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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.

Homilies,

Ash Wednesday

First reading: Joel 2:12-18
Psalm: Ps 51:3-6,12-14,17
Epistle: 2 Corinthians 5:20-21 and 2 Corinthians 6:1-2
Gospel: Matthew 6:1-6,16-18

Even now, says the LORD,
return to me with your whole heart

Focus (this morning):

Today, the first day of Lent. After three weeks of preparation you would think I would wake up ready to go. Well, this morning was not that kind of morning. Instead of waking prepared with Lent in my heart and mind, I woke in a haze. I focused on what I normally am, rather than what I should be becoming. I was self-focused. In the midst of preparing chicken and baloney sandwiches it finally hit me — it is Ash Wednesday.

It wasn’t just the no meat Lenten sacrifice, it was the sudden realization that I had a long way to go this Lent. It would be a journey from inward self-sufficiency, self-focus, to becoming emptied.

Emptiness:

Think of an iron bar. It is strong, complete, self-sufficient. You cannot add anything to it or change its nature. It is what it is.

Think now of a musical instrument: woodwinds, brass, guitars, or violins. These instruments are hollow. Their emptiness is intentional. These instruments are empty so that they may reflect what their master does – produce and echo music that is beautiful.

For my part, and for many of us, we exist like iron bars. We are who we are. We feel rather complete and total, solid, self-sufficient. Our task this Lent is to change from iron bars to musical instruments.

Process of emptying:

Lent is a process of emptying, of moving from the iron bar to a state of emptiness, away from self to becoming a reflection of God’s music, God’s light, God’s way.

Full of God:

In Lent we work to empty ourselves so that we become full of God. We work to reflect His light and His music. We recognize once again that He is the Master of our lives. We wipe the sleep from our eyes and clear the fog from our heads so that we can see our lives as part of God’s life; God who exists within us and within our brothers and sisters.

We are not separated, God here, us there. We are unified, together.

Lent gives us the opportunity to have God once again permeate, fill, encompass and saturate our thoughts and actions, our words, our deeds.

St. Paul reminds us that we cannot be self-sufficient iron bars because:

He died for all, so that those who live might live no longer for themselves, but for Him who died and was raised for them (2 Corinthians 5:15).

We have to live with a focus on being filled by God.

Full of family:

If you read the sign outside the church, you will note that our theme for Lent is God’s cell therapy. In Jesus we have been changed from a random group of individuals to adopted children of God, and brothers and sisters in faith. Our old mortal cells are being replaced and we are a new being, a new people, and members of one family of faith in Jesus Christ.

We must empty ourselves so that we become better family members. This is not just to our immediate or biological family, but to all the members of the family of God.

Throughout Lent we will focus on what makes us family, as well as the joys and responsibilities as members of the family of God.

Reconciling family:

Today we begin the process of reconciling, of emptying ourselves. Things like our Lenten self denial and sacrifice are makers along the road toward our becoming the people we ought to be. We are changing from iron bars – but we will not become empty, music-less instruments either. We will become, by the time we reach Easter, and for the days ahead in our lives, members of God’s family, each others brothers and sisters, and gloriously, the reflection of God’s light and music in the world.

Inheritance:

Our work, the road ahead is not without a promised reward. That promise is from God – that we will enter life everlasting as one family, as one people, as God’s children and as brothers and sisters. We have our inheritance before us. It won’t be paid out to iron bars, but to family filled with the light and music of God. Amen.

Christian Witness, Homilies,

Quinquagesima Sunday

First reading: Isaiah 43:18-19,21-22,24-25
Psalm: Ps 41:2-5,13
Epistle: 2 Corinthians 1:18-22
Gospel: Mark 2:1-12

“Child, your sins are forgiven.”

On the river:

Bill lives about thirty minutes from a river that’s a major salmon run in the summer. He loves fishing, casting long lines into quick currents, and when a beautiful, ready to eat fish hooks on, the fight can be fun and furious.

Bill has learned a lot in fishing, particularly about his relationship with the fish. Bill knows that going to the river to just watch fish go by is low risk, and there is little tension. The fish do their thing, he does his, and life is good.

Now, if Bill tosses a line out the whole game changes. Suddenly he’s a hunter, a seeker. He wants a relationship with a passing fish, or two, or three. Creating this relationship requires effort on his part. He has to rig rod and reel, cast a hundred times, and endure the elements of sun or rain. It also means pain for the fish, as hook enters its mouth, digs deep, and sends trauma through its body. And tension too! The line strains to constrain the fish from swimming downstream with the river’s strong current.

Who’s in charge:

Consider what happens when Bill hooks into a fish. Who is in control, Bill or the fish? At first it may seem Bill is. With his rod and reel in good working order, and the fish tugging at the end of the line, all he has to do is pull steadily, and account for any run, and in three minutes, the salmon is flopping at his feet, beached.

But for every fish landed, more get away. Some fish dash down river, snapping line like thread, but trailing that hook and line from their gums. Others jump and twist and thrash and tear flesh, but if lucky, dislodge the hook. Wounded, yet free, they win.

Still other fish figure out a simpler, braver path. Rather than pull, dash, or thrash, they swim toward shore, and approach the fisherman. When fish do so, you’re bound to see a frantic person reeling like crazy shouting “No, no, no—not towards me!” But if the fish persists, the line goes slack, and the hook comes out with a flick of its head. In cases where fish swim toward their enemy, they often gain freedom from pain and leave dragging nothing behind them.

