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Reflection for Trinity Sunday 2025

Christian Witness

Reflection for Trinity Sunday 2025

Christian Witness

Reflection for Trinity Sunday 2025

Homilies,

Reflection for the Fourth Sunday of Lent

Are we there yet?
its only 5,615 miles…

Thus says Cyrus, king of Persia: All the kingdoms of the earth the LORD, the God of heaven, has given to me, and he has also charged me to build him a house in Jerusalem, which is in Judah. Whoever, therefore, among you belongs to any part of his people, let him go up, and may his God be with him!”

We’ve all heard or seen those instances on a trip where someone in the car or airplane asks: “Are we there yet?” It is usually a small child who is impatient with the trip.
Our Lenten journey can be like that. By the time we close in on Easter we might ask ourselves (or others), “Are we there yet?”

If we were saying that now, it wouldn’t be uncommon because from a time perspective we are more than half way there. Yet we may still be at the bottom of the hill.
The Jewish people had been exiled from Jerusalem for 70 years.

They longed to return. They lost their music, their joy, and in their penance found reconciliation with God.

We must continue on our journey to find reconciliation with God. We may need to refresh and renew our Lenten sacrifice. We may need to reconnect to where we should be, and get back on the road.

The days ahead will be an uphill struggle. Penance will increase. We will find it harder to comply with the Church’s requirements and with our best intentions.

This is where family becomes essential to our journey. We do not need to travel 5,615 miles to get to Jerusalem the city or to family. The city is of no matter because it is only a place. Where we’re headed is the new and heavenly Jerusalem. This is our family dwelling, the house that belongs to us because we are His children.

We can be assured that our acceptance of Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior, in faith, has put us on the road. Our membership in the family of faith, the Church, gives us the love and support we need to get there.

“Are we there yet?” Yes. “Are we still on the road?” Yes, that too. We have both a home and a family to support us as we journey there.

Homilies, PNCC,

Reflection for the Solemnity of the Institution of the PNCC

If I’m part of the vine…
can I drink more wine?

“I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in me, and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.”

We have been studying family as our Lenten theme. Today, we lighten our Lenten practice a bit and engage in a celebration of – no wait – yes family. Amazing isn’t it?
Today we celebrate the organization of our Holy Polish National Catholic Church.

Church can be a lot of things to a lot of people, but one thing it certainly isn’t is a stagnant shell of a corporation based on dusty old books.

Church is the reality of our relationship as family in Christ. There are so many quotes about that, but a key one is taken from St. Paul’s letter to the Ephesians, Chapter 4:4-6:

There is one body and one Spirit… one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of us all.

We have been grafted onto Jesus. He is the vine and we are the braches. That makes us one being, one entity, and sharers in His nourishment and love.

If Church were dusty old books, it would not be a living entity. If it were a stagnant shell, we would have no reason to be part of it, or feel alive in it.

Being part of the vine does give us reason to celebrate, to become intoxicated with the happiness that comes from being part of the living body of Christ.

Our Holy Church is a beacon and the joy of life. It is a place of happiness, reconciliation, mutual labor and support, the one place where we can endeavor together to reach God.

In the Holy Church we find ourselves already connected to God, part of Him, members of His family – and as St. Paul focuses on, one in every aspect of who we are.

We are not strangers who bump into each other on occasion. We are Polish National Catholics who live and abide in Jesus Christ, who bring His life filled Church, His life-giving message, to the world. There we will gather and join others to the life-giving vine, the place where we will all drink the wine of joy!

PNCC,

Ś+P Bishop Jan Dawidziuk

The Bishop Emeritus of the Western Diocese of the Polish National Catholic Church has entered into his eternal rest. The Rt. Rev. ś.p. Jan Dawidziuk passed the morning of Tuesday, March 6th.

Arrangement are as follows:

St. Mary’s PNC Church in Parma, Ohio

Wake/Viewing: Thursday, March 8th from 4 – 8 p.m.
Requiem Vespers: Thursday, March 8th at 7 p.m.
Funeral Mass & Burial: Friday, March 9th at 10 a.m.

More information to follow.

Eternal rest grant unto your servant, priest, and bishop Jan and may the perpetual light shine upon him. Amen.

