Bible Study for the Ordinary Week 29
  • 10/18 – Luke 10:1-24 – How will I share in the coming week the joy of being a Christian? Prayer starter: I give you thanks, Lord Jesus, for calling me by name and for enabling me to hear and see the wonders of your kingdom.
  • 10/19 – Luke 24:13-35 – Which part of the Emmaus experience speaks to me most? Prayer starter: Stay with us, Lord Jesus, enflame our hearts with your words and fill our souls with your bread of life.
  • 10/20 – John 20:24-31 – What has helped me more in times of uncertainty and doubting? Prayer starter: You are my Lord and my God, O Jesus. In times of doubt and darkness help my unbelief!
  • 10/21 – Acts 10:1-48 – When did I witness the action of the Spirit in unexpected places and people? Prayer starter: Spirit of God, you work wonders in your Church and yet through all creation and beyond all churches and religions in the hearts of all men and women of good will.
  • 10/22 – Acts 5:1-11 – How can I do more to share what I own with those most in need in the community? Prayer starter: Heavenly Father; give us true and sincere hearts open to the needs of the poor and moved by your Spirit of love.
  • 10/23 – Acts 16:13-18 – How can we value more the input of women in evangelization? Prayer starter: Lord Jesus, open our hearts so that we can be an inclusive church in which men and women can share equally the joy of being evangelized and of evangelizing.
  • 10/24 – Revelation 2:1-7 – Does love hold pride of place in the life of our community? How could it be enhanced? Prayer starter: Lord Jesus, help us to always put love at the very heart of our community and of our way of living out our faith in the world.

The month of October will have us studying just how do we follow Jesus.

Bible Study for the Ordinary Week 28
  • 10/11 – John 4:1-42 – Am I still thirsty of the living water offered by Jesus and his gospel? Prayer starter: Give us this day, O Lord, the living water that will spring into etemal life.
  • 10/12 – Luke 8:1-3 – How did women of my community help me journey with Jesus? Prayer starter: Lord, you have always showed great respect for women and acknowledged their faith. Help us, as a church, to overcome the barriers of prejudices and discrimination against them.
  • 10/13 – John 9:1-41 – How can I better profess my faith in Jesus when pressed by people who challenge gospel teachings? Prayer starter: You are the light of the world, Lord Jesus. Help me see the needs of my brothers and sisters and your wondrous deeds of mercy for the world.
  • 10/14 – John 20:11-18 – How does Mary Magdalene’s faith in Jesus touch me and inspire me? Prayer starter: Lord Jesus, teach us to follow you with a sincere and loving heart like Mary Magdalene and to reach out to our brothers and sisters to share with them the joy of your resurrection.
  • 10/15 – Acts 9:1-22 – What has been for me the most decisive encounter with the Risen Jesus? Prayer starter: Lord Jesus, you have made of Paul, once persecutor of Christians, the most zealous proclaimer of your gospel. May we all learn, through his example, about the transforming power of your Resurrection.
  • 10/16 – Luke 9:57-62 – Is my commitment to Jesus as total as it should be? How can I make it greater? Prayer starter: Jesus, you never compromised with your Father’s will and you laid down your life for our salvation. Help us be true imitators of your love for the Father and for the world.
  • 10/17 – Luke 19:1-10 – How did I realize that salvation has come to my house? Prayer starter: Lord Jesus, you seek us even more than we can seek you. We give you thanks for calling us and for wishing to stay with us, sinners though we are.

The month of October will have us studying just how do we follow Jesus.

TO DO: on the Solemnity of the Christian Family

In the ministry of parenting and being children in a family, there are ways of working in family traditions or just a way to “lighten up” the family experience. Remember, being a family in the coming millennium takes some work; consider the following:

  1. Rent a funny movie and watch it together.
  2. Put a funny message on your telephone answering machine.
  3. Play a game of “Pictionary” with your family.
  4. If you have a home video camera, make a family “music video” to send to relatives. Make outrageous costumes, use household times as musical instruments, and lip sync a rock and roll record. Let the kids be the lead singer(s).
  5. Make ice cream sundaes for desert, but secretly make them with a scoop of mashed potatoes instead of ice cream.
  6. Hide love notes in your teenager’s underwear drawer.
  7. Write a note to your child/parent on his/her bed with jellybeans.
  8. Organize your family’s personal quest for the “world’s greatest pizza” by visiting every pizza place over the next two or three months.
  9. Come up with your own family holiday to celebrate once a year, like “National (your family name) Day”. Make it a day in the middle of the week (like the third Wednesday of October each year when everyone can cut school and do something fun together as a family.
  10. The best activity to do as an entire family: celebrate Holy Mass together each Sunday. It is one of the “glues” that keeps the Christian family strong not only in your home but in our culture.