Lent is nearly here:

As we complete our Pre-Lenten journey, God asks us to consider His forgiveness and the way we forgive each other. God asks us to consider the way He forgives, and that we forgive in the same way. We need to choose the kind of fish we are going to be.

Our choices:

Like the fish and fisherman, we are in relationships with each other. At times those relationships can be marked by struggle, tension, and pain.

Like the fish, we make choices abut our reactions to hurt. Those reactions may be to dash and thrash against those hooks, the hurts that stab at us.

We may complain or criticize; choose to focus on and elaborate on just how wrong the other person is. We might take the route of defensiveness. We may shut down or withdraw, employ the silent treatment. We may go so far as to treat the person who hurt us with contempt and disgust.

When we respond these ways, we’re like hooked fish fighting frantically to solve our dilemma. We may succeed in breaking off our relationships, getting away from them, but it will always be with wounds, with something dragging behind us. We will never be truly free. We remain wounded and burdened.

Isn’t it hard:

As we dwell on the hurts, the barbs that stick into us, we may consider other options.

Maybe they will come to me and apologize? Then I will forgive. That may happen, but in the waiting we are stuck where we are, we can’t free ourselves and move forward.

We might think that to forgive means we have to trust again. Those two things are quite different. Forgiving means that we let go of the hurt, the hooks that cause us pain. Entering back into a trusting relationship requires more. That’s a fuller reconciliation and a rebuilding process. Sometimes relationships aren’t ready for that.

Finally, we just might enjoy our pain and the bitterness the barbs cause us. If that’s the choice, then no, we will not forgive. But we will remain hooked and hurt, we will suffer the results — anger, anxiety, fear, migraines, and worse. We will be “hooked” into our pain, and drag it with us for years to come — maybe for eternity.

Be smart:

God asks us to be the smart fish, to swim towards those who have hurt us and forgive. As we do, we free ourselves from the barbs that hurt us.

Pain doesn’t go away easily, and true reconciliation and the rebuilding of relationships is a much longer process, but it has to start with our going toward those who hurt us. There we offer our forgiveness.

In forgiving we stop the dashing and thrashing that tears at our souls.

God’s way:

This is God’s way. When we hurt God through sin, we will always find Him swimming toward us, with complete forgiveness.

God doesn’t sometimes swim toward us — He always does, and His forgiveness is complete. There is no book of sins at the pearly gates. There is no record of our wrongs. God reassures us:

It is I, I, who wipe out,
for my own sake, your offenses;
your sins I remember no more.

He forgives us completely. One day Jesus’ disciple, Peter, asked him “Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother when he sins against me? Up to seven times?” Jesus answered, “I tell you, not seven times, but seventy times seven.” (Matthew 18:21-22)

We are not to take Jesus’ instruction literally, forgiving 490 times. We are rather to have His attitude of generous forgiveness. We should be ever-willing to forgive others, just as He forgave the paralytic, just as He forgives us.

As we enter Lent, let us resolve to do the same with each other. To forgive generously, and to swim toward those who hurt us. Doing so, we will be truly free. Amen.

Homilies, PNCC,

Requiem on the Anniversary of the Death of Ś+P Bishop Franciszek Hodur

First reading: Wisdom 3:1-9
Psalm: Ps. 23
Epistle: 2 Timothy 1:6-11
Gospel: Matthew 5:13-16

You are the light of the world.
Just so, your light must shine before others,
that they may see your good deeds
and glorify your heavenly Father.

Gather:

Today we gather, on this anniversary of the calling to heaven of our organizer, our spiritual mentor and father, Bishop Franciszek Hodur. Today we gather to remember and recall his work, but not only. Today we gather to refocus and recommit ourselves to the path he laid before us, a sure path that shows our Christian light and faith to all, and which leads all to heaven.

The great piece of art on the ceiling of St. Stanislaus Bishop & Martyr Cathedral shows exactly that. Bishop Hodur is following Christ, our light. In turn the people and clergy follow behind him, as he reflects Christ’s light. Off in the distance, more and more people continue to follow Christ’s light as it is reflected by each person who follows Christ.

We are debates:

As is so often the case in any endeavor, we attempt to label our actions. We attempt to define ourselves in words. For those who do not know us, we use analogy and metaphor.

As the people of the Holy Polish National Catholic Church, we do the same. We walk through the litanies of who and what we are, and sometimes engage in extensive debates. Everyone has a favorite analogy or metaphor. It is natural, because those coming through our doors want a touch point. They want some basic understanding. You know the questions and the answers:

  • Do I have to be Polish to join? No.
  • You’re Catholic, right? Yes, but not the kind you’re thinking of.
  • Democratic Church? What does that mean? It would take too long to answer in one homily…

No one wants to come to church, especially for a first visit, and be inundated with long technical answers or even the quite inappropriate and untrue: We are just like the Roman Catholic Church, except…

Who we are:

Bishop Hodur would have none of that. As I noted in the bulletin, Bishop Hodur referred to the numerical growth of the church and noted that an increase in numbers was not enough. What is necessary is spiritual commitment. Growing the Church is not only about numbers. It is something more profound. It is our personal commitment to the spirit and faith of our Church. It is also an invitation to others to join in our Church through the power of our ideas.

