September 11, 2018
My name is Jim. His name is Bill.

Carissimi,
It’s time for you and me to talk about our Archbishop. For starters, I have attached a homily he gave at St. John the Evangelist, Columbia this past Sunday.

I ask you to read it carefully with an open mind. We look to our Archbishop to partner with us and to lead us in the healing and reform of the Church. I believe he is and that he will.

The time has come for the People of God, lay and ordained, to insist on being heard, to insist on being at the table, to insist on accountability and transparency.

However, the reform we want, the healing we need—in both Church and civil society—will never occur until we can speak to one another frankly and listen to one another respectfully, until we can look for common ground rather than live in opposing camps.
A calm skepticism about oneself and others is prudent and wise. Suspicion and hostility are dark spirits.

To dismantle clericalism, we must learn to deal with one another as brothers and sisters, as fellow disciples. My name is Jim. His name is Bill. I confess to being predisposed to like him. He comes from an Italian-American family like I do. I think I know where he comes from, a very good place.

Bill has a tough job. My experience of him is that he is a man of prayer, who has a self-deprecating sense of humor and [high praise] a Jesuitical wit.

He is intelligent. He listens . He shows up . He wrestles with decisions. He speaks thoughtfully and softly. He preaches well and from the heart. He deserves a hearing—and, dare I say, a calmly skeptical trust.

A Continuation of the Series...
Reclaiming Jesus Part 5:
"Leaders Who Serve"
Last Spring, a group of 23 senior pastors published a document entitled “Reclaiming Jesus” to address the crisis of moral and political leadership that continues to polarize our nation. They began with two questions: “ Who is Jesus Christ for us today? What does our loyalty to Christ, as disciples, require at this moment in our history?”

Then they present six affirmations of faith and, after each one, what they reject “in the practices and policies by political leaders which dangerously corrode the soul of the nation and deeply threaten the public integrity of our faith.” Here is the 5 th one:

V. WE BELIEVE  that Christ’s way of leadership is servanthood, not domination. Jesus said, “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles (the world) lord it over them, and their great ones are tyrants over them. It will not be so among you; but whoever wishes to be great among you must be your servant”. We believe our elected officials are called to public service, not public tyranny, so we must protect the limits, checks, and balances of democracy and encourage humility and civility on the part of elected officials. We support democracy, not because we believe in human perfection, but because we do not. The authority of government is instituted by God to order an unredeemed society for the sake of justice and peace, but ultimate authority belongs only to God.

THEREFORE, WE REJECT  any moves toward autocratic political leadership and authoritarian rule. We believe authoritarian political leadership is a theological danger that threatens democracy and the common good—and we will resist it. Disrespect for the rule of law, not recognizing the equal importance of our three branches of government and replacing civility with dehumanizing hostility toward opponents are of great concern to us. Neglecting the ethic of public service and accountability, in favor of personal recognition and gain often characterized by offensive arrogance, are not just political issues for us. They raise deeper concerns about political idolatry, accompanied by false and unconstitutional notions of authority .
75,000 Meal Challenge Followup
Pic: St. Ignatius parishioners Anne Wetzler & Matthew Wetzler packing meals

St. Ignatius Raises Funds for CRS’s 75,000 Meal Challenge

Those who are nourished by the bread of Christ cannot remain indifferent to those who do not have their daily bread.
-­‐     Pope Francis  


On a dreary and rainy September 9th St Ignatius parishioners joined more than a hundred other individuals at the Helping Hands meal-­‐packing event. For the third consecutive year two teams that consider Baltimore ‘home’, Catholic Relief Services and the Baltimore Orioles, sponsored the event, which aimed to provide 75,000 packaged meals to women and children in Burkina Faso. In the 1st year the goal was 10,000 meals, and due to the overwhelming support from individuals such as our generous St. Ignatius parishioners by year three the goal was 75,000. Thanks to all St Ignatius Catholic Community team members and all who donated to our team page or the poor box collection. Due to your unwavering support we were able to meet our $1,500 goal. 

At 50 cents per meal package, the St. Ignatius community raised funds for 3,000 packed meals and according to CRS partner, Stop Hunger Now, each package can feed 6 children. The packed boxes will be delivered to various social service centers across Burkina Faso operated by partners of CRS who serve the most vulnerable (i.e. orphans, elderly and girls fleeing forced marriages). 