May God bless your family activities together!!!

Spaghetti Dinner

Spaghetti DinnerHoly Name of Jesus Parish will be holding a Spaghetti Dinner on Saturday, October 17th from 4pm to 7pm in the Parish Hall, 1040 Pearl Street in Schenectady. The dinner includes salad, beverage, and dessert which add up to an epicurean delight.

Advance sale tickets are now available from Stephanie Dominy. Adults $9, $5 for children under 10.

Call the Parish at 518-372-1992 to reserve your seats.

Bible Study for the Ordinary Week 27
  • 10/4 – Mark 1:16-20 – How did l come to follow Jesus and how does the encounter with Him still light up my life? Prayer starter: Lord Jesus, ever since you called me by name at baptism your words have been a light on my path. Let me never part from your ways of righteousness and love.
  • 10/5 – John 1:35-42 – What have I been looking for and what have I found in coming to Jesus? Prayer starter: Lord Jesus, show us where to find you. Show us to love the Father as you did and teach us to love one another just as you love us.
  • 10/6 – John 1:43-51 – What are the “greater things” I have seen through my faith in Jesus? Prayer starter: To know you, Lord Jesus, true man and true God, is eternal life. Blessed are you, and blessed be God forever.
  • 10/7 – Matthew 9:9-13 – How do I value mercy in my personal life and in my commitment in the community? Prayer starter: Lord Jesus, you look upon each one of us with mercy and you call us sinner though we are, to work in your vineyard.
  • 10/8 – Mark 3:13-19 & Luke 6:12-16 – How can I receive the personal call I have received to be with Jesus and proclaim his message? Prayer starter: Lord Jesus, send to your Church people who will be living examples of your gospel and who will proclaim it to the ends of the world.
  • 10/9 – Luke 10:38-42, and Luke 11 – How do I fare in the balance between contemplation and action? Prayer starter: Lord Jesus, teach us to pray like you and abide in your Father’s love. Teach us also to reach out as you did to the little ones and the poor.
  • 10/10 – John 3:1-21 – Were the moments in my life when I really experienced rebirth in the Spirit? Prayer starter: Lord Jesus, we hail you as our Savior and we adore you in the unfathomable mystery of your love and of the Father’s love for the world.

The month of October will have us studying just how do we follow Jesus.

Bible Study for the Ordinary Week 26
  • 9/27 – Luke 23:33-43 – How easily do I forgive? Is it truly free? Prayer starter: O God, I take such great comfort in the story of the good thief. Help me to always trust in your mercy and forgiveness.
  • 9/28 – Matthew 5:1-12 – Which of the beatitudes strikes my heart today? Prayer starter: O Lord, today I beg your mercy for this war-torn world. Healing for… (your own list). Comfort for… (your own list).
  • 9/29 – Matthew 25:31-46 – Who am I before Christ today? Prayer starter: O God, I know you are a God of second chances. Today I accept another chance to live as you want me to live – loving and caring for others.
  • 9/30 – John 20:19-23 – When have I felt the freedom and the joy of giving or receiving forgiveness? Prayer starter: Gracious God, come and fill me once again with your peace and your joy. I am struggling to forgive….. Bless those people. Heal me.
  • 10/1 – Matthew 18:21-25 – This gospel portrays God as a merciful and forgiving king. How does this compare with my image of God? Prayer starter: O God, you have been so merciful, let me count the ways….. Teach me your compassion.
  • 10/2 – Matthew 20:1-16 – In what ways do I work for justice for all? Prayer starter: O God, I am so aware of all the poverty it’s overwhelming. Help me to see a way that I can help, and then given me the courage and generosity to do it.
  • 10/ 3 – John 13:31-35 – What discoveries have led me more deeply into the love of God? Prayer starter: O God, I am just a beginning in the ways of love. Teach me your way, guide my hands, and point my feet in the right direction.

The month of September will have us studying the message of the Scripture concerning God’s mercy and forgiveness. May they be ours!

Why do we celebrate Spójnia Sunday?

Spójnia PNU LogoThe month of September has many meanings to many different people. First, and probably foremost, parents look forward to the beginning of the new school year. Farmers know that September means the beginning of the fall harvest of God’s gifts to us. Polish National Catholics know that September has been set aside by the Church to honor its fraternal organization, the Polish National Union of America, “Spójnia”.

