Thoughts and opinions from a Priest in the PNCC
The Polish National Catholic Church (PNCC) is now accepting applications for the position of Editor of God’s Field. Click here to view/download a copy of the job description and necessary qualifications. The position will be compensated at $1,000 per issue with the expectation of 12 issues annually.
Interested applicants email qualifications to the Office of the Prime Bishop by E-mail. The deadline for applications is June 30, 2013.
I have no energy.
I feel the power.
There is a variety of gifts but always the same Spirit… The particular way in which the Spirit is given to each person is for a good purpose.
Pentecost, unless it falls very late, generally occurs within allergy season. If you have seasonal allergies you know that they cause the typical sneezing, coughing, itchy eyes. An overlooked side effect is feeling exhausted.
Allergies aren’t the only reason for exhaustion. American society is one of the most productive on earth. We work-work-work and we don’t see many people imitating the seven dwarves as they sing their way to work. Beyond work itself workers face a dilemma – whether to rest, take time off, or take a vacation. The current work environment looks at time-off as a sign of not being needed. If you’re not missed while you are away you may come back to a pink slip. Without time-off, without the balanced life we need, we live exhausted.
It is ironic that when Pentecost rolls around, and we reflect on the power and gifts of the Holy Spirit, many of us are just plain exhausted. We think – wow, it would be great to have the power of the Holy Spirit, that energy that drove the apostles and disciples to conquer the earth for faith in Jesus.
As we lay in bed in the morning our prayer to the Holy Spirit may well be, Spirit, help me get out of bed. Then we lay there and perhaps feel guilty, perhaps feeling that we either missed out on or lost those great gifts of the Spirit; even the energy to get up.
What scripture teaches about the Holy Spirit is important to us.
We learn that as Christians we have received the gift of the Holy Spirit. The Spirit dwells in each of us and is constantly filling us with love, inspiration, and very unique gifts – the variety of gifts given to each person for a good purpose.
The Spirit lives in us and listens to us. It is not a one-way conversation, the Spirit prompting us to do things but ignoring what we have to say. The Spirit takes what we say, and even what we cannot articulate, and brings those as prayers and petitions before the Father. As a result we get help.
Key to all of this is trust. Jesus told the Pharisees that the only unforgivable sin was to speak against the Holy Spirit. This is not literal – like saying the Holy Spirit is a bad guy. It is a failure to see and acknowledge the good the Spirit is doing, to trust the obvious power of the Spirit in our lives with Christ. This Pentecost we may feel exhausted, but we must trust that the Spirit is with us, giving us the gifts we need to do good, hearing our prayer, filling us with power!
What Matters to Girls
The Schenectady League of Women Voters is hosting the Working Group on Girls Community Forum, “What Matters to Girls” on Wednesday, May 22nd at 7pm at the 1st Reformed Church, 8 North Church St., Schenectady NY. The Forum is dedicated to empowering middle and high school girls and will provide information on Girl’s Day Out and Girl’s Circles programs for student participants and adult volunteers. Topics will include increasing self esteem, making healthy choices, valuing education, and expanding girl’s vision of the future.
Connecting Faith-Based Groups with the Affordable Care Act: What You Need to Know about Changes in Health Insurance for Your Members

Congressman Paul Tonko is hosting a workshop on Connecting Faith-Based Groups with the Affordable Care Acton Wednesday, May 29th at The Crossings of Colonie, 580 Albany Shaker Rd., Loudonville, NY from 1—3pm. The focus of the workshop will be on providing up-to-date information on federal health insurance programs available to members of Faith-Based organizations. Representatives from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), Region II U.S. Department of Health & Human Services will be available to provide information and resources that can help make it easier to understand health insurance options.
Medicare (health insurance for people 65 and older or with long- term disability or end-stage renal disease), Medicaid (health insurance for people with limited income), and new options for expansion of health insurance that will soon be available under the Affordable Care Act will be discussed.
You may pre-register online or by calling 518-465-0700.
Youth Forum
Schenectady Youth Boxing & Fitness is sponsoring a Youth Forum on June 13th, 10am-12pm at the Fenimore Gallery at Proctors Theater, 432 State St., Schenectady, NY. The forum includes a roundtable discussion with members from community youth focused programs with a focus on sharing goals and information as well as information on upcoming summer plans. A light lunch and opportunities for networking will follow. For more information please contact Schenectady Youth Boxing & Fitness or Judy Decker by E-mail.
2013 Kurs Youth Encampment
The 2013 Kurs Youth Encampment sponsored by the Young Men’s Society of the Resurrection of the Polish National Catholic Church will be held from June 29th through July 6th at the Bishop Hodur Retreat & Recreation Center, 596 Honesdale Road, Waymart, PA. This is by far the best summer youth event anywhere. Our young people are encouraged to attend as well as to invite friends and parishioners for a summer event that builds up faith and friendships that last a lifetime.