Who we are is the light of the world. We are a community of believers, in the one, holy, catholic, and apostolic faith, that reflects Christ’s light and leads all to heaven. We are people who are committed to the spirit and faith of our Holy Church, because that spirit and faith best lead to heaven. We are a Church whose hands and arms are open to all because we invite all to join. Our invitation is the way we reflect Christ’s light and the sheer power of our ideas.

Dignity:

Looking at the work of our great organizer, we can reflect on the accomplishments achieved by the community of faith he built.

The first accomplishment is dignity. Bishop Hodur led an immigrant people, largely disenfranchised, used as fodder in mines and factories, underpaid, and seen as the dirty underclass of society, to dignity. He built up the people’s spirit; he called on them to exercise their patriotic duties, to become involved, and to grow — as a result of their faith — into physical and intellectual strength as solid citizens, business people, and community.

The people he led were the descendants and heirs to a strong and proud land, with a rich history of physical, political, intellectual, and democratic endeavors. Most importantly, as human beings, they needed to see the inherent dignity bestowed on them by God. Bishop Hodur saw all people as God’s children. He saw every nation as endowed with particular gifts by God. No one was without dignity. No one was to be treated as less than human or as mere capital for use by others.

We are all endowed with human dignity by God and that is the starting point for reflecting the light of Christ. No one is too small or insignificant to be the words, actions, and light of Jesus in the world.

Equality:

Another accomplishment is Bishop Hodur’s support for equality. He fully supported, encouraged, and stood in the midst of the Labor Movement. He rallied for equality in the workplace, and in the ownership of property. He saw a great wrong in those who amassed great fortunes and who horded wealth, building self-serving empires on the backs of their workers. Bishop Hodur rallied too against churches that saw their people as donation machines, who aggrandized their clergy, bishops, and popes while letting those they considered subjects suffer want and subjugation.

We are equal children of God. Within our Church no one ranks first, no one last. Our great democratic principles make all equal owners in the responsibility — not just for governing and managing — but for being Christ’s light to the world.

Education:

A third accomplishment is Bishop Hodur’s focus on education. Look at our Church and its organizations. You cannot trip over an organization or event without finding some sort of scholarship or college stipend associated with it. Bishop Hodur built poetry societies, a large publishing house, and literary societies. He coupled intellectual education with physical education, taking a holistic approach to learning. He saw reading and all education as the keys to success — both in society and in our key mission of spreading Christ’s word and light, being light to the world and teaching the gospel.

Light:

God’s light does not exist in a vacuum. Spreading God’s word and reflecting Christ’s light, is dependent on people. Our organizer, Bishop Hodur, knew that. Being the light of the world is not a definition, metaphor, analogy, or description. It is not a comparison, or a job for the clergy caste. It is the job of the Church. The Church is all who take up its spirit and faith, who invite others to join by the way they reflect Christ’s light and by the sheer power of ideas.

Let us once again take up the spirit and faith of the Holy Polish National Catholic Church by the way we acknowledge the dignity of every person, the way we practice equality in our democratic model of Church, by educating to teach the gospel, and most importantly by being Christ’s light to the world — the same light Bishop Hodur reflected and continues to reflect. Amen.

Homilies

Sexagesima Sunday

First reading: 1 Leviticus 13:1-2,44-46
Psalm: Ps 32:1-2,5,11
Epistle: 1 Corinthians 10:31-11:1
Gospel: Mark 1:40-45

He remained outside in deserted places

Denise:

Denise was a student in Victoria, Brazil, and doing private piano teaching in her spare time, when her relationship with her boyfriend of three years came to an end. She felt like her hopes, dreams, and her future had come to an end. She felt devastated and alone. She felt like she had no one to share her life! She felt so lonely! Nothing could fill her emptiness.

Denise began to think that maybe God could help. Then someone who knew her situation invited her to a church, and this person assured her that she would be better after going there.

The speaker at the church meeting was talking about Jesus, how He would like to take her hand, and lead her all the way ahead. The speaker said that Jesus is alive, and that He would like to live with her and help her to overcome all difficulties, especially her loneliness.

Denise cried and prayed, “Jesus, I want you in my life. I know you died to give me life. Take all my sad and bad feelings, take away my loneliness and give me purpose for my life. Give me all you have. Guide me until the end. I give my life to you.”

Denise realized Jesus was with her, as if at the table having a meal, or walking on the street, or in her room. She was not alone. She could talk to this special and perfect friend! And she had new friends who were Christians, who helped her, and invited her into their community and their community’s work.

Types of loneliness:

There are two types of loneliness, emotional and physical.

Emotional loneliness occurs when we feel separated from others we are attached to. Examples of this are when little children are separated from their parents and begin to cry and act out. This happens in adults too, when we feel separated from the person we love the most. One of the biggest days for feeling that separation lies ahead, Valentine’s Day, especially if the one we love is far off, disconnected from us, or has died.

Physical loneliness is the bodily separation from another person, place or an event. This is the loneliness we experience when we lack a wider social network, when we feel apart from our community, or if we do not have friends or allies that we can rely on, especially in times of distress.

We are getting lonelier:

We are getting lonelier. About 60 million Americans see themselves as being lonely, that is 20% of the total population who feel lonely.

Another study found that 12% of Americans have no one with whom to spend free time or to discuss important matters, and research suggests that the rate of loneliness has been increasing over time. The General Social Survey found that between 1985 and 2004, the number of people the average American discusses important matters with decreased from three to two. Additionally, the rate of Americans with no one to discuss important matters with tripled.

