On Sunday, April 21st we welcomed Alexander Joseph Oravsky to the Holy Church through the waters of regeneration. May God bless you always and grant you confidence in all things through our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.
Repent therefore, and turn again, that your sins may be blotted out – Acts 3:19
Next Sunday, December 16th, we observe the Third Sunday of Advent, the lighting of the Third Advent Candle. On this Sunday we traditionally add to our Advent preparations during Holy Mass with a special Advent Penitential Service.
Proper Advent preparation requires that we free ourselves of sin. This is our opportunity. In this special preparatory moment we are better able to examine our conscience and put forth our best effort to make things right with God and our neighbor. These special penitential services occur only twice a year – so it is vitally important that we attend, participate, and celebrate together.
Following Holy Mass we will take time to enjoy fellowship, our Youth Christmas presentation, and join in preparing all those wonderful meatless dishes we will share with each other at our Vigil Dinner starting at 11:30am.
To allow sufficient time for our Penitential Service, Holy Mass, our Youth Presentation, and our Vigil Dinner we will begin at 8:45am with the lighting of the Advent Wreath immediately followed by our Penitential Service, receipt of the Sacrament of Penance, and Holy Mass. We are pleased to have Fr. Rafał Dadiełło from Holy Spirit Parish in Little Falls join us to administer the Sacrament of Penance and to offer Holy Mass.
St. Paul reminds us: All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation — 2 Corinthians 5:18. God gave His Holy Church the power to loose us of our sins -– come and be made free once again in the love of God who has reconciled all things to Himself in Christ Jesus. Then free, join in celebrating the coming season with each other.
Our December 2012 newsletter and calendar is complete and now available. Advent, Christmas, tons of events, everything you’d ever want to know, all in one place. You may view and download a copy right from this website.
As the days of October pass the days grow shorter, the colors of autumn take hold, and our thoughts turn to the Commemoration of All Souls. The Holy Church sets aside the month of November to commemorate those who have preceded us in holy death.
As Christians we recognize that death is not an ending, but rather a change. We pass through death into everlasting life. We remain joined with all those who have died. We rely on them for their intercession on our behalf. They rely on our prayers and intercession to ease their transition, their journey into the glory of heaven.
We will remember our dearly departed during the month of November according to age old Catholic custom of commemoration and prayer…a custom known as “wypominki.”
If you would like the souls of loved ones to be remembered during the Commemoration of All Souls and at all services throughout the entire month of November, please send the names of these loved ones to Deacon Jim by Sunday, October 28th. Alternately, you can E-mail the names of those you wish commemorated by E-mail to Deacon Jim.
We will celebrate the Solemnity of All Saints on Thursday, November 1st at 7:30pm followed by the the reading of the names of all the faithful departed.
Our October 2012 newsletter and calendar has finally been completed and is now available. You may view and download a copy right from this website.
Hey, you look just like…
God.
“So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. And God blessed them, and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth and subdue it”
We’ve all heard the old adage – everyone has a twin somewhere.
Followers of the television show Lost discuss an imaginary French Mathematician named Marseille Roussau putting forward a theory – referred to as Roussau’s genetic mirror theory. Roussau’s theory says that everyone in the world has an exact twin somewhere, however according to the theory you never encounter this person by laws of probability and other natural occurring phenomena. In these discussions, Roussau uses a series of numbers to explain his theory. Of course that’s television.
Now look at the biblical passage from Genesis above. There it is, right there at the very start of the bible, the reality. Everyone looks like – God. Our twin is God, and by His creation each and every person is our twin.
It is wonderful to consider isn’t it. We all bear the image of God. As we celebrate our Church’s unique and special celebration in honor of the Christian Family – we should consider this hallmark of our faith. We are not just natural families, by birth and genetics, with perhaps a twin out there somewhere, but something much greater. We are linked together as images of the Heavenly Father – bearing the image of Jesus in us.
As images of Jesus we have one Father. We share in one heritage. We are born into one family. We are promised one inheritance, not divided up, but given to each in full.
The Hartford Institute for Religious Research’s National Congregations Study tells us median church in the U.S. has 75 regular participants worshiping on Sunday mornings. For statisticians the median is important because it factors out the influence very large churches.
