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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

Homilies, , ,

Reflection for the 19th Sunday in Ordinary Time

I can’t do it anymore.
I have all you need to continue.

“This is enough, O LORD!”

Back at the castle, Jezebel heard how Elijah’s God had made hers look foolish. She also heard that her prophets were dead and that Israel had gone back to God. So she sent a little note to Elijah: “May the gods kill me if I don’t make you just as dead as my prophets!” She meant it. She had killed before. Elijah suddenly felt very alone. You can just imagine the people backing away from him. The wicked queen had sworn she would get him. Elijah needed a friend. He looked around, but it seemed like the only one standing with him was his personal servant. At such a frightening time in Elijah’s life, he needed reassurance, a reason to go on.

Elijah was afraid and ran for his life. When he came to Beersheba in Judah, he left his servant there, while he himself went a day’s journey into the desert. He came to a broom tree, sat down under it and prayed for death.

Many of us have watched the Olympics. We have seen competitors break 34 world records and 67 Olympic record including 28 broken by Americans and 3 by Poles.

Manteo Mitchell of the United States 4×400-meter relay team was running when he felt the pop in his leg. He said, “It felt like somebody literally just snapped my leg in half”
The sprinter had half a lap to go in the first leg of the preliminaries and a choice to make: keep running or stop and lose the race. To him, it was never much of a choice.

He finished the lap and limped to the side to watch his team finish the race and qualify easily for the final. A few hours later, doctors confirmed what he suspected: He had run the last 200 meters with a broken leg.

We aren’t often confronted with the threat of being murdered, or having to finish a race with a broken leg, but Jesus knew that we would be confronted by all sorts of challenges, including the ones Jesus faced today, lack of faith, doubt, and murmuring. He knew that we all face the challenge of mortality.

Knowing all this, He gave us what we need to continue, to go on, and to have a hope that is more powerful than any challenge, even death.

Jesus is our strength. He is what we need to continue, the Bread that came down from heaven that gives eternal life. With Him and in Him there is nothing to fear, there is all we need to continue. With His strength we can not only finish the race, but finish winning!

Art, Poland - Polish - Polonia, , , , ,

Olympic Art Contest for Students Abroad

Graphic courtesy of the Rolco Sports Network
The Republic of Poland sponsored an Olympic Art Contest celebrating the 2012 London Olympics that was open to students of Polish Saturday Schools that operate abroad. The outstanding entries were displayed at a recent reception at the Polish Cultural and Social Center in London. The display area was renamed the Polish Olympic Center and a multi-media showcase was presented and titled, “A History of 124 years of the Polish Sports Movement.” The Center hosted a different cultural and business events everyday throughout the 2012 London Olympic Games.

R.J. Rolak reporting.

Events, PNCC, , ,

Bishop elect Nowicki takes helm of the Central Diocese

From the Times-Tribune: New bishop to take helm of local Polish National Catholic diocese

The region’s Polish National Catholics will have a new diocesan bishop this fall.

Bishop elect Rev. Bernard NowickiBishop-elect Bernard Nowicki assumed administrative leadership of the Central Diocese on Wednesday and will be consecrated as bishop and officially installed in the new post on Friday, Sept. 14.

The diocese, which stretches from Maryland to New York, is the denomination’s largest. As bishop, the Rev. Nowicki will also be pastor of the denomination’s mother church, St. Stanislaus Bishop and Martyr Cathedral in Scranton.

The Rev. Nowicki was elected bishop at a special synod held in Scranton in June, when he and Bishop-elect Stanley Bilinski were both voted into the office. The Rev. Bilinski will be bishop of the Chicago-based Western Diocese. The Rev. Nowicki assumes the Central Diocese post from Bishop John Mack, who has been bishop of the diocese for the past 18 months and was reassigned to his home Buffalo-Pittsburgh Diocese.

The Rev. Nowicki, a longtime pastor at a church in Bayonne, N.J., studied at Savonarola Theological Seminary in Scranton, and his wife is a native of Dupont.

Prime Bishop Anthony Mikovsky said the Rev. Nowicki will likely move to the area in late September or early October.

“He’s a very well-respected priest in the church,” he said. “He has a wonderful education.”

Prime Bishop Mikovsky also said he is excited by the number of new bishops across the church.

