TIDINGS
Of HOLY NAME of JESUS NATIONAL CATHOLIC PARISH
A Monthly Newsletter of Information and Events
Vol. 26 – 2013
Month of March
No. 3
Bp. Hodur Died, But Not His Ideas – Part XIV
As this article is sent out, the Pope is nearing
all of which led to his being burned at the stake
his retirement, and in March the Cardinals will
for heresy.
elect the successor to a living Pope, which has
This month we celebrate the founding of our
not been done for six centuries. That previous
democratic Catholic church, which continues
resignation was to bring an end to a period of
the reforms of the Conciliar Movement. Hear
competing papacies in Avignon, France and
again how we used to define the power of this
Rome.
What is not as enthusiastically
democracy: “The task of the Synod is to: 1.
discussed in the media are the politics, bribery
Interpret authoritatively the bases of faith and
and military force that played a deciding factor
morals; … In matters concerning religion and
in this extended period of papal intrigue, and to
morals, the Synod decides unanimously; in
such an extent that the office of the pope itself
national and social matters, as well as adminiswas judged compromised.
trative ones [it decides] by a simple majority of
A nascent democratic movement, which is
votes.” (1922 PNCC Constitution) The clergy
referred to as the Conciliar Movement, arose in
did not decide the important religious matters
opposition to this corrupted papal authority.
for the church; the synod did. The clergy were
The supporters of the Conciliar Movement inpowerful voices that were needed to convince a
sisted that ecumenical councils be held regularunanimous decision on such matters, but they
ly and independently of the pope, and that they
did not act by fiat in papal fashion.
According to the report of the 1935 Synod,
function as the highest church body.
The
Bp. Grochowski was not anxious about this
Council of Pisa in 1409 limited the authority of
democratic authority, but rather extolled it as
the papal office, and also elected a third (!)
truly Christian:
“Bishop Grochowski anpope in an unsuccessful attempt to reconcile the
nounced
the
order
of
the Synod and informed
two papal factions of France and Rome. The
the
Synod
that
the
Synod
is the most important
principle of the supremacy of the Council over
authority in the church. It was so from the very
the pope was affirmed by the Council of Conbeginning of Christianity, but with the passage
stance in 1414-1418, which actually took this
of time the clergy took away from the faithful
authority to the point of voiding the authority
those rights which the National Church returns
of the sitting popes (!) and electing a single
to those belonging to it.” (Minutes, p. 190)
replacement. The Conciliar Movement conAnd with an eye to the Conciliar Movement,
tinued through the Council of Basel less than
Hodur writes in the 1931 church catechism:
20 years later, but the newly reinvigorated of“These priests, especially of the higher rank,
fice of the pope convened a competing and
cultivate under the guise of the religion of Jesus
more successful Council in Florence forbidding
Christ, Moses, Buddha, and Mohammed
the Conciliar challenge to papal authority.
worldly politics, personal business, and very
Bp. Hodur knew this history. He immortaloften stand in complete contradiction to divine
ized Jan Hus in a stained glass window of our
principles of pure religion, democratic issues,
Scranton church, the Jan Hus who argued
general enlightenment, the welfare of the
against the power of the papacy and called for a
masses, freedom of conscience, brotherhood,
return to “gospel poverty,” who spoke of the
and social justice.” Our remedy was church
true church as opposed to the hierarchical one,
democracy, a return to the ideals of the
and who championed ecclesiastical democracy,
Committee at 7:00pm.
March 13th – Ecumenical Lenten Discussion
Series at the Montague Congregational
Church at 7:00pm.
March 15th - The Bitter Lamentations will be
sung at 7:00pm.
March 17th – Passion Sunday. Mass at 9:00am.
Central Seniorate Meal in the Upper Room at
4:00pm in Northampton.
March 20th – Ecumenical Lenten Discussion
Series at the Conway Grammar School at
7:00pm.
March 22nd – Stations of the Cross will be
recited at 7:00pm.
March 23rd – Easter Food Sale in the parish
hall until 2:00pm.
March 24th – PALM SUNDAY. Blessing and
distribution of the palms, followed by Mass,
beginning at 9:00am.
March 26th – Diocesan Mass of Chrism in
Ware, MA at 5:00pm.
March 27th – Lenten Penitential Devotion at
7:00pm.
March 28th – HOLY THURSDAY. Mass of the
day at 6:00pm.
