Weekly Reflections

My sisters and brothers in Christ,

Today we celebrate 7th Sunday of Ordinary time.

If we remember last passages from the gospels, they concern Jesus` evocation to be a good person, a good disciple. He never said to us it will be easy but He said it is possible. He invites us to make a choice.

To be His disciple required follow Him and realize in our life His teaching.

Jesus invites us to follow Him in a very radical kind of way. Today’s first reading from the Book of Leviticus invites us to be holy as God is holy. The LORD said to Moses, “Speak to the whole Israelite community and tell them: Be holy, for I, the LORD, your God, am holy.

An invitation from the Lord needs to be taken seriously. We humans often take our time responding to God, even when we have the best of will. For example St Francis of Assisi and many Saints respond to God in right way made their lives holy and has taken it seriously. Most of us say yes to God and then take our time giving our whole self. We give in bit by bit. Perhaps that is why Jesus in today’s Gospel presents His teaching so simply. He does not want us to misunderstand what it means to follow Him.

We must be willing to give up everything.
We are called to be holy and called to be perfect.
When we pray to God every day –- we follow Him.
When we help our neighbors –- we are His disciples.
And when we work honestly –- we also are heavenly Father’s children. Because, because Jesus says to us:” Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your heavenly Father, for he makes his sun rise on the bad and the good, and causes rain to fall on the just and the unjust”.

Holiness is simply living for God in every aspect of our lives.

My dear brothers and sisters

The First Letter to the Corinthians, from which we get today’s second reading, is really clear that all that is good in us comes from the Lord. It is really clear if we are to be wise, it can only be as God is wise.

Let us give thanks to God today that we have been given the gift of faith. Let us ask that our faith may be lively and draw us deeper and deeper into the mysteries of God. Let us become radical in our living and gentle in our loving.

Today we celebrate the last Sunday of the year 2010. The first Sunday after Christmas in Polish National Catholic Church we celebrate the Solemnity of Humble Shepherds. In our liturgy for this Sunday we remember those who visited first newborn child in Bethlehem.

My Dear brothers and sisters

Many generations had been waiting for the coming of the Messiah, but only a few humble shepherds were worthy to be told of the great event that was taking place.

The angel of the Lord appeared to a few humble shepherds and the glory of God shone above them. They were terrified, but the angel said to them, ”do not be afraid; for see – I am bringing you good news of great joy for all the people; to you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is the Messiah, the Lord.”

When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let’s go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.” So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger.

When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child, and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them.

This was the beginning of the good news of Jesus’ coming into the world; the shepherds went to the manger and presented their respect worshipping the newborn savior of the world.

They left praising God for the great fortune of humanity and they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child.

Brothers and sisters, we have to do the same! We have to be like shepherds the first witnesses of Incarnation. No matter what you do in life — whether you are a student, a worker, a housewife, a parent, or retire — your job is to speak about Jesus and to spread the word concerning him. And it is your job to do that all the time. Not just when you are in church, but also outside, on the job, at home, everywhere you are. Parents and grandparents you are the first spiritual teachers for your children and grandchildren about Jesus — and not just by bringing kids to baptism and to Sunday school, but also by reading them, Bible stories and teaching about Jesus at home. It’s our job to spread word of Jesus — and not just to those who are already Christians, but also to those who live without Jesus.

We have to take example from the shepherds. St. Luke in the Gospel said about them: They hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger. Brothers and sisters like the shepherds we have to find Jesus in our lives and tell everybody about Him. Tell that He is our salvation and He came to this world to save and sanctify all the people.

Our mission is testifying about good news that in the Bethlehem a Savior, our Messiah and Lord was born.

While working on his famous painting “The Last Supper,” Leonardo DaVinci had an argument with a certain man. He lashed out against the fellow with bitter words and threatening gestures. When the argument was over DaVinci went back to his studio, where he was working on the face of Jesus. He could not make one stroke. At last he realized what the trouble was. He put down his brush, found the man he had offended, and asked his forgiveness. He returned to his studio and calmly continued painting the face of Jesus.

Like DaVinci we are trying to put Christ into the masterpiece called Christmas. We want Jesus to be in the center of our Christmas celebration.

