Christian witness

Bishop Bernard’s Pastoral Letter on Discipleship

Christian witness, Parish Life, PNCC /

January, 2019

HAPPY NEW YEAR to all of you in our Central Diocesan family, and welcome to the Year of Discipleship in our holy Church!

In the words of our national PNCC Future Direction Sub-Committee recently given to us..…..As our Lord said to His disciples “Follow Me” for His public ministry, He continues to call us to follow Him and wants our relationship with Him to grow and strengthen as the days, months and years goes by.  Our PNCC is calling us to renew our Discipleship in our Lord this year and as we begin 2019…. 

Soooo – let’s get a handle on this idea of discipleship, shall we?

Not too long ago I was watching a Netflix presentation about the Masons, with a focus on their place of origin, Freemasons’ Hall in Great Queen Street, London.  As I became drawn into the narrative of this society’s founding and growth, I was struck by how clearly they laid out the expectations of a mason.  By contrast, I was struck by how often our Church is hesitant to name the expectations of discipleship for its members. 

Our Future Directions Sub-Committee has begun laying out these expectations and will continue that effort throughout the year.  I’d say, it all boils down to five basic opportunities to “grow and strengthen our relationship with Jesus.” 

Worship â€“ We worship God together, through his Son Jesus.  Worshipping regularly is a part of who we are as Catholic Christians. The people of God join together in the house of God to worship and honor God (Psalm 150). Worship is about community: the Christian community gathers to worship, to pray together, and to continue its growth in the faith.

Grow â€“ We become affiliated with a parish society, Bible study, the School of Christian Living to grow in faith and our walk with Jesus.  Jesus went to the synagogue “as was His custom” (Luke 4:16).  Synagogue for Jesus was a place of discernment, learning scripture, and growing in the knowledge and love of God and neighbor.  We join with other PNCC-ers here in order to grow together.

Mission â€“ We are called to love our neighbors.  We are encouraged to be involved in some mission emphasis.  Jesus had a special place in His heart for the poor, marginalized, outcast, and lost. We are called to be the hands, feet, and voice of Jesus Christ in our world.  We seek to love and serve others and believe this is vital in our Christian walk.

Talents and Abilities â€“ All of us have talents and abilities that can be used for the glory of God.  Some have the gift of teaching or leading.  Others have the gift of administration, or may be gifted in finance and can help the church to be faithful stewards of the gifts offered for ministry and mission.  Some have the gift of compassion, or love to send cards to those who are sick. Some feel called to reach out to the unchurched, while others have the gift of hospitality.  Yes, all of us have some God-given gift, talent, or ability that we can use for the glory of God.

Proportional Giving â€“ Stewardship is a spiritual discipline and an act of worship.  Our offering is a recognition that everything we have and are is a gift to us from God.  We are all blessed.  We are all called by God to offer our first-fruits and our [portion] to God for the work of His kingdom (Leviticus 27:30-33; Deuteronomy 14:22-29).  Our offering at a regular percentage of giving is an act of gratitude, an act of obedience, and an act of our covenantal agreement with God.  Our offering is used, then, in ministry and mission on behalf of our Lord Jesus Christ.     

So let’s take time to reflect on these five expectations as we undertake a life of Catholic Christian discipleship.  After all, God proved he loves us so much by giving His only begotten Son to live among us, to teach us of God’s love and kingdom, to die that we might be forgiven, and to rise that we may have eternal life.  God has promised to be with us always.  Discipleship, then, is our faithful response to this God who “so loves the world”  (John 3:16)      

Peace and grace to all.

Bishop Bernard 

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Bishop Bernard’s Pastoral Letter on Vocations

Christian witness, PNCC, Prayer /

To the Very Reverend, Reverend Fathers and the Reverend Messrs., and my dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ Jesus our Lord:

¡Viva el mes de junio! That’s Spanish for “Long live June,” “Hurray for June.” Hurray, indeed! And welcome to the month of vocations in the Polish National Catholic Church: June is Sacred Vocations month for us. June is the month we focus on our great need for priests, and on the need for significant donations throughout the PNCC to be made to the Clergy Pension Plan.

