103:1-4,6-8,11
Epistle: 1 Corinthians 10:1-6,10-12
Gospel: Luke 13:1-9

These things happened as examples for us

Któryś za nas cierpiał rany
Jezu Chrtyste, zmiłuj się nad nami

Lord for us your wounds were suffered
O, Christ Jesus, have mercy on us

The fig tree’s perspective

A question: Would we want to be that fig tree? Let’s imagine how the fig tree must have felt. The owner had been showing up, three years in a row, and the tree had nothing to show him. The fig tree knew, this time the owner wasn’t going to accept the ‘no fruit’ option. The fig tree can hear him yelling: Cut it down! What a waste! Burn it up!

The gardener implores the owner:

‘Sir, leave it for this year also, —¨and I shall cultivate the ground around it and fertilize it; —¨it may bear fruit in the future.’

The fig tree was certainly glad that the gardener was there and that he prevailed. Would we want to be the fig tree? Perhaps the question should be, What must we do, since we are the fig tree?

Lessons from history

Much of this week’s scripture is a walk through history. We hear of Moses’ encounter on Mount Horeb. We hear Jesus in discussions about events of that day, the Galileans killed by Pilate, or the eighteen people killed when the tower at Si’loam fell on them. Paul discusses the Exodus from Egypt and the fact that the Israelites who displeased God were —struck down in the desert.—

These histories are not meant to depress us, or cause us to think that God is horrible, or to think that these particular people were terrible sinners of some sort. What it is meant to teach, is that we must not assume an air of overconfidence, self-centered reliance, or some attitude that would cause us to think that we live in a state of sinless perfection. We must never fail to recall that without God we will bear no fruit. Overconfidence, self-centered reliance, and a failure to acknowledge and repent of our sins places in a state apart from God, as if we, on our own, could bear fruit.

As Christians, our attitude must be that of the fig tree. The tree had to rely on the good will of the gardener. Likewise, we must place our reliance on Jesus as the one who cultivates us and gives us that next chance. We must see Jesus as the one who frees us from our sin, who makes us new, who fills us with life, and who — if He is in our lives — causes us to bear good fruit (John 15:1-2).

Who gets punished?

Things get complicated in life. At times we are left wondering what happened. Someone we trusted, we built a relationship with, we made plans with, is gone. Perhaps some other disappointment, a let down, job loss, economic problems, relationship stresses, in all of it we look internally and perhaps we wonder, Am I being punished?

Our society has become very well versed in punishment. The slightest let down, the littlest transgression, and retribution is demand. Punishment is ever before our eyes and by some sort of transference we turn our God into a god of punishment. Some religious talking heads blame tragedy on God’s retribution. You’ve heard it, and the more we hear it the less shocked we are. We should be shocked for this isn’t God.

People who make this mistake, who focus on punishment, on the sins of others, or on their own sins — all to the exclusion of Jesus as our salvation — forget about the gardener, the one who tills the soil around us, who feeds us with His word, and who gives us the next chance.

God transcends

The amazing thing about God is that He transcends punishment, sinfulness, and disappointment. Our core faith, our inner being knows very well that we do not have a God of punishment. We, in the Holy Polish National Catholic Church, trust in the God revealed to us in Jesus Christ. He is the God that came to us, that took on our humanity, that suffered and was disappointed, even by His disciples.

His disciples thought they knew better, they battled each other, they were quick to act, slow to think. They even lied, betrayed, and ran away, all to protect themselves. God wasn’t punishment to them, for that or any other reason.

Our God transcended all that, and in His precious blood He washed all that was sick in them, and he washes all that is sick in us away. Our God is that very gardener who implored the owner for more time, for more work even. The gardener had to do more and more for that fig tree. Jesus stands beside us, for we are like that fig tree, and He gives us the grace that allows us to bear fruit.

God the Father is the owner and He can only see us through the lens of His Son Jesus, the gardener, who is working so that we might bear fruit.

God is in the present tense.

Interestingly, our God has a name. Do you recall what He told Moses? What was God’s name? I Am.

