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Christian Witness, PNCC, , ,

Prayer for Thursday before the Holy Synod

All these with one accord devoted themselves to prayer, together with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with his brothers. (Acts 1:14)

Come Holy Spirit, enkindle the hearts of Thy faithful with the fire of Thy love!

Come, Father almighty! Open our minds to see your way, believe in your word, and know you.
Come, Lord Jesus Savior! Open our lips to speak your truth, proclaim the word, and praise you.
Come, O Holy Spirit! Open our hearts to feel your life, to act on the word, and love you.

Father, Son and Holy Spirit, prepare us for your blessing; guide our Synod, and bless Your Holy Polish National Catholic Church that we may do your will, for you are one God living and true, now and forever. Amen.

Our Father…
Hail Mary…
Glory be…

Christian Witness, PNCC, , ,

Prayer for Wednesday before the Holy Synod

Hear my prayer, O God;
give ear to the words of my mouth. (Psalm 54:2)

Come Holy Spirit, enkindle the hearts of Thy faithful with the fire of Thy love!

Come, Father almighty! Open our minds to see your way, believe in your word, and know you.
Come, Lord Jesus Savior! Open our lips to speak your truth, proclaim the word, and praise you.
Come, O Holy Spirit! Open our hearts to feel your life, to act on the word, and love you.

Father, Son and Holy Spirit, prepare us for your blessing; guide our Synod, and bless Your Holy Polish National Catholic Church that we may do your will, for you are one God living and true, now and forever. Amen.

Our Father…
Hail Mary…
Glory be…

Christian Witness, PNCC, , ,

Prayer for Tuesday before the Holy Synod

Again I say to you, if two of you agree on earth about anything they ask, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven. (Matthew 18:19)

Come Holy Spirit, enkindle the hearts of Thy faithful with the fire of Thy love!

Come, Father almighty! Open our minds to see your way, believe in your word, and know you.
Come, Lord Jesus Savior! Open our lips to speak your truth, proclaim the word, and praise you.
Come, O Holy Spirit! Open our hearts to feel your life, to act on the word, and love you.

Father, Son and Holy Spirit, prepare us for your blessing; guide our Synod, and bless Your Holy Polish National Catholic Church that we may do your will, for you are one God living and true, now and forever. Amen.

Our Father…
Hail Mary…
Glory be…

Christian Witness, PNCC, , ,

Prayer for Monday before the Holy Synod

Come Holy Spirit, enkindle the hearts of Thy faithful with the fire of Thy love!

Come, Father almighty! Open our minds to see your way, believe in your word, and know you.
Come, Lord Jesus Savior! Open our lips to speak your truth, proclaim the word, and praise you.
Come, O Holy Spirit! Open our hearts to feel your life, to act on the word, and love you.

Father, Son and Holy Spirit, prepare us for your blessing; guide our Synod, and bless Your Holy Polish National Catholic Church that we may do your will, for you are one God living and true, now and forever. Amen.

Our Father…
Hail Mary…
Glory be…

Christian Witness, PNCC, ,

Tragedy and rebuilding in faith

On Wednesday, June 13, 2012 a tragedy struck the members of Sacred Heart of Jesus Parish in Madison, Illinois. A fire broke out at the church causing extensive damage to the building and the appointments of the parish. The fire department has done their very best to save whatever they could for the people of Sacred Heart. The Office of the Bishop of the Western Diocese is imploring all parishes and Diocese to help in any way they can, providing this little parish with deep faith and trust in God, those things necessary so that they can continue to spread the Good News of Jesus Christ in Madison, Illinois.

The church was going through a remodel and the only thing left on the list, was the roof and now there’s nothing left.

“This was just our home so I just don’t know what we are going to do,” says says longtime church member Ginny Boxdorfer.

“I don’t know if they can build it back before we are all dead I don’t know,” she says.

Father Andrzej Bako has faith that his parish is strong and will rise from the ashes.

“From the loss and from the people comes strength and will to rebuild,” says Father Bako.

The Western Diocese is accepting monetary donations via Paypal or by check to assist the parish in rebuilding. Please make checks payable to the Western Diocese and mail them to the Western Diocese of the Polish National Catholic Church at 920 N. Northwest Hwy. Park Ridge, IL. 60068. Indicate on the memo line–Sacred Heart Fire Fund.

God bless you all and please pray for Father Andrzej Bako and the Faithful of Sacred Heart of Jesus Parish in Madison, Illinois.

