We thank Thee, Lord, for America, our home. We bless Thee for the liberty, the opportunity, and the abundance we share. But above all we praise Thee for the traditions which have made our country great, and for the patriots who have laid the foundations through faith, courage, and self-sacrifice. Teach us in our own day the meaning of citizenship, and help us to be faithful stewards of the responsibility which Thou entrusted to us. Through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. — A Prayer for our Country from A Book of Devotions and Prayers According to the Use of the Polish National Catholic Church
I’ve been drafted!
I will go and serve.
“‘Amen, I say to you, this poor widow put in more than all the other contributors to the treasury. For they have all contributed from their surplus wealth, but she, from her poverty, has contributed all she had, her whole livelihood.'”
The widow of Zarephath and the widow who contributed to the treasury both did incredible acts of charity. Both gave totally of themselves for the good of others. They gave all they had, not out of surplus. In their giving they placed their faith in the God who provides, God who the psalmist says:
…keeps faith forever, secures justice for the oppressed, gives food to the hungry, sets captives free, gives sight to the blind, raises up those who were bowed down, loves the just, protects strangers, who sustains the fatherless and the widow.
As we reflect today, on this Veterans Day we should recall that our veterans, our service men and women have done exactly the same. Even if wealthy, they decided to place their all on the line to serve – not just their country – but the cause of freedom for their brothers and sisters.
Whatever we do, we have the God given freedom to decide. When drafted, we might choose to go, just because of the law. When we are confronted with Jesus’ command to love and serve others, whether we are clergy or laity, we may follow His commandments just because we are afraid of God’s punishment. That may be sufficient – to follow the law, or to do because we are afraid of punishment, but our faith calls us to do these things out of a greater purpose.
That purpose is God’s call to love, to lean on Him who is our protector, advocate, strength, and teacher.
When we decide to ‘go and serve,’ to give our all, we fulfill the commandment of love – loving God by doing His will and loving our brothers and sisters to the point of sacrificing ourselves for them.
The widows did that. The widow chose to prepare bread and give water to Elijah even though she and her son would be left with almost nothing. The widow gave her last pennies to the treasury for charity.
Jesus had portrayed the religious leaders who feigned piety; accepted honor from people, and stole from widows as living without love, without even acting out of obligation to the law or fear of the Lord. They chose wrongly – and served themselves, not love.
Our call is to live like our veterans, in love and service toward others – and to do so out of love. Let us honor them for their right choice and choose rightly ourselves.
Craft Fair
Get a head start on your Christmas shopping as the Ladies’ Auxiliary of the Polish Community Center presents its Craft Show on Saturday, November 10th from 10am to 3pm. The Center is located at 225 Washington Avenue Ext., Albany, NY. The Center’s Polish/American kitchen will be open, and there will be a baked goods sale. Call (518) 456-3995 for more information.
Andrzejki Dance/bal Andrzejkowy
Andrzejki is the last party before Advent and a chance to have fun before the start of the Christmas season. The Polish Community Center will present its annual Andrzejki Dance on Saturday, November 24th from 7pm till 2am. The Dance features the band SYGNAL (Polish contemporary music – this is not a Polka band). Tickets are $30 per person and include the dinner buffet, snacks at midnight, and desserts. A cash bar will be available. For more information, please call Darius Figiel at (518) 235-6001. Note: There will be no tickets available at the door.
Radio City Christmas Spectacular
The Ladies’ Auxiliary of the Polish Community Center is sponsoring a trip to the Radio city Christmas Spectacular in New York City. The trip will take place on Saturday, November 17th leaving at 6:30 am from the Polish Community Center at 225 Washington Avenue Ext., Albany, NY. The show begins at 10:00 am at the Radio City Music Hall in New York City. Participant will have free time for some Christmas shopping and site seeing. Buses will leave to return at 6:30 pm with an approximate arrival back at the Center at 9:00 pm.
Tickets are $105 for PCC members, $65 for children, and $140 for non-PCC members. Price includes an orchestra section ticket and the chartered bus trip. To sign-up, please contact Susan Matala.
SLĄSK Performs
The Ladies’ Auxiliary of the Polish Community Center has tickets available for Sląsk – the internationally known Song & Dance Ensemble of Poland. Sląsk is conducting a tour of cities across the United States and Canada and will be appearing at Proctor’s Theater, 432 State Street, Schenectady, NY on Sunday, March 24, 2013 at 4pm. Ticket are $37, a 20% discount on the regular price of $46. Balcony and orchestra seats available. Please contact Susan Matala for tickets.
Mr. Robert Cymborski has developed a website highlighting the history of the Powązki Cemetery in Warsaw, Poland as well as records of those interred there.
For the past seven years Mr. Cymborski has inventoried the resting place of the famous and ordinary Poles buried in the Powązki Cemetery. He has taken and cataloged more than 100,000 images, and has recorded graves in 105 sections from the oldest parts of the cemetery. His website currently contains more than 23,000 records of burials. It is updated once a week on average.
