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Reflection for the 18th Ordinary Sunday 2025

Christian Witness

Reflection for the 18th Ordinary Sunday 2025

Christian Witness

Reflection for the 18th Ordinary Sunday 2025

Christian Witness,

Prayers for Newtown

Seeing the crowds, he went up on the mountain, and when he sat down his disciples came to him. And he opened his mouth and taught them, saying: “Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.” — Matthew 5:1-2,4

We join with people across the country and around the world in offering up prayers for those horrifically and tragically killed in Newtown, Connecticut today. We stand in sorrow and fellowship with the families of those killed, and the aid workers, first responders, and everyone so affected by this sorrow.

Let us resolve to love more greatly as Jesus asked, to grow in community, in fellowship, and in our resolve to help those who are damaged and in need of help.

O Merciful God, Father of the Crucified Christ! In every sorrow which awaits us may we look up to Thee without doubt or fear, persuaded that Thy mercy is ever sure. Thou cannot fail us. There is no place or time where Thou art not. Uphold us in our grief and sorrow, and in our darkness visit us with Thy light. We are Thine; help us, we beseech Thee, in life and in death to feel that we are Thine. Through Christ our Lord. Amen. — A Prayer In Time of Sorrow — from A Book of Devotions and Prayers According to the Use of the Polish National Catholic Church, Published by the Mission Fund of the PNCC, 7th edition, May 1, 1984.

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Christian Witness, Homilies, , , , ,

Reflection for the Second Sunday of Advent

I can’t believe it!
I guess you didn’t not see it…

A voice of one crying out in the desert: “Prepare the way of the Lord, make straight his paths. Every valley shall be filled and every mountain and hill shall be made low. The winding roads shall be made straight, and the rough ways made smooth, and all flesh shall see the salvation of God.”

If we read the caption above, we note the double negative: “didn’t not.” Writing this, my word-processing program kept pointing to my error.

Word-processing programs are a wonderful invention for someone like me who has terrible spelling skills. Either a red or green underline shows up. Red if the word appears to be misspelled, green if the grammar is incorrect.

Let’s think of John the Baptist as God’s word-processor. He went out to proclaim a wonderful gift, that people could renew their lives if they would only repent, make straight their ways. Salvation was theirs if they would take the steps to correct themselves.

Like my word-processing program, John pointed out serious errors, especially of the so-called “leaders” of the day. He put really big red underlines under all sinfulness.

His call to repentance was just like that of the word-processor. The error is obvious, its been pointed out. But now what? We have to recognize that red underline; we have to see it. Then, we have to take action to fix it. We have to correct the spelling and grammar of our lives, bringing them into alignment with God’s way.

Whenever we hear John’s cry “Prepare the way… make straight the paths… fill-in the valleys… make low the mountains and hills…make the winding roads straight… the rough ways smooth” we also begin to think like construction workers. We laugh, get me a bulldozer and a big crew and we can do it. Construction takes engineering, study, process, and hard work. John wasn’t talking about construction! He was shouting about the engineering, study, process, and hard work we have to do to make our lives right before God.

Let us be dedicated to making our lives straight, smooth, and level; getting rid of the red underlines, living lives based on God’s desires for us. Doing so, we have the guarantee of finding peace, renewal, and seeing His salvation.

The Jewish people were carried away to captivity and spent generations there. When they were freed they didn’t see it coming. We already know Jesus is returning. We do not need to foresee the moment for we know we must prepare. Prepare His way and be ready to rejoice. Stand ready to share in peace and great joy at His Salvation. Come Lord Jesus!

Homilies, PNCC,

Conception of the B.V.M. and the Feast of Divine Love

When our church was young, Bp. Hodur and the Church’s Holy Synod transformed the so called Feast of the “Immaculate Conception” of Blessed Virgin Mary to the Feast of Divine Love.