“A lot of the church has new leadership,” he said, “and there is a lot of excitement with new leadership.”

Christian Witness, PNCC,

Eastern Diocese honors our Service members at outdoor Holy Mass

From the Union Leader: Polish church holds Rindge outdoor Mass

RINDGE — The Eastern Diocese of the Polish National Catholic Church held its annual celebration at Cathedral of the Pines on Sunday.

About 75 members of the diocese, which stretches from its northeast seniorite, Holy Trinity Cathedral in Manchester, to parishes in Massachusetts, Connecticut and Rhode Island, celebrated the Mass.

The Rt. Rev. Paul Sobiechowski, who was installed as diocesan bishop at Holy Trinity Cathedral last March, was the main celebrant. Other priests of the diocese concelebrated the Mass with him.

The annual Mass has been celebrated at the outdoor cathedral in Rindge for about 60 years, Sobiechowski said.

“Thinking about the length of our National Polish Catholic Church, this service has been taking place in our diocese more than half the time this church has been in existence,” he said.

While the hot afternoon sun forced most church members to sit in a shady section of the outdoor cathedral, Sobiechowski, standing in the sun, said he found the day quite cold because of the wind blowing across the altar that day.

“God watches over his people,” he said.

The Mass honored those who serve in uniform, including military, police, firefighters and medical workers.

“For their safety and for their blessings today and for the glory of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and for the blessings upon our Eastern Diocese,” Sobiechowski said, as he began the Mass.

After the Gospel, the Rev. Andrzej Tenus gave a homily in which he preached about the importance of using the gifts God bestows to serve others, the way those in uniform do.

“If you think life is about making a lot of money, retiring, then dying, you miss the point of your life,” he said.

“Each one should use whatever gifts he has received to serve others, faithfully administrating God’s grace in its various forms,” Tenus said, quoting St. Peter.

Chief Maloney recalled

Bedford police Officer Stefan Swiadas attended the Mass in his uniform, and as part of the procession and recession during the Mass carried the cross.

During a call for prayers, Swiadas asked that Greenland’s fallen Police Chief Michael Maloney be remembered.

Joey Grieve, 11, of Andover, Mass., sang two solos during the Mass. He is a member of St. Casimir’s Parish in Lowell, Mass. His mother, Cheryl Grieve, said they have been attending the annual Mass for the past four years.

“It’s really nice, the New England states getting together in fellowship,” Cheryl Grieve said.

After the Mass, church members shared a meal together at the Hidden Hills Banquet Hall in Rindge.

PNCC, Poland - Polish - Polonia, , ,

Celebrating Polish Heritage in Wisconsin

From the Wausau Daily Herald: Our Savior National Catholic Church celebrates Polish heritage

Even if your heritage is French and Indian, you become a little bit Polish when you’re at Our Savior’s Polish Fest.

The annual festival of Our Savior National Catholic Church in Mosinee just has that way about it, at least according to Bucky Bucknell, 69, of Mosinee. Bucknell, who has the French and Indian heritage, has been volunteering at the event since he started attending the church 22 years ago. Both the festival and the church tend to draw people in, Bucknell said.

July 7 and 8 marked the 37th year the church has played host to Polish Fest, held in the Mosinee Rec Center and featuring Polish food such as sausage and kraut, golabki (a cabbage, rice and meat dish) and pierogies. The celebration of all things Polish also features plenty of Polish polka music, Polish beer and some activities such as raffles and a rummage sale.

The food is the big draw, Bucknell said.

“It ain’t run to the store and buy the stuff,” he said. “Everybody puts a lot of pride into it.”

On Saturday, people stood in line to fill up on the food — the pierogies were so good they tempted non-Poles to add a c, z, y and k to their last name.

The festival drew Russ and Theresa Napiwocki, both 45, north from Stevens Point.

The couple love attending church picnics, especially if they feature polka music. “I’ve been dancing since I was 6,” Russ said.

The Polish food was icing on the cake. “You just can’t get food like this in a restaurant,” Theresa said.

Vacen Osowski, 92, of Mosinee founded Polish Fest in 1975. He knew he had a hit on his hand when “we went through 110 half-barrels of beer, and we had 5,000 pierogies and we ran out.”

He ran the festival for about 15 years, but now he just helps out as he can.