May he rest in peace.

Boże, któryś pośród Apostolskich Kapłanów sługę Twego Jan biskupią–kapłańską–godnością obdarzyċ raczył, a teraz łaskawie z ucisku i walk tego świata wyprowadził, spraw, prosimy Cię, ażeby z Twego Miłosierdzia w poczet świętych Twoich zaliczony został. Przez Chrystusa Pana naszego. Amen.

Wieczny odpoczynek racz mu dać Panie
A światłość wiekuista niechaj mu świeci.

Niech odpoczywa w pokoju. Amen.

Bishop Emeritus Jan Dawidziuk, former Bishop Ordinary of the Western Diocese of the Polish National Catholic Church died Tuesday, March 6, at Parma Community General Hospital. He was 74.

Bishop Dawidziuk, had served parishes in Illinois, Wisconsin, and St. Louis before his assignment as pastor of St. Mary’s Polish National Catholic Church in Parma, Ohio in 1986. In 1999, he was elevated to the office of bishop after being elected to the office at the Church’s Special Synod that same year. He served as Diocesan Bishop of the Western Diocese, which includes parishes in Illinois, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Michigan, Indiana, Ohio, Florida, Missouri, and Washington from 2003 to 2009. In his retirement he assisted by serving at St. Mary’s parish.

“The church is the same everywhere, and people are almost the same,” Bishop Dawidziuk told the Mosinee Times of Wisconsin in 1983.

St. Mary’s current pastor, Rev. Stanley Bilinski, said Dawidziuk was a peacemaker. “He hated conflict. He sought to see all sides. He always sought resolution and collaboration.”

Bishop Dawidziuk was born in Kolczyn, Poland and raised mostly in Siedlce. The Germans invaded before he turned 2. He graduated from a seminary in Seidlce and was ordained in Poland in 1960. He earned master’s and doctoral degrees at the Academy of Catholic Theology in Warsaw, doing some of his research in Rome. Besides his native Polish, he learned Latin, Greek, Hebrew, German, Italian and English. He taught at the academy and high school levels in Opole, Poland.

In 1981, Bishop Dawidziuk emigrated to the United States with his family. He also joined the Greater Cleveland Ministerial Association and held many positions in the Polish National Catholic Church, including delegate to its Supreme Council in Scranton, Pennsylvania.

Bishop Dawidziuk retired in 2009 and moved to Berea, Ohio. Survivors include his wife, the former Anna Fedorowicz, a daughter and a grandson.

Art, Media, Poland - Polish - Polonia, Xpost to PGF, ,

Feel – American Tour Review

“Feel” Connects on American Tour
By Raymond Rolak

HAMTRAMCK– After a standing room only concert here at the PNA Concert Hall on Conant Avenue, the rock-pop band FEEL from Katowice, Poland had to rush off to play a gig in Chicago. The entourage took the train from Detroit to Chicago the next day to play The Club in Burbank, Illinois.

Post concert, FEEL was gracious after their Detroit performance and signed CD’s and posters and mingled with their supporters. With a few piwa’s to re-hydrate, after concert talk was primarily in Polish and the band members all knew that Techno-Music had its roots and history founded in Detroit.

The PNA Concert Hall in Hamtramck rocked as lead vocalist Piotr Kupicha wowed with an over two hour set and energized his audience while interfacing with the crowd. It was obvious that his on-stage presence connected with an all-age audience as “Feel” went through their repertoire of Polish hit songs.

The evening was a Polish musical showcase as local Polish-American rapper Dzejo started with a warm-up set and then Magda Kaminski got things really moving along. Kaminski did a few numbers from her CD, “This is Me.” The venue lent a good platform as Marcin Kindla showed off his warm but powerful vocals with some softer stylings. He also really connected with the primarily Polish crowd that rushed in to be front and center of the stage.

The presentations started late so the audience was ready. Emcee Rafal Nowakowski kept everyone informed so the attendance was anxious and anticipating the main attraction. “Feel” worked without a break and Kupicha had the audience wanting more as he did a couple of interaction numbers. The group sang all their popular Polish radio hits with two encores.

