First Sunday of Lent

First Reading. Deuteronomy 26:4-10.  In the first reading, Moses reminds the people that they must always be thankful for the gifts they will enjoy in the promised land. Through the ceremony of offering the first fruits, the Israelites recognized all that God had done for them in the past, especially in the Exodus.  Our worship of God is also a recognition of his favors to us.

Second Reading.Romans 10:8-13.  In the second reading, Paul tells us it is important for salvation to believe in Jesus and witness to him. The core of the Christian credo is that Jesus is our risen Savior.  Anyone who can say that and live by it, will be saved.

Gospel.Luke 4:1-13.  In the Gospel, the devil confronts Jesus in the desert, tempting him to abuse his divine power. Jesus was tempted like we are, but he did not sin.  Through His grace we too can resist temptation and overcome sin.

Twenty years ago, a young man who had been raised as a Protestant became Roman Catholic in college.  Later, he decided to enter the seminary.  His father told him, “This is not my dream for you, but if this is your dream, you must try to live it.”  The young man has now been a priest for 20 years, and he says that those words of his father are the most important words any human being ever spoke to him.

God gives us a choice, regarding our careers, jobs, style of life, etc. He also gives us a choice to believe in Him or to reject Him. In the first case God will support us and our decisions and will help us have a good life. In the second situation He will not force us to stay with Him but will wait patiently to help us get back when we realize that we made a wrong decision. This is because in this case we make a choice regarding our eternal life which is much more important than job, career, etc. He loves us more than we can even imagine because His love is unconditional. He loves just like parents love their children.

My wishes to you in this season of Lent is perserverance in reaching your goals, which is reaching the state of perfect love. As St. Augustin says, “my heart has no peace until it rests with you”. May our hearts find this peace.

God Bless – Father Krzysztof

„Polka Dance” Party

The party was moved to May. More info in the next newsletter. We would like to apologize to everyone for this change.

Easter Egg Painting and Palm Decorating

On March 27 at 2 pm (Saturday) we will gather at the hall by St. John’s to decorate Easter palms and eggs. We will be decorating the eggs with wax. PCM will provide all the tools and materials. All adults and children are welcome. Please contact  Krystyna Zawada at 756-0587 for additional information.

Help needed!

We encourage everyone to let us know if you can help with any of the activities performed by the Polish Catholic Mission. We need choir singers, collection ushers, lectors, altar servers as well as volunteers to help in the sachristy. Let’s remember that all talent comes from God and he deserves our respect and glory by our work, prayer and song. If you can help, please contact Zofia Schmidt or Fathers Kazimierz, Krzysztof or Jacek.

Monthly Celebration

At the end of monthly mass we would like to recognize those who celebrate their birthday, nameday, wedding anniversary or another important occassion that month. Best wishes for everyone and traditional „Sto Lat”!

Financials

The offering collected at the January 16 mass totaled $188.  $100 was spent to cover church epenses. For your convenience we are providing collection envelopes at the church entry. Envelopes are addressed to the Polish Catholic Mission or the Seminarians.

Ads in the Newsletter.

Just a reminder: we take orders for ads and announcements to be published in our newsletter. If you have an ad, or your own business you would like to advertise, please contact Zofia Schmidt (372-5794).

Upcoming masses in 2010

Reconciliation and remorse

God can see everything everywhere. Nothing can be hidden from Him, neither good or bad. I should not try to hide anything from him, especially anything bad. Why is it so important if He knows that I commit sins and do bad things? Why do I need to confess my sins in the confessional? Because before I confess my sinse I have to first confront my deeds in my heart, face my sins in my own conscience. I have to tear my heart open and get rid of all that evil. If I do not tear my heart open, the evil will stay in it.
It is important not to focus on evil alone. One has to reveal both good and bad, in front of God, not in front of people. When I reveal my sins to a Priest who listens to them in the name of God, then God’s mercy purifies my heart and the recreates the spirit in me. The time of reconciliation with God is the time of my unification with God, the time of my salvation.

Questions to ask myself:
What am I hiding from you, God? Why do I not want to see the light of your love? What is stopping me from admitting my sins and showing my humility and submission?

The Easter Cycle

Easter or the Passover Mistery is the oldest, and initially the only holiday celebrated in the Church. Its roots go as far as the Passover known from the Old Testament. This is how the Israeli celebrated the freedom from Egyptians, the great miracle and achievement of God. The essence of Christian Passover, referred to in Polish as Easter, is a new, much bigger event of emancipation of the entire humanity which was achieved by Christ’s death and resurrection. „For our Passover Festival is ready, now that Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed" — writes St. Paul in his letter to the Corinthians (1 Kor 5,7). Every time the people pray and commemorate Christs’s passion, death and resurrection during the mass, they also celebrate Passover. This is done especially in the first day of each week, which is known as „Lord’s Day”. Each week the church celebrates a reminder of Lord’s resurrection on the day called Lord’s Day, and once a year remembers his passion and resurrection during the Passover (KL 102). The Holy days of Thursday, Good Friday, and Saturday are the center and the essence of the liturgical year, and each Sunday is kind of a smaller Easter.

