Do you have friends? I hope so. Here's the good question though. What kind of friends do you have? Or a better question might be what kind of friend are you? Jesus gives us a really good measuring stick for friendship today. Here it is, "Love one another as I have loved you. This I command you to love one another." Right there, Jesus summarizes the key quality of a great friendship in one word, love. It's agape love, love that gives, love that sacrifices, love that's selfless, love that's patient. That's what Jesus said about true friendship. Love each other as I have loved you. So we ..read more

  The Gospel for this Sunday of Easter has the familiar story about the vine and the branches. Jesus, the vine, is rooted and stable and will always bring us all the nourishment we need. Trust the steadiness of Jesus’ gardener hand.    However, there is the small matter of being pruned. To prune a plant is to cut parts of it off. Jesus mentions it twice in the reading: Speaking as the vine, he says that the Father  ... takes away every branch in me that does not bear fruit, and every one that does he prunes, so that it bears more fruit. Ouch. I had invited an arborist to as ..read more

  I have often wondered about those “other sheep” to whom Jesus refers in the gospel story about the “Good Shepherd.” Specifically, who are they? And why does Jesus make it a point to mention them at all? ·       And what do those ‘other sheep’ have to do with you and me? And so it is I have wondered at where I have encountered those ‘other sheep’ in these past days. And I have wondered at my, and our, response to them as those whom Jesus knows and who know Jesus in return. I would offer you some possible scenarios now…   I was working at a trauma ca ..read more

I served as the Catholic chaplain for 10 years at Strong Memorial Hospital. I continue to provide support to people in times of trauma. Chief Fluker asked me to make a presentation to help his first responders cope with a trauma response and there story was published by the Batavian and Batavia Daily News. Chief Jeff Fluker, right, is joined by Bethany firefighters at the department’s fire hall. The department recently provided training to help its members deal with the potential traumas they might encounter. Courtesy of Dr. Matt Kawiak by Matt Surtel, Batavia News Editor Top of Form Bot ..read more

I have returned from my deployment serving as mentor, teacher and best friend to Fr. Erick, pastor Divine Mercy Parish in Las Vegas. I was most humbled and privileged to concelebrate at all the Holy Week and Easter Sunday services. The 200 Hispanic and Anglo families faith, courage and fortitude have not only survived financial scandal but are a community whose current leadership have helped to heal and flourish as the most dynamic Polish National Catholic Church in the world.  Fr., Erick’s theme on the Resurrection was a question he often hears from his people: “I want to meet Jesus.” I ..read more

  On Good Friday, I the shared the following story. An art therapist presented a seminar on art therapy helping veterans coping with PTSD. She concluded her presentation by sharing the following poem and asked the participants to reflect on the poem and think how they wanted to be remembered at the end of their life.   The Dash Poem by Linda Ellis I read of a man who stood to speak at the funeral of a friend. He referred to the dates on the tombstone from the beginning to the end. He noted first came the date of the birth and spoke the following date with tears. But he said what ma ..read more

  I like to encourage you and challenge you this Holy Week to identify the most dominant question in your life right now. What question about you and your future is preoccupying your heart? It might be, Should I marry him? It may be, Should I retire? It might be, What should I study in college? It may be, How do I improve my marriage? How do I deal with the health challenge I'm facing? How do I recover from the trauma with the death of my spouse? How do I cope with the betrayal of a close friend? How do I become a better parent? How do I get my personal finances under control? Or how do ..read more

  A tiny grain plants itself deep within the soil. It is tucked into complete darkness. It is fearless, comforted by the tough, safe shell that is its home. It belongs there, and knows it. In quiet. In growth. Home.    Then the shell-shelter turns tight and invading and painful.    The growing seed’s former peace is replaced by shock. Its earlier great protector is now opposing it, holding it back. Crushing it. Then, suddenly, as if planned from all eternity, the protecting shell cracks right open, letting in the outside. “Wait, wait, I need you,” shouts the seed. No ..read more

  The former pastor was laicIzed by his Roman Catholic diocese for misappropriation of church funds. He had been removed from the Polish Catholic Church a year earlier for the same crime. However, in the Roman statement, it reported that any sacraments that he administered in the PNCC tradition were invalid. The PNCC bishop was outraged. How do we handle situations that make us so mad that we want to spit? Jesus braided a whip. He had emotions just like we do. And he sometimes got angry, just like we do. But the difference between him and us is in how he expressed his emotions. That's s ..read more

  After a recent snow storm with wind gusts of 60 mph, I walked the trails in our forest and found that a huge tree had broken hallway up its trunk and fell across the trail, blocking the path forward. Yes, there are obstacles that we stumble upon in life, but when it comes to a down tree, I have learned to ask for help.   What are some of the obstacles you are facing at this time. My next door neighbor food stamp card wasn’t working, coworkers were adjusting after the traumatic accidental death of one of their workers. I had received a phone call from Florida asking for help to tr ..read more