Our need of priests is dire and critical, but I am nonetheless hopeful and optimistic. Even though no Polish National Catholic families have sacrificed even one of their men, young or old, to our altars in the past twelve years, (and it doesn’t look like any family will in the near future), I remain optimistic. Even though our seminary has been empty for that period of time, except for the occasional priest from another Church orienting himself there to work as a priest in the PNCC, I have good reason to hope because I have experienced God’s providence. Our parish in Denver was declining but was pulled back from the brink of closure by an Hispanic priest from Mexico and 90 people of Mexican heritage who now comprise the great majority of that parish. St Francis, Denver, is growing, and is enthusiastically PNCC, and is flying 18 young people and 6 adults to Convo 2018 here next month.

Because Father Alfonso Castillo needs pastoral help there, I enthusiastically agreed to review applications from priest friends of his in Mexico to provide assistance to him, and subsequently serve our American parishes desperate for priests. In our Diocese, two priests, in fine parishes, are retiring next year. I have no one to fill them. A priest in our Diocese is on three parishes in Jersey. Three priests are on two parishes each. And there are ailing and aging priests all over the place! And yet I am hopeful. So I say, ¡Viva México!

With the increase in aging clergy comes the need for our Clergy Pension Plan to support them all. We collect for this vital entitlement throughout the year and especially in the month of June. We need more capital to invest, the interest from which the pension payments are made. From age 70, a PNCC priest can look forward to a monthly check in the amount of $600; and his widow, a check in the amount of $300. Please be generous in this drive. And so I say, in my optimism, ¡Viva el Plan de Pensión del Clero! (Hurray for our Clergy Pension plan!)

I believe God is showing us a potential direction for the future of our Church; and that pathway seems to be presenting itself from south of the border. For the Methodist Church, that pathway is from South Korea, and for the Roman Catholic Church, from India among other sources. In light of all of this, Bishop Hodur has indeed blessed us with a most optimistic motto for our Church when he penned: A través de la Verdad, el Trabajo y las Dificultades ¡Venceremos!

Yours in Christ,

Bishop Bernard

To read the original version as a PDF file.

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Blessings for Happy Father’s Day and an Invitation

Christian witness, Events, From the Pastor, Parish Life, Prayer, St. Valentine /

Dear Parishioners and Friends, Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

A Father’s Day message of Love and Forgiveness comes from the Lord’s Prayer:

Our Father, Who art in heaven, Hallowed be Thy Name. Thy Kingdom come. Thy Will be done, on earth as it is in Heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. Amen.

We are wishing all of our Parishioners a happy and blessed Father’s Day. A good father emulates the love of God our heavenly Father. He guides us, protects us and teaches us. Let us love one another as God the Father in heaven has loved us. Brothers and sisters immediately forgive a wrong done to you. Fathers, wives and children do not hold grudges or harbor resentment to those who have trespassed against you. Be the first to forgive.

How little Our Father in Heaven asks of us. God the father loved us so much that he gave His only begotten son to suffer and die to pay the price for our sins so that we may have eternal life with him. Can we not forgive one another?

Brothers and sisters immediately forgive a wrong done to you. Do not hold grudges or harbor resentment to those who have trespassed against you.

Please meditate on the prayer of St. Francis.

Lord, make me an instrument of thy peace.
Where there is hatred, let me sow love;
Where there is injury, pardon;
Where there is doubt, faith;
Where there is despair, hope;
Where there is darkness, light;
Where there is sadness, joy.
O 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 to self that we are born to eternal life.

Please trust the Lord and pray daily. Church of St Valentine Parish is our home where we meet as Christian Family with Lord Jesus Christ to Celebrate His Resurrection, to be forgiven, and to receive Jesus’s Body and Blood in the Sacrament of Holy Communion.