At the beginning of the 20th century families helped to alleviate the sense of loneliness. Families were typically larger and more stable, divorce was rarer, and relatively few people lived alone. In 1900 only 5% of households were single-person households; by 1995, 24 million Americans lived alone, and by 2010, it is estimated that that number has increased to around 31 million.

Loneliness as a symptom:

Loneliness is a symptom. The greatest challenge in human life is not some extraordinary scientific discovery, or some great feat of daring. Rather, it is the challenge of avoiding sinfulness. Loneliness is the worst of the symptoms that result from the sickness of sin. We tend to separate ourselves from those we love, from our social network, friends, and allies as a result of sin.

In Denise’s story, we see loneliness resulting from the sin of despair and hopelessness, and from an act of abandonment by the person she loved.

Sometimes it might be the smallest of sins, that time we neglected to pick up the phone, or visit that friend because we were feeling lazy. At other times it might be that big sin, the time we yelled at the person we love, used harsh words, told someone to get out. It is also the sin of not committing enough time to our spouses and our families.

Jesus and loneliness:

Jesus had just healed the leper who had begged Him for mercy. Jesus instructed the former leper to go show himself to the temple priests and to make the called for sacrifice. But now Jesus was in trouble.

According to Mosaic Law, Jesus could not go near anyone. He had touched a leper, and in the process had made Himself ritually unclean. According to the law, He had to stay away from people, had to be isolated, so that He would not contaminate anyone else. Of course, Jesus was completely pure and clean, but He abided by the strictures of Mosaic Law.

Jesus came to us, not to be separated from humanity, but to be part of humanity. That meant He was subject to the same feelings, the same temptations, the very same things we face. So today, we learn about Jesus’ experience of isolation and loneliness.

Jesus knew loneliness well, and the greatest moment of loneliness was as He felt totally abandoned, hanging on the cross.

The cure:

The whole point of Jesus’ isolation was not just to show that He is like us in every way but sin, but to let us know that He is here, to this day, as the remedy and cure for our isolation and loneliness.

That cure takes two forms. The first, and something to be especially cognizant of as we prepare to enter Lent, is that Jesus heals our sinfulness. In Him we find the cure for the sickness of sin and the roadmap we can follow to avoid sin. More so, Jesus gives us the grace we need to set aside sin and to live the life God asks us to live.

The second part of the cure is the very same one Denise found. She let Jesus into her life. She accepted Jesus and His grace. She offered her life to Jesus and in doing so entered the community of faith.

So many people have found that finding and accepting God was to lose loneliness. In doing so they found forgiveness. They found real purpose in receiving love from Jesus, and in giving it to other people in this unhappy world.

Never lonely again:

Jesus calls us to repent of sin and follow the Gospel, to fix relationships that are damaged and spoilt because of our own wrong actions and selfish behavior. He also wants us to know that the Father – the maker of the whole world – is a loving person, who desperately wants a relationship with us! It may be unbelievable, but it is true. God is not a power, a force, a feeling, or a distant angry ruler – He is a person, who wants to be a ‘friend who stays closer than a brother’. He is the ultimate Family, the real Lover, and the special Friend. What is more, He gives us a new power inside, to handle life, relationships and problems. He came to heal isolation, to end loneliness, and to be with us, even when we think we are so alone.

As difficult days lie ahead for this parish, as community appears to be breaking down, let us take comfort in knowing that if we follow the gospel, if we trust in Jesus, if we set aside despair, and rely on God’s grace, like Denise did, we will remain joined. Let us be assured that God remains with us, ever close to us.

God created us, each of us, to be social, to live in community, to be a real part of each others lives. We need people because God designed us that way. Recall what God says in Genesis: “It is not good for man to be alone.” Then let us resolve to remain in each others lives, in each others hearts, in each others prayers. We are first and foremost members of Jesus’ community and nothing can make us lonely or separate us from Him or each other. Amen.

Homilies,

Septuagesima Sunday 2012

First reading: Job 7:1-4,6-7
Psalm: Ps 147:1-6
Epistle: 1 Corinthians 9:16-19,22-23
Gospel: Mark 1:29-39

Rising very early before dawn, he left
and went off to a deserted place, where he prayed.

Busy:

Jesus was hard at work. He fasted in the dessert for 40 days, underwent temptation, walked along the Sea of Galilee gathering His disciples, went to Caper’na-um where He preached and healed, went directly to Peter’s home where He cured Peter’s mother-in-law, then took care of the crowds that came. Scripture tells us that: the whole city was gathered together about the door.

It would make sense for Jesus to want to sleep in a little, to seek some respite and refreshment. Instead, Jesus got up before sunrise and went off to pray. In prayer He found rest and healing.

Mutual:

Jesus’ prayers weren’t casual. He engaged in prayer in the same way He engaged people while preaching the Gospel, with intensity. In His prayer Jesus sought out the Father’s will. He listened for direction and entered an active dialog with His Father. In turn the Father heard Him and set His plan in motion. In doing so, He gave His son the rest, healing, and strength necessary to succeed.

Not one sided:

Relationships with God are not one sided affairs. Jesus gives us example when He asks, listens, and responds. He tells us that the Father listens and gives what is needed. Prayer is a mutual process, a two way exchange, because God truly hears and responds to His children. As the Father heard and responded to His son, so He hears and responds to us with gifts of rest, healing, strength, and resolve.