Mr. Cymborski undertook this project because of the lack of any documentation on burials that took place between 1792-1944, that is from the foundation of the cemetery to the Warsaw Uprising. During the Warsaw Uprising all cemetery records were lost when the Germans destroyed the city and burned down the local office containing the entire archive of the cemetery. Additionally, Mr. Cymborski was motivated by the deterioration of older grave markers resulting from weathering and air pollution. Mr. Cymborski estimates that his work will continue for the next 10-12 years.
I encourage my readers to visit the website and support Mr. Cymborski’s efforts as you are able.
The Blessed Virgin Mary of Częstochowa Polish National Catholic Church has posted videos from their tenth annual Chopin Piano Competition. The Chopin competition was supported for most of its history by ś.p. Dr. John A. Cetner M.D.
Here is Chopin Master Winner Christopher Bangert-Drowns playing Chopin’s Scherzo in C# Minor, Opus 39.
The Polish Chair at Canisius and the Polish Legacy Project are presenting the Polish Film, Art and Book Festival at Canisius College, 2001 Main St., Buffalo, NY from Wednesday, November 7th to Monday, November 19th. Presentations include:
- Wed. Nov.7 – 7 p.m. “Bloodlands: Europe between Hitler and Stalin,” Lecture by Dr. Timothy Snyder of Yale.
- Mon. Nov. 12 – 7 p.m. Path to Glory (2011), Documentary film showing the epic story of the Polish Arabian Horse.
- Thurs. Nov. 15 through Sat. Nov. 17, 1 p.m. – 7:30 p.m. and Sun. Nov. 18, 4 p.m.-6 p.m. – Book Fair – Thurs.-Sat. at Canisius. & Sun. Nov. 18 at Market Arcade Theatre. Books, DVDs & art on Polish topics for sale.
- Thurs. Nov.15 – 1 p.m. – Andy Bienkowski & Mary Akers, talk about their book “One Life to Give…,” based on the experiences of Bienkowski as a child in Siberia.
- Thurs. Nov.15 – 2 p.m. – Workshop by Bienkowski & Akers: “Writing Together: The Many Sides of Co-Authorship.”
- Thurs. Nov.15 – 3:30 p.m. – Workshop by Wes Adamczyk, survivor of Soviet camps & author-“Writing From the Heart.”
- Thurs. Nov.15 – 7 p.m. – Festival reception. Books, DVDs & art for sale.
- Thurs. Nov.15 – 7:30 p.m. – Argentinian Lesson (2011), a film about an 8 year-old who moves to Argentina and learns about the world around him through 11 year-old Marcia.
- Thurs. Nov.15 – 9 p.m. – Decrescendo (2011) Film showing the world of a nursing home through the eyes of a young therapist, who tries to find the meaning of his own life.
- Fri. Nov. 16 – 6 p.m. – Wes Adamczyk presents “Living in the Shadows of Katyń,” about a family’s 10-year odyssey through multiple continents, and the Katyń Massacre.
- Fri. Nov. 16 – 7:30 p.m. – Battle of Warsaw 1920 (2011) Film which tells the story of Poland’s battle vs. the Soviets through the eyes of two young people.
- Sat. Nov. 17 – 4:30 p.m. – Workshop-Krysia Jopek: “Getting Your Work Published…”
- Sat. Nov. 17 – 6 p.m. – Jopek, daughter of Polish WWII survivors, discusses her novel “Maps and Shadows”
- Sat. Nov. 17 – 7:30 p.m. – Control Sample-Film about young Poles who live in four cities of Western Europe. Meet the Director.
- Sat. Nov. 17 – 8:30 p.m. – 80 Million (2011) Film which portrays events of ten days before martial law.
- Sun. Nov. 18 – 6:00 p.m. – Control Sample-Film
- Sun. Nov. 18 – 6:30 p.m. – At the Market Arcade Theatre – In Darkness (2011) Film about one Catholic’s rescue of Jews.
- Mon. Nov. 19 – 3:00 p.m. – Workshop-Poet John Guzlowski: “The Art of Listening: Writing Poems & Stories on Family.”
- Mon. Nov. 19 – 7:00 p.m. – Siege-film by an American who documented Warsaw just before the Nazi invasion.
- Mon. Nov. 19 – 7:15 p.m. – Guzlowski presents “Two Lives Shaped by World War II,”, the story of his parents’ lives as slave laborers in Germany.
“Solidarity and Martial Law in Poland” will be presented at Elms College (Alumnae Library Theater) in Chicopee, MA on Saturday, November 17th from 10 am to 5:30 pm. The program is free and open to the public. There is an optional luncheon (12-1 pm) available for $7.
This program will have several original activists in the Solidarity union movement speaking, as well as others:
- Jersy Polak, official photographer for Solidarity 1980-1981
- Andre Blaszcsynski, Moderator of the Conference of Solidarity Support Organizations 1983-1990
- Neil Walsh, United States Information Agency in Warsaw 1972-76 and in Krakow 1978-1980
- Wieslaw Olszak, Martial Law political prisoner
Workers and union activists should find this program especially important for its lesson that workers’ efforts can transform national and global history.