The entire construct of the so called immaculate conception was based on a legalistic understanding of “original sin.” If everyone is born in a sinful state, in original sin, inherited from their parents through the sexual act of procreation, then there has to be a specially created individual – Mary – who was preserved from original sin. Some have even extended Mary’s uniqueness and separateness from the rest of humanity by arguing that Jesus’ birth was a bloodless, painless event where the infant simply floated out of the Blessed Virgin’s womb.

St. Thomas Aquinas wrote against the innovation that Mary’s birth was unlike that of others. He argued that this contradicted the very purpose of Jesus’ Incarnation, which was that He received our human nature through Mary. If her nature is unique, then Jesus’ connection with the rest of humanity is severed. (ST 27 2r).

We have not dogmatized this belief, nor do we recognize it. This is not an article of Divine revelation. As Polish National Catholics we believe that Mary was preserved from sin, and remained sinless and pure from the time of her birth. But, we do not need to construct a special status for Mary because her birth and our birth are all without sin. We do not countenance the idea of original sin in such a legalistic way. We do not accept accept that humans are sinful in their birth.

Instead, we teach that we are all created in the image and likeness of God. We profess that creation is not evil, but that it is an expression of Divine Love. Evil is certainly real, and present in the world, the result of humanity’s fall. We all fall into sin, but it is our responsibility for failing to act according to goodness of our creation.

Creation is good says Genesis, and human creation is very good. Rather than speak of the unique status of Mary, the Feast of Divine Love speaks about the goodness of creation in general as an expression of a good Creator.

The Feast of Divine Love encapsulates so much of what is positive about our Church, its focus on love and human potential. To the 1928 Synod our organizer declared: “Everything else [besides God] is transitory, but this divine element [of love] is immortal.” God never abandons His love toward us even though we do fall into the sinfulness that exists in the world.

Our Church sees Divine Love in God’s sharing of wisdom and free will. The Divine Love of creation is that we are made “very good” (Genesis 1:31) in the image and likeness of God. When we fall into sin, we know that we can always turn to God. God loves us so much that He sent His only Son to us to redeem us from our fall into sinfulness; from our unfortunate propensity to reject God’s Divine Love.

Homilies, , , , ,

Reflection for the First Sunday of Advent

Are you full?
Just fulfilled, thanks.

“The days are coming, says the LORD, when I will fulfill the promise I made to the house of Israel and Judah.”

Oh, to be full! Sometimes overstuffed is a better word. We eat everything on our plate because we don’t want food to go to waste or, because when we were growing up our parents would tell us there were starving children in another country. In the end we may be full but are we fulfilled? 



A typical day for a busy parent: Wake at 5:30am get breakfast, make lunches, get everyone out the door, clean the house, grocery shop, maybe wash a couple loads of laundry, pick kids up from the bus stop, help with homework, make dinner, clean kitchen, bathe kids and put them to bed, and THEN sit down for a few minutes. It was a full day, and tomorrow will be an equally busy and productive day, but are they fulfilling? 



Full is an adjective meaning completely filled; containing all that can be held; filled to the utmost capacity
 or volume. Fulfill is a verb meaning to carry out, or bring to realization, to make complete.

The days of preparation are upon us. These are the days in which we need to move from being filled up with things to finding real fulfillment in Christ. We need to move toward the place and moment where our cup overflows with the joy of being complete in God.

St. Paul exhorts us: May the Lord make you increase and abound in love for one another and for all, so as to strengthen your hearts, to be blameless in holiness before our God and Father.

Jesus wants us to be fulfilled, to be complete. It can be great to be full, but we have to be careful not to mistake fullness for fulfillment. We cannot make a full day or full stomach a substitute for a heart fulfilled in Jesus.

This Advent we need to prepare ourselves for fulfillment. We make a start by emptying ourselves of our failures, our sins, and our shortcomings. By doing so we make room for the Holy Spirit who will fill us with new attitudes and motives. Then, with a heart full of love and good, blameless in holiness, we are ready to be fulfilled, completed in Jesus.

Fulfilled in Jesus we become receivers of His promise. In Him we are made free, free to stand erect and raise our heads because our redemption is at hand.

