Reflection for the 29th Sunday in Ordinary Time (Heritage Sunday) 2018

Coming from…
Going to…

“But it shall not be so among you. Rather, whoever wishes to be great among you will be your servant; whoever wishes to be first among you will be the slave of all. For the Son of Man did not come to be served but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

Today, we celebrate Heritage Sunday in our Holy Church. It is not a Liturgical Solemnity or Feast, but rather something added on to our typical Liturgical celebration of the Lord’s resurrection. It helps us to remember what the Lord’s Passion, death, and resurrection hand down to us. It also helps us remember what has been handed down to us by our ancestors.

The writer of the Letter to the Hebrews has a lot of focus on what has been handed down. After all, the Jewish people were all about what had been handed down by their ancestors – the Law with all its resulting customs and traditions. So, the writer riffs on the meaningfulness of what is handed down. Namely, in today’s passage, that Jesus went through all we face. That through faith and obedience to the Father’s will, Jesus became the premier servant of all – and gave up His life to serve all. The Father’s reward was resurrection and the opening of the gates of heaven to all who follow in Jesus’ footsteps.

Jesus came to serve and to set the example for us. The Apostles, the generations of saints and other holy men and women that followed in Jesus’ footsteps, lived out the writer’s advice to the Hebrews – it shall not be so among you. They made things different. They brought the change Jesus instituted forward.

This change applied down to the day of our grandparents and parents. They passed the gift of Jesus to us. It is now our gift to pass along.

This is what heritage is. It is all those wonderful things we own – the food, songs, pictures, stories, histories, legends, and heroism of our ancestors. More so, it is their greatest gift – the way they acted as Jesus acted, as servants. They served the people of our community and each of us by holding fast to Jesus’ way, His teachings.

We know where we come from, our heritage. It is a direct line back to Jesus – a testimony of our ancestors who faithfully served and passed that gift to us. Understanding that, we know where we come from and set our hearts on what we pass along and where we are going.

October 2018 Newsletter – Tolerance on the Climb

He stood up and said to them, “Let him who is without sin among you be the first to throw a stone at her.”

We have been through a lot. The stresses and strains in our country, the sins in a particular Church, the judgyness of some church people, upcoming elections, old and upcoming investigations, and even family drama. It is all terrible. It all seems inconsistent with our ideals, with everything we have learned is right and good. As a pastor, I have been asked all kinds of issue questions, anything that would seem to press a reverend’s hot-button and provoke an extremist reaction. Let’s see if Jesus’ representatives blow a fuse over this or that. Jesus’ words to the crowd ready to stone the prostitute tell us two things. The first thing is that sin is real. Let him who is without… Jesus knows our reality. He Himself had to fight against it in the dessert after fasting for forty days. The second thing is the possibility of forgiveness and a road out – to salvation that Jesus conveyed to the prostitute. Both parties had a choice to make. The crowd could have rejected Jesus’ truth and could have thrown the stones. The prostitute could have also walked away and could have gone back to her ‘profession.’ One of the Church’s earliest thinkers, St. John Climacus, in his writing used the example of a ladder. He noted that when we chose Jesus, when we enter the life of the Church, we get on the first step of the ladder to heaven. The key to all of this is not Jesus’ tolerance, nor the rightness of the Church’s teaching. Jesus is indeed tolerant and the Church, by the light of the Holy Spirit, teaches the truth. Rather, the key is the light we need to see, the right we need to do. In the end, it is about our tolerance. None of us should have a ‘hot button’ that sets us off to judge, and if we do, we must get it in check. As followers of Jesus, we are called to the ultimate in tolerance. We are to see the person next to us, the person with the ‘hot button’ issue, and support them on their climb on the ladder to heaven.

Our October newsletter goes along side the season of change – and calls us to remember unchangeable things – love of family, acceptance and tolerance, lending a hand up the ladder. We celebrate family and heritage. We have a full calendar of events, Holy Synod, a rummage sale, and so much more. Check out all the activities coming up in November too. Find out why it is better to climb…

Check out all this and more in our October 2018 Newsletter.

Bible Study for the 28th Week in Ordinary Time 2018

This week’s memory verse: But if anyone does not provide for his relatives, and especially for members of his household, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever. — 1 Timothy 5:8

  • 10/14 – Genesis 50:17-21
  • 10/15 – Deuteronomy 6:6-7
  • 10/16 – 1 John 3:9
  • 10/17 – Acts 18:8
  • 10/18 – Acts 16:31-34
  • 10/19 – 2 Timothy 1:5
  • 10/20 – Ephesians 5:25

Pray the week: Lord Jesus, grant every blessing to my family. Help me to live up to Your relational image.