In today’s Gospel we heard John: Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.

John challenged people to reform their lives, to repent of their sins and undergo a baptism of purification in the Jordan. He warns the Pharisees and Sadducees that being descendants of Abraham would count for nothing, if good deeds were not evident in their lives.

The call of John to repent is an urgent invitation for us to prepare a way for the Lord to come into our hearts. Preparing to celebrate Christmas means renewing our lives by acknowledging our need for Christ.

Just as DaVinci could not work on the face of Jesus while he was guilty of having offended another man, so you and I cannot work at putting Christ into the Christmas picture, as long as we are not sorry for having disobeyed God. John warns all of us, that being Christian would count for nothing if good deeds were not evident in our lives.

Each Advent is an opportunity for us to come closer to Christ and deepen our relationship with him through prayer and repentance. His power is at work in our lives when we make peace with the family member we have rejected, the relations we do not speak to, and the poor we have no time for. Breaking down these barriers will open the way for Christ to come to our studios — that is our hearts. In this way we will be able like DaVinci, to paint Jesus in our hearts, and in the hearts of those who are around us.

I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, from now on a merited crown awaits me.

All the time most of us are amazed by good athletes like: Michael Jordan, the Williams Sisters, Aggasi, Nadal, and many others. We are amazed by what they achieved, and some of us wish to be as good as they are. But I do not think that many times we realize how many hours they have to spend in practice in order to have those good results.

A couple years ago there was interview with Andre Agasi, who at that time was number one in the world. The year before he was number 120 in the world. One of the question was: What happened that you fell so much in the ranking. Agasi said that he thought that the talent which he has will be enough, that he does not have to put too much effort toward his training. When he started go lower and lower with his ranking he blamed everybody around but not himself. He blamed his coach. But one day he realized what his coach said long time ago: “TALENT ISTSELF IS NOT ENOUGH AND IF HE WANTS TO BE A BETTER PLAYER, HAS TO PRACTICE MORE OFTEN.”

We can change this sentence and put it into our life: “IF I WANT TO BE A GOOD CHRISTIAN I HAVE TO LISTEN TO MY COACH, I HAVE TO PRACTICE MORE OFTEN.”

But who is my coach?

Jesus Christ is our coach, good religious books can be our coach, the Bible is our coach, and Holy Sprit is our coach. Many times our coach is very tough on us because he wants us to exercise every day, and we would claim that we do not have time for this, or we do not want to have time for the SPIRITUAL EXERCISE. We would rather spend our time with our friends, next to TV, or other ways.

Parents are supposed to be the good example of good Christian life to their children, youth to their friends, and we as Christians to the world. In order to be a good Christian we have to have knowledge about our faith, about Jesus Christ. To have up-to-date knowledge we have to read the Bible, and good religious books. To be good Christians we have to exercise our faith. Even the best athlete without exercise will very soon become one of the worst, will be the outsider. The same can happen to us.

Ghandi, the great leader of India said that: Christianity is the most beautiful religion that he ever saw. But when he was asked why he did not convert to Christianity, if Christianity is such a good religion, Ghandi Answered: “I have never met a Christian who spends life according to Christian’s rules.”

It is sad, but maybe Ghandi met only those Christians who never practiced or stopped to practice their religion, maybe he met only outsiders.

So let us start to exercise more seriously our religion, our faith, than we will be able to repeat after St. Paul: “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, from now on a merited crown awaits me.” Amen.

In today’s Gospel we see Jesus who is compassionate, Loving God. He forgives, and He cures. But we can see that this loving and compassionate God wants our gratitude toward Him.

When we do something good for others, deep in our hearts we look for the word “thanks”. In our society there are too many people like the ungrateful nine who were cured but did not express their thanks.

Since last Sunday’s Mass how often did we thank God? Even when we attended Mass, how often is the thought of thanks in our heart? It should be because Holy Mass is the perfect place of giving thanks for God’s blessings in our lives.

The very word Eucharist, another word for Mass, means THANSKIVING. The first purpose of sacrifice is to give glory to God. Praise is giving thanks.