Osowski said the food has always been a draw, for those of Polish heritage or not.

“The people like Polish food. That’s all there is to it,” he said.

Homilies

Reflection for the 18th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Mmmmm, yummy bread.
I know where you can get the best.

“I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me will never hunger, and whoever believes in me will never thirst.”

When I came to the Capital Region one of the first things I did was to look for good bread. Which store, which bakery in the area makes the best bread?

Why the search? I searched because bread is basic to life. From my earliest years I was taught to both enjoy bread and to respect it. Of course my Busha made the best bread. We so enjoyed what she created with love. We were also told of hunger – the hunger our parents and grandparents felt during the great depression. Crumbs of bread weren’t wasted; we didn’t let them fall to the floor. More importantly, we were taught that bread is a symbol of Jesus – the Bread of Life that feeds us so we are never hungry. As such, we respected bread.

When I moved into my first house my mother arrived bearing a package of bread and salt – that the house would never know hunger, that there would be flavor to life – a very special blessing and prayer I will always remember. We use the same symbols when our bishops visit us – to welcome them.

The Israelites were in trouble and they hungered in bondage in Egypt. God set about to free them, not just from bondage, but to truly free them. When Moses stood before the burning bush he asked God about His name and God said “I Am.” Tell the Israelites: “I Am has sent me to You.” God sent me to you to free you.

Jesus faces much of the same questioning today. He’s fed the multitude, done amazing signs, yet people keep asking – who are You? Jesus again uses the phrase “I Am,” this time referring to Himself as the Bread of Life.

Jesus says “I Am.” He is God – all powerful, Almighty, to be worshiped, adored, served, believed in, and listened to. Better than that, He is God who knows and understands us because He became man – He felt all our joys and triumphs as well as our tribulations, sufferings, and tears. Particularly, He felt our hunger.

God knows us and knows that we hunger, not as much for food and water – although there are still too many who go without – but at a more basic level.

So Jesus came to us to truly free us. He didn’t just come to perform signs and feed us for a day – but to feed us with all we need – and to make it last forever. Remember the one place with the best bread.

Poland - Polish - Polonia, , , , , , ,

Ś+P Daniel J. Kij

Andrew Golebiowski, Chair of the Polish Legacy Project of Buffalo shared the news of the passing of ś.p. Daniel Kij on Tuesday, August 2nd. I had known ś.p. Daniel for years. He was a mainstay in the life of the Western New York and National Polonian community. Andrew writes:

Daniel made a big impact on everyone he came in contact with. You may have known Daniel as a friend, taken a trip to Poland with him, been helped with a search for your family roots or taught how to pronounce your name, or you may have taken part in a Polish-Jewish conversation with him, or even sang with him. You may have merely known him from television, back when he was a frequent advisor to local media during the Solidarity era in Poland.

Those of us who considered him our friend are greatly inspired by his involvement in genealogy and the creation of a Polish Museum of W.N.Y. We hope to match his passion for the community and for knowledge about our heritage and the world we live in.

Photo courtesy of WGRZ Channel 2 News
ś.p. Daniel J. Kij of Lackawanna, New York. Beloved husband of the late Alicya (nee Lasota) Kij; dearest father of Valerie (Carl) Longfellow; loving grandfather of Benjamin, Nicholas and Audrey; son of the late Dr. Joseph F. Sr. and Wanda Kij; brother of Dr. Joseph F. Kij Jr. The family will be present to receive friends Sunday from 1 to 5 pm at the (Blasdell/Lackawanna Chapel) of the John J. Kaczor Funeral Home, 3450 South Park Avenue where prayers will be said Monday morning at 8:45 followed by a Mass of Christian Burial at Queen of Angels Church at 9:30. Interment in Holy Cross Cemetery. Mr. Kij was past president of the Polish Singers Alliance, the Polish Union of America, and the Polish Genealogical Society of New York State.

Eternal rest grant unto him O Lord and may the perpetual light shine upon him.
May his soul and the souls of all the faithful departed rest in peace. Amen.

Wieczne odpoczynek racz im dać Panie, a światłość wiekuista niechaj im świeci.
Niech odpoczywają w pokoju, Amen.