Click on the links below for further information and forms:
National United Choirs 2013 Music Workshop
The National United Choirs 2013 Music Workshop and Convention will be held from July 24th to 27th at St. Mary’s Polish National Catholic Church, 5375 Broadview Road, Parma. OH. Click here for details and a registration form.
Polish National Union Trip to Poland
The Polish National Union (Spójnia) is sponsoring a trip to Poland in celebration of the 50th Anniversary of Our Lady of Perpetual Help parish in Żarki (Libiąż) Poland, the birthplace of Bishop Francis Hodur. The parish was built through the generosity of members of the Polish National Union. The trip will run from September 18th through 25th and includes tours of southern Polsnd including noted attrations in Kraków, Zakopane, and Żarki. For details please see the current issue of Straż. Reservations are due by June 10th.
For I see…
What do you see?
But he, full of the Holy Spirit, gazed into heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God; and he said, “Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of man standing at the right hand of God.”
Today, our readings and Gospel look at the present and the future.
As Stephen is about to die he looks up and sees Jesus at the right hand of the Father. He is heading toward Jesus, to His loving embrace. Stephen has Jesus with him in his suffering, and because of that forgives his murders. He is also joyful, even in the midst of the stoning, because He knows what the future holds. Stephen is in a moment so totally now, and in his (and our) future.
John is on the island of Patmos. Jesus is speaking with him once again in terms that can be read as very now, in the present, and for the future. Jesus tells John that He is the Alpha and the Omega – timeless. He also tells John: “Behold, I am coming soon.”
We look at these statements and from them understand that Jesus is ever present, always with us and is also the ultimate goal, our promised future. John knows that Jesus is his present and future. To him Jesus is a joy, better than any other thing the world can offer.
Jesus is delivering His farewell address to His disciples just before the road that will lead Him to Calvary. He is reminding them that they are bound to Him by their knowledge and love, by their unity. They have the reality of God living with and in them, ever present, ever now. They also hear that they have a share in the future reality of God – the kingdom and paradise.
Like Stephen, like John, we need to listen to Jesus and rely on this reality – that He is with us in this moment, in the present, and is not just as a goal or someone we will meet in the future. Also, that we have a share in a wonderful future that surpasses any suffering or difficulty.
Our mothers have seen what Stephen and John saw. They brought us into the Holy Church so that we would see these things, so that we might listen to Jesus and understand a moment so totally now, and a vision for our future.
Because of their faith and the instruction they provided for us we were given an opportunity. When asked, ‘What do you see?’ how will we answer? If we took mom’s lessons to heart we can say: “Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of man standing at the right hand of God.” Saying that we can offer this vision to others. We can let them know about Jesus who is with us now and is our future.
On May 3rd Poland, and members of Polonia worldwide celebrate Polish Constitution Day. This day is also a day of celebration for all who believe in the principals of democracy, a pluralistic society, and the heritage and life of our democratic Church.
The annual commemoration of Polish Constitution Day commemorates the spiritual and moral renovation of the Polish nation, after a period of stagnation caused by foreign influences under the Saxon kings. This day has become a proud and integral part of the civic and patriotic activities for Poles and those of Polish descent in many cities throughout the world.
To the Poles and their descendants May 3rd is a national holiday for it bestows upon the Pole a priceless heritage of humanitarianism, tolerance and a democratic precept conceived at a time when most of Europe lived under the existence of unconditional power and tyranny exemplified by Prussia and Russia.
Poland’s parliamentary system actually began at the turn of the 15th century, but a series of defensive wars, internal stresses, outside influences, widespread permissiveness and excessive concern for the rights of dissent brought Poland to the brink of disaster and anarchy in the 18th Century. Urgently needed reforms became imperative.
The May 3rd, 1791 Constitution was the first liberal constitution in Europe and second in the world, after the Constitution of the United States.
Following the American pattern it established three independent branches of government – executive, legislative and judiciary. Throughout the constitution runs philosophy of humanitarianism and tolerance, such as perfect and entire liberty to all people, rule by majority, secret ballot at all elections, religious freedom and liberty.
The constitution curtailed the executive power of the King and State Council. It forbade them to contract public debts, to declare war, to conclude definitely any treaty, or any diplomatic act. It only allowed the Executive Branch to carry on negotiations with foreign courts, always with reference to the Diet (Parliament).
In terms of democratic precepts, the May 3rd Constitution is a landmark event in the history of Central and Eastern Europe.