The grateful leper returned to Christ who had healed him, was “praising God with a loud voice; and he fell at the feet of Jesus, giving Him Thanks.” That is exactly what we do in every Holy Mass.

I do not know if you noticed how often during the Holy Mass we use the word “THANKS”.

• In the GLORIA: “we give you thanks… for your glory.”
• Often the opening prayer includes a word of thanks for the feast or mystery we are celebrating.
• The Preface begins: “Father, all powerful and everlasting God, we do well always and everywhere to give you thanks through your Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.”
• Right before the consecration the priest recalls that Jesus took bread and gave thanks to His heavenly Father.
• We thank God through mouth of the Priest for counting us worthy to stand in the presence of God.
• When we receive Holy Communion We should praise and adore Our Lord, Jesus Christ.

My brothers and sisters in Christ, All of us should be like the man in the Gospel – ready to come back again and again to Jesus, to give thanks.

We can not take example of those nine lepers, that once their prayers were answered, they went away from Jesus, and never came back.

We have to take the example of that one leper, who made the effort to come back and gave praise and thanks to God.

My friends we have easier way to do. We do not have walk long distance to Jesus. He is here in this Tabernacle, on this Altar during every Mass. He awaits us every day. Let’s come as often as we can to give Him thanks and praise.

May God bless you and Mary always keep you in her prayers.

Today we celebrate the Dormiton and Assumption of Mary into Heaven. Today we recall Mary’s death and her entry into Heaven, where God, fills her with happiness and joy! Today the faith of Mary is replaced by clear vision. Mary was the first who received this great gift; a gift promised to all believers in God who continue in fidelity to the end of their lives! After her death, Mary is taken up to heaven body and soul. Celebrating this feast we confirm our belief in God’s promise of the resurrection of the body.

Brothers and sisters: Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep. For since death came through man, the resurrection of the dead came also through man. – From first letter to the Corinthians.

The second reading, from the First Letter to the Corinthians, gives us a clear teaching about the resurrection of the body. Jesus Christ is our resurrection and salvation. In Christ our life has a deep meaning and sense. It also teaches that in the end, resurrection will overcome death entirely” The last enemy to be destroyed is death”

The Gospel is Mary’s song of thanksgiving for the mighty works of God. Let us listen again words from today’s Gospel:

My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord; my spirit rejoices in God my Savior for he has looked with favor on his lowly servant. From this day all generations will call me blessed: the Almighty has done great things for me and holy is his Name. He has mercy on those who fear him in every generation. He has shown the strength of his arm, and has scattered the proud in their conceit. He has cast down the mighty from their thrones, and has lifted up the lowly. He has filled the hungry with good things, and the rich he has sent away empty. He has come to the help of his servant Israel for he has remembered his promise of mercy, the promise he made to our fathers, to Abraham and his children forever.

Our Catholic tradition tells us that Mary was taken up to heaven, body and soul. Mary’s assumption reminds us that we too will someday join Mary in heaven. Mary is not only the mother of Jesus but also our spiritual mother. We believe that Mary can intercede for us, even today, if we call on her name.

We understand that Mary is not God, not a fourth person of the Godhead, but instead a model human being who was able to listen to God’s work and to put it into practice in her life.

Just as Christ rose from the dead, so also Mary is taken bodily into heaven–but only in view of the merits of her Son. Christ is always central. All salvation comes through Christ. If anyone is saved, that salvation comes through Jesus Christ.

Let us pray today for a deeper understanding of this truth.

May the Lord guide the Church so that she reflects more completely the goodness and love of the Lord. May Mary intercede for us today so that we may follow her Son, Jesus Christ. May today’s Eucharistic celebration bring us to Heaven, with Mary and all the saints, for all eternity!

My dear brothers and sisters,

Many times in our life we ask ourselves: What is a success? What is a successful life, a successful career, a successful relationship a successful marriage? Is a person’s life successful if he or she is making a good salary? Many times, that is the way that most people calculate success.

