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Sacred Heart of Jesus-Holy Cross supporting the NY Mills community

From the Utica Observer Dispatch: N.Y. Mills’ Holiday on Main Street draws revelers to park

The faces of children and adults were aglow Sunday during the ninth annual Holiday on Main Street activities, which included a tree lighting, bonfire and other activities.

Resident Linda Armstrong attended the event for the first time this year with her grandson Dakota Saxe, 4, of Clinton. The two sat together near the fire Sunday after sledding, seeing the Christmas tree light up in the village gazebo and hearing village trustee Kenneth McCoy read —The Night Before Christmas.—

—This is kind of nice,— she said, smiling.

McCoy said the event took several months to organize and the assistance of several community groups to be successful. The New York Mills Fire Department monitored the bonfire. The fire department’s ladies auxiliary served refreshments, and the local Lion’s Club offered tractor-pulled hayrides around the surrounding streets. The nearby Sacred Heart of Jesus-Holy Cross Polish National Catholic Church also participated, selling refreshments and providing space for musical performances.

The groups performing there and throughout the parks included the New York Mills Jazz Band, the New York Mills Elementary and Junior-Senior High School choral groups, the Sounds of Silver Choral Group and the New York Mills Children’s Bell Ensemble.

…

—Everyone comes together, friends and family,— he said. —And our focus point is really on celebrating the Christmas season.—

Sacred Heart of Jesus-Holy Cross is pastored by the Very Rev. Walter Madej. Father Senior Madej and his parish go to great lengths to support the NY Mills community. Fr. Serior, along with his parish committee worked to support the establishment of a monument to mill workers in Pulaski Park, which adjoins the church. The Rome Arts Hall of Fame notes:

In collaboration with Rev. Walter Madej, Jim [McDermid] created two sculptures which now reside on the corner of Oneida and James Street in Utica. Also with Rev. Madej, Jim created a stainless steel and copper Bell Monument which sits on Main Street in New York Mills as a historical reference to the village’s past and in honor of the mill workers who formed the majority of the village’s earliest population. Jim uses a figurative image in both realistic and abstract ways to express human content.

The dedication of the bell monument, and Fr Senior’s work (read The Bell from the history of NY Mills), resulted in the establishment of the annual NY Mills Bell Festival, now entering its 9th year.

In addition to the festival, Fr. Senior worked with Dr. Richard Chmielewski to establish the White Eagle Medical Bridge to Poland. The program provides Polish hospitals and clinics with much needed training, supplies, and equipment. The group holds an annual charity golf outing to support its work which has included: the shipment of a complete cardiac catheterization laboratory, the establishment of a supply network for rural clinics, and organization of the first emergency medicine congress ever hosted in Poland.

These programs and events are a testimony to Christian charity and the work of Father Senior Madej and all Polish National Catholics in NY Mills. May God bless their work.

Poland - Polish - Polonia, , ,

Capturing history, showing faith, church tours

From the Republican Herald: Tours give glimpse of Frackville churches

FRACKVILLE —” Thanks to the efforts of the Frackville Historical Society, those who took part in the Frackville Church Tour on Sunday had a chance to learn about various churches’ doctrines, architecture and the history of the people who built them.

—We thought it would be a wonderful opportunity for the people of the town to see the beautiful, rich history of these religious buildings in Frackville, where people have worshipped for generations and generations,— said Diane M. Berkheiser, president of the historical society.—

—Also, with the rumors of some of the churches closing, we thought it was important to do it this year,— she said.

Participants of the tour first picked up maps at Frackville Borough Hall. They could then visit the churches at their leisure and return to the hall for refreshments and conversation.

…

The golden spires of both St. Michael the Archangel Ukrainian Catholic Church and Holy Ascension Russian Orthodox Church indicate they both might come from the Byzantine Catholic tradition. Both share some of the same architectural features with richly symbolic paintings on the altar and stained-glass windows; however, St. Michael follows the Roman Catholic Pope and Holy Ascention [sic] does not.

While telling of the determination of early Frackville residents, the Rev. Archpriest John M. Fields, pastor of St. Michael, drew visitors’ attention to a brown thee-barred Eastern metal crucifix prominently displayed near the altar. Fields said he discovered the cross in storage in 2004 when he first arrived to serve the parish.

—This is an important historical object that should not be hidden away … If you see any of old photos of the church or any activities, this cross is in the photo. It is the cross that was used in the dedication of our church in 1921,— he said.

Other churches on the tour were St. John the Baptist Polish National Catholic Church and St. Peter’s United Church of Christ.

Some of the folks I knew back in my Buffalo days do this on Buffalo’s East Side both on Holy Thursday and at other times of the year. I also know that this has been recreated in other immigrant cities like Hamtramck, sometimes tying it in with the Holy Thursday visitation of seven churches.

History and cultural awareness are more than textbook issues, they are the components upon which our lives have been built. I applaud these efforts. Get out there and see the neighborhoods and churches. Find inspiration so that we can reclaim, at least in part, the culture of neighborhood and community. If you are a pastor or parish committee, get your parish on the tour. What better audience then people who are there because they are interested in matters of faith and how faith is represented.

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

Homogeneity, neighborhoods, the good life…

I found an interesting article at The Catholic Thing: Neighborhoods Thrive Throughout America wherein the author states:

—It is easy to see in this mutuality of obligation,— writes sociologist Andrew Greeley, —a continuation in the urban environment of the old peasant loyalties of village and clan.—

The Catholic immigrant experience proved that homogenous neighborhoods can enhance American urban life —“ quite a contrast the 1960s big-government social engineers who, in the name of urban renewal, turned many of them into municipal deserts.

I refer to this as the good life because this environment, the associations created therein, and as the author states, this “mutuality,” is part and parcel of God’s design for mankind. We are designed to grow in our understanding of our obligations toward each other. We are meant to act within a supportive and connected community, valuing our family and our neighbor (Luke 10:29). The good life is found in communities that build up and support the right aspirations of their members — aspirations founded in the Gospel and the teachings of the Church. The confluence of right teaching and communal membership forms a microcosm for teaching and passing on an understanding of our moral, social, and religious obligations.

From experience we know that such communities were not without their sins and shortcomings. That is where we all fall short. That said, we must not negate the greater value provided by those communities all-the-while rushing headlong into forced unanimity. As we have ventured into new, unexplored, individualistic territories, under the mask of unanimity, we have seen the fabric of society torn in numerous ways. As recent events tell we have all played the role of robber-baron in an attempt to claw to the top, enriching ourselves at the cost of family, community, and our nation’s treasure.

As our PNCC experienceThe author notes the growth of ethnic rather than territorial parishes in urban centers. The National Church movement was a key motivator in this arena. R.C. bishops were focused on homogenization, but homogenization into the culture, language, and traditions they personally espoused at the expense of people’s natural connections. demonstrates, the joining together of the component parts of the universal Church is not a denial of the Church’s universality, but rather a strengthening of its component parts – each offering its skills, talents, and abilities to the enrichment of the wider community.

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