Visit almost any of the parishes in our Holy Church and you will find exactly that – a small congregation – but a congregation that is family. We look after each other, care for each other, work together, pray for each other (look at our prayer list), worry when someone isn’t in church on Sunday, and of course welcome newcomers into our family (hey, they’re our twins).
As we reflect today and in the week ahead let’s pray for our twins, our Christian family. Let’s thank our Heavenly Father for giving us such a loving family. Let us also seek His help in growing the family. Then, take a few minutes to reach out to a family member we haven’t seen in a while to show your personal care for your twin.
Our amazing, wonderful, ever popular Basket Social is just 1 day away.
Our annual Basket Social will be held on Sunday, April 15th at the VFW Hall at 1309 Fifth Avenue in Schenectady. Doors open at noon. Besides our usual wide array of baskets, there will be door prizes, homemade afghans, and our traditional Polish kitchen serving all your favorites. Homemade desserts too…
Mom, Dad, tell him to stop bugging me!
Can’t you get along?
“He became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey him.”
On Monday morning, October 2, 2006, a gunman entered a one-room Amish school in Nickel Mines, Pennsylvania. In front of twenty-five horrified pupils, thirty-two-year-old Charles Roberts ordered the boys and the teacher to leave. After tying the legs of the ten remaining girls, Roberts opened fire on all of them, killing five and leaving the others critically wounded. He then shot himself as police stormed the building. His motivation? “I’m angry at God for taking my little daughter,” he told the children before the massacre.
The story captured the attention of broadcast and print media in the United States and around the world. By Tuesday morning some fifty-television crews had clogged the small village of Nickel Mines, staying for five days until the killer and the killed were buried.
The blood was barely dry on the schoolhouse floor when Amish parents brought words of forgiveness to the family of the one who had slain their children. The outside world was incredulous that such forgiveness could be offered so quickly for such a heinous crime.
Three weeks after the shooting, “Amish forgiveness” had appeared in 2,900 news stories worldwide and on 534,000 web sites.
Fresh from the funerals where they had buried their own children, grieving Amish families accounted for half of the seventy-five people who attended the killer’s burial. Roberts’ widow was deeply moved by their presence as Amish families greeted her and her three children. The forgiveness went beyond talk and graveside presence: the Amish also supported a fund for the shooter’s family.
Today we are presented with the gift of forgiveness. As the family of God we are offered this wonderful gift, this chance, and not just once, but over and over. Jesus did become the source of salvation to all who obey Him, and the words we must obey, as the family of God, are to forgive. We are to forgive as the Amish did.
Next week the crowds will greet Jesus with adulation, and we will strike the cross with our sins. We will then hear Jesus say clearly: “Father forgive them…” for no sin is so great that it cannot be overcome by His love. Let us stand in awe – and always remember that regardless the burden, God’s heart is open to us.
A Friend needs you!
Someone’s in trouble and He needs you!
Imagine if a family member were to call and say, “I’m going through something, could you visit with me? It would really help. Please.” That’s exactly what happens during Holy Week. Jesus is facing the toughest week of His ministry on earth. He’s put it all out there, has told it like it is, and He’s being hunted down.
From the heights of adulation on Palm Sunday, to His last meal on Maundy Thursday, His agonizing death and burial on Good Friday, and His time in the tomb, He needs you to sit with Him, to reassure Him of your love and support. Most of His apostles have run off, the crowds are gone. You are the only family He has left. Our Lenten theme has centered on family. Jesus created us as Church, not to be an organization, but to be real family to Him and each other. We all need to step up in His time of need, so please come. He needs you this week.
Then, on Easter Sunday, come back. He wants you to celebrate with Him. Find the stone rolled away, the tomb empty, and your heart filled. Don’t just look for an Easter church… Find the gift of salvation, love, community, family, the Word of God, and freedom with your Christian family at Holy Name of Jesus!
Holy Week and Easter service schedule
Sunday, April 1st: Palm Sunday
Thursday, April 5th: Maundy Thursday
Friday, April 6th: Good Friday
Saturday, April 7th: Holy Saturday
Sunday, April 8th: Solemnity of the Resurrection/Easter Sunday
On behalf of Fr. Adam, the Parish Committee and with the deepest confidence in your love and support as members of the Christian family, I invite you to join us as we walk with and support our Lord through Holy Week and celebrate with Him at His resurrection.
– Deacon Jim
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.