The Polish Constitution was deemed too dangerous by the tyranny of absolutism still rampant in Europe. Thus Russia, Prussia and Austria decided to wipe out “the Polish cancer of freedom” from the face of the earth. In 1795 partitioned Poland ceased to exist as a state and in terms of national life, she lost the entire 19th Century, being reborn in 1918 at the conclusion of World War I.
You can read more at Wikipedia or the Polish American Cultural Center.
Not another meeting!!!
Yes, just like the apostles.
And when Paul and Barnabas had no small dissension and debate with them, Paul and Barnabas and some of the others were appointed to go up to Jerusalem to the apostles and the elders about this question. The apostles and the elders were gathered together to consider this matter.
Any organization faced with questions and debate can choose between several courses of action. They can choose to let the boss decide. They can appoint a committee to study the issue and make recommendations. They can have open debate and discussion and still let the boss decide the outcome. They might meet and reach a consensus decision and act in accordance with that decision.
The early Church was not immune to questions and debate. How did they settle those?
We read that Paul and Barnabas were faced with questions and debates in the faith communities they served. They didn’t play the ‘I’m the apostle and I say so’ card. They didn’t appoint a commission to study the issue and give recommendations. Rather, they returned to the center of the Church in Jerusalem where the Church gathered in Council (or Synod) to decide on the matter collectively.
There is one key reason for doing this. The Church can only decide on important issues when it is assembled as one. When it exhibits this physical unity – gathered in Holy Synod – it also exhibits the fact that it is more than a corporation, company, club, or group. It shows the unity it has in the Holy Spirit. In Holy Synod the Church exhibits the unifying and guiding power of the Holy Spirit. The Church does not decide for itself just because. It decides as the Holy Spirit guides it to decide.
Our Holy Church closely adheres to the principals of the early Church in its democratic process. At the local level we gather during annual meetings and regular parish committee meetings to decide as guided by the Holy Spirit. We seek input and guidance from each member of the parish, because the Holy Spirit lives in us individually and most importantly as a collective body – the Body of Christ. Our diocese and the entire Church gather regularly in Holy Synod to exhibit both our physical unity and the underlying unity we have in the Holy Spirit. We trust that when gathered in meetings like these we are more that just a parish, just an organization. We are the Body of Christ, the Holy Church.
Another meeting, question, or debate? Greet each with joy as His disciples, His body, and see the Holy Spirit at work.
Workers Memorial Day is celebrated each year on April 28, the anniversary of passage of the Occupational Safety and Health Act in 1970. It is an opportunity to remember and honor the people who are killed or injured in workplaces, as well as a chance for people to recommit to making workplaces safer and healthier. Our organizer, Bishop Francis Hodur, strongly supported the aspirations of Labor and the Labor movement, but always with an eye toward God’s role in man’s work and striving. The following prayer for Workers Memorial Day is composed and offered by the Interfaith Worker Justice organization.
Scripture
Lamentations 5:1-5
Remember, O LORD, what has befallen us; behold, and see our disgrace! Our inheritance has been turned over to strangers, our homes to aliens. We have become orphans, fatherless; our mothers are like widows. We must pay for the water we drink, the wood we get must be bought. With a yoke on our necks we are hard driven; we are weary, we are given no rest.
Litany
Throughout history widows and orphans symbolized the fragility of life, the vulnerability of people. Widows and orphans became metaphors for the struggle for survival in the face of unjust situations. But they were also tangible and real – neighbors, friends, or family members. Everyone knew a widow and an orphan.
Grant us memory of widows and orphans.
Often women became widows, and children became orphans, because their husbands and fathers died while working in the fields of the wealthy or building the palaces of the rich.
Grant us memory of workers and their families.
As society progressed, the workplace became increasingly more dangerous – machines moving at treacherous speeds, workers scaling higher heights and digging deeper depths. Every second of every day was measured, with ever-increasing expectations. And managers began to view personal interaction between workers as “time theft.” So, in the midst of this the widows and orphans still labor and have no rest. Unjust managers deprive workers of basic human dignity and contact.
Grant us awareness of the widows and orphans.
Stress in the workplace increases animosity and alienation among co-workers. Fewer workers are expected to accomplish more work. The pace is unhealthy. Whether autoworkers or hotel workers, expectations exceed possibilities for safe completion of the work. So, in the midst of this workers are still injured and even killed in their workplaces.
Grant us awareness of these injured workers.
Our prophets continue to remind us to treat widows and orphans fairly, to take seriously their circumstances when considering how we distribute our wealth, and to watch their interests in the halls of power.
Grant us the compassion and wisdom to be advocates for the widows and orphans.
Our prophets continue to remind us that we are to be the voice of those injured in their workplaces. We are to stand with those unable to stand. We are to raise our voices to protect other workers from the same fate.
Grant us the compassion and wisdom to be advocates for our sisters and brothers in the workplace.
Our calling as God’s people is to be hope for the world.