Christian Witness, DNKK, PNCC, , ,

PNCC-ACNA Dialog News

From the Missionary Diocese of All Saints, Anglican Church in North America: Polish National Catholic Church and Anglican Church in North America Dialogue Meeting

The inaugural meeting of the Polish National Catholic Church (PNCC) and the Anglican Church in North America (ACNA) met on June 19-20, 2012 in Scranton, Pennsylvania. This historic meeting was hosted by the PNCC at the National Church Center located on Pittston Avenue.

The inaugural meeting of the Polish National Catholic Church (PNCC) and the Anglican Church in North America (ACNA) met on June 19-20, 2012 in Scranton, Pennsylvania. This historic meeting was hosted by the PNCC at the National Church Center located on Pittston Avenue.

In attendance for this inaugural meeting were the Primates of both Churches, the Most Reverend Anthony A. Mikovsky, Prime Bishop of the Polish National Catholic Church and the Most Reverend Robert Wm. Duncan, D.D., Archbishop and Primate of the Anglican Church in North America.

The Dialogue members in attendance were the Right Reverend Paul Sobiechowski as Co-Chairman, Right Reverend John E. Mack, Very Reverend Augustin Sicard, Reverend Jaroslaw Rafalko, Reverend Stanley Bilinski, and the Reverend John P. Kowalczyk, Jr. as Secretary for the PNCC. ACNA was represented by the Right Reverend Richard W. Lipka as Co-Chairman, Right Reverend Ray R. Sutton, Abbot Luis A. Gonzalez, OSB, and the Right Reverend Keith L. Ackerman, SSC, DD. Also in attendance was the Ecumenical Officer of the PNCC the Reverend Robert M. Nemkovich, Jr.

The two Churches met on Tuesday starting at 12:00 Noon and concluded with Vespers celebrated by the Primates of the two Churches. The dialogue continued on Wednesday morning with Holy Mass celebrated by the Right Reverend Paul Sobiechowski. This was followed by a presentation by Bishop Sutton on the 39 Articles of Religion and a presentation by Reverend Bilinski on the 11 Great Principles of the Polish National Catholic Church.

The PNCC-ACNA Dialogue will continue on January 29-30, 2013 in Bartonville, IL at Saint Benedict’s Abbey and will be hosted by the Anglican Church in North America.

Most Rev. Anthony A. Mikovsky, Prime Bishop of the Polish National Catholic Church; Rt. Rev. Paul Sobiechowski, Co-Chairman; Rt. Rev. Richard W. Lipka, Co-Chairman; Most Rev. Robert Wm. Duncan, D.D., Archbishop and Primate of the Anglican Church in North America; Rt. Rev. Ray R. Sutton; Rt. Rev. John E. Mack; Rev. John P. Kowalczyk, Jr., Secretary for the PNCC; Rt. Rev. Keith L. Ackerman, SSC, DD.; Abbot Luis A. Gonzalez, OSB; Rev. Jaroslaw Rafalko; Rev. Robert M. Nemkovich, Jr., Ecumenical Officer of the PNCC; Bishop Elect Stanley Bilinski; and the Very Rev. Augustin Sicard.

Also, on Anglican-PNCC Dialog, Fr. Victor E. Novak, a priest of the Diocese of Mid-America, and the rector of Holy Cross Anglican Church in Omaha, Nebraska writes on Independent Catholicism and the Ecumenical Imperative (see also here) where he states in part:

The day that Bishop Frank Weston and our spiritual forbearers longed for has come. The Eastern Orthodox, Rome, and the Polish National Catholics, all now recognize orthodox Anglicans as their own stock, bone of their bone and flesh of their flesh…

Until 1978, the Polish National Catholic Church was in full communion with the Episcopal Church USA and the Anglican Communion, but severed that communion because of the introduction of the “ordination” of women among Anglicans. The PNCC are our estranged brothers and sisters, and they want to heal the breach in the family. The December 2011, issue of Forward in Faith’s New Directions magazine published an article by Norwegian PNCC Bishop Roald Flemstad titled, “Looking for a New Home?” [See page 15] In the article Bishop Flemstad invites Anglicans to embrace Catholic unity through the PNCC led Union of Scranton.