Before the concert Kupicha told me music was in his in his heritage as his grandfather, also Piotr, was a professional musician in Silesia. “Dzia-Dzia was a violinist,” he said in broken English. “So strings are in my bloodline,” he added smiling. He laughed even more with my broken Polish and the band members giggled with halting sign language augmentations. There was no barrier with communication though and we talked a bit about the international language of music. “Music is the global ambassador, I agree,” added the talented songwriter. Polish native Anya Nowakowski helped with the tougher translations and in depth questions. She was laughing with enthusiasm also. Idioms don’t get translated well sometimes.

While relaxing in the ready room Kupicha had questions about the Detroit Red Wings as most of the group knew about the local long time NHL ice-hockey success of this area. Group spokesman, Wojtek Grzesiok, told of the time a few years ago that former Polish hockey star Mariusz Czerkawski got Kupicha to play in a celebrity ice-hockey game in Poland. “No one expected Piotr to be so fast,” added Grzesiok. “Just like on the guitar, Piotr skated fast.”

In one of Kupicha’s songs he reached the audience with a soft staccato feel, “Listen-Listen,” he sang in Polish. It was colorful and touching to the audience. Offerings from their new CD “Feel-3” were front and center throughout the sets. An old favorite, “And When the Dusk Comes” got the crowd really moving (A gdy jest już ciemno).

Grzesiok said they had been looking forward to the Detroit date as it was the first time for “Feel” to play in this area. After this performance it won’t be the last. The only wrinkle in the evening was that the very popular Sebastian Riedel popped a disk in his back and was trying to recuperate at the band’s hotel. He wasn’t able to perform in Chicago either.

Local music promoters from Telewizja-Detroit and Kozi Vodka had the small concert ballroom set just right. Co-producer Tomasz Czuprynski said, “This is a great location and with this response we will do it again here.”

Hamtramck sausage provider Srodek’s was popular with the band and their post concert smoked sausage and pierogi offerings were well received. On this tour, “Feel” had previously played in New Britain, Connecticut, Brooklyn, New York and Passaic, New Jersey.

FEEL- Piotr Kupicha– Lead Vocals and Guitar, Łukasz Kożuch– Keyboard, Michał Nowak– Bass, Michał Opaliński– Percussion, Paweł Pawłowski- Guitar

"Feel" the pop-rockers from Katowice, Poland did a two hour plus performance at the PNA Concert Hall in Hamtramck and lead singer Piotr Kupicha wowed at the standing-room-only event. The concert was promoted by Telewizja-Detroit. Photo courtesy of the ROLCO SPORTS NETWORK

Homilies, ,

Second Sunday of Lent 2012

First reading: Genesis 22:1-2,9-13,15-18
Psalm: Ps 116:10,15-19
Epistle: Romans 8:31-34
Gospel: Mark 9:2-10

“This is my beloved Son.”

Relatedness:

Today we continue our Lenten study of family focusing on the topic of relatedness, how we relate to the Father, Jesus, the Holy Spirit and each other as well as the things that mark, or indicate that relationship.

The dictionary tells us that relatedness means a particular manner of connectedness or relationship. The opposite, unrelatedness means to be disconnected.

In educational psychology human relatedness is defined as the ability to bond emotionally with others.

Allison:

Allison grew up in a loving and supportive family. She was an honor student whose life stalled, then careened dangerously downhill because of alcoholism. Throughout her life she felt disconnected, unrelated, and was unable to develop friendships. It was only after “hitting bottom,” and a chance encounter with a struggling member of Alcoholics Anonymous, Mike, that her own life was put back on track. At her second AA meeting Allison was invited to speak. There, she found her Higher Power. She recognized God in the faces of the people in the room. She said: “I saw it…the understanding, the empathy, the love…This is what I had been looking for all my life.”

Allison found relatedness. First in Mike who “got her,” understood where she was and her need. Then in that AA meeting she broke through and saw the love of God in her connection to others. What she experienced was a sense of belonging, relatedness.

Allison’s life bloomed. She is gainfully employed, supporting herself financially, with plans to buy a house. She has friends because, as she described it, she had learned how to be a friend, to be related. She went on to find a special man for her life with whom she has been involved for almost five years.