This program is a joint effort of the Kosciuszko Foundation (New England Chapter) and The Polish Center of Discovery and Learning in Chicopee.
From the Times Leader Sunday Dispatch: The professor who became a priest
Father Walter A. Placek, PhD, will have a 20 minute presentation titled “God and Science in our Church” on Nov. 17 at noon, at the Sermon, Soup and Sandwich event in Holy Mother of Sorrows hall, 212 Wyoming Ave., Dupont.
All are invited for this event free of charge.
When Professor Placek retired from Wilkes University after 40 years of teaching, he was ordained to the priesthood of the Polish National Catholic Church.
The Most Rev. John F. Swantek, Prime Bishop of the Polish National Catholic Church ordained him on May 25, 2002 at Holy Mother of Sorrows Church, Dupont, his home parish.
Dr. Placek celebrated his first Mass at 4 p.m. on Sunday, May 26, 2002 in Holy Mother of Sorrows.
Dr. Placek received his theological training at the Savonarola Theological Seminary in Scranton.
He was appointed pastor at Providence of God PNCC Parish in North Scranton in October 2002 and continues to serve that parish. He is also on the faculty of Savonarola Theological Seminary.
Placek has served the PNCC as a member of its Supreme Council, Diocesan Council and currently as a member of the Supreme Council. He continues to teach Physics as a part-time professor at Wilkes University and an adjunct professor at King’s College and Misericordia Universaity.
Placek graduated from West Pittston High School, Class of 1957, received his BS from Wilkes College, M.S. from Penn State University, a PhD from the University of Pennsylvania and has done postgraduate work at the University of Vermont, University of Maryland, Colby College and the University of Puerto Rico.
In 1992, while on sabbatical leave, he was a visiting professor at Cornell University.
He was a high school physics teacher for seven years and a professor in the Physics department at Wilkes University for 33 years, retiring in 2002 to become a priest in the PNCC.
Wilkes University Board of Trustees honored Placek with the title of Professor of Physics, Emeritus and he continues to teach part time.
Placek held membership in many academic and scholarly societies, presented numerous papers over the years at state, national and international meetings and has served on the executive boards of several state and national science societies and served on the editorial boards of several state and national science journals.
He was president of the Pennsylvania Science Teachers Association in 1992 and received national recognition for his contributions to science education.
He was elected to the Wyoming Area School Board for two terms, serving from 1975 to 1985 and served as board president of the West Side Area Vocational-Technical School in 1981.
He was appointed by the county commissioners as a trustee of the Luzerne County Community College and served for 1- years on many academic and executive committees.
Rev. Dr. Placek is the son of the late Walter Placek Sr. and Mary Bushinski Placek, of Dupont. He is married to the former Barbara Swantkowski, of Duryea, and they reside in the Mount Zion section of Exeter Township.
They have been married since 1961 and will celebrated their 51st. wedding anniversary this year.
The couple has three children, Allison Knick BSN, a Registered Nurse at Wilkes- Barre General Hospital; David, a chemistry and science teacher at Wyoming Valley West High School; and Adrienne Royster, Director of Human Resources at Oxy Chemical in Houston, Texas.
Dr. and Mrs. Placek have six grandchildren, Katelynn and Rebecca Knick, Amanda and Erin McCamey, Nikolas and Benjamin Placek, and one great-grandchild, Athens Ware.
From the BBC: Bishop Tawadros new pope of Egypt’s Coptic Christians
Bishop Tawadros has been chosen as the new pope of Egypt’s Coptic Christians, becoming leader of the largest Christian minority in the Middle East.
His name was selected from a glass bowl by a blindfolded boy at a ceremony in Cairo’s St Mark’s Cathedral. Three candidates had been shortlisted.
The 60-year-old succeeds Pope Shenouda III, who died in March aged 88.
He succeeds as attacks on Copts are on the increase, and many say they fear the country’s new Islamist leaders.
The other two candidates were Bishop Raphael and Father Raphael Ava Mina. They were chosen in a ballot by a council of some 2,400 Church and community officials in October.
‘In God’s hands’
Their names were written on pieces of paper and put in crystal balls sealed with wax on the church altar.
A blindfolded boy – one of 12 shortlisted children – then drew out the name of Bishop Tawadros, who until now was an aide to the acting leader, Bishop Pachomius.
Bishop Pachomius then took the ballot from the boy’s hand and showed it to all those gathered in the cathedral.
Strict measures were in place to make sure there was no foul play during the televised ceremony: the three pieces of paper with candidates’ names were all the same size and tied the same way.
Copts say this process ensures the selection is in God’s hands.
Bishop Tawadros will be enthroned in a ceremony on 18 November.
The new pope has studied in Britain, and has also run a medicine factory, the BBC’s Jon Leyne in Cairo reports.
He is a man of broad experience and with managerial skills, our correspondent says, adding that he will need all those talents to lead the Copts as they face an uncertain future in a country now debating the role of Islam following last year’s revolution…
May God bless Bishop Tawadros in his new ministry and may He watch over, protect, and grant increase to the Coptic Church.