A special thank you goes out to the parishioners who donated their time to package the meals, Isabelle Garcia, Vonetta Edwards, Ann Wetlzer and Matthew Weltzer. An extra special thank you goes out to our ‘runner’ Matthew who used this fun but extremely beneficial event as part of his service hours. Due to him collecting sealed meals from stations up and down the length of the room I believe we were one of the most productive box packing stations. Again, Thank you to those who donated either directly online or via the poor box collection, your concern for those less fortunate is greatly appreciated. For those who donated $50 or more a raffle will be drawn for tickets to the Orioles September 29th game against the Astros…good luck! View event photos .

Just for fun...
Main Events Over the Next Month
Sunday, September 16, 11:45 AM

Artist, Judith Kornett, to Share in Chapel of Grace this Sunday

Please join us on September 16th after Mass at 11:45 for a special artist conversation with Judith Kornett in the Chapel of Grace.

Our current exhibit, called Passages , was made for our gallery in a most unique process. Each print was made from the surface of a clay slab with stencils and colors, hand pressed and rolled into the final print. These scripture passages and print combination contain a deep revelation for Judith. Her ceramic art is world class and she is on the cusp of a new life's work.

Judith is a sculptor, printmaker, and mixed media artist. She has shown her work nationally, and has been a resident at The Montpelier Art Center in Laurel. She resides in Frederick, MD.

We are so fortunate to invite Judith back to our Reeves Gallery here at Saint Ignatius Church.
Saturday, September 22 & Sunday, September 23
On Saturday, September 22, and Sunday September 23 the St. Ignatius Pastoral Council will present a Ministry Fair that will showcase many of the ministries within the parish and the greater Baltimore community. Ministry team members will be available to answer questions.

What: St. Ignatius Ministry Fair
When:  Parishioners will be invited to browse the fair tables after each Mass
Sat. 9/22 after 4:30 Mass
Sun. 9/23 after 8 AM, 9 AM, 10:30 AM, and 6 PM Masses

Location: Ignatian Hall

Sunday, September 23, 1:30 PM
About the Film

Christianity was born in Palestine two thousand years ago. From there it spread throughout the Middle East and to the rest of the world.

In 1948, tens of thousands of Palestinian villagers were driven from their homes in what was officially dubbed “Operation Broom”, intended to literally sweep tens of thousands of Palestinians from their homes in the fertile hills and valleys of the Galilee, and make way for settlers in the newly created state of Israel.

For more than 60 years the Palestinians, Christians and Muslims, have suffered displacement, expulsion, wars, occupation and oppression. This is their story, in their voices, from the Nakba of 1948 until today.

  • The showing of this film will be in the church.
  • There is no charge for this event

To learn more about Voices From the Holy Land, visit their website by clicking here .
To download the flyer for Voices From the Holy Land 2018 series, click here .
Saturday, September 29, 9 AM - 7 PM
Sunday, September 30, 7:30 PM
One of the more recent challenges for Catholic parishes is how to welcome L.G.B.T. parishioners, as well as families with L.G.B.T. members. But that challenge is also where grace abounds because L.G.B.T. Catholics have felt excluded from the church for so long that any experience of welcome can be life-changing—a healing moment that can inspire them to go to Mass again, return them to the faith and even help them to believe in God again.

On Sunday, September 30, St. Ignatius Catholic Church in Baltimore will present a lecture by Fr. James Martin, SJ entitled Building a Bridge: How the Catholic Church and the LGBT Community Can Enter into a Relationship of Resect, Compassion and Sensitivity , based on his book by the same title. The lecture will be held in the Church.

How can the institutional Catholic church reach out to its LGBT members? How can LGBT Catholics reach out to the institutional church? Father Martin uses the virtues of ‘respect, compassion and sensitivity’ to build a bridge between these two important groups in our church. 

Fr. James Martin, SJ is a Jesuit priest, editor at large of America and consultor to the Vatican’s Secretariat for Communication. He is the author of many books including the New York Times bestsellers Jesus: A Pilgrimage and The Jesuit Guide to (Almost) Everything.

  • There is no charge for this event. 
  • An opportunity to purchase and have Fr. Martin sign his book Building A Bridge will be available following the lecture.
Thursday, October 4, 7:30 PM
Angry disputes between anti-evolutionary creationists and neo-Darwinian atheists persist, but this year’s Hesburgh Lecture will show how Catholicism avoids the pitfalls of both by exploring Catholic teaching about God and creation in relationship to the natural sciences’ investigation of the natural world.
This year’s lecture will be given by Dr. Brad S. Gregory who is Professor of History and Director, Institute for Advanced Study, University of Notre Dame.