Understanding/Solution:

The underlying message of today’s Gospel is that healing and rest are not just at the surface, and not something that lasts for only a time. Jesus healing and His rest are everlasting. We get to His healing and rest through the relationship of prayer. When we hear the gospel message Jesus preached, and respond to it, God mutually responds to us. As we enter this pre-Lenten season, hearing that message key to our starting out right.

Doing:

These are the weeks we are to work toward intensifying our prayer. These are the weeks in which we are to focus on the areas of our lives that need reform and repentance. This is the time to sit down with God and engage in that mutual exchange. He is already listening, always has been. He is holding out those gifts of healing and rest, strength and resolve that we each need in different measure.

Recompense:

We think, I don’t have time. This is too much. Paul might have felt the same thing on the way to Damascus, planning and scheduling his ‘persecute the Christians time.’ Suddenly he met Jesus. Today, Paul reminds us that he received a commission that day – to preach the Gospel. Paul saw this as not just a commission, an obligation, but as a duty and a reward in and of itself. Paul chose not to take the things he was entitled to, including rest and recompense. Paul set those aside to become a slave to all so that God’s work would be accomplished. Paul knew that those who accepted God’s word would be saved, and for this he set aside all he was due, even a moment of rest, so that he could pray and spread the Gospel of Jesus. In doing that he found true rest and peace.

Healing:

In choosing to enter a life with God, in preparing for our Lenten journey, we must make the mutuality of prayer a key component. In that mutual exchange we will find our God who is listening, and His response which will be the reward of healing, peace, strength, resolve, and the glory of a life lived in joy as we take up the commission to share the Gospel.

Our first step will be never be a holy hour, or perhaps not even five minutes. But, we must make a start. We must resolve to follow Jesus’ example, by starting our day in prayer, by saying yes to our God who listens so that God’s healing and peace will remain with us for the challenges ahead. Amen.

Homilies, PNCC, ,

Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time – 2012

First reading: Deuteronomy 18:15-20
Psalm: Ps 95:1-2,6-9
Epistle:1 Corinthians 7:32-35
Gospel: Mark 1:21-28

Brothers and sisters:
I should like you to be free of anxieties.

Anxiety:

Maria was beset by anxiety attacks. They progressed over time, but eventually became so severe she could no longer function, could no longer have a normal life. These attacks were debilitating, she felt constant fear, and her mind wandered through all the possibilities and probabilities that something terrible would happen. Not only would Maria feel anxiety, her anxiety was compounded because she knew something was wrong with her, and she feared that too.

The word anxiety is derived from the Latin word which literally means “to choke.”. Maria felt choked. She couldn’t acknowledge her fears so she could deal with them, she had no help, and she felt she had nowhere for her anxiety to go. Her breath was almost cut off.

Paul on anxiety:

St. Paul is addressing a group of questions posed by the church members, people like you and me, the early parishioners at Corinth saying that he would like them to be free from anxieties. St. Paul addressed the problem of anxiety with the parishioners at Philippi as well. He told them:

Have no anxiety about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God.

Paul talked a lot about anxiety because it is real, something present in our lives, but which he knew we could be freed from.

1897:

There was a lot of anxiety in 1897. The people of Scranton had scrimped and saved to build a church. The parish they had built, that their generous donations supported, didn’t want them. They had been ejected from their former parish by a cruel pastor who demanded only obedience, who derided the hard working people, threatening them will hellfire. He sought only to be the lord and master of the people.

Think of their anxiety. They were outcasts, without a parish, without a pastor, without a spiritual home. Their investment in a spiritual home was gone and its doors were shut to them. In their anxiety they reached out to God and in doing so found comfort in a pastor, a shepherd who made the grace of God available once again. Not a pastor who demanded to be their lord and master, but a pastor who was their brother, teacher, and guide. A pastor whose heart was for the people.

The end of anxiety:

God sent Ś.P. Bishop Hodur to take their commission. He let them know the one key way to alleviate anxiety. It was not submission to priests, bishops, and a pope who defined themselves as royalty, as lords and masters, but instead knowledge of the one Lord and Savior who frees us.

Bishop Hodur showed them the true Jesus who came to give us His word, to teach us, to show us the way to the Father. He showed them that Jesus was not preparing hellfire for His people, but rather the joys of heaven. He pointed and led to Jesus who takes up every one of our anxieties, big and small, and frees us. Jesus, who promises us joy.

Today:

Today we stand on the foundation Bishop Hodur and those free men and women built. We are not slaves to lords and masters, to bishops and popes. We stand free with the knowledge and grace given through God’s word. Our priests, deacons, and bishops stand along side us, teaching us, working with us. Because we are free, no one can close our church, shut doors to us, take away our voice and vote, send us to hell, or tell us that God is not for us. God, working through history, has freed us from all those anxieties and has given us the light of His Holy Polish National Catholic Church.

Hezekiah:

In 2nd Kings we read of Hezekiah, the 14th king of Judah. His enemy, the Assyrian king, sent messengers with a letter. This letter is one of those that cause great anxiety. What did Hezekiah do? He went before the Lord and spread the letter out in front of God. Hezekiah did what what the Lord asks all of us to do, what St. Paul strongly encourages: put all anxieties before the Lord. St. Paul tells us that when we do that:

the peace of God which surpasses all understanding will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.