The memory of Christ’s Ascension and Pentecost is integrated with the Easter celebrations of death and resurrection of Jesus. For many centuries Pentecost and Ascension were part of the Passover celebrations. There are fifty days between Easter Sunday and the Pentecost Sunday that the Church celebrates in joy and happiness as one festive day, the „great Sunday”.

Pentecost Sunday, on the 50th day after Easter Sunday, marks the end of the Easter season. It commemorates  the coming of the Holy Spirit upon the Apostles and the Blessed Virgin Mary. It is known as "the birthday of the Church."
Easter preparations begin with the 6 weeks of Lent. Lent has two dimensions: „by renewal of or preparation for Baptism, and by penance, Lent is supposed to prepare the faithful for the mystery of Passover. The faithful are expected to pray and listen to Lord’s word carefully”. (KL 109). The Easter cycle lasts from Ash Wednesday until the Pentecost Sunday. Easter itself does not have a permanent date. It is traditionally celebrated on the Sunday after the first full moon in Spring.

Fasting among Christians is related to the mystery of Passover, Christ’s passion and death. Fasting is obseved on each Friday of the year, Ash Wednesday and Good Friday.

Prayer:
Zmiłuj się nade mną, Boże, w swojej łaskawości,
w ogromie swego miłosierdzia wymaż moją nieprawość!
Obmyj mnie zupełnie z mojej winy i oczyść mnie z grzechu mojego!                               
Uznaję bowiem moją nieprawość,
a grzech mój jest zawsze przede mną.(Ps 51,3-5)

Wisdom of the Cross:

One good deed, even the smallest one but done secretly so that nobody knows about is has more value to God than a thousand of good deeds done with the intention to show off. Because those who work for God out of love not only want to keep it a secret from other poeple, but do not wish God himself knew about it.

Traditional Easter

Easter palms, blessed in church on Palm Sunday to commemorate Jesus’s triomphant entry into Jerusalem are the symbol of resurrection and immortality. Blessing of the palms has been known in Poland since the 9th century. Palm Sunday is also known as Flower or Willow Sunday.

An Easter Palm, or its substitute - willow branch, is the traditional symbol of Palm Sunday.

Traditional Easter palms are made with willow twigs. In the Catholic church willow is a symbol of resurrection and immortality of the soul. Also twigs of rasberries and currants were used for Easter palms. The twigs were cut on Ash Wednesday and put in water so they  blossom before Palm Sunday. Boxwood, myrtle, huckleberry and yew were used to decorate the palms.

Palms are burnt on Easter Saturday, and the ash is used the following year to mark the foreheads of the people.

Tradition of manual production of Easter palms was particularly well preserved in the area of Kurpie, villages of Łyse and Zbójna, as well as Małopolska’s Lipnica Murowana and Rabka. Depending on the region, palms look differently and are made different way. There is, for instance, a Vilno-style palm, the Kurpie-style palm, etc. A Kurpie-style palm is made with a trunk of a tree (fir or spruce) entwined with twigs of heather or huckleberry and decorated with tissue flowers and ribbons. The tip of the tree remains exposed. Mountain-style palm is made with a bunch of willow, wicker or hazel twigs, with the top decorated with colorful tissue ties and ribbons. Such palms can be seen at Easter processions in Lipnica Murowana, Tokarnia, Rabka. Moreover, Lipnica and Rabka hold annual Easter Palm competitions for the longest and most beautiful palm. The longest palm presented in Lipnica Murowana in 2008 was 33,39 m long and was longer by 1,39 m from the longest palm presented in Rabka in 2007. Vilno-style palms are the most popular. They are small, made with dry flowers, grass and willow twigs. They were first used in the Vilno area, and from there came to Poland where they are the most popular today.

There are numerous folk beliefs and traditions related to Easter Palms:

- a blessed Easter palm protects people, animals, homes and fields from witchcraft, fire and all bad things,
- swallowing willow buds prevents sore throat and headache, and powdered buds added to herbal tea have healing properties,

- pussy willow buds mixed with sowing grains will assure good harvest,

- crosses made with palm leaves or twigs placed in the field will protect it from thunder and storms,

- blessed palms placed in the window during the storm protect a home from thunder and lighting,

- a blessed palm can be used to sprinkle water on family members so they can be protected from illnesses and hunger,

- hitting children with palm twigs ensures good health,

- tall palm will bring long and happy life to the person who made it

- beautiful palm will bless the family with beautiful and healthy offsprings.

According to folk traditions a green twig means life, happiness and strength. People believed that pussy willow twigs protect both people and animals from illnesses. Putting palm leaves into the fishing mesh was supposed to bring good catch, and crosses made from palm twigs and placed on the door were supposed to protect from sudden tragedies.