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New blog post: Palm Sunday – B https://www.konicki.com/2009/04/05/palm-sunday-b/ [#] 8:29pm | via Twitter
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New blog post: A Dialog of the Soul with the Mother, Part II http://tinyurl.com/dhqsvm [#] 9:05pm | via Twitter
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Why, O my cold heart, are you void of feeling?Â
How can you not melt, Jesus’ love perceiving?Â
When Jesus shows us His fervent love for us;
His blood flows freely.Jesus continues, charged with love so burning.
The cross so heavy presses on His shoulders.Â
The fainting Jesus, weakened and racked with pain,
Falls with the cross now.Jesus, submits now to His executioners.
Willingly yielding, Author of Salvation:Â
Giving hands and feet, He rescues us from sin,
Salvation bringing.O dear wood, sweet wood, give us now His body,
That on your members It may hang no longer.Â
Into the dark tomb  solemnly we place Him
With tearful mourning.Would that my cold heart might be warmed by my tears;
These blows that strike You I inflict with vile sins.
Accept my sorrow for so offending You:
My God, I love You.Lord, we would praise You throughout all the ages;
For You have suffered pain, abuse, and insults.
O faultless Jesus, Son of the Lord most high,
You suffered for us.
Translation by the National United Choirs of the Polish National Catholic Church, Music Commission
[audio:https://www.konicki.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/04/12-gorzkie-ac2bbale-iii-hymn-duszo-oziac299bac282a.mp3]Duszo oziębła, czemu nie gorejesz?
Serce me, czemu całe nie truchlejesz?
Toczy twój Jezus z ognistej miłości
Krew w obfitości.Ogień miłości, gdy Go tak rozpala,
Sromotne drzewo na ramiona zwala;
Zemdlony Jezus pod krzyżem uklęka,
Jęczy i stęka.Okrutnym katom posłuszny się staje,
Ręce i nogi przebić sobie daje,
Wisi na krzyżu, ból ponosi srogi
Nasz Zbawca drogi!O słodkie drzewo, spuśćże nam już Ciało,
Aby na tobie dłużej nie wisiało!
My je uczciwie w grobie położymy,
Płacz uczynimy.Oby się serce we łzy rozpływało,
Że Cię, mój Jezu, sprośnie obrażało!
Żal mi, ach, żal mi ciężkich moich złości,
Dla Twej miłości!Niech Ci, mój Jezu, cześć będzie w wieczności
Za Twe obelgi, męki, zelżywości,
Któreś ochotnie, Syn Boga jedyny,
Cierpiał bez winy!
“I behold my Son, my Jesus,
At the pillar tied and waiting.
Stripped, and bleeding from the lash;
stripped, and bleeding from the lash.”Holy Virgin, let me tarry;
Scars of Jesus let me carry
Deeply etched within my heart;
deeply etched within my heart.“As I see the thorns which pierce Him,
I am moved to deep compassion.
Now my soul faints at the sight;
now my soul faints at the sight!”Mother Mary, your Son, Jesus,
Feels the stab the thorns inflicted.Â
Let me also share His pain;
let me also share His pain.“Would that I, Your grieving mother,
Might assume Your heavy burden:
Take Your cross, O dearest Son.
take Your cross, O dearest Son.”I beseech your Son, O Maiden;
I implore Him without ceasing
That I share His cross with you.
that I share His cross with you.
Translation by the National United Choirs of the Polish National Catholic Church, Music Commission
[audio:https://www.konicki.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/04/10-gorzkie-ac2bbale-ii-rozmowa-duszy-z-matkac285-bolesnac285.mp3]Ach, widzę Syna mojego
Przy słupie obnażonego,
Rózgami zsieczonego!
Rózgami zsieczonego!Święta Panno, uproś dla mnie,
Bym ran Syna Twego znamię
Miał na sercu wyryte!
Miał na sercu wyryte!Ach, widzę jako niezmiernie
Ostre głowę rani ciernie!
Dusza moja ustaje!
Dusza moja ustaje!O Maryjo, Syna swego,
Ostrym cierniem zranionego,
Podzielże ze mną mękę!
Podzielże ze mną mękę!Obym ja, Matka strapiona,
Mogła na swoje ramiona
Złożyć krzyż Twój, Synu mój!
Złożyć krzyż Twój, Synu mój!Proszę, o Panno jedyna,
Niechaj krzyż Twojego Syna
Zawsze w sercu swym noszę!