God is teaching us, even in giving us His Holy Name. He is telling us, I am. God is in the present tense. God is always present. The whole —footprints on the beach— may be a bit cliche, but that is the truth of God. He is present. He is with us even when we disappoint in sin, even when we are disappointed, fearful, questioning. In our times of strength and times of weakness, God is present tense.

Present, and always another chance

God is exactly present to us in this tabernacle, on this Holy Altar. He is present in this community, in our Holy Church. His grace is living, energizing, and present with us. He is at work here and in our entire Church. Not only is He present, God the Holy Spirit is at work, fertilizing all our minds, strengthening our bodies, refreshing our wills to struggle on.

Take comfort

Today we are to take comfort. Forget punishment and disappointment — that is not our destiny nor our present circumstance. Look to God. Look to the image of God in each other and in your neighbors. The gardener is standing with us and He is ready. He has set to work so that in Him we might bear fruit. In Him we have all we need.

— In Him we have all we need. —

We have that next chance, and the next after that. He will not abandon us — as long as we stay faithful to Him — not to ourselves, not to agendas — but to Him who transcends, is ever present, and is at work to make us whole. Amen.

Perspective,

Leading your family to God through art

The story of Akiane Kramarik. Of course, the sort of personal revelations she recounts are not matters of faith, but very individual. In addition, revelations which may occur, and which are left unguided, degenerate into a fragile human, very fallible “spiritual” construct with little basis in the truth of the Divine. Nonetheless, she paints beautifully.

Perspective, PNCC, Political, ,

PNCC Diocese of Canada, and others, get no info from the City of Hamilton

From TheSpec: City tries again for social housing funds

The city is pitching four social housing projects to the province in hopes of receiving a final slice of government stimulus cash.

The city’s previous applications — which included a proposal to turn the former Royal Connaught Hotel into mixed-use housing — were all turned down. This application is Hamilton’s last chance to receive funding from the joint federal-provincial program.

The proposals the city chose to submit were judged based on several criteria, including cost, the bidder’s background, site and construction readiness, and location, said Rick Male, the city’s director of financial services.

The four housing proposals, which were approved by council recently, were the highest-scoring submissions of the 13 compliant projects submitted.

The city’s top priority is a proposal from the Hellenic Community of Hamilton and District. It asks for $210,000 to turn an old fire hall on its property into four affordable housing units, which would add to the 39 units the non-profit organization already operates, said Nathan Hondronicols, president of the Hellenic Community.

The second priority on the list, submitted by Homestead Christian Care, is for 46 housing units at the site of a former bar on Main Street East. The two final proposals, which were also included in the last round of applications, are proposals for 27 units for families on Burton Street and 59 units for seniors on Upper Gage.

There’s about $120 million up for grabs this round, said Brent Whitty of the Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing. Successful projects will be announced by the end of March.

In the previous application, the controversial Connaught proposal was listed as the city’s top priority for funding. Tony Battaglia, spokesperson for the group that owns the Connaught, said he was surprised to learn the proposal was excluded from this round of applications after it was listed as the city’s first priority last time.

Anthony Jasinski, treasurer of the Canadian diocese of the Polish National Catholic Church of Canada, shares Battaglia’s concern. His church’s proposal for 83 units on Barton Street was included in the last round but nixed this time.

“We’re very upset,” he said. “We’re still fuming over this last result and we’d like to know what it is that invalidated us.”

Of course, governments reaching decisions in secret, or according to subjective criteria, is not the sole province of communist or authoritative regimes. It happens in Canada too. A good RFP process should result in scored rankings which are then open to all. After-all, it is the public’s money, and they should be able to judge whether the process was properly followed and whether the RFPs were equitably scored.

Perspective, Poland - Polish - Polonia, Political, ,

At the Mall (in Poland)

From the NY Times: Poland Looks Inward After Film Puts ‘Mall Girl’ Culture on View

WARSAW —” They loiter at the mall for hours, young teenage girls selling their bodies in return for designer jeans, Nokia cell phones, even a pair of socks.