Our hope is set on God’s promise and His fulfillment. He is coming to fulfill our lives. In receiving Him and His promise we become more than full, we are completely fulfilled.

Christian Witness, Homilies, ,

Reflection for the Solemnity of Christ the King

Do you know a good podiatrist?
My Achilles is bothering me.

“His dominion is an everlasting dominion that shall not be taken away, His kingship shall not be destroyed.”

We may recall the myth of Achilles from our school days.

The gods gave Achilles’ mother a choice as to how her son’s life should be: short but glorious or long but obscure. Fearing for her son’s safety, Achilles’ mother chose long but obscure. His mother also bargained with the gods for additional protection from harm. They told her to immerse Achilles in the waters of the Styx River, which would immunize him from all harm. His mother did this, holding onto Achilles by the ankle. Of course, this part of the boy did not receive the protection of the gods, and proved to be Achilles downfall. Achilles died after being shot in the ankle by Paris’ arrow during the battle of Troy.

From this mythology we derive the term Achilles heel. It is the weakness, the failings we all have. We certainly have many positive and wonderful qualities, certain skills and talents, those things (and there are many) that make us special. We also know that we have that Achilles heel, the particular sin, shortcoming, or weakness that might well prove to be our downfall.

For podiatrists, the Achilles tendon is the tendon of in the back of the leg that attaches the calf muscles to the heel bone. Injuries to this tendon can require long healing time and rehabilitation.

We set aside this Sunday to recognize and celebrate the kingship of Christ. What does Achilles have to do with the kingship of Jesus?

It is in this: That Jesus as Lord and King of all things, and most particularly of our hearts and souls, has the power to overcome our Achilles heels.

Our Achilles heels lead to injury, in ourselves and in others. We might not even recognize our Achilles heels! We may think we are relatively ok.

The reality is we all lay unprotected, vulnerable, injured, in need to healing and rehabilitation. When we recognize this we might try to fix it ourselves, but that is not possible. Rather we need to throw ourselves on the mercy of our King, relying on Him. With Him we have the grace to overcome as well as His healing.

Our King, Jesus Christ, is the absolute guarantor of protection, of healing, renewal, and eternal life. Our lives will not be long and uneventful with Him. Making Him the Lord, worshiping, adoring, relying on, and serving Him, fixes every weakness in us, and gives us unending life in His Kingdom.

Art, Events, PNCC, , , ,

Christmas Concert at St. Valentine’s, Northampton, MA

A Christmas Concert will be held at St. Valentine’s PNC Parish, 127 King St., Northampton, MA on December 6th at 7:30 pm, 2012. Mezzo-Soprano, Lisa Woods and Jerry Noble will present this benefit concert. Lisa will sing everything from “O Holy Night” and “The Little Drummer Boy” to “Silver Bells” and “Have a Holly Jolly Christmas! All are welcome. The program of songs will fill your heart with the spirit of Christmas and we hope you will join us for this very special evening. Suggested donation is $10.

Events, Perspective, , ,

Thankful for

Rejoice always, pray constantly, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. — 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18

To all my family, parishioners, benefactors, friends, co-workers, neighbors, brothers and sisters in Christ, and all who dwell in our land,

I pray that your Thanksgiving celebration is filled with great joy, togetherness, and time to reflect on the many blessings we share in. May your day and travels be safe.

I am so thankful for each of you, for your fellowship enriches my life. Our mutual work for the God’s kingdom becomes an occasion for rejoicing because of you. You are in my prayers of thanksgiving this day and every day.

As I reflect today, I recount these many blessings received, in material things, but most importantly in the gift of true fellowship and freedom found in our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. All thanksgiving and praise be His.

— Deacon Jim

Christian Witness, Homilies, , ,

Reflection for the 33rd Sunday in Ordinary Time

We thank You Lord.
…and anticipate Your coming.

“‘And then they will see ‘the Son of Man coming in the clouds’ with great power and glory, and then he will send out the angels and gather his elect from the four winds'”

It is the Sunday before Thanksgiving, and our readings focus on the end times, the second coming of Jesus. It can seem like a scary and even depressing subject when we want to focus on celebrating.