The readings for this Sunday force us to take a closer look at the whole concept of success. In the Gospel reading, the man is convinced that he is a success because he is a rich farmer. What should he do now that he has succeeded in harvesting more grain than he has storage room? Build a bigger barn, of course. The only thing is, the basis of his success is his grain. When he suddenly dies, his success remains here, and he goes on to God empty handed. God said to him, ‘You fool, this night your life will be demanded of you; and the things you have prepared, to whom they will belong?’ Thus will it be for all who store up treasure for themselves but are not rich in what matters to God.”

You know very well patron of our Parish -St. Francis of Assisi. As you know Francis gave up all his worldly possessions and started new life as a monk. He recognized that wealth, family, social position and profession is not everything and doesn’t mean that our life is successful. He wanted to be a full human being in the image of Christ. He left everything that he possessed on the square of Assisi and started new life, like a newborn child. St. Francis’ action was prophetic; he wanted to show us what the true success should be.

A doctor is successful not if he or she has a successful practice but if he or she becomes the healing hands of Christ for the sick.

A lawyer is successful not if he is part of a money-making firm, but if he uses learning, knowledge and talent to protect people and the community, to do good for people and the community, to be just.

A priest is on the road to success if he can draw closer to God each day of his life while he also draws those he serves to join him on the journey to God.

A marriage is successful if the man or woman is a better person, a more loving person, because of the marriage.

Success in parenting is certainly not based on what your kids have, but who your kids are.

My Dear brothers and sisters, Success is not predicated on what we have, what honors we receive, what jobs we hold, etc. Success is based on how each of us has developed as a person. Success means our ability to assume the person of Jesus Christ. For the Christian, success is not a present reality; it is a goal, the goal of Christian life. This goal will be reached when every aspect of our lives reflects the Person of Jesus Christ. That is success. Everything else is vanity.

From today’s Gospel: Jesus was praying in a certain place, and when he had finished, one of his disciples said to him, “Lord, teach us to pray just as John taught his disciples.” He said to them, “When you pray, say: Father, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come. Give us each day our daily bread and forgive us our sins for we ourselves forgive everyone in debt to us, and do not subject us to the final test.”

My dear brothers and sisters,

The Our Father is the first and greatest of all Christian prayers. Its short and simple phrases embrace every relation between us and God. It not only tells us what to pray for, but also how to pray for it.

The Our Father contains a whole program for Christian living, for our daily life. It’s contains everything what we need to be good people, parents, children and faithful Christians. The prayer “Our Father” we can divide for two parts.

The first part deals with God.

We begin by acknowledging God’s existence, and calling him ‘Father’. God is a parent to us, and we are his children.

Then we praise his name. In praising his name we praise him.

We pray for the coming of his kingdom – a kingdom of truth and life, holiness and grace, justice, love, and peace. We have a part to play in making his kingdom a reality.

We pray that his will may be done on earth. ‘On earth’ means in our private and family lives too. God’s will may not always be the easiest thing to do, but it is always the best thing.

The second part deals with us and our needs.

We begin by praying for our daily bread. ‘Bread’ stands for all our daily needs. God exactly knows what we need, and he is giving to us all we need if we pray.

We pray for forgiveness for our own sins, and for the grace to be able to forgive those who are against us. Only if we are able to forgive others, God is forgiving us our sins and weaknesses.

We pray not to be led into temptation. God does not put temptation in our path but life does. And we ourselves sometimes walk into temptation of our own accord. We are asking God to help us to cope with the temptations that come to us unbidden, and to avoid those of our own choosing.

Finally, we pray to be delivered from all evil, both physical and moral. We can not expect never to encounter evil. What we are asking God for is the grace to be strong and victorious over all evil around us and in us.

My dear brothers and sisters

The prayer Our Father is the first prayer which we learn and pray from our childhood. We can forget lot of things in our life, but never this prayer. We have to start and finished every day with this prayer. This prayer is like a spiritual food which we need every day. If we keep this prayer every day, our life is going to be different, and full of God’s blessing.

In the Gospel for today’s Sunday we heard the story of the Good Samaritan. The parable of the Good Samaritan is one of the most well known of Christ’s teachings.

Very often the word “Samaritan” is use in our civil society. Many hospitals, homeless shelters, and other charitable institutions bear the name. Many people who have never read the bible, and others who have never set foot in a Christian church, know about the Good Samaritan and what he represents.