Pot Luck Dinner in the parish hall at 7:15pm.
March 29th – GOOD FRIDAY. Church will be
open throughout the day for private prayer.
Youth Stations of the Cross at 4:00pm.
Mass of the Pre-Sanctified at 7:00pm.
March 30th – HOLY SATURDAY. Liturgy of the
day at 8:00am.
Easter foods will be blessed in homes by
invitation.
Easter foods will be blessed at church at
5:00pm.
March 31st – EASTER SUNDAY.
Resurrection procession and Mass beginning
at 9:00am.
Children’s activity follows at 10:30am.
*** ** * ** ***
Conciliar Movement and more importantly to
earliest Christianity.
This is what we celebrate and practice on the
Feast of the Institution in March. Church
democracy is not only about setting financial
goals and maintaining buildings.
Church
democracy, as we used to understand it, was at
the heart and soul of maintaining a true and
honest church. If we tolerate that faith, morals
and discipline lie only with the bishops and the
clergy they select, then it is the Basel –
Florence debacle repeated. So the retirement of
a Pope at present is not the only history that
may be repeating itself after the passage of
centuries.
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CALENDAR OF EVENTS
MONTH OF MARCH
March 1, 2013 – Monthly visitations to the sick
and the shut-in of the parish
The Bitter Lamentations will be sung at
7:00pm.
March 2nd – Confession for the youth of the
parish at 10:30am.
March 3rd – Monthly meeting of the Adoration
Society at 10:00am.
March 4th – Fr. Calvo will participate in the
annual meeting of the diocesan Youth
Commission.
March 6th – Ecumenical Lenten Discussion
Series at South Deerfield Congregational
Church at 7:00pm.
March 8th – YMSofR Lenten Dinner in the
parish hall at 6:00pm.
Stations of the Cross will be recited at
7:00pm.
March 9th – Mission meeting for the parishes of
the Central Seniorate in Northampton.
Remember to set your clocks AHEAD one
hour before retiring for the night.
March 10th – FEAST OF THE INSTITUTION.
Mass at 9:00am.
Annual Congregational Meeting in the
parish hall at 10:00am.
March 12th – Monthly meeting of the Parish
NEW MEMBERS
On behalf of the parish, I welcome Walter
and Aileen Daczyczyn, and Eleanor March to
Holy Name. If anyone you know is looking for
a church, why not invite them to come with you
to Mass?
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help us understand them as a continuing
mystery rather than only as past history.
On Passion Sunday the images of Jesus and
His followers are draped in purple shrouds to
symbolize for us that Jesus has had to flee into
seclusion. That afternoon representatives of
each of our Seniorate parishes will gather in
quiet contemplation for the Meal in the Upper
Room’s reenactment of the Last Supper.
Palm Sunday begins with the Hosannas of
Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem, but the
liturgy of the palms ends when those same
palms are used to strike Jesus on the cross three
times with each blow meant to be more violent.
I hope and pray that our faithful will make
the time for church so that all that Jesus endured for us may be made real. This is the
power and potential of liturgy. This is why we
need to come together.
FEAST OF THE INSTITUTION
Our church denomination began on the
second Sunday of March, 1897 – 126 years
ago. Therefore, on this Sunday the parishes of
our church remove the Lenten purple from their
sanctuaries and replace them with flowers. The
Gloria is again recited and the vestments are
white or gold. We celebrate the gift of our
church every year on the Feast of the Institution, which the Third General Synod of 1914
declared to fall on the second Sunday of March.
On this special feast day we celebrate our
religious freedom and our Catholic democracy.
I invite every parishioner to come and be with
us at Mass on this sacred occasion.
ANNUAL CONGREGATIONAL MEETING
Every year on the Feast of the Institution,
after we have gone to Mass and celebrated the
founding of our democratic church, we then
head to the parish hall to conduct the annual
congregational meeting. This is when we put
into action all of the ideas and ideals we honoured at Mass. This is every parishioner’s
chance to have a voice in the way we run our
parish and to have a say in the priorities we set
for ourselves. If you believe that democracy is
an essential part of who we are as church, then
it is your obligation as a member of Holy Name
of Jesus to participate in its workings.
HOLY WEEK & EASTER SUNDAY
On Holy Tuesday the blessing of holy oils
will take place in Ware, MA at 5PM. Bp. Paul
Sobiechowski will be the principal celebrant of
the Mass and the consecrator of the oils.