Zawsze w sercu swym noszę!
Jesus, despite your innocence
You were condemned to a criminal’s death.
Jesus, my beloved.Jesus, by malicious murders
spat upon rudely, Your face has been defiled.
Jesus, my beloved.Jesus, thrice denied by Peter,
who in fear had broken his promise.
Jesus, my beloved.Jesus, treated harshly like a thief,
dragged before Pilate’s court by Your tormentors.
Jesus, my beloved.Jesus, by the court and Herod
called “King of Glory,” jeered at relentlessly.
Jesus, my beloved.Jesus, clad in white for mockery,
taunted were You and laughed at most shamefully.
Jesus, my beloved.Jesus, to a pillar made of stone
lashed without mercy, whipped most severely.
Jesus, my beloved.Jesus, with a crown of prickly thorns
Your head was pierced almost onto the brain.
Jesus, my beloved.Jesus, dressed in royal scarlet robe,
scorned were You with laughter by Your foes.
Jesus, my beloved.Jesus, Your head was struck with reeds,
mocked as the King of Sorrow kneeling before the court.
Jesus, my beloved.We hail You, Jesus!
All honor to You:
For man degraded,
humniliated.
To You all glory,
praises and honor,
Lord God everlasting.
Translation by the National United Choirs of the Polish National Catholic Church, Music Commission
[audio:https://www.konicki.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/04/08-gorzkie-ac2bbale-ii-lament-duszy-nad-cierpiac285cym-jezusem.mp3]Jezu, od pospólstwa niewinnie
Jako łotr godzien śmierci obwołany,
Jezu mój kochany!Jezu, od złośliwych morderców
Po ślicznej twarzy tak sprośnie zeplwany,
Jezu mój kochany!Jezu, pod przysięgą od Piotra
Po trzykroć z wielkiej bojaźni zaprzany,
Jezu mój kochany!Jezu, od okrutnych oprawców
Na sąd Piłata, jak zabójca szarpany,
Jezu mój kochany!Jezu, od Heroda i dworzan,
Królu niebieski, zelżywie wyśmiany,
Jezu mój kochany!Jezu, w białą szatę szydersko
Na większy pośmiech i hańbę ubrany,
Jezu mój kochany!Jezu, u kamiennego słupa
Niemiłosiernie biczmi wysmagany,
Jezu mój kochany!Jezu, przez szyderstwo okrutne
Cierniowym wieńcem ukoronowany,
Jezu mój kochany!Jezu, od żołnierzy niegodnie
Na pośmiewisko purpurą odziany,
Jezu mój kochany!Jezu, trzciną po głowie bity,
Królu boleści, przez lud wyszydzany,
Jezu mój kochany!Bądź pozdrowiony,
bądź pochwalony,
Dla nas zelżony,
wszystek wykrwawiony.
Bądź uwielbiony!
Bądź wysławiony!
Boże nieskończony!
First reading: Isaiah 50:4-7
Psalm: Ps 22:8,9,17-20,23-24
Epistle: Philippians 2:6-11
Gospel: Mark 14:1-15:47
Then Jesus said to them,
“All of you will have your faith shaken, for it is written:
I will strike the shepherd,
and the sheep will be dispersed.
But after I have been raised up,
I shall go before you to Galilee.”
Choices:
We like to think of faith, of the Church as a series of choices. We like the idea of choice. As we reflect on Christ’s triumphal entry into Jerusalem and the reading of the Passion of our Lord Jesus Christ according to St. Mark we reflect on choices that were made. Let’s looks at those today. Was everything a choice or there was something more.
The choices:
They said, “Not during the festival,
for fear that there may be a riot among the people”
The chief priests and the scribes chose to avoid a big showy arrest during the festival. They chose to avoid publicity and to hide the sin they were committing, the persecution and murder of an innocent man.
a woman came with an alabaster jar of perfumed oil
The woman who stepped forward was courageous. She knew the impact of what she was doing. She heard the murmur of the bystanders. She chose to anoint Jesus, to be faithful to something greater than choice in the midst of condemnation.
Then Judas Iscariot, one of the Twelve,
went off to the chief priests to hand him over to them.
There’s the big choice. People think Judas had to betray Jesus; he had to do so or salvation would never come. Some see him as weak, even sympathetic, and perhaps a forgivable part of the plan. That only works if there is no choice, but Judas had a choice. Faith or betrayal? He chose betrayal. For that Jesus would say:
—woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed.
It would be better for that man if he had never been born.”