In today’s Gospel the scholar of the law asked Jesus, “Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” Jesus said to him, “What is written in the law? He answered: You shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, with all your being, with all your strength, and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself.” Jesus said to him, “You have answered correctly; do this and you will live.” But because he wished to justify himself, he said to Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?”

Then Jesus told him the story which we called the story of the Good Samaritan. We already know this story. Many times we heard this Gospel and we reflect on this. Many times when we heard this story we asked ourselves.

Why did the religious leaders refuse to give any help when they saw a victim lying by the roadside? Didn’t they know that this victim was their neighbor?

Why didn’t the priest and Levite stop to help?

The priest probably didn’t want to risk the possibility of ritual impurity. His piety got in the way of charity.

The Levite approached close to the victim, but stopped short of actually helping him. Perhaps he feared that bandits were using a decoy to ambush him. The Levite put personal safety ahead of saving his neighbor.

And why did a Samaritan, an outsider, treat this victim with special care at his own expense? He cared for him in the same way he would care for his own family.

My dear sisters and brothers, what does Jesus’ story tell us about true love for one’s neighbor?

First, we must be willing to help even if others brought trouble on themselves – through their own fault. Second, our help must be practical. Good intentions and empathizing with others are not enough. And lastly, our love for others must be as wide as God’s love.

No one is excluded. God’s love is unconditional. So we must be ready to do good to and for others for their sake, just as God is good to us.

We should pray to God:

“Lord, may your love always be the foundation of my life. And may my love for you express itself in an eagerness to do good for others.”

When Jesus sent out the seventy-two disciples, he said to them:

The harvest is abundant but the laborers are few; so ask the master of the harvest to send out laborers for his harvest. Go on your way; behold, I am sending you like lambs among wolves. Carry no money bag, no sack, no sandals; and greet no one along the way. Into whatever house you enter, first say, ‘Peace to this household.’ If a peaceful person lives there, your peace will rest on him; but if not, it will return to you.

Jesus said in today’s Gospel that their first words on entering a house were to be “Peace on this house.” They were to be ambassadors of peace and goodwill.

Peace is the highest value for all people in the world. Everybody is talking about peace: politicians, writers, and heads of different organizations. Many times priests in their churches preach about peace during homilies. The word Peace is on the mouth of all people, who want well to our world, our families and communities. Peace implies openness, friendship, tolerance, goodwill, hospitality. It disposes us to reach out to others. It helps to break down barriers between one another. Without peace nothing is possible.

Shortly before Communion the priest says to us, “The peace of the Lord be with you always.” What a wonderful gift is being offered to us – the peace of Christ, a peace which the world cannot give. Then he invites us to “offer each other a sign of peace.” Next we share Christ peace to others by shaking hands.

We come to Mass to receive a blessing from the Lord. If we took nothing else away with us but peace, our time would be still well spent. We must be prepared to give back something of what we have received.

The end of the Mass is not like the end of a football game or movie where we simply get up and leave. At the end of Mass we are sent out. Th priest is sending us with Jesus’ peace. We would l hear: Go in the peace of Christ…. Go and give the peace of Christ to others, to your family, wife, children, maybe to your neighbors, people at your workplace. We are then sent out as ambassadors of that peace to others.

If we wish to be effective messengers of peace three things are necessary: First, we have to have peace within ourselves; Secondly, we have to be willing to share that peace with others; and thirdly, the other person has to be willing to receive it from us.

The harvest is great. There are many opportunities for sharing peace and for making peace. We may not always succeed, because it takes at least two to make peace. We have to accept that our peace will not always be accepted. It may come back to us like the echo of our own voice. But at least we ought to try. In a world torn apart by competition, anger and hatred, we have a challenging vocation – to be living signs of love that can bridge divisions and heal wounds.

Let us pray:

Lord, make me an instrument of your peace.
Where there is hatred, let me sow love.
Where there is injury, pardon.
Where there is doubt, faith.
Where there is darkness, light.
Where there is sadness, joy.

Divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled, as to console, to be understood as to understand, to be loved as to love. For it is in giving that we receive, it is in pardoning that we are pardoned, it is in dying that we are born to eternal life.

Amen.