Dr. Gregory joined the University of Notre Dame Department of History in 2003 after seven years at Stanford University, where he received early tenure in 2001. He has received teaching awards at both Stanford and Notre Dame, and both of his books,  Salvation at Stake: Christian Martyrdom in Early Modern Europe and  The Unintended Reformation: How a Religious Revolution Secularized Society , received book prizes. A former junior fellow in the Harvard Society of Fellows, Gregory teaches courses on early modern Europe. In 2013 he was named the director of the Notre Dame Institute for Advanced Study. He is also a Fellow of the Nanovic Institute for European Studies at Notre Dame.

  • Lecture will be held in the Chapel of Grace
  • A reception will follow the lecture
  • There is no cost for this event 
Sunday, October 7, 1:30 PM
Presented by Voices From the Holy Land and
St. Ignatius Catholic Community

About The Film

Film director Leila Sansour returns to Bethlehem to make a film about her home town, soon to be encircled by a wall. She left the city as a teenager thinking that Bethlehem was too small and provincial. She never wanted to return but this time she is making an exception. She intends her film to be a tribute to her late father, founder of Bethlehem University, and a man regarded as a hero by his town’s folk. As Bethlehem approaches her decision to flee this sleepy town, taken much to her father’s regret, comes to haunt her.

Armed with her camera and a dilapidated family car that keeps breaking down, Leila plans to make an epic film about a legendary town in crisis but just few months into filming her life and the film take an unexpected turn when cousin Carol, Leila’s last relative in town, persuades her to stay to start a campaign to save the city.

As the pair launch OPEN BETHLEHEM Leila finds herself trapped behind a wall in the very place she so much wanted to leave. The face of Bethlehem is changing rapidly with potentially detrimental consequences. Reports predict that if trends continue the Christian community of Bethlehem, a city that provides a model for a multi-faith Middle East, may be unsustainable within one generation. Leila’s plan to stay a year stretches to seven, and is only resolved when she realizes that, sometimes, the biggest dreams take flight from the smallest places.

OPEN BETHLEHEM is a story of a homecoming to the world’s most famous little town. The film spans seven momentous years in the life of Bethlehem, revealing a city of astonishing beauty and political strife under occupation. The film draws from 700 hours of original footage and some rare archive material. In fact the making of this film has led to the creation of the largest visual archive of Bethlehem in the world and plans are currently being discussed with University College London (UCL) to turn the collection into a museum.

While telling a personal story, the film charts the creation of a campaign to compel international action to bring peace to the Middle East. As the credits roll, there is snow over Bethlehem. Leila has stayed long enough to realize that she is home for good and her battered little family car takes to the sky. Sometimes, if you want to fight for a better world, you may have to work miracles!

There is no charge for this event

  • To learn more about Voices From the Holy Land, visit their website by clicking here.
  • To download the flyer for Voices From the Holy Land 2018 series, click here.
Upcoming Events and Meetings
Iñigo Book Group
Tuesday, September 11 - 6:30 PM
Click here for complete information

Justice & Peace Committee
Thursday, September 13 - 6:30 PM
Click here for complete information

Artist Conversation with Judith Kornett
Sunday, September 16 - 11:45 AM
See box above for complete information

Women of the New Testament
Tuesday, September 18 - 6:45 PM
Click here for complete information
Bishop Madden's Prayer Walk for Peace
Wednesday, September 19 - 5:30 PM
Click here for complete information
St. Ignatius Ministry Fair
Saturday, September 22 & Sunday September 23
See box above for complete information
Film Showing: "The Stones Cry Out"
Sunday, September 23 - 1:30 PM
See box above for complete information

Embracing God's Gifts
Tuesday, September 25 - 7 PM
Click here for complete information
Interfaith/Ecumenical Committee
Thursday, September 27 - 6:30 PM
Click here for complete information
Young Adult Day Retreat
Saturday, September 29 - 9 AM - 7 PM
See box above for complete information
Young Family Ministry: Coffee & Conversation
at R House
Saturday, September 29 - 10:30 AM
Click here for complete information
A Lecture by James Martin, S.J.
Sunday, September 30 - 7:30 PM
See box above for complete information

Hesburgh Lecture: "Science vs. Religion"
Thursday, October 4 - 7:30 PM
See box above for complete information

First Saturdays Retreat in Ignatian Spirituality
Saturday, October 6 - 9 AM
Click here for complete information

Film Showing: "Open Bethlehem"
Sunday, October 7 - 1:30 PM
See box above for complete information
Worship with Offerings, Liturgy and Prayers for Others
POOR BOX 
Each weekend St. Ignatius specifies a Poor Box collection for a needful cause. This week's support goes to support the
Ignatian Spirituality Project.