Reassurance:

Anxiety literally means to choke. When we choke our outlet is blocked. Anxiety does that when, like Maria, we see no out, when there is no place for troubles and anxieties to go. How terrible to be trapped, and bound.

But we, we are free. In our democratic Church, a true treasure among all the Churches, we stand with each other and support each other. Most of all, and best of all, we have a Father in heaven who loves us. No matter the anxiety, no matter problem, big or small, we can spread them out before Him. We are able to tell God of our anxieties because He is our outlet and our relief. He is our hope, He frees us.

Our God is the God of everything. We are able to have peace, because as St. Paul says, God will take all our anxiety away. Let us spread out our anxieties before God and trust that the God who gave us freedom and eternal life in Jesus, will free us of all anxiety. Nothing can truly harm or take away what Jesus has won for us. Amen.

Homilies

Third Sunday in Ordinary Time
 – 2012

First reading: Jonah 3:1-5,10
Psalm: Ps 25:4-9
Epistle: 1 Corinthians 7:29-31
Gospel: Mark 1:14-20

The word of the LORD came to Jonah, saying:
“Set out for the great city of Nineveh,
and announce to it the message that I will tell you.”
So Jonah made ready and went to Nineveh,
according to the LORD’S bidding.
Now Nineveh was an enormously large city;
it took three days to go through it.

The story:

We all know the story of Jonah. We know it so well that we can overlook some of its finer points. Today’s reading starts with Jonah washed up on shore after the whale spat him out. God comes and reminds Jonah of his task. Go to Nineveh and deliver my message.

How did Jonah get here? Where did he fail? Why did Jonah lack faith and trust in God’s goodness?

The journey:

Jonah was a happy-go-lucky prophet. He had been delivering all sorts of good messages from God for years. God comes to him and asks him to deliver a new message. Jonah is ready for another great message that everyone will like.

Imagine you were visited by God sometime around 1936. God tells you to board a plane and travel to Nuremberg. You are to visit the largest Nazi rally ever held. You are to take the stand, in front of all the microphones, stand right next to Hitler, and tell him and all the gathered crowds that they are doing evil and are required to repent. They must repent or they will be destroyed.

That’s the message Jonah received. The Assyrians of Nineveh were the Nazis of the ancient world. They conquered huge territories. They were particularly brutal. Their statues show their kings standing over conquered people while they were brutally tortured and killed. They loved violence and blood.

The happy-go-lucky prophet was to go to the center of their capital, a four city megalopolis, with walls so thick you could drive three chariots abreast along them. There were 1,500 towers, and 120,000 people living there, and it would take three days to walk through the city.

Jonah figured, forget faith in God — I’m going to run away. Anyway, why should the chosen people deliver a message of possible salvation to these foreigners?

Journey, Part 2:

Now Jonah’s not being too bright. He is running away from God forgetting that God is — everywhere. You can’t run away from God, you can only run to Him. Jonah gets on a boat headed in the opposite direction from Nineveh. He meets a group of foreigners. More foreigners! When God sends the storm to stop Jonah, who acts with faith? The foreigners do. They show their trust in God and try to save and help Jonah. When they finally relent and throw Jonah overboard, they do so acknowledging God’s power. This is something Jonah still hasn’t done.

Here is a small faith challenge: Jonah gets swallowed by a fish? Can’t be possible right? Isn’t it silly, and quite unscientific to think this was possible? Yet we must acknowledge that God, as creator of all, as God, can make anything possible. We are asked, in this small way, to respond with faith. If we cannot believe that this was possible, how can we believe that Israel was led through the sea on dry land, that Daniel stood in faith before the lions, or that the miracles of Jesus occurred? For us, this is about acknowledging God’s power and miracles with faith. Responding when faith reveals something that is beyond reason.

Jonah arrives:

Jonah has arrived, and in the face of the most brutal, psychotic, despotic people in the world delivers God’s message: repent or in forty days Nineveh will be destroyed.

The people of Nineveh do exactly that, they repent. Jonah for his part gets angry with God. Jonah wanted to see the fireworks. He wanted destruction. What he found was God’s love extended to foreigners who reacted with more faith than he had.

Faith:

For Jonah, faith was easy when times were good, and he had happy messages to deliver. As soon as his apple cart was upset, he didn’t like it. His faith failed.

As God’s spokespeople in the world, we are called to act with faith. We are called, as God’s children, to always respond with faith.

In our Epistle, Paul is telling us that time is running out. Does that mean we should run around crazed with fear? Should we abandon everything and hide? Should we act like Jonah, and try to run away? Of course not. We are to act with faith.

Faith is confidence in the caring and powerful love of God who makes all things right. Our God does miraculous things. He keeps His promises. The brutal Assyrians were no match for a Jonah when he followed God’s word and acted with faith.

Like Daniel:

There was a pastor who was faced with very difficult times. His congregation didn’t like him very much. They wanted someone else, and we’re making moves to have him replaced. He was young, and didn’t know how his reputation might be affected, or how he could possibly pastor and minister to people. He began to doubt himself, his vocation.

One of the women in his congregation invited him over. “I have something to show you,” she said. “Please, come to my house.” Apprehensively he went to visit her. “Come in,” she said, “I have something to show you.” She led him through her house to her bedroom. She pointed to the wall. “Tell me what you see,” she said.