Reflection for the Solemnity of the Christian Family 2018

Lift up
family.

Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness”

At the Third Holy Synod of the Polish National Catholic Church, held in Chicago in December 1914 the Synod delegates resolved that the Second Sunday of October be dedicated as the Solemnity of the Christian Family. This Solemnity was meant as an opportunity for the Church to pray for the consolidation and strengthening of families. On this day we pray for all families; that they be strengthened and blessed.

It is great to have an idea, but as is said, we have to get the rubber to hit the road. So, how do we get there; how do we get families strengthened, blessed, and consolidated.

If you looked at our parish sign on the way in, you’d have noticed it now says “Rise Up With Jesus & Lift Others Here.”

This is how we get the rubber to hit the road.

We start by not ignoring our motivation. God’s entire creative effort was spurred by a desire to expand and build relationship. Since God had and has this desire for relationship within Himself, and since He made us in His relational image (Let us…), so we too desire relationship. We are motivated by relationship.

Relationship, of course, cannot be realized in motivation alone. That’s just frustrating and unproductive. So we take steps. We build friendships; we enter into relationships at many levels. Some are very close, some are more casual, but none are unimportant.

So we are motivated and so we try. But, being human as we are, we occasionally loose sight of what we must do to take relationship to the next level.

To get to the next level we must stay on message, we must build deeper and more meaningful relationships.

Of course the best proving ground for living our motivation, staying true to God’s relational life, is in our families. That is where we most intently and proactively rise with Jesus and lift each other up. In the microcosm of family relationship we motivate, comfort, provide love that is beyond reason, discipline, and sacrifice.

Now, from that microcosm, we are to expand the best of what we learn and do, rising with Jesus, raising up others, right here: consolidating, strengthening, blessing.

Catholic and Questioning? Yes You Can

I am looking for a Catholic parish home.
I have serious questions and concerns.
I am a single parent.
I am divorced.
I have addictions.
I am not a typical catholic.

Can I attend Holy Mass in this parish?
YES YOU CAN!

Can I receive Holy Communion in this parish?
YES YOU CAN!

Can I be Catholic without being Roman Catholic?
YES YOU CAN!

Can our priests and bishops marry?
YES THEY CAN!

Can I receive valid sacraments?
YES YOU CAN!

Can I remarry in this parish?
YES YOU CAN!

Can I or my children be baptized in this parish?
YES YOU AND THEY CAN!

Can I be confirmed in this parish?
YES YOU CAN!

Can I ask questions and will I receive direct and honest answers?
YES YOU CAN!

Can I join you for Sunday Mass?
YES YOU CAN and YOU SHOULD!

Holy Name of Jesus professes the faith of the One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church.

We hold worship every Sunday at 9:30am and 11:30am.

When people think Catholic they may picture an old church, a city across the sea, rules and regulations, and formal worship… The Catholic Church is over 2,000 years old and is far more than that. It is faith that is universal and everlasting. It is faith expressed in many ways.

Many Churches refer to themselves as Catholic including the Orthodox, Oriental, Roman, and our National Catholic Church. Like all of these, the National Catholic Church is a Catholic Church. You will find that it helps you grow in your relationship with God, your community, and the wider world. We worship regularly and place special emphasis on proclaiming and teaching God’s Word as found in the Holy Bible. We are democratic in our organization. Every member has a voice and a vote in how the parish and the wider Church is run. We are fully accountable to our members.

We are here to be a home for you and yours.

Welcome!

Bible Study for the 27th Week in Ordinary Time 2018

This week’s memory verse: So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. — Genesis 1:27

  • 10/7 – Galatians 3:28
  • 10/8 – Jeremiah 1:5
  • 10/9 – Genesis 1:31
  • 10/10 – Acts 10:34
  • 10/11 – John 1:14
  • 10/12 – 1 Corinthians 15:22
  • 10/13 – Acts 2:21

Pray the week: Lord Jesus, grant that I may honor each person as bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh.

Reflection for the 27th Sunday in Ordinary Time 2018

Would you destroy
yourself?

So the LORD God cast a deep sleep on the man, and while he was asleep, he took out one of his ribs and closed up its place with flesh. The LORD God then built up into a woman the rib that he had taken from the man. When he brought her to the man, the man said: “This one, at last, is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; this one shall be called ‘woman,’ for out of ‘her man’ this one has been taken.”

God’s wisdom and His work are ineffable. Ineffable, per Webster and others means too great or extreme to be expressed or described in words. God’s wisdom reaches out to us throughout history and speaks to us again and again of His design, His meaning, and His warnings.