The Polish National Catholic Church is unique among Western Churches in that it is not only recognized as a valid and legitimate national Catholic Church by Rome, but it has limited intercommunion with the Roman Catholic Church as well. Dialogue with the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, with the approval of the Holy See, led in 1996 to a “limited inter-communion”. What this means is that the Roman Catholic Church recognizes the validity of the sacraments of the PNCC, making applicable to its members the provisions of canon 844 §§2–3 of the Code of Canon Law. This canon allows Roman Catholics who are unable to approach a Roman Catholic minister to receive, under certain conditions, the sacraments of Reconciliation, Eucharist and Anointing of the Sick from “non-Catholic ministers in whose Churches these sacraments are valid”, and declares it licit for Roman Catholic priests to administer the same three sacraments to members of Churches which the Holy See judges to be in the same condition in regard to the sacraments as the Eastern Churches, if they ask for the sacraments of their own accord and are properly disposed. Remaining obstacles to full Communion are different understandings regarding the place of the papal ministry in the Church, and the PNCC reception of some former Roman Catholic clergy, most of whom subsequently married.

I have been told by an Anglican bishop with close ties to the PNCC that although the PNCC has long recognized Anglican Orders as valid, Anglican clergy would be required to undergo conditional ordination in order to avoid endangering the intercommunion now enjoyed with Rome. Union with the Polish National Catholic Church would bring Anglicans into limited intercommunion with the Holy See, while the implications of Ut Unum Sint are worked out.

The article offers certain cautions on orthodoxy, and the whole reason for a good a constructive dialog. Let us pray for those who work toward Christian unity.

Christian Witness, PNCC, Poland - Polish - Polonia, , ,

Newsweek Poland – Dad in a Cassock

The cover of this week’s Newsweek Polska – Dad in a cassock: How the Church tolerates the double life of priests.

I am very happy that a major publication in Poland is covering this issue. As I have said in many other posts, celibacy is a wonderful gift, granted by the Holy Spirit to those whom the Spirit wills. It is not a gift given on demand, or a simple promise, it doesn’t work that way. God is not under our control. The Roman Church really needs to get their thinking right on this issue and in line with the Orthodox Church, Oriental Church, and the PNCC. A proper disposition in the Church is to be honest, not to lie, not to cover up. There’s been enough damage caused by such things – imagine how these cover ups play on the minds, hearts, and souls of “secret wives” and children without honest fathers.

Christian Witness, Homilies, ,

Reflection for the 17th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Is any kind of drowning good?
Only one, drowning in God.

“one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.”

Today we once again get to experience the most remarkable and beautiful of events, a baby enters into the life of faith, is reborn, regenerated into the life of Christ, an abundant life.

In this most sacred of moments, Julia will be drowned in the waters of baptism, her old mortal self buried, and she will arise from the waters anew as a new person, a person of faith and dedication – a person who now enjoys the promise of eternal life. Julia becomes a member of the Holy Church, the community of faith. She becomes a warrior for Christ.

She will know, though the dedication and work of her parents and godparents, her grandparents, the words St. Paul wrote to the Ephesians – there is one faith, one baptism, one God and Father – who is now hers.

All this requires faithfulness. We certainly gain through the grace of baptism, but it is not enough. We need to keep our eyes fixed on Jesus. We need to dedicate ourselves to learning His gospel message; we need to practice His way of life. This cannot happen at home alone, and cannot be carried out on a part time basis.

Everyone who has been baptized is required to commit to the school of faith – the Church. To learn the Word, to put into practice, not just what everyone thinks is a good life, but the true way that brings eternal life; Jesus’ way.

We have chosen – and we all have to choose – to take Jesus’ way of life seriously. Where is He in our life – God, the one Lord over and through all, in all – or just a nice philosopher who is dead?

Our drowning in Christ is serious stuff. If we live out our baptismal commitment, acknowledge our regeneration, we become truly new people, participants and heirs to a life that is eternal, committed members of the body of Christ.

Jesus fed thousands. They wanted to proclaim Him king – but not of their hearts, only of their stomachs. They were not willing to fix their eyes on Him in faith, to take up the commitment to drown in Him so that they would rise to a new life.

Julia enters into new life today through water. For her, for all of us who have committed, we know we have new life; we have Jesus’ promise to back it up. None of the false drowning’s will do the same – none can fulfill their alleged promises. The Lord will give Julia, and all of us, the promised reward for drowning in Him.

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