It was a picture of Daniel in the lions den. He looked, acknowledging what he saw. “Tell me,” she said, “what do you see?” He gave the usual description, knowing the verses from the Book of Daniel. “It’s Daniel, he’s been thrown into the pit with the lions. There are the bones of others who were thrown into the pit. That’s about it.”

“Look at his eyes, where are they?” she asked. She went on, “His eyes are not on the lions or on the bones. He is looking up and his eyes are focused on the light of God.” The pastor saw the reality of Daniel acting with faith and complete trust in God.

The call and response:

John has been arrested, and Jesus is walking along the sea. He calls a message of repentance and the immanence of the kingdom of God. Andrew, James, John, and Simon respond to His call and they drop everything to follow Him. They act in faith, not knowing the future, except to know that the kingdom was at hand, was close, was around the corner.

We live in the kingdom that has begun and is coming to fulfillment. That’s all we need to know. We all face our Nineveh, we all face our lions, and we are all called to trust that God’s miracles overcome. We are called to faith and trust, that God who could love and forgive the psychotic and brutal Assyrians, who could still the lions, who raised Jesus from death, will save and renew us.

God is already rewarding our faith and trust in Him. It isn’t easy to trust like that, to set aside fears and practicalities — but we do. It is there, in our eyes, in our resolve. His miracles are for us. Thank you Lord Jesus for the gift of faith and trust in You. Grant that we live them every day. Amen.

Homilies

Second Sunday In Ordinary Time – 2012

First reading: 1 Samuel 3:3-10,19
Psalm: Ps 40:2,4,7-10
Epistle: 1 Corinthians 6:13-15,17-20
Gospel: John 1:35-42

the LORD came and revealed his presence,
calling out as before, “Samuel, Samuel!”
Samuel answered, “Speak, for your servant is listening.”

Listening:

Moriah was two and was on a cross-country flight home after visiting with relatives. Bored, tired, and cranky, Moriah asked for her Zebra, her favorite stuffed animal and comfort object. Unfortunately, her zebra was absentmindedly packed in a suitcase that was checked at the baggage counter.

Moriah’s father replied “I’m sorry, honey, but we can’t get Zebra right now. He’s in the big suitcase in another part of the airplane.”

“I want Zebra,” she whined pitifully.

Her father replied, “I know, sweetheart. But Zebra isn’t here. He’s in the baggage compartment under-neath the plane and Daddy can’t get him until we get off the plane. I’m sorry.”

“I want Zebra! I want Zebra!” she moaned again. Then she started to cry, twisting in her safety seat and reaching futilely toward a bag on the floor.

“I know you want Zebra,”her father said, feeling his blood pressure rise. “But he’s not in that bag. He’s not here and I can’t do anything about it. Look, why don’t we read about Ernie,” He said, fumbling for one of her favorite picture books.

“Not Ernie!” she wailed, angry now. “I want Zebra. I want him NOW!”

By now, Her dad was getting “do something” looks from the passengers, from the airline attendants, from his wife, seated across the aisle. He looked at Moriah’s face, red with anger, and imagined how frustrated she must feel. After all, wasn’t he the guy who could whip up a peanut butter sandwich on demand? Make huge purple dinosaurs appear with the flip of a TV switch? Why was he withholding her favorite toy from her? Didn’t he understand how much she wanted it?

Dad felt bad. Then it dawned on him: He couldn’t get Zebra, but could offer her the next best thing — a father’s comfort. “You wish you had Zebra now,” he said to her. “Yeah,” she said sadly.

“And you’re angry because we can’t get him for you.”

“Yeah.”

“You wish you could have Zebra right now,” he repeated, as she stared at him, looking rather curious, almost surprised. “Yeah,” she muttered. “I want him now.”

“You’re tired now, and smelling Zebra and cuddling with him would feel real good. I wish we had Zebra here so you could hold him. Even better, I wish we could get out of these seats and find a big, soft bed full of all your animals and pillows where we could just lie down.” “Yeah,” she agreed.

“We can’t get Zebra because he’s in another part of the airplane,” he said. “That makes you feel frustrated.” “Yeah,” she said with a sigh.

“I’m so sorry,” he said, watching the tension leave her face. She rested her head against the back of her safety seat. She continued to complain softly a few more times, but she was growing calmer. Within a few minutes, she was asleep.

In our lives:

We have these experiences don’t we? Someone is speaking to us, expressing themselves, and we hear their words, but we don’t connect. The father heard his daughter’s words. She wanted the zebra. His reaction was to explain the impossibility of getting the zebra. She was crying and complaining. He was explaining and explaining, but he wasn’t listening to her. She needed zebra and she needed to be comforted and understood.

God speaks:

God speaks to us in much the same way. He fills both the roles expressed in our story. He expresses His needs to us, hoping we will listen. He is also the understanding Father who listens to us and knows our needs.

Today, God is speaking directly to the needs of this parish. He understands the needs of its people. He is also expecting that we will listen to what He is saying to us. He is expressing His needs and desires for us.

First:

God knows what is going on here. He is not an absent, far away father. He is our Father, and He is always present and with us. He knows the deepest desires we carry within us, as individuals and as a parish community. He knows that we are afraid, that difficult decisions are ahead, and that we need both comfort and security.

One of our unfortunate tendencies is to judge in human terms. We fail to see Jesus standing right next to us. We need to realize that God has not left us, has not abandoned us, and that He has a plan for us.