Katarzyna Roslaniec, a former film student, first spotted a cluster of mall girls three years ago, decked out in thigh-high latex boots. She followed them and chatted them up over cigarettes. Over the next six months, the teens told her about their sex lives, about the men they called —sponsors,— about their lust for expensive labels, their absent parents, their premature pregnancies, their broken dreams.

Ms. Roslaniec, 29, scribbled their secrets in her notepad, memorizing the way they peppered their speech with words like —frajer— —” —loser— in English.

She gossiped with them on Grono.net, the Polish equivalent of Facebook. Soon, she had a large network of mall girls.

The result is the darkly devastating fictional film, —Galerianki,— or Mall Girls, which premiered in Poland in the autumn and has provoked an ongoing national debate about moral decadence in this conservative, predominantly Catholic country, 20 years after the fall of Communism.

The film tells the story of four teenage girls who turn tricks in the restrooms of shopping malls to support their clothing addiction. It has attained such cult status that parents across the country say they are confiscating DVDs of the film for fear it provides a lurid instruction manual.

The revelation that Catholic girls, some from middle-class families, are prostituting themselves for a Chanel scarf or an expensive sushi dinner is causing many here to question whether materialism is polluting the nation’s soul…

Adam Bogoryja-Zakrzewski, a journalist who made a documentary about mall girls, said the phenomenon had laid bare the extent to which the powerful Polish Catholic church —” anti abortion, anti-gay and anti-contraception —” was out of touch with the younger generation, for whom sex, alcohol and consumerism held more appeal. —The shopping mall has become the new cathedral in Poland,— he said…

In Communist times the Church offered a viable alternative to the status quo and the government agenda. What was lost in the transition is the sense of Catholic faith as a viable alternative.

People reacted quickly to the economic and political changes in Poland. The money came out of the mattresses and people began to take care of more than basic needs. One of the earliest rush purchases was of “Goldstar VCRs.” People bought them like candy. Generally, the public were very agile in redirecting according to the social condition – a more natural and normal situation.

Unfortunately, the Church did not adapt to the new status quo in Poland and left a gap between people’s expectations and the Church’s reality. The Roman Church in Poland threw itself headlong into politics and the reclamation of ‘lost property.’ While the older generations, already conditioned to Church as a part of their social identity, have remained in the Church, younger people have abandoned the Church.

The reasons start with the lack of adaptation and relevancy in the new socio-political order in Poland, the appearance of greed and political gamesmanship early on (including politically motivated homilies on Sundays). That was exacerbated by paedophilia/paederasty scandals, the discovery of a number of clergy, including high ranking bishops who were in league with the communist government, and the Church’s voice being overshadowed by religio-political movements such as the Rev. Tadeusz Rydzyk’s Radio Maryja (more-or-less the neo-cons of Poland).

For more on this see The Battle for Souls by Jan Puhl:

The Roman Catholic Church sees itself as the custodian of Polish culture. Even today, it still carries weight in the nation’s politics. But fewer and fewer people are obeying its commandments…

Those fewer and fewer are the young, the future. They are at the mall…

PNCC,

Sad day in Pe Ell, Washington

From The Chronicle: Pe Ell Says Farewell to Historic Polish Church

CHURCH RAZED: Community Sad to See One-of-a-Kind Historic Building Torn Down

PE ELL—” A major part of this town’s proud Polish history crashed to the ground this week, after 90 years as a landmark in the west Lewis County town.

Holy Cross Church —” which had been the only Polish National Catholic Church building in Washington state —” lost its battle against time, age and a variety of other factors as crews cut the main timbers out and let the sagging building fall to the ground.

—I have so many emotions and memories about that building,— said lifelong Pe Ell resident John Treznoski, a member of the church in its heyday. —It comes with the times —” what was once a very large crowd died off over the years.—

And a large crowd it was. Polish immigrants to Pe Ell built Holy Cross Church on 3rd Street in 1916, some 18 years after the founding of the nationwide Polish National Catholic Church.