Many people ask, why does the Church celebrate a fraternal organization in a special way? The answer to this question is an easy one: because the Polish National Union of America had done and given more to the Church than any other organization to date. The Polish National Union was born and grew from the heart of the Polish National Catholic Church. These two great institutions share the same membership, the same concerns for the people. The same man, the late Prime Bishop Francis Hodur, organized both. Both organizations stand for the same principle, that all men and women should and do have the right to choose their destinies, no mater what their ethnic backgrounds. In other words, it would be every hard to separate in the inter-mingled struggles and accomplishments of the two.

Over the past 100 years, the support of Spójnia for the Polish National Catholic Church has been constantly shown through financial aid to parishes in the form of mortgages, educational materials and financial stipends; and recreational aid to all by support give to many varied and widely held events. Our parish has benefited greatly over the years through these various programs: our college students have received stipends, and, in past years, the van traveling to the “Zlot” was funded through the PNU.

Be it in times of hardship or time of good fortune, Spójnia has always been there. Offering a helping hand or a shoulder to rest upon. Giving words of encouragement or inspiration. No matter what the situation, what area of the country or the world, Spójnia would always try to help. Many times the help was meager. Many times it would just be words of encouragement, but at least people know that someone cared. People know that we are “joining hands to touch lives” because we we’re all sisters and brothers working together for the happiness and betterment of all.

By being members of the PNCC and Spójnia, we have joined hands in a partnership that has grown over the past 100 years. A partnership that today can boast over 110 parishes in the United States and Canada partnered with a fraternal with over $45M in assets, not including its new world headquarters, where it also provides space for our National Church Center.

This is a partnership where people care about each other, where love and brotherhood are the two main ingredients. A partnership where each other’s rights and ideas have meaning. A partnership where the partners, the PNCC and the PNU of America, will always be there when needed.

As we celebrate this day, let us be thankful for those who determined this organization to be necessary and that it continue to be a source of fraternalism. May we all be members. Young and old alike can all benefit from the Spójnia.

Commemoration of St. Francis of Assisi and Blessing of Animals

Błogosławieństwa zwierząt, za wstawiennictwem świętego Franciszka z Asyżu
La Bendición de los Animales recordando y honrando a San Francisco

St. Francis and the catAs you may have heard, There have been many pets and animals that remain abandoned in the fires of last year and those of this year. Various agencies in and around our area have taken up the search and rescue and rehabilitation of those animals found homeless.

Although we could not be involved with the agencies that are trying to match up the animals with their owners, we could be helpful in those plans that will help to provide care until that reunion may take place. Therefore, we are asking that if you have a pet or not to stop by and add your prayers during the short service on Saturday, October 7th, 10 am. Also, if you could bring along some items To donate: dry or canned pet food, cat litter, leashes, or other items (no perishable food) you would like to donate. Some early contact with these agencies has been made.

Our prayer again this year will have special import since there are a number of animals we will ask St. Francis to intercede for and ask God to protect and re-unite with their caregivers. Please add your voice and donation.

In advance, THANKS!

Bible Study for the Ordinary Week 25
  • 9/20 – Luke 19:1-10 – When have l found joy in conversion? Prayer starter: O God, often I hear so many conflicting voices in the crowd. They pull me in so many different directions but I really long to be near you, to be singlehearted.
  • 9/21 – John 8:1-12 – Are there people at whom I might point an accusatory finger? Prayer starter: O God, there are some things that just make me miserable. Help me to walk in the light and to seek your mercy.
  • 9/22 – Matthew 9:9-13 – Who are the people our society considers unworthy? Prayer starter: O God, I do trust in your mercy though I admit not always. Help me today to seek the truth, to look at myself honestly, trusting in you.
  • 9/23 – Matthew 15:21-28 – What situations make me relentless in my prayer? Prayer starter: Lord Jesus, to follow you is to do the will of the Father. Help me to find and follow God’s will in the world you have given me.
  • 9/24 – Matthew 18:21-25 – This gospel portrays God as a merciful and forgiving king. How does this compare with my image of God? Prayer starter: O God, you have been so merciful. Let me count the ways….. Teach me your compassion.
  • 9/25 – Matthew 20:1-16 – In what ways do l work for justice for all? Prayer starter: O God, I am so aware of all the poverty; it’s overwhelming. Help me to see a way that I can help, and then given me the courage and generosity to do it.
  • 9/26 – John 13:31-35 – What discoveries have led me more deeply into the love of God? Prayer starter: O God, I am just a beginning in the ways of love. Teach me your way, guide my hands and point my feet in the right direction.

The month of September will have us studying the message of the Scripture concerning God’s mercy and forgiveness. May they be ours!