Let us fulfill the hopes of the widows, the orphans, the workers who are injured in the workplace. Amen.
Prayer
Creator God, you formed the world and its people with your hands. As we use our hands, our heads, and our hearts in co-creating the world in our many and varied vocations, we are especially aware of our vulnerability and fragility. We suffer with those injured at the workplace. We mourn with the families of the killed and injured. But our mourning will be hollow without a change in our lives. Awaken our passion for justice for those workers who come in contact with dangerous chemicals, fast-moving machines, and long hours. And grant us hope. Amen.
A new heaven and earth?
What’s wrong with this one?
Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.
Change is a challenge to us in some of its forms.
Of course we tend to ignore the small or insignificant changes around us because we might not even notice them. The grass grew a few millimeters – we wouldn’t see it, but eventually we notice that its time to mow. Bigger changes confront us and we have to deal with them. It may be a move, new job, a pending graduation, retirement, or a decline in health. These changes unsettle us and may cause us stress.
Today we are confronted with God’s ultimate change – the dissolution of EVERYTHING and the coming of a new heaven and earth.
St. John paints this beautifully in the poetry of Revelation. We see the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God. The city is prepared as the new home where God and His people dwell together. God comes to us to live in this new place – talk about a big move. There we are joined with Him in a joy that knows no bounds. All that hinders and hurts us is cast off and there will be no more tears, death, mourning, crying, or pain.
We, as Christians, are called to be an eschatological people. It is a big word, but means that we are a people in touch with this new heaven and earth. We are a people who live in the present, but also live in this time-to-come. We are a people that cannot wait for this change.
When we gather, particularly at Holy Mass, and in the sharing of the Holy Eucharist in communion, we are at once in many places. Instantly we are at the Last Supper, the foot of the cross, the Resurrection, the Ascension, and at the new heaven and earth.
Because we live in all of these places when we “Do this in remembrance” of Him, we are to have no fear, no stress over this coming change. In fact, we are to rejoice in it and pray unceasingly for its coming. We already live there and want to see its fulfillment.
There are many who wish to paint horrific pictures and stories about this moment to come, to instill fear, to make it stressful. Don’t be fooled. We who are His people need only have confidence that all the wrongs, tears, and pains of what we have are nothing compared to the joy to come. Come Lord Jesus!
Over 30 years ago the United States Information Agency (USIA) worked with private partners to produce a TV film, “Let Poland Be Poland” to show support for the Solidarity movement and the Polish people following the imposition of martial law. The film features Frank Sinatra singing the Polish folk song “Wolne Serce” in Polish and English as well as Max von Sydow, Romuald Spasowski, Ronald Reagan, Tip O’Neill, Bob Hope, John Fraser, Glenda Jackson, Zdzislaw Rurarz, Charlton Heston and Orson Welles echoing the title, “Let Poland be Poland.”
On May 18th the 69th anniversary of the conclusion of the Battle of Monte Cassino will be celebrated. The Monte Cassino Foundation in Poland has created an on-line presentation in the 
form of a virtual walk. The presentation includes a walk through the Polish War Cemetery at Monte Cassino and the monuments to Polish forces (3rd Carpathian Rifle Division, 5th Kresowa Infantry Division, 2nd Armored Brigade with the 4 Armoured Regiment — “SCORPION” and 6 Armoured Regiment — the “Children of Lwów,” as well as support forces including the Polish sappers who finally took the stronghold after various other allied strategies had tried for four months.
From Wikipedia: On May 15, the British 78th Division came into the XIII Corps line from reserve passing through the bridgehead divisions to execute the turning move to isolate Cassino from the Liri valley. On May 17, the Polish Corps launched their second attack on Monte Cassino. Under constant artillery and mortar fire from the strongly fortified German positions and with little natural cover for protection, the fighting was fierce and at times hand-to-hand. With their line of supply threatened by the Allied advance in the Liri valley, the Germans decided to withdraw from the Cassino heights to the new defensive positions on the Hitler Line. In the early hours of May 18 the 78th Division and the Polish Corps linked up in the Liri valley 2 miles (3.2 km) west of Cassino town. On the Cassino high ground the survivors of the second Polish offensive were so battered that “it took some time to find men with enough strength to climb the few hundred yards to the summit.” A patrol of Polish 12th Podolian Uhlans Regiment finally made it to the heights and raised a Polish flag over the ruins. The only remnants of the defenders were a group of thirty[63] German wounded who had been unable to move. “The Poles, on their second try, had taken Monte Cassino, and the road to Rome was open. At the end of the war the Poles “… with bitter pride erect[ed] a memorial on the [slope of the] mountain.”
The Monte Cassino Foundation cares of the memory of the Polish soldiers who fought and are buried at Monte Cassino.