God created:

In our study of family, we realize that God’s creation is centered on our relatedness, our connection to others starting with our parents, siblings, and our extended families. We reach out from there to friendships and larger social relationships.

As we discussed last week, God works through families and the larger social family. In His creation, these relationship, this relatedness is at the heart of His design for His family.

References:

In today’s readings and Gospel we hear about relatedness. Abraham was put to the test, and the test required him to do the hardest thing possible. It is why its description is so stark, so shocking. Abraham was asked to sacrifice the son that he loved.

In our Gospel, the Father overshadows Jesus and the Apostles at the Transfiguration, clearing stating for all: “This is my beloved Son.”

Saving through relatedness:

In case we might miss it, God lives in a state of relatedness. He is Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, three persons in one God. The center of that relationship is tremendous and perfect love. That is why God understood how hard of a test He was imposing on Abraham, and why He rewarded Abraham for his willingness to offer his beloved son as sacrifice.

Consider how we are saved by that exact relatedness. The Father’s Son, Jesus, was offered on the cross for us. While God stayed Abraham’s hand from sacrificing his son, God sacrificed His own Son, Who He loves with tremendous and perfect love, for all of us.

We are both saved, and assured of our relatedness to God, through the sacrifice of His Son, Jesus.

To God:

God loves us so much, so tremendously, that He gave His Son for us. We are not just bystanders, or people unworthy of love, unrelated. God loves us with the very same love He holds for His Son Jesus. In Jesus, we have become members of God’s family. We are children of the our Father. Jesus is our brother. Our relatedness to God, our connection to Him is not something we invented, but something God desired. God took action to create our relatedness to Him and to each other.

To each other:

By being made children of God we have become related, connected to each other. We are siblings.

Our relatedness exists in what we share: We have one birth into the family of God through water and the Holy Spirit. We have one faith. We have one Father in heaven and one Lord and Savior, our brother Jesus Christ. We share in the one Spirit. We speak the same language in worship and prayer. We do the things that family does – in spending time together, communicating, trusting, fulfilling each others needs during times of struggle, and celebrating together in times of joy. We share the same ancestors in faith and are joined with them, with our Blessed Mother and all the saints. They pray and intercede for us because we are all family.

In God we are connected. We are related. We are in a relationship with Him and each other. We are bonded as family, spiritually and emotionally with each other.

We have one goal, and it is not just getting to heaven because who wants to be in heaven alone. It is reaching heaven as a family where we will dwell as one. We will reach heaven through our relatedness, through the hands that help, support, and guide us, who pray for us in our mutual journey to God. This is our family of faith here on earth and in heaven. Amen.

Christian Witness, Homilies, ,

Reflection for the Second Sunday of Lent

Can I trade in this kid?
Ummm, NO!

“God put Abraham to the test… ‘Abraham, Abraham!’ ‘Here I am!’ he answered. ‘Do not lay your hand on the boy. Do not do the least thing to him. I know now how devoted you are to God, since you did not withhold from me your own beloved son.’”

Relatedness – The dictionary tells us that relatedness means a particular manner of connectedness or relationship. Unrelatedness means the lack of any particular manner of connectedness.

We might wonder if Abraham had any troubles with his son Isaac. Maybe, at one time or another, he regretted his relatedness to Isaac, and thought, maybe I could trade this kid in for something better.

God puts Abraham to the test, he asks him to sacrifice his son. Scripture tells us that Abraham loved his son, but maybe, somewhere in his mind he thought, maybe God is going to give me an even better son on trade. It is one of the unfortunate consequences of our humanity, our ability to set aside our relatedness. We all have someone with whom we have a strained, distant, or disconnected relationship.

Being part of God’s family, being the brothers and sisters of Jesus and of each other can put us to the test. How do we exercise our relatedness – how do we keep connected?

God Himself has told us that we are connected, we are related, and we are part of one body. He never abandons His relationship with us because we share the DNA of Jesus; it is imprinted in our hearts and souls.

Our Lenten journey is about correcting those instances where we feel we have grown unrelated. We have to recapture those markers of a healthy relationship with God. We have to rebuild what is strained between sister and brother.