The PNCC split from the Roman Catholic Church over a strong desire to maintain Polish language and traditions in their services —” including the liturgy, which is normally spoken in Latin.

The unique makeup of Holy Cross Church and its one-of-a-kind religious affiliation was an integral part of Pe Ell’s history in the twentieth century, according to many in the town.

Holy Cross Church was included in the Washington State Heritage Register and had applied for inclusion on the National Register of Historic Places —” further cementing the congregation’s legacy in Lewis County.

Although the church struggled with finding consistent leadership over the years, the Polish community in Pe Ell found stability and continuity through what the church offered.

Around a decade ago, according to Treznoski, time finally took its toll on a dwindling congregation.

—There hadn’t been a regular church gathering there for 10 years or better,— said Treznoski. —Those of us still here didn’t have enough money to support a congregation.—

The lack of money was the building’s death knell long before this week’s demolition.

As the church started to fall into disrepair, the church began to sell and give away items to other churches —” and also help out one antique store in town.

—The church members put some things on consignment here,— said Shirley James, owner of Ivy’s Attic on Main Street in Pe Ell. —They let the building go too long, but I’m happy we were able to save some items.—

James points out items such as the crucifix used by the church during prayer time; a Bible estimated to be 100 years old and used consistently by the congregation; and the church’s historic draw organ, used to accompany hymns from faithful members throughout the years.

—It’s so sad to see such a neat building go away,— said James. —I feel bad for the families here who were such a part of it for so many years.—

A trip down South 3rd Street in Pe Ell reveals tilled-up ground and exposed dirt where the church stood for 93 years —” the only building that remains on the property is the rectory, the home where priests assigned to the church lived.

While the tract of land still belongs to the Holy Cross Diocese, Treznoski admits life in the small west Lewis County community of 650 won’t be the same without the physical landmark denoting the town’s heritage.

—At my age, time takes its toll on you and what you’ve been a part of,— said Treznoski. —What can you do?—

Current Events, Poland - Polish - Polonia, , , ,

Violin Recital of Ania and Piotr Filochowski

The Consulate General of Poland in New York cordially invites you to attend the violion recital of Ania and Piotr Filochowski accompanied by Jeeyoung Hong, piano on Saturday, March 6, 2010 at 5 PM. The event is free and open to the public. Registration is required. Seating is limited. First-come, first-served. Latecomers will not be admitted during the performance.

Ania and Piotr Filochowski will be performing the works of: Ludwig van BEETHOVEN, Felix MENDELSSOHN, Johann Sebastian BACH, Niccolò PAGANINI, Eugène YSAYE, Fryderyk CHOPIN, Wolfgang Amadeus MOZART, and Piotr TCHAIKOVSKY. Of note, the program will include several beautiful transcriptions of Chopin’s works in celebration of the anniversary of Chopin’s 200th Birthday this March.

The Consulate General of Poland in New York
233 Madison Ave.
Jan Karski Corner
New York, NY 10016

If you have any questions about the event, please contact the Consulate at: (646) 237-2112 or by E-mail.

Christian Witness, Perspective, Political, , , ,

When defense is co-opted for offense

A Serbian-Canadian’s reflection of NATO’s involvement in the internal affairs of Serbia. Also recall that NATO bombed Serbia on Easter Sunday. From The Bloody Catholic Easter 1999 by Dr. Vladimir Ajdacic at Swans

Easter is the most sacred and the happiest day for Christians. However, the people of Yugoslavia will never forget Easter 1999. NATO, led by the Americans, carried out vicious bombing attacks on a variety of civilian targets in Yugoslavia. Despite a message and request from the Pope not to bomb during this important Christian holy day, NATO bloodied their hands. The patriarch of the Russian Eastern Orthodox Church, Aleksej II, predicted their actions correctly. NATO’s message, written on the bombs and tomahawk missiles was, “Easter presents to the Serbs”…

Similarly, NATO working outside its bounds in Afghanistan, continues to ‘mis-target’ civilians.

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