Frackville

Pentecost (“A”) – June 4, 2017

On the day of Pentecost the disciples, likewise, were afraid of what might happen to them. The huddled together in an upper room with locked doors, waiting for something to happen. The Lord had promised them that the Spirit would come and so they waited. Now the room shook and the sound of the wind could be heard, and the vision of tongues of fire came upon each one of them. Each individual and the whole group together were gifted with the coming of the Spirit. It didn’t take long for the effects of that Spirit to be seen and heard.

This day is known as the „birthday” of the Church. We were born on this day. The Spirit came and enlivened a group that had almost died. The risen Lord sent His living Spirit to be our life. Each oen of us, as well as the whole Church together, receives the gift, and the gift is to be used. We begin with a gift of peace. Not the world’s peace, initially, but our own. We seek to grow in the gift of a peaceful mind and heart, and peaceful relationships in our life. The second gift is the mission. You are sent out from this church into the world around you. You are able, with the Spirit’s help, to be outgoing and to help bring a gift of peace into the lives of those you live with and work with. You have a responsibility now. It is a grace given to you. Do not let it go for nothing. Finally, the third gift is the grace to reconcile people who are at war with one another. There is the power to forgive others and the power to call people to justice. Do you believe this? Do you accept this? Come, Holy Spirit.

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Low Sunday (“A”) – April 23, 2017

Thomas is often called “Doubting” Thomas because he refused to believe the other disciples when they told him they had seen the risen Lord. We cannot always accept without question what a group of people tell us about something they say has happened even if they are all in the same place at the same time. Thomas wanted to verify with his own eyes what they said had happened. His doubts were reasonable. He was not left in uncertainty. Jesus appears again to the disciples when Thomas was with them. Because he can see the risen Lord, Thomas believes and his response is the fullest expression of faith found anywhere in the Gospels: “My Lord and my God!” Jesus then declares blessed “those who have not seen and yet believe”. This gives us assurance that faith does not depend on what we ase but on what is in our hearts or, as we read in the letter to the Hebrews, “Only faith can…prove the existence of the realities that at present remain unseen.”

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IV Sunday of Lent (“A”) – March 26, 2017

In the ancient Jewish world, blindness was not just a physical ailment. In popular thought it carried a terrible stigma. This arose from a false interpretation of the Law of Moses, which stated that people who were blind or lame could not fight in the army of God’s people. There was good reason for this: soldiers who cannot move fast or see the enemy are not going to be much help to their comrades. However, an extreme interpretation of the rule concluded wrongly that anyone who could not fight in God’s army could never enter God’s kingdom. The next step was to class them as sinners, and that in turn led them being refused word and reduced to begging. Jesus denies that the man’s blindness was caused by anyone’s sin: on the contrary, this man will make God’s works visible. This passage is long and complicated, but we hear of a formerly blind man – notice how briefly the miracle itself is described: over and done with in a couple of sentences – who becomes increasingly full of life and who very soon teaches the Pharisees the ways of God. They become more obsessed about how a sinner could possibly open the eyes of a man born blind. They furiously insist that they are disciples of Moses.

There is another aspect to this light/darkness scenario, exemplified by the parents of the blind man. They’re asked if this is their son, if he was born blind and, if so, how he can now see. They reply “yes” to the first two questions, but refuse to comment on his new sight. “He is old enough: let him speak for himself,” they say, because they fear being expelled from the synagogue if they are perceived to be followers of Jesus. In the Gospels people either accept Jesus as the light, or they reject Him, remaining in darkness. There is no middle road. Later, Jesus will insist that there is only one sign for those who claim to be His disciples, who follow His light: they love one another in the same way that He loved us.

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Polish Happy Meal

We will be holding a “Polish Happy Meal” dinner from 4 to 7 p.m. on Saturday, October 22nd. Dinners, at $9 each, will include kielbasa, pierogies, halushki, halupki, bigos, rye bread, butter, dessert and beverage. You may eat at the church or take meals out. All are welcome. For tickets or more information, call 570-874-3111 or 570-874-1960.

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