Judas, like the Pharisees, the scribes, the Sadducees, the priestly class, Pilate… they all had a choice to make. How often Jesus would tell them: You have God right before you, your Messiah, and you don’t recognize Him.
This weekend’s paper had an article on Claudia Procula, Pilate’s wife. The article goes in a lot of different directions, but the key point is that she is counted among the saints. If you recall, she had a dream about Jesus and told Pilate to leave Him alone. She chose to speak-up, to tell of her dream. Pilate missed the sign, not because he was destined to, but because he chose to. Claudia, for her part, remembered the dream and chose to follow Jesus, chose to follow Him because of something greater than choice.
The disciples chose to sleep rather than to pray. When the betrayer and the cohort came they fled. Peter spoke boldly, but when the moment came he chose cowardice over witness:
He began to curse and to swear,
“I do not know this man about whom you are talking.”
The false witness chose to lie under oath. They chose to condemn Jesus rather than to recognize Him. Like Peter they said they didn’t know Him.
An inexorable call and a choice
In each scene, at each step, choices were made. The key to all of these choices is that they are not choices in a vacuum.
Jesus knew that each man and woman He encountered carried within themselves the inexorable call to God. God is all goodness, all charity, all truth, all justice. He is perfection. Each of them, and each of us, carries that unavoidable call to perfection, to oneness with God. It is part of us, put into us by God, the longing of our souls. Psalm 63:1 captures the inborn longing that is part of each of us:
O God, thou art my God, I seek thee, my soul thirsts for thee; my flesh faints for thee
Choices aren’t just choices. We have to see each choice in light of the call that pulls us toward God. The woman who anointed Jesus – she drew closer to God, not just in anointing Him, but in doing right before scoffers. Pilate’s wife chose to speak, and drew closer to God. Judas, Pilate, the Jewish leadership, the false witnesses, Peter, the other disciples all chose to distance themselves from God. They drew away from Christ and we see the result — He stands alone, on trial, mocked, derided, killed.
Both
As Jesus’ people, as the Church, we recognize that every choice is a chance. Every choice is an opportunity that has been laid before us. Do we choose to fulfill the call to closeness with God, a call that lives in us, or do we choose distance. Do we leave Jesus standing alone or do we keep Him company, even at the cross.
Living life subject to falls
We live a life subject to falls. Jesus washed His disciples’ feet for a reason. Afterward He said:
“Do you realize what I have done for you?
You call me ‘teacher’ and ‘master,’ and rightly so, for indeed I am.
If I, therefore, the master and teacher, have washed your feet, you ought to wash one another’s feet.
I have given you a model to follow, so that as I have done for you, you should also do.”
Jesus knew we would fall; fall over and over. Jesus fell on his way to calvary. Three times He fell to the ground and arose again. In His physical weakness He recalls and pays for our spiritual weakness.
Living life faithful to the call
We will fall, and we will rise. Jesus provides us the means to rise over and over, to live faithful to the call to witness to Him, to make the choice for Him, and to return to Him. Our call is to stand by Christ, to love Him, to proclaim Him even when the shepherd is stricken. The world strikes at Jesus over and over. The world actively endeavors to strike Jesus, to make Him not God, not truth, not the only way to heaven. The world tries to make Jesus offensive and His people mistaken in their choice. As they strike we must choose where we will stand.
The world strikes and we could choose to scatter, to run away, to deny Christ. Even if we do the call remains. The call to live in faithfulness, to stand with the shepherd. Jesus beckons us. The Sprint inspires us and gives the grace necessary to hear the call. There is no denying what we hear.
Living life faithful to the choice
If we live faithful to the call we will show our choice. Our choice will be apparent to the world. The world’s strikes against the shepherd are of no account and are without merit. The truth speaks to us from within and shows those strikes to be untrue. Knowing they are untrue we stand at the cross, looking up, saying: “He is my hope!”
The risen Christ has gone before us to prepare the way, the way that gives us reason for our hope. Amen.
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3:00am |
Posted a tweet on Twitter.
New blog post: Daily Digest for 2009-04-03 https://www.konicki.com/2009/04/03/daily-digest-for-2009-04-03/
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3:00am |
Updated status on Facebook.
Deacon Jim New blog post: Daily Digest for 2009-04-03 https://www.konicki.com/2009/04/03/daily-digest-for-2009-04-03/.
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12:48pm |
Posted a tweet on Twitter.
At Sports Authority getting cleats and assorted baseball gear.