We bear the signs of family, our shared birth in water and the Holy Spirit, our shared language of prayer and praise, the way we work together and support each other. We know, as members of God’s family, there are no trades allowed. The Father gave His Son for this family. What Jesus did to bring us together as one family is worth rebuilding; wherever it might be strained. Let’s set to that task.

Art, Events, , ,

Celebrate 10 Years of One Story at the Literary Debutante Ball

Tickets are now on sale for the One Story Literary Debutante Ball. The One Story Literary Debutante Ball is a benefit celebrating One Story’s 10th anniversary and seven writers who have published their first books in the past year. The ball will feature cocktails, music, dancing, and a silent art auction.

One Story will also be honoring best-selling author Ann Patchett at the ball for her exceptional support of other writers.

All proceeds will benefit One Story, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, and aid it in its mission to support the art form of the short story and the authors who write them. Tickets for the ball start at $75 each.

The One Story Literary Debutante Ball will be held on Friday, April 20th from 7-11 pm at the The Invisible Dog Art Center, 51 Bergen St. (between Court St. & Smith St.), Brooklyn, NY. You may purchase your tickets on-line at One Story.

Poland - Polish - Polonia, Xpost to PGF, , , , ,

Polish American Historical Association Call for Nominations

The Polish American Historical Association (PAHA) has issued a call for nominations for various awards and a young scholar grant. All nominations should be sent to the Chair of the Awards Committee, Dr. Stephen Leahy (Shantou University, China).

Young scholar award nominations must be received by May 1, 2012.

Graduate Student Research Paper Award recognizes a substantial original research paper on Polish-American history and culture produced by a young scholar in the humanities or social sciences. This award includes a $500 travel grant to present the paper at PAHA’s 2013 Annual Meeting. The candidate for the award must be a graduate student at the time of the application or nomination.

The following award nominations must be received by July 15, 2012.

Mieczyslaw Haiman Award is offered annually to an American scholar for sustained contribution to the study of Polish Americans.

Oskar Halecki Prize recognizes an important book or monograph on the Polish experience in the United States. Eligibility is limited to works of historical and/or cultural interest, including those in the social sciences or humanities, published in the two years prior to the year of the award.

Skainy Civic Achievement Award honors individuals or groups who advance PAHA’s goals of promoting research and awareness of the Polish-American experience and/or have made significant contributions to Polish or Polish-American community and culture.

Amicus Poloniae Award recognizes significant contributions enhancing knowledge of Polish and Polish-American heritage by individuals not belonging to the Polish-American community.

Distinguished Service Award is given occasionally to a member of PAHA who has rendered valuable and sustained service to the organization.

Kulczycki Prize recognizes outstanding scholarship in a dissertation about the Polish experience in America. The Award includes a subvention to help the winner publish their work.

Creative Arts Award recognizes the contributions in the field of creative arts by individuals or groups who have promoted an awareness of the Polish experience in the Americas.

Kulczycki Prize recognizes an important dissertation on the Polish experience in the United States offered to a graduate student or younger scholar within the first five years after awarding of the doctorate degree to assist in the publication of a book or monograph.

Homilies

Reflection for the First Sunday of Lent

Hey, this is my boat!
You cannot go alone…

“God said to Noah and to his sons with him: “See, I am now establishing my covenant with you and your descendants after you.”

Consider Adam and Eve, Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Moses, David, Mary, John the Baptist, Jesus, and Peter – what do all these, and the rest of the heroes of the Bible have in common? They were all members of a family.

Our Lenten theme is all about family. We see that God makes His promises not just to one person, but to the human family.

God always deals with family, with people’s relationships with each other. God isn’t building His kingdom on hermits and loners. Rather, He is looking to us as His children, and a single body (the body of Christ), as a community that is defined as a family.

Remember that Jesus always referred to His Father as our Father. This wasn’t some sort of light saying, just to make us feel good. Jesus meant what He said. His Father is our Father.

Jesus came to rebuild His Father’s family and He did so on Calvary – reconnecting us to God.

God is our Father, and we are Jesus’ brothers and sisters. This makes us His family and family to each other. We have even taken the steps necessary to be born into that family, through the waters of Baptism, by our regeneration.

