On Saturday, October 26th, we welcomed Caleb Joshua into the family of faith through the waters of regeneration. May our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, grant Caleb Joshua the gifts of strength and courage like his biblical namesakes who witness and lived in accordance with God’s way regardless of any obstacle in their way. May God bless and support his parents Joshua and Lisa, his godparents, Brett and Heather, and his entire family.
God’s Field, the official newspaper of the Polish National Catholic Church, has returned and is being published on a monthly basis. The October issue is available on-line at the official Polish National Catholic Church website and Facebook page.
During the first transitional year of publication the Church will mail several hard copies of the newspaper to all PNCC parishes. By January 2015 a new subscription database will be completed and new annual subscription rates for online and hard copy issues will be announced.
Parishes are encouraged to submit articles for each issue by the first of each month. All articles arriving at the God’s Field office after the first of the month will be published in the following month’s issue. Articles may be submitted by E-mail or postal mail to:
GOD’S FIELD
Polish National Catholic Church
1006 Pittston Avenue
Scranton, PA 18505-4109
Pray the week: Lord God, I praise You for Your gift of nations and cultures. Grant that through my words many may come to know, love, and serve You.
Please come and join us for Free Lunch on Sunday, October 27th, from 11:30am till 1:30pm. This event is always free and open to all. This month we’re featuring split pea soup, ham sandwiches, and a Halloween Party for kids. Enjoy family friendly foods, dessert, coffee/drinks, and more. Free Lunch on Sunday is held at Holy Name of Jesus in our parish hall located at 1040 Pearl St., Schenectady (CDTA Route 353 – Pearl Street stop).
On Sunday, October 27th we will hold a special Worship and Prayer Service for our youth at 11am followed by a Halloween Party with snacks, games, and plenty of fun! Bring your costumes, join in, have fun. Free lunch for parents with dessert and beverages too.
As the remaining 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.â€
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 27th. Alternately, you can E-mail the names of those you wish commemorated to Deacon Jim.
We will celebrate the Solemnity of All Saints on Friday, November 1st at 7:30pm followed by the reading of the names of all the faithful departed.
There will also be a Commemoration of All Souls at Good Shepherd Parish Cemetery on Truax Road in Amsterdam, NY on Sunday, November 3rd.
Celebrating heritage
Making God known to all
Remain faithful to what you have learned and believed, because you know from whom you learned it, and that from infancy you have known the sacred Scriptures, which are capable of giving you wisdom for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.
St. Paul calls us to remain faithful. Faith is imparted to us by our hearing, by someone who proclaims and models faith for us. This is not any faith – but faith in the one true source of salvation who is Jesus Christ.
Jesus told His apostles and disciples: “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father, but by me.â€
Someone had to inform us of this fact. Indeed they did – the apostles and disciples set out to every corner of the world and proclaimed what they had seen and heard. They spoke it, they held the liturgy – bringing the sacraments to all, and they witnessed to the truth of Christ by offering their lives without fear. These witnesses, mostly uneducated and formerly fearful, brought the faith to every nation.
Armenia was the first nation to adopt Christianity in 301. Tiridates III was the first ruler to officially Christianize his people predating the date of Constantine the Great’s personal acceptance of Christianity on behalf of the Roman Empire. Subsequently many nations adopted Christianity and assumed the role of imparting the faith to their people. A mosaic of peoples and cultures went on to make salvation known through faith in Jesus known.
Bishop Hodur saw nations as a tool in God’s hands. Each people is endowed with specific gifts and insights that add to the totality of Christian evangelism.
Religion cannot espouse the dissolution of national and cultural boundaries as its goal — an argument made by those who define everything in terms of separation. Our faith, and the expression of our faith – our religion – is focused on making Jesus known through the gift of nations and cultures. Nations and cultures speak of God who works through them to fulfill Jesus’ command to: “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you.â€
God speaks to and values every nation and culture. He works through them to make His will known, to offer salvation to every person.
Today we celebrate the individual heritage of every nation and culture. We celebrate the gifts God has given us – those gifts intended to make salvation known, to bring all to know and worship Him who created us for His purpose.
Pray the week: Lord Jesus, I thank and bless You for the gift of family. Make my family a center of love and faithfulness.
Thank you so much to all who patronized, donated to, supported, worked at, baked for, organized, and sold crafts at our first craft fair in many years. It as a wonderful success!!! The funds raised support our youth programs, charitable outreach, and the work we do in the name of Jesus.
Thank you to the Rotterdam Senior Citizens Center for allowing use of their facility. Thank you to Stephanie & Bob; Gayle, John, and Becky; Larry & Donna; Liz; Carol and Eileen; Renee, Adam, and Victoria; Claudia & Ed; Kelly; Derek; Pearl; and everyone for your work and donations. Our vendors were a special blessing:
Donna Christianson — Pampered Chef, Cindy Friedman from PartyLite, Jim Billa — Floral Designs, Dian Babin — Cruisin Creations, Sandra Nguyen — Chunkey Funk, Christine Urschell — Mary Kay, Lawrence Demarco — Cecilia Bella, Erin Zoellner — Bath Fitter, Amanda Allen of Veritas Vegan Organics, and Talin Rutan — Unikue Costume Jewelry
Family
the center of love
And when they saw him they were astonished; and his mother said to him, “Son, why have you treated us so? Behold, your father and I have been looking for you anxiously.” And he said to them, “How is it that you sought me? Did you not know that I must be in my Father’s house?” And they did not understand the saying which he spoke to them.
As a young man of 12 (prior to the acknowledged age of maturity for a Jewish young man – the age of 13), Jesus was already maturely aware that He had been sent to carry out His Father’s will, to be close to His Father in heaven in all that He was to say and do. Of course Mary and Joseph did not fully understand that. They would have expected Jesus to still be immature in the knowledge of God.
Jesus clearly points out that He had to be about His Father’s work regardless of whether the world or His human parents saw Him as mature or immature. He shows us that the perceptions of the world do not matter as long as we stay focused on our true work.
How hard it is for us to stay true to God’s work among the hustle and bustle of everyday life. Children’s lives are fully programmed. Youth are busy with studies, sports, extracurricular activities and homework of course. Many parent’s work lives seem never ending now that we are connected 24/7 will smartphones. Retirement doesn’t mean sitting in a rocking chair anymore.
Staying true to God, to our faith in Christ, to the work the Holy Spirit calls us to do, requires an environment that places being in the Father’s presence as the greatest good. All the education, money, talent, and activities in the world are worth nothing if we loose our souls – our relationship to God and our heavenly family – in the process.
The environment that is our support, that shows us the way to eternal success, and that keeps us true and present to God is family –the Christian family. Family that believes in love, which is truly connected to the truth of love, will place God first and foremost in its life. That family will pray together, will worship together, will live in faithfulness to each other, will support and prepare each other for a life that is forever.
What a worthless gift we leave if we only provide for the near term. God’s family – provides forever.
Jesus sat in His Father’s presence in the temple, feeling at home, breathing the air of His own proper place. As families in Christ – centers of love – let us follow Jesus. Let us be present to God, breathe His life as our greatest goal, our desired good, and as our gift of love to each other – parents, children, and grandchildren.