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12:48pm |
Updated status on Facebook.
Deacon Jim At Sports Authority getting cleats and assorted baseball gear.
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12:49pm |
Posted a tweet on Twitter.
Previously stopped at Good Shepherd in Amsterdam for their Polish food sale. Much goodness.
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12:49pm |
Posted a tweet on Twitter.
On our way to Cohoes for kielbasa.
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12:49pm |
Updated status on Facebook.
Deacon Jim On our way to Cohoes for kielbasa.
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7:00pm |
Scrobbled 4 songs on Last.fm. (Show Details)
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7:34pm |
Posted a tweet on Twitter.
New blog post: April 4 – Exiles Prayer in the Spring by Karol Baliński https://www.konicki.com/2009/04/04/april-4-exiles-prayer-in-the- …
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7:34pm |
Updated status on Facebook.
Deacon Jim New blog post: April 4 – Exiles Prayer in the Spring by Karol Baliński https://www.konicki.com/2009/04/04/april-4-exiles-prayer-in-the- …
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12:13am |
Shared 2 links on Google Reader. (Show Details)
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Our Father! Thou hast brought the spring again;
Again Thy hand strews gifts and makes us glad;
Joyful in rich profusion smiles the plain,
Yet Father, we are sad!The winter gloom has swiftly winged away,
The heavens above us don their clearest blue;
But with the grass that springs in fresh array
No hopes for us renew.Earth hears the birds that throng in joyous troops.
Reviving dew upon her bosom lies;
Behold the primrose of our hope! it droops
For lack of dew it dies!Birds in returning home beyond the sea
Dip wings with tuneful song in ocean’s foam;
But we, poor pilgrims — when, alas! shall we
Returning find a home?…
The new sun lighting up the world today
Makes beautiful earth’s bosom cold and stark
But for the exiled sheds no cheering ray —
All, all for us is dark!…
But we, so long as any strength is left,
Will with sad hearts united as in one
Pray with the voices of millions thus bereft,
Give us more sun — more sun!
From —Poets and Poetry of Poland A Collection of Polish Verse, Including a Short Account of the History of Polish Poetry, with Sixty Biographical Sketches of Poland’s Poets and Specimens of Their Composition— by Paul Soboleski.
Ojcze nasz Ojcze! znowu dajesz wiosnę,
Znów skarby sypiesz dłonią twą rozrzutną!
Wszystko dokoła wesołe, radośne —
Ale nam Ojcze! nam… smutno!Śnieżne zimowe gdzieś przepadły chmury
Już niebo żywszą barwą błękitnieje,
Trawka kiełkuje i pnie się do góry —
Z nią razem nasze nadzieje!Ziemia odżyła — słychać ptasząt piosnki,
Bo zbawczą rosę dały im niebiosy —
Panie! a naszych nadziei pierwosnki
Czyż jeszcze zwiędną bez rosy!Zamorska ptastwa skończyła się jazda
Wraca, i zdała już radośnie nóci!
A my tułacze — do swojego gniazda
Czyliż z nas który powróci?Oto już rzeki z kajdan uwolnione
Na cześć swobody szemrzą hymny święte
Wszystkie już, wszystkie kajdany skruszone
Ach! tylko nasze nietknięte!Na te kajdany — och! my już wylali
Tyle łez gorzkich, tyle krwi niewinnej,
Że choć z piekielnej ukute są stali
Dawnoby pęknąć powinny!Ale to jarzmo Ojcze! jest zatrute
Niedość niestety! że nam karki sprzęga
Niedość, że dłonie w żelazo zakute —
Lecz jadem serca dosięga!Ach! nie dosięgnie. nim dojdzie do duszy
Zapal nam serca! zapal twojem tchnieniem!
Bo jad niewoli niczem się niegłuszy
Jeno miłości płomieniem!Już nowe słońce dla świata się pali
Wszystko ożywia potęgą tajemną —
My!… ni promyka dotąd niedostali!…
Ciemno nam Ojcze! och! ciemno!Więc też błądzimy — poznać się niemożem!
Niejeden w kacie mniema widzieć brata!
Niejeden w brata tym uderza nożem,
Którym chciał przebić pierś kata!Toż póki siły, póki tchu nam stanie,
Póki męczarniom niewymodlim końca,
Głosem miljonów wołamy: o! Panie!
Słońca nam! słońca! ach! słońca!
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7:51am |
Posted a tweet on Twitter.