When we hear Jesus speak of these images of darkness, falling stars, and the heavens being shaken we are shaken. Daniel reminds us that these will be times of “surpassing distress.”

We grow a little frightened, what if Jesus were really to come tomorrow, or in the next hour, or minute? We certainly may consider ourselves unprepared.

Maybe we are prepared for Thanksgiving. The turkey is purchased, the potatoes, yams, vegetables, those special items unique to our family traditions are stored away. But are we prepared to meet Jesus when He returns?

As we approach Thanksgiving, let’s prepare ourselves; fill ourselves with a spirit of thankfulness. Let that thankfulness include a sense of praise and anticipation for Jesus’ coming.

Whatever the events that will precede the glorious appearance of Jesus with the angelic cohort, we should gladly celebrate Jesus’ promise and be thankful for it. We know that when He comes we will be ready to be drawn to His side.

We are the people Daniel speaks of because of our faith in Jesus. “The wise who shall shine brightly like the splendor of the firmament, those who lead the many to justice who shall be like the stars forever.”

Like the psalmist, we can declare that the Lord is our inheritance. What a wonderful thing to be thankful for, an inheritance with God forever in His kingdom.

As we pray this Thanksgiving let us set aside our concern over the events of the end times. Any fantastic theories and predictions about the end of the world and return of Christ are worthless. Instead, praise God and be thankful for the spirit of renewal, which prepares us for Jesus. Pray Maranatha – a word meaning, “Come, O Lord.” This prayer asks for the speedy and early return of Christ.

Build desire and thankfulness for the Second Coming. This is our preparation. To live in the hope that strengthens and fortifies us seeking always to live in the power of the Holy Spirit.

Perspective, Political,

Reports on the fiscal cliff

The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) has released reports projecting the economic impact the fiscal cliff and of avoiding different portions of the fiscal cliff. For example, avoiding sequestration and extending Medicare reimbursement rates for doctors would increase domestic product by 0.75 percent. Extending the current tax rates, which are set to expire at the end of the year, would increase economic growth by more than 1.5 percent. The report, “Economic Effects of Policies Contributing to Fiscal tightening in 2013,” is one of two reports released by CBO. The other report, “Choices for Deficit Reduction,” examines several methods for reducing the deficit over the next decade.

PNCC, , , , ,

Potential issue for parish treasurers

At a training session for church treasurers, an accountant discussed recent instances where an IRS auditor has disallowed a charitable deduction to a church. In each case both the church and the donation were legitimate and documentation was ample. The churches had mailed the required annual statement of cash donations received from the giver. These auditors are disallowing the entire year’s donations because the annual statement of donations did not contain the required boilerplate language, “No goods have been received in exchange for this donation.”

Parish treasurers should be aware of this potential issue and insert the required language in their donation statements as appropriate.

Regulations and law:

Under U.S. Tax Code Sec. 170, a taxpayer is allowed a charitable contribution deduction for a contribution or gift to or for the use of an organization organized and operated exclusively for charitable or educational purposes. Under Code Sec. 170(f)(8)(A), no charitable contribution deduction for any contribution of $250 or more is allowed unless the taxpayer substantiates the contribution with a contemporaneous written acknowledgment of the contribution by the donee organization that meets certain specified requirements. Under Code Sec. 170(f)(8)(B), the donee organization must state in the acknowledgment whether the donee organization provided any goods or services in consideration, in whole or part, for the contributed property or cash. If so, the acknowledgment generally must include a description and good faith estimate of the value of any goods or services provided. (Reg. § 1.170A-13(f)(2)) Under Code Sec. 170(f)(8)(C), a written acknowledgment is contemporaneous if it’s obtained by the taxpayer on or before the earlier of: (1) the date the taxpayer files the original return for the tax year of the contribution; or (2) the due date (including extensions) for filing the original return for the year. (Reg. § 1.170A-13(f)(3))

See articles on this issue here, here and at Law as Ministry.

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