MASS MUSIC   
Attached is the listing for the music selections at next Sunday's 10:30 Mass. 
 
PERSECUTED CHRISTIAN REPORT
Weekly updates on Christian persecution around the globe. Keep a prayerful watch on what is
happening with your
brothers and sisters! 


In the Media
Some of the writer's candidates for women suited to serve in the College of Cardinals. Top row: Linda Hogan (NCR photo/Joshua J. McElwee); Agnes Brazal (GSR photo/N.J. Viehland); Elizabeth Johnson (CNS). Middle row: Cathleen Kaveny; M. Shawn Copeland; Mary Ann Hinsdale (Boston College photos). Bottom row: Teresa Forcades (NCR photo/Joshua J. McElwee); Margaret Farley (NCR photo/Heidi Schlumpf); Phyllis Zagano (CNS).
If We Want to Reform the Church, Let's Make Women Cardinals

I n the reforms being mentioned in light of the contemporary crisis in the Catholic Church, I see lots of punitive proposals but I don't see enough constructive models of empowerment.

I believe that until women have power in the church, we will not be reformed.
By power, I don't think making women deacons is much of a step; I think making them cardinals is.

During the June 2017 consistory, the new Swedish Cardinal Anders Arborelius suggested the pope consider creating a special advisory body of women akin to the College of Cardinals to offer more opportunity for women's leadership in the church.

Acknowledging  in an NCR interview  that "the role of women is very, very important in society, in economics" Arborelius added, "In the church sometimes we are a bit behind."

He said that the advisory body "could be made more official": "We have a College of Cardinals, but we could have a college of women who could give advice to the pope." READ MORE

September 6, 2018

Dear Friends:

This letter is not a subscription renewal notice or a solicitation for support. I am writing to you from my heart about the crisis in the American church.

This is an agonizing time for the church in the United States. Catholics across the country are reeling from the recent disclosures of past sexual abuses committed by members of the clergy and the catastrophic failure of many of the church’s leaders to protect the most vulnerable among us.

I want you to know that we at America share your feelings of anger, sorrow and fear. As I keep reminding the editorial team, however, we have the luxury of being able to do something in the midst of our sense of helplessness: We can do our jobs. That is what we’ve been doing this summer and what we will continue to do in the weeks, months and years ahead.

In short, America is here for you. We don’t think of ourselves as just a magazine or a website. America Media is a ministry. As journalists, evangelists, as your fellow Christians, we promise to accompany you through this trial, to do everything in our power to provide you with the news, analysis and spiritual resources you need. Above all, we will strive every day to be faithful to our mission and motto to “Pursue the Truth in Love.” We need to listen to the truths of the victims and survivors above all. We need to help them tell their stories. And we need to pursue the truth about the cover-ups and failures, no matter where it leads.

But in order to do all of that, we also need a reason to keep the faith. Many people are asking right now why anyone would remain a Catholic in light of this scandal. It’s a fair question. I’ve heard from a lot of good, honest people who, looking at the record of crimes and cover-ups, ask how we can still talk about God or the church in any meaningful way.
In a recent Gospel reading at Mass, we were told that many of Jesus’ disciples were abandoning him. He asked the Twelve Apostles if they were going to leave too. Peter responds, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.” As one of our executive editors said the other day, for those of us who choose to stay, Peter’s words are the life raft we cling to amid the wreckage of the American church.

But Peter’s story doesn’t end there. You know it well: Peter abandons Jesus, denying him three times. Yet after the resurrection, Jesus comes back for Peter, asking him three times, “Do you love me?” When Peter says “yes,” Jesus replies: “Feed my sheep.”

The summer of 2018 is not the first time that our faith has been tested. It will probably not be the last time, either. But the Gospel tells us that even when the church fails to be faithful to God, God never ceases to be faithful to us.

God is loving us even now. The pain of abuse and betrayal is real, but so is the healing power of love and reconciliation.

Jesus Christ still lives. Thus faith, hope and love will never die.

We are praying for you. Please pray for us.

Sincerely yours in Christ,
Rev. Matthew F. Malone, S.J.
President & Editor in Chief

P.S. You can access all of our news, analysis and resources about this crisis at www.americamagazine.org/abusecrisis .