New blog post: PNCC buys former RC Parish in Western New York https://www.konicki.com/2009/04/03/pncc-buys-former-rc-parish-in-western- …
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7:51am |
Updated status on Facebook.
Deacon Jim New blog post: PNCC buys former RC Parish in Western New York https://www.konicki.com/2009/04/03/pncc-buys-former-rc-parish-in-western- …
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8:14am |
Posted a tweet on Twitter.
New blog post: April 3 – Lamentation Hymn, Part IIÂ https://www.konicki.com/2009/04/03/april-3-lamentation-hymn-part-ii%c2%a0/
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8:14am |
Updated status on Facebook.
Deacon Jim New blog post: April 3 – Lamentation Hymn, Part IIÂ https://www.konicki.com/2009/04/03/april-3-lamentation-hymn-part-ii%c2%a0/.
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8:57am |
Posted a tweet on Twitter.
New blog post: The Courageous Heart of Irena Sendler premiers April 19th https://www.konicki.com/2009/04/03/the-courageous-heart-of-ire …
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8:57am |
Updated status on Facebook.
Deacon Jim New blog post: The Courageous Heart of Irena Sendler premiers April 19th https://www.konicki.com/2009/04/03/the-courageous-heart-of-ire …
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10:00am |
Posted a tweet on Twitter.
New blog post: Daily Digest for 2009-04-02 https://www.konicki.com/2009/04/02/daily-digest-for-2009-04-02/
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10:00am |
Updated status on Facebook.
Deacon Jim New blog post: Daily Digest for 2009-04-02 https://www.konicki.com/2009/04/02/daily-digest-for-2009-04-02/.
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Please don’t miss the world premiere telecast on the CBS Television Network, Sunday, April 19, 2009 at 9pm.
The Hallmark Hall of Fame film by renowned TV director and producer John Kent Harrison is based on the true story of 2007 Nobel Peace Prize nominee Irena Sendler, a Polish Catholic social worker, who was part of the Polish underground during World War II and was arrested and brutally tortured by the Nazi’s for saving the lives of nearly 2,500 Jewish children by smuggling them out of the Warsaw ghetto.
On the day of her scheduled execution she was rescued by “Żegota—, the underground network with which she worked to save the Jewish children. She lived in Poland to the age of 98.
Canadian-born actress Anna Paquin, who plays Irena Sendler won an Oscar as a child for her work in “The Piano” and more recently a Golden Globe Award.
See now, my spirit, how your God does love you.Â
For your salvation Jesus does not falter.
Your anger wounds Him more than His tormentors,
Though His pain is great.Â
 Â
Lord of all nature stands before His judges;Â
Meek Lamb rejected, He awaits His judgment.
Dressed in a white robe, symbol of man’s disdain,
Called “fool” by scoffers.They whipped His shoulders; for my sins they beat Him.
Come, all you sinners, Jesus’ blood is readied
As soothing ointment for wretched hearts of sin;
Wellspring of true life.As men of false pride crown themselves with roses,
Our King, our Savior, crowned with thorns is wounded.
They jeer Him, mock Him, in scarlet robes clothe Him;
Crown Him King with thorns.Would that my cold heart might be warmed by my tears.
These blows that strike You, I inflict with my sins.
Accept my sorrow for so offending You:
My God, I love You.
Translation by the National United Choirs of the Polish National Catholic Church, Music Commission
[audio:https://www.konicki.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/04/07-gorzkie-ac2bbale-ii-hymn-przypatrz-siac299-duszo.mp3]Przypatrz się, duszo, jak cię Bóg miłuje,
Jako dla ciebie sobie nie folguje.
Przecież Go bardziej, niż katowska, dręczy,
Złość twoja męczy.Stoi przed sędzią Pan wszego stworzenia,
Cichy Baranek, z wielkiego wzgardzenia;
Dla białej szaty, którą jest odziany,
Głupim nazwany.Za moje złości grzbiet srodze biczują;
Pójdźmy, grzesznicy, oto nam gotują
Ze Krwi Jezusa dla serca ochłody
Zdrój żywej wody.Pycha światowa niechaj, co chce, wróży,
Co na swe skronie wije wieniec z róży,
W szkarłat na pośmiech, cierniem Król zraniony,
Jest ozdobiony!Oby się serce we łzy rozpływało,
Że Cię, mój Jezu, sprośnie obrażało!
Żal mi, ach, żal mi ciężkich moich złości,
Dla Twej miłości!