A Lenten Penitential Service will be held on
Holy Wednesday to prepare our souls for the
holiest days of Holy Week. General Confession will be administered to the adults present.
Holy Thursday marks the day of the Last
Supper, the institution of the Holy Eucharist,
and the beginning of Christ’s Passion. All of
this is conveyed in this evening’s Mass and
liturgy. So that as many as possible may receive Communion, the Mass begins at 6PM and
is followed by a pot luck supper in the parish
hall. This allows everyone who needs to to
maintain the two hour fast before Communion.
The church will be open from 7AM until late
into the evening on Good Friday for private
prayer. The youth will recite their Stations at
4PM and the symbolic grave will be opened.
That evening the Mass of the Pre-Sanctified
will be offered. On Good Friday no one who
believes in the crucifixion should be going out
to a leisurely dinner, the movies or any other
kind of entertainment. This is the day we
EASTER FOOD SALE
Every year on the Saturday of Palm Sunday
weekend the parish holds her annual Easter
Food Sale. During that same week volunteers
will gather to make golumpki and apple pies in
the parish kitchen. Others will have already
gathered over several weeks to make pierogi.
But we also need our parishioners to share their
kitchen specialties from home with us. Please
bring in your donations on Friday the 22nd for
pricing. When we all do what we can, all of us
– and our parish – are the better for it.
LENT
The latter part of Lent falls during the month
of March this year. With increasing fervency
the events of Jesus’ passion unfold and the
church’s liturgy is there each step of the way to
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remember our crucified God. We must treat it
accordingly.
Believing in Jesus’ promise of the resurrecttion, the church will prepare herself on Holy
Saturday to celebrate that grandest of mysteries. Easter foods will also be blessed in homes
by invitation and in church at 5PM.
Easter is the holiest day of the year for
Christians. We announce the resurrection of
Jesus with light, music and our presence. This
is a day of unmitigated joy and hope. Christ
has arisen from the tomb, alleluia! After Mass
a children’s activity is planned so that our
youngest members may better feel the
excitement of this most special of days. But
please believe me when I say that to truly
appreciate Easter we must first walk with
Christ through His passion and even to His
cross. Make church a priority for this special
week and you will be blessed.
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Roots of Faith: Creating Our Spiritual Family Tree
What has influenced my faith? How and why have I become the person of faith that I am
today? Have you ever asked yourself such questions? As faith communities we are affected by all of
those who made us who we are and how we believe.
During this Lenten season, we of the participating faith communities will be lifting up those
who have brought each of us to this faith-filled moment by creating a family tree together. Each week
there will be an opportunity for you (if you wish) to place on our family tree the name of someone who
has had an influence on your life and faith. Our family tree (or the representation of it on a large
banner) will travel from church to church as we meet in Lenten discussion. Members of the church at
which the banner currently resides will also have an opportunity to add to the tree on Sunday morning.
Our hope is that you will all have an opportunity to think about your faith and how it has grown
over the years. We, as the leaders of the weekly discussions, will be sharing with you the influences on
our own faith formation. We believe that this will be a deepening spiritual exercise that we will all be
able to learn from and enjoy. Come join us on Wednesday evenings (see schedule below) as we join
together to build our faith family tree.
The pastors of the participating churches
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2013 - Sixteenth Annual Ecumenical Lenten Discussion Series - 2013
Roots of Faith: Creating Our Spiritual Family Tree
March 6th
Fourth session offered by Rev. Dr. Cynthia Crosson-Harrington
at the South Deerfield Congregational Church at 7PM
Session Title: Where Are You God? Emerging from Trauma & Loss
March 13th
Fifth session offered by Rev. Sherril Willis
at the Montague Congregational Church at 7PM
Session Title: Four Plus Three Equals Seven
March 20th
Sixth session offered by Fr. Randy Calvo
Hosted by the Conway United Congregational Church at the
Conway Grammar School at 7PM
Session Title: “Congregational Catholic”
-------------------------Refreshments will be served after each gathering by the host parish.
All Are Welcome
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YMSofR Men’s Club
Lenten Dinner
On Friday, March 8th at 6PM
at Holy Name of Jesus Church
in South Deerfield
Proceeds to help the men help the parish.
Tickets: $10 – adults; $5 children 12 and under
Tickets available after Mass, through the rectory and
by calling 665-2129
Dinner guests invited to also attend Stations of
the Cross at 7PM.
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