As we heard in the Gospels throughout the summer, those who were following Jesus were doing so for miracles and bread. They weren’t really FOLLOWING Jesus – living like Jesus, taking His words to heart and changing their hearts. In the end, most turned away and were not walking with Him anymore.

Over the past several weeks we read of distracted disciples unfocused on FOLLOWING Jesus – living like Jesus, taking His words to heart and changing their hearts. In the end, all but one went on to sacrifice their lives to spread the Gospel. They all lived Peter’s words: “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have words of eternal life.”

Certainly, Jesus followers stumble and fall. Certainly, Jesus followers struggle to live like Jesus, to integrate all He taught into their hearts and to express it in their lives in remarkably beautiful and sacrificial ways. Yet, they persist, get up, and try again.

Today, God is reminding us of a particular way we must live. It is a call to the kind of respect we are to have for each other. As the people of Jesus, as His FOLLOWERS, we need to view each and every person as bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh.

The recent drama around our nation’s latest Supreme Court nominee illustrates a failure of people to act in accord with God’s way. It is about how we treat each other. God’s creation speaks of a shared life – a commonality and dignity that belongs to each and every person. We are all bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh.

As we encounter people, we must remember that negative thoughts or actions toward them are nothing more than self-destruction. It is a break down of what God has built up. It is self-rejection.

Bible Study for the 26th Week in Ordinary Time 2018

This week’s memory verse: Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one receives the prize? So run that you may obtain it. — 1 Corinthians 9:24

  • 9/30 – 2 Timothy 4:7
  • 10/1 – Jeremiah 29:11
  • 10/2 – Romans 15:4
  • 10/3 – Philippians 3:12-14
  • 10/4 – Luke 9:62
  • 10/5 – Galatians 6:9
  • 10/6 – Proverbs 16:3

Pray the week: Lord Jesus, grant that I may learn from You in all seriousness and grow in determination to follow Your Gospel.

Reflection for the 26th Sunday in Ordinary Time 2018

Was He
serious?

Jesus replied, “Do not prevent him. There is no one who performs a mighty deed in my name who can at the same time speak ill of me. For whoever is not against us is for us… Whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him if a great millstone were put around his neck and he were thrown into the sea.”

Throughout the Gospels we find Jesus struggling to turn His disciples’ thoughts from human worries to God’s way. The disciples weren’t getting it.

Peter thinks in personal and human ways about Jesus’ prediction of His suffering and death. He wants to stop it. The disciples, as explained last week, did not hear a word of Jesus’ teaching, but rather fought about who was the greatest. Today, John addresses Jesus as “teacher” and immediately demonstrates that he has not heard or integrated a word of Jesus’ teaching. John is exhibiting serious jealousy and a lack of welcome to those who would follow Jesus.

Jesus now cranks up the extreme. He’s trying to get His disciples to have, as some call it today, a ‘Come to Jesus moment.’ He’s being really blunt, trying to break through the disciples closed ears and obstinate ways. If you want to follow me – open your hearts, welcome the poor and the small, protect them, and be prepared to lay everything on the line. Don’t let My word go in one ear and out the next – let them sink in and make it real. Live my Gospel.

Living Jesus’ Gospel is not easy. It is challenging even in the best of circumstances. The people of the Church are supposed to be on the same page – inviting, welcoming, working together – but we know frustrations grow and we go astray. We get perturbed when patient love is most needed. We try to layer our justifications for the why of our personal shortcomings over the truth of the Gospel message.

Jesus calls us to hard and serious discipleship and evangelization. It shall not be one church over the next, but one Church. Work together in my name! Protect and cherish the young – the very young, teens, and young adults – because they need guidance and faithful examples. You harm them – you’re as good as dead. You’re thinking about evil, sin, harm – destroy yourself before you take the first step down that path. Yes, Jesus is serious, and He is driving home His warning in very vivid ways. This, now, is a come to Jesus moment. Seriously!

Bible Study for the 25th Week in Ordinary Time 2018

This week’s memory verse: For sin will have no dominion over you, since you are not under law but under grace. — Romans 6:14

  • 9/23 – Ephesians 2:8-9
  • 9/24 – Romans 10:9
  • 9/25 – Ephesians 2:8
  • 9/26 – Acts 16:30-33
  • 9/27 – Psalm 37:39
  • 9/28 – Titus 3:5
  • 9/29 – Mark 16:16

Pray the week: Lord Jesus, You have freed me, by faith, from the fire of sin and death. Help me, each day, to receive You anew in complete freedom.