To listen:

For our part, we need to — as is commonly said to young people — put on our listening ears. To listen, we need to start by taking a breath. The father in our story was so anxious, so set on proving to his daughter that zebra wasn’t available that he only made things worse. Then he stopped and took a breath. That calm moment freed him from the things he had predetermined, and opened his heart to listening.

We need to listen to God’s voice before we finalize our choices. We must ask whether God been part of our decision. Have I read His word, listened to it, and prayed? Then, did I take a breath and listen to God’s desires?

What does God want?

God has been speaking to us for eons. Centuries of His word are with us. When we are fearful or confronted by difficult decisions we often say a prayer and expect God to appear, solve our problems, or give us a clear and direct answer about what He wants. If we listen we will find that God has already given us the answers we need. These answers include that:

We are to live as a community. We are to love one another. We must not take charge or be the boss, instead we are to be the servants of others. We are to welcome the stranger. We are to proclaim God’s word. We are to offer Jesus to all who seek Him.

Together:

We cannot do any of this alone. That is what the Holy Polish National Catholic Church is about. It is ultimately about building a community in each place where we follow the Word of God. To follow His word, we need to listen. Once we have listened, like the apostles and disciples, we are to get up and follow Him. Amen.

Homilies

Solemnity of the Humble Shepherds

First reading: Jeremiah 31:10-14

Psalm: Ps 97:1,6,11-12

Epistle: Titus 3:4-7

Gospel: Luke 2:15-20

“He who scattered Israel will gather him, and will keep him as a shepherd a flock.”

Wrong sheep:

A shepherd was tending his flock in a field, when a new sports car screeched to a stop on the road nearby in a cloud of dust. The driver, a young man in expensive designer clothes and sunglasses, leans out of the window and shouts over to the shepherd, “If I tell you exactly how many sheep you have here, can I take one?”

The shepherd looks up slowly up at the young man, then looks at his peaceful flock, and calmly answers, “Sure, why not?”

The young man steps out of his car holding a state-of-the-art smartphone, with which he proceeds to connects to a series of websites, first calling up satellite navigation system to pinpoint his location, then keying in the location to generate an ultra-high resolution picture of the field. After emailing the photo to an image processing facility, the processed data is returned, which he then feeds into an online database, and enters the parameters for a report. Within another few seconds a miniature printer in the car produces a full color report containing several pages of analysis and results. The young man studies the data for a few more seconds and returns to the shepherd.

“You have exactly one-thousand five-hundred and eighty-six sheep, including three rams, and seven-hundred and twenty-two lambs.”

“That’s right,” says the shepherd, mildly impressed. “Well, I guess that means you get to take one of my sheep.”

The young man makes his choice and loads the animal onto the back seat of his car, at which the shepherd says, almost as an afterthought, “Hey there, if I can tell you what your business is, will you give me back my sheep?”

The young man, feeling confident, agrees.

“You’re a consultant,” says the shepherd.

“Wow, that’s right,” says the young man, taken aback, “How did you guess that?”

“No guessing required,” answers the shepherd, “You showed up here even though nobody called you. You took a fee for giving me an answer that I already know, to a question I never asked, and you know nothing about my business. Now give me back my dog.”

We honor:

Today, our Holy Church honors the humble shepherds, the first to gaze upon Jesus and carry the message of His coming to others. Like the shepherd in our story, these men were smart, strong, and quick on their feet. They didn’t get fooled by posers and con-men. Most importantly, they knew their sheep.

God likes shepherds:

God has used the image of the shepherd since the creation of the world. Abel, the son of Adam and Eve, was a shepherd. When Israel blessed Joseph he recalled that God had been his shepherd throughout his life. God liked shepherds, and His Son came to be the Good Shepherd. No wonder that the first to greet the newborn Messiah were the shepherds.

Shepherd responsibilities:

Shepherds had three key responsibilities, to tend, feed, and guard the sheep. To that end they carried quite the kit. They kept a bag made from goat skin in which they carried food and other items. They kept a sling to fight off wild animals, a rod with a knob on one end, a staff with a hook on the end, a flute for entertainment and to calm the sheep, and a cloak for warmth and to be used as bedding at night. They were prepared for anything, and were ready to carry out their duties. Like the shepherd in our story, they knew their sheep.

The voice of the shepherd:

The most amazing relationship developed between the shepherds and their sheep, the sheep would learn to recognize and follow their shepherd’s voice. The shepherd knows the difference between a sheep and a dog, unlike our consultant. The shepherd knows each of his sheep and they know him.

The Good Shepherd:

Jesus is our Good Shepherd. He does exactly those things that all shepherds do. He feeds us with His body and blood. He tends to us, healing and renewing us. He guards us and protects us so that we will never die.

Hearing Him:

The key for us is that we grow in relationship with Jesus. We need to recognize His voice. We need to follow Him. If we do, we are given all those things we so need, food for eternal life, healing and renewal, and protection from the ravages of the world. The humble shepherds heard His voice and came to meet Him. We must do likewise.

To best follow and hear our Good Shepherd we must read His word — hearing His voice. We must talk with Him in regular prayer. We must follow His way, His path. Finally, we must commune with Him, and all who believe in Him, here in Church as His flock. Doing all that, we will come to recognize His voice, answer His call, and we will receive all that He has promised.

Do we know the voice of our Good Shepherd? This is the moment, the time to respond: Yes, Lord, I hear and recognize Your voice and I will follow your way. Amen.

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