There’s a lot to study this Lent, so let us begin our focus on the fact that we are members of one body – the Church, the body of Christ, and that makes us one family. With that comes a knowledge of how we were born into this family, how are related, how we relate to the Father, Jesus, and each other, our responsibilities as family members, our importance to the family, and the inheritance that is in store for members of God’s family.

Brother, or brethren, is found 319 times in the New Testament. Child, or children, is used 168 times in the New Testament. God didn’t send Noah onto the boat alone, and doesn’t make His promises to only a select few. His promises are for all of us as a family. He doesn’t want us to go it alone. He is our loving Father.

Homilies, ,

First Sunday of Lent 2012

First reading: Genesis 9:8-15
Psalm: Ps 25:4-9
Epistle: 1 Peter 3:18-22
Gospel: Mark 1:12-15

“God said to Noah and to his sons with him: “See, I am now establishing my covenant with you and your descendants after you.”

Families:

Consider Adam and Eve, Noah, Abraham. Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Moses, David, Mary, John the Baptist, Jesus, and Peter – what do all these, and the rest of the heroes of the Bible all have in common? They were all members of families.

Noah had his wife, his sons and their families. Abraham had Sarah and their son Isaac. Isaac had Rebekah, Esau, and Jacob. Jacob had Rachel and Leah, and his seven sons including Joseph. From the Old Testament to the New, we see family.

Think too of all the words used in the Bible to denote family. The New Testament mentions brother, or brethren, 319 times and child, or children, is used 168 times. Everything we see of God’s revelation comes to us through the lens of family.

Theme:

Our Lenten theme is all about family. We will work though this Lent learning about God’s promises – promises made to the body of Christ, the family of faith. Our first reading, where God makes promises to Noah and his family, his descendants, is a foreshadowing of the way God relates to us as family.

God wants us as family:

God always deals with family, with people’s relationships to Him and each other. God isn’t building His kingdom on hermits and loners. Rather, He is looking to us as His children, and a single body — the body of Christ. God’s family is more than just the individual believer, a local community or church — it is all the faithful, past, present, and future joined together as family.

Remember that Jesus always referred to His Father as our Father. This wasn’t some sort of light saying, just to make us feel good. Jesus meant what He said. His Father is our Father. Jesus even taught us to pray, invoking the Father.

But its tough:

The way God set everything up can be tough at times. Family relationships aren’t always easy. You remember the old saying: “You can pick your friends, but you can’t pick your family.” Sometimes that’s said after a family member has disappointed us or let us down. Still, they are family, and we offer forgiveness and reconciliation to our family. That is the model for the entire Christian family. We are all related together in that way, and we share in one body and one blood – the blood of Jesus Christ.

The key is that family is central to our lives as Christians. This unity, in family, makes us stronger, heals our wounds, brings us joy, and allows us to support each other in tough times.

Reconnecting:

Jesus’ entire ministry was centered on revealing the Father to us. He came to rebuild His Father’s family and He accomplished that on Calvary. There He broke down the enmity between God and man. He healed our separation, our distance from God. There He reconnected us to God, and joined us together.

God is our Father, and we are Jesus’ brothers and sisters. This makes us His family and family to each other. No one is excluded or outside the family, and our arms are open to all who wish to enter our family. They can come, just as we did, to be born into God’s family through the waters of Baptism, by regeneration.

Road ahead:

There’s a lot to study this Lent. Today we have focused on the fact that God’s model, God’s way, is that we live as family. He is our Father, Jesus is our brother. We are members of one body – the Church which is the body of Christ. We have been born into this family and that same birth is available to all. Anyone can join God’s family by accepting Him.

From here we will learn about our relatedness, how we relate to the Father, Jesus, and each other and the things that mark, or indicate that relationship. We will learn about our responsibilities as family members. We will consider our importance to the family. We will learn about the gifts that come from being members of God’s family. Finally, we will rejoice in the victory we have been given by the inheritance that is in store for members of God’s family.

We are family:

God didn’t send Noah onto the boat alone, and He hasn’t given His promises to a few individuals who exist apart and alone. His promises and His love are for all of us as members of a family. God is our loving Father, and we are His children, brothers and sisters of Christ and each other. Amen.

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