Christian Witness, PNCC, , ,

Pray to the Holy Spirit – Special Synod of the PNCC

Our Holy Church, in its democratic tradition, and honoring the practices of the Church as they existed from the time of the apostles, has called a special synod to elect two new candidates for the office of Bishop.

Our Church has two unfilled offices, the Bishop of the Buffalo-Pittsburgh Diocese and the Bishop of the Western Diocese.

Delegates from across the Church will gather in Scranton, Pennsylvania on Friday, June 22nd, to elect two priests as candidates. Our former pastor, Fr. Stanley Bilinski as well as Fr. Raymond Drada, and Fr. Jerzy Rafalko have been nominated as candidates and were accepted by the review commission.

Please, please, pray during the month and the days leading up to the Special Synod, that the gifts of the Holy Spirit be poured out generously on our Holy Church.

Come, O Holy Ghost, the Lord and Life-giver; take up Your dwelling within my soul, and make of it Your sacred temple. Make me live by grace as an adopted child of God. Pervade all the energies of my soul, and create in me a fountain of living water springing up into life everlasting.

Especially allow our Special Holy Synod to gather and deliberate all the while having wonder in Your Presence. Allow them to depend on Your interaction in the election of candidates to the Office of Bishop in Your Church.

Christian Witness, Homilies

Reflection for Pentecost Sunday

The Father, the Son, and Who?
I really dislike fill-in-the-blanks…

“Then there appeared to them tongues as of fire, which parted and came to rest on each one of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit.”

In preparing the bulletin this week I came across a picture. The image of God the Father and of Jesus. The third frame showed and empty picture frame. Above it says Father, Son, and Who? Our automatic reaction is to fill in the blank. Father, Son and Holy Spirit. The empty picture frame is filled up with the picture of a dove or a flame, like the tongues of flame that came to rest on those in the upper room. The picture complete, we feel a sense of completeness. But are we done?

Truly, the Holy Spirit filled those in the upper room. They burst out onto the balcony above the street, and Peter gave the very first homily. The Apostles were filled, and so we think the blank is filled. The Spirit is in the picture frame; the bishops are there to lead our faith journey. Aren’t we set? They were committed, committed to the mission that Jesus passed onto them. Committed to filling in the blank. Isn’t that enough?

We often think that God will take care of everything. Certainly He will. He fills the blanks in our lives. But God also needs us to fill in the blank space. Jesus needed the Apostles to step up, to follow the instructions He gave them, to go out into the world and preach the Word, to baptize, to proclaim salvation through the forgiveness of sins.

Jesus calls us to the same mission. He needs us to do exactly those things. To do what the Holy Spirit prompts us to do. To fill in the blanks.

God Has taken care of the courage, energy, and determination we need. As He empowered the Apostles through the gift of the Holy Spirit. He empowers us through our baptism and confirmation. The Holy Spirit is more than an empty frame. The blank is filled in by those called to do God’s work in the world.

Consider those picture frames. The Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Then fill in the last picture frame with a picture of you. Don’t just put a dove in the frame and walk away satisfied. Put a picture of yourself in there because every Christian must fill in the blank. The Holy Spirit fills us. The dove won’t do God’s work or carry our Jesus’ instructions. We have been filled with the Holy Spirit for a reason. He gives us all we need to do His work.

Calendar of Saints, Christian Witness, Poetry,

Submissions requested – poems about saints

From Dr. John Guzlowski

Dr. Mary Ann Miller, Associate Professor of English, Caldwell College, Caldwell, NJ, is calling for submissions of poems for a proposed anthology of contemporary American poems that contain references to one or more Catholic saints (excluding Jesus and Mary).

All e-mail submissions must be Sent To Dr. Miller by 11:59 p.m. on Friday, June 1, 2012. The subject line should read: “saint poem(s)”

GUIDELINES:

  • Up to 3 poems per poet will be accepted for consideration.
  • Each poem must be no longer than 3 pages.
  • The poems should NOT be historical poems, i.e. “lives of the saints” in modern idiom, written in the voice of the saint speaking in the first person “I,” NOR should they be prayers addressing the saint in the second person “you.”
  • Personae SHOULD be contemporary voices, male and female, from a variety of social, regional, and occupational circumstances. Voices of poems already selected from traditional research are speaking within very specific contemporary dramatic contexts, such as: a mother trying to get her newborn to fall asleep at 3 a.m., a man returning to a depressed coal town in western Pennsylvania after abandoning it to live elsewhere, a Native American child experiencing the pains of assimilation in a Catholic school, an older brother concerned about the kind of marriage his younger sister might make, a burn victim’s compassion for a small child with whom he shares a hospital room, a woman holding the hand of her dying mother, a Hungarian Catholic woman whose marriage to a Jewish man causes her father’s rejection, a woman doing laundry, a family moving out of their home, a disillusioned nurse whose back goes out from lifting so many bodies, a medical doctor struggling to inform a patient of his terminal illness, a friend of a gay person who died of AIDS, a friend of a woman who attempted suicide, a patron of a food pantry who finds money on the floor.
  • Poems of humor and irony are welcome.
  • Published and unpublished poems may be submitted. If published, please include all original publication information in bibliographic format at the end of the poem.
  • Send submission as a single-file Word attachment to Dr. Miller. The first page should list the poet’s name, phone number, and e-mail contact information, a brief 4-line bio, and the titles of submitted poems. The poet’s name should appear on each poem.
  • The editor will respond by e-mail to all submissions within a month of the submission deadline.
  • The editor is in the process of finding a publisher for this anthology and, therefore, cannot guarantee its publication. She is proposing a collection of approximately 50 poems.
Art, Christian Witness, , ,

A joyful noise

From CBS 60 Minutes: Joy in the Congo: A musical miracle

“Joy in the Congo” seems an unlikely — even impossible — title for a story from the Congo, considering the searing poverty and brutal civil war that have decimated that country. Yet in Kinshasa, the capital city, we found an unforgettable symphony orchestra — 200 singers and instrumentalists defying the poverty, hardship, and struggles of life in the world’s poorest country…and creating some of the most moving music we have ever heard. Follow Bob Simon to the Congo to hear the sounds and stories of the Kimbanguist Symphony Orchestra.

Christian Witness, PNCC, , ,

To comfort in the midst of sadness and violence

From the Chicago Tribune: Family, friends gather at Brighton Park home of slain 13-year-old

On the quiet Southwest Side block where many of the kids spend their days playing outside, faces were grim Sunday as more than 50 neighbors gathered around the steps where 13-year-old Adrian Luna was shot and killed.

“It is very hard to lose a loved one,” the Rev. Jose Rojas told the crowd, warning that the community should come together to prevent such violence from happening again. “Today, it happened to them. Tomorrow, it could be any of us.”

Adrian, whose full name was Roberto Adrian Luna though he went by his middle name, was hanging out with two friends Saturday night on the steps to his Brighton Park neighborhood home in the 4600 block of South Spaulding Avenue.

“Chillen like a villain,” Luna posted on Facebook just before 9 p.m. Saturday.

An hour later, the teenager was dead and two of his friends wounded after two gunmen apparently emerged from a gangway and started shooting at the trio, police and family said.

Adrian’s older brother, Mario Lopez, 29, was a few houses away and ran towards his fallen brother.

“I ran screaming his name. I saw him in a fetal position,” Lopez said, tears welling in his eyes. “… He stopped breathing in my arms.”

Family said the Irene C. Hernandez Middle School 7th-grader was a happy-go-lucky kid who excelled at math and loved horror movies. On Easter Sunday, Adrian had planned to prank his family on by hiding oranges instead of eggs for the hunt, family said.

“He was just a baby,” said Erik Lopez, 28, another of Adrian’s brothers. “They took a kid full of life, a kid full of joy.”

Among Adrian’s close friends are the two others wounded in the attack. A 15-year-old boy was shot in the forearm and thigh, and a 16-year-old boy was shot in the arm, but their relatives said their injuries are not life-threatening.

The mother of one of 16-year-old victim said her son told her one of the gunmen emerged from the gangway next to Adrian’s home and asked the teens what gang they were in. The teens told the gunman they were not in a gang — something police corroborated, though they said the shooting may be related to gang conflicts in the area.

“Even so, he shot them,” the victim’s mother said. “You’re not safe anywhere.”

Police said no one was in custody Sunday evening.

As Adrian’s family tearfully looked out at the gathered crowd, Rojas, the pastor at St. John the Baptist National Catholic Church (Parroquia San Juan Bautista), sprinkled holy water on the steps where Adrian died.

With that, neighbors reached into their pockets and donated money to help Adrian’s family bury the teenager.

“It’s not about revenge,” the priest told the crowd. “It’s about prevention.”

Dale Señor el descanso eterno.
Brille para él la luz perpetua.
Descanse en paz. Amén

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