Please come and join us as Community of Faith for Sunday Holy Mass every week! Feel always welcomed and at home in our Church!

We are all called to follow Jesus, to be his disciples, to pray, to work together and to support our Parish!

We are grateful and send our heartfelt thanks to everyone who gives precious Time, Talents and Treasure of their prayers and donations to our Church and Parish.

God’s Blessings to you all, for your FAITH and labor of love in taking care, repairing and restoring out Parish Church and spreading Gospel of Salvation!.

In the last year and a half, together we have done a tremendous amount of work: New Church roof; fixed Church ceiling and repainted whole interior and Sanctuary, repaired and painted Church windows, repaired Church entrance bulletin board, fixed Parish Hall roof, repainted Parish Hall, Parish Hall entrance and bathroom, fixed roof over rectory, repaired and painted rectory interior, new fence at the cemetery, landscaping at the Cemetery and Pulaski Park, repaired caretaker house at the Cemetery, repaired heating pump and furnace at the Parish Hall, purchased new professional zero turn grass cutting mower and new 6ft wide pull behind tractor mower, prepared Fellowship dinners, brunches, bake sales, etc, etc…

May God bless you all for your wonderful work!!!

Fathers’ Day Brunch We are inviting all the Fathers and their families for the special Brunch at our Fellowship Parish Hall. Let us get together as our Parish Family and celebrate all the fathers!

St Valentine PNCC Parish and Fr Andrew Bilinski

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Easter 2015

Christian witness, From the Pastor, Prayer, St. Valentine /

Dear Parishioners and Friends, Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

‘When the sabbath was over, Mary Magdalene, Mary, the mother of James, and Salome bought spices so that they might go and anoint him. Very early when the sun had risen, on the first day of the week, they came to the tomb. They were saying to one another, “Who will roll back the stone for us from the entrance to the tomb?” When they looked up, they saw that the stone had been rolled back; it was very large. On entering the tomb they saw a young man sitting on the right side, clothed in a white robe, and they were utterly amazed. He said to them, “Do not be amazed! You seek Jesus of Nazareth, the crucified. He has been Raised from the dead’ — Mark 16:1-7

In St Paul’s first letter to the Christian congregation of Corinth (56 or 57 A.D) we have the oldest summary of Christian belief. St Paul refers to his former preaching in Corinth in 51 A.D and declares that he received the Gospel as witnessed by the Apostles and disciples: I Paul handed on to you first of all what I myself received, that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried and, in accordance with the Scriptures, rose on the third day; that he was seen by Cephas, then by the Twelve. This is what we preach and this is what you believed — 1 Corinthians 15:3-5.

Please trust the Lord and pray daily. Church and St Valentine Parish is our home where we meet as Christian Family with our Lord Jesus Christ to celebrate His Resurrection, to be forgiven, and to receive Jesus’s Body and Blood in the Sacrament of Holy Communion. Please come and join us as a community of faith for Sunday Holy Mass every week! Feel always welcomed and at home in our Church! We are all called to follow Jesus, to be his disciples, to pray, to work together and to support our Parish!

Easter Blessing!

Through the Resurrection of his Son God has redeemed you and made you his children. May He bless you with joy. Amen
The Redeemer has given you lasting freedom. May you inherit his everlasting life. Amen
By faith you rose with him in baptism. May your lives be holy, so that you will be united with him forever. Amen
May almighty God bless you, the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. R. Amen

St Valentine PNCC Parish and Fr Andrew Bilinski

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Sunday’s beauty

Christian witness, Parish Life, St. Valentine /

It seems we work six days a week. On Sunday we come to Church to thank the Lord for our blessings. Last Sunday was a beautiful day to spend time in God’s house. We are very proud of our beautiful church, and happy to share its treasures with you along with some pictures.

Thank you to our organist Julia and Ms. Grazyna for providing nice music. Thank you to all for making our life together happy.

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