February 19, 2019
View Video: Homily - Sunday, February 17, 2019
"Annual Appeal For Catholic Ministries"
Carissimi:
The time has come for the Annual Appeal. Instead of making a separate video and speaking at the end of all the Masses, I prepared a homily and preached it at all the Masses this past weekend. Please view that message in video above. Also Included in the bulletin and included here is an explanation of the importance of the Appeal. To download a text version of the homily, click here .

I know that you will prayerfully consider how you can support the ministries of our parish and of our Church in Baltimore.

Much affection,
OP-ED from the Immigration Subcommittee
We were initially moved to write this opinion piece while our country was in the midst of the longest partial government shutdown. While a second shutdown has been averted, we are distressed over the declaration of a national emergency to circumvent the will of the people. The shutdown directly inflicted pain upon federal workers and contractors, and we recognize the trauma that the working class, working poor, and those living in poverty faced due to reduced access to many services. Now with the national emergency declaration billions of dollars will be diverted from departments and agencies that they were appropriated to. All of this is troubling for us because we hold that the border wall is an ineffective, simplistic solution to a manufactured crisis that would cause more harm than well-being.  READ MORE
Words to live by...

 Don’t wear headphones
while vacuuming.
I just finished the
whole house before
realizing the vacuum
wasn't plugged in.
Make Sure to Join Us This Sunday!
SUNDAY FEBRUARY 24TH AT 11:45AM 
Chapel of Grace
St Ignatius Catholic Community 
740 N Calvert Street, Baltimore, MD 

As a refugee forced to flee from conflict Dr. Mireille Twayigira’s story is one of survival and resilience.

Dr. Mireille Twayigira’s story is one of both survival and resilience. Mireille spent much of her early childhood in search of a home. After a tragic and difficult journey in which she lost her sister, mother, and grandmother, Mireille found hope through education. Mireille received an education through Jesuit Refugee Service at Dzaleka camp in Malawi, which led to a scholarship to medical school in China. Now Mireille, who says she was “meant to serve others,” uses her medical degree and her story to help others heal and maintain hope.

Join Jesuit Refugee Service/USA and St. Ignatius Catholic Community in Baltimore to hear Mireille’s inspiring story and what can be done to ensure more refugee children receive an education and an opportunity for a hopeful future.

* A part of the Full of Hope Tour
Upcoming Events


Tuesday, February 19 - 6:45 PM
Women of the New Testament
Click here for complete information


Thursday, February 21 - 6:30 PM
Interfaith/Ecumenical Committee Meeting
Click here for complete information
Sunday, February 24 - 9:45 AM
Respect for Life
Click here for complete information

Sunday, February 24 - 11:45 AM
Speaker: Dr. Mireille Twayigira
See box above for complete information

Tuesday, February 26 - 5:30 PM
Bishop Madden Prayer Walk for Peace in the City
Click here for complete information



Tuesday, February 26 - 7 PM
Embracing God's Gifts
Click here for complete information



Saturday, March 2 - 9 AM
Saturday Retreat in Ignatian Spirituality
Click here for complete information

Worship with Offerings, Liturgy and Prayers for Others
POOR BOX 
This week's Poor Box support goes to help
Jesuit Refugee Service

MASS MUSIC   
Attached is the listing for the music selections at next Sunday's 10:30 Mass. 
 
PRAYERS OF PETITION
Attached are the Prayers of
Petition for this week.

Retreats for your Spiritual Growth
Coming to Our Senses Retreat
Monday, March 4 -Thursday, March 7, 2019
Loyola University Retreat Center — Flintstone, Maryland 
Facilitated by Fr. Tim Brown, S.J., Fr. Steve Spahn, S.J. and Sue Cesare
Details and registration: contact Sue Cesare ( sue-cesare@dexterco.com )

Taste and see the goodness of the Lord! And hear and feel God’s love for you – in this restful experience of faith, fellowship and food! Among the many prayerful tools that St. Ignatius offers in the Spiritual Exercises is the “Application of the Senses.” Ignatius had learned from his own journey that the real depth of God’s loving encounter with us in prayer was a full body experience. Not surprisingly, the Creator can make great use of our senses in our effort to come to know and follow God more intimately and joyfully.

Our time will be spent in sessions of private prayer, guided meditation and reflection, group conversation, the Eucharist and good old-fashioned table fellowship. Participants will also have the opportunity to meet individually with a spiritual director. Given space constraints, participants may need to share rooms.

Retreat begins with dinner on Monday, March 4 at 6 PM (arrivals between 3 & 6 PM). Retreat concludes on Thursday, March 7 at 11:30 AM after breakfast and Mass.
Feeling with the Heart of Christ Retreat
Friday, March 15-Sunday, March 17, 2019
Loyola University Retreat Center — Flintstone, Maryland
Facilitated by Fr. Tim Brown, S.J., Fr. Steve Spahn, S.J. and Sue Cesare
Details and registration: contact Sue Cesare ( sue-cesare@dexterco.com )

This prayerful Lenten retreat will engage the treasure of God’s Mercy through the rich tradition of devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus – a hallmark of Jesuit spirituality.
Our time will be spent in sessions of private prayer, guided meditation and reflection, group conversation, the Eucharist and good old fashioned table fellowship. Participants will also have the opportunity to meet individually with a spiritual director. Given space constraints, participants may need to share rooms.

Retreat begins with dinner on Friday, March 15 at 6 PM (arrivals between 3 & 6 PM). Retreat concludes on Sunday, March 17 at 11:30 after lunch.
In the Media
Actor Gary Sinise Describes His Road to the Catholic Church


WASHINGTON — Gary Sinise, the actor perhaps best known for playing Lieutenant Dan in the 1994 movie “Forrest Gump,” followed a rather unusual path to becoming a Catholic.

In a Feb. 4 telephone interview with Catholic News Service from Los Angeles, Sinise told his story.

“At one point in the late ’90s, I remember my wife (Moira) was doing a play, ‘The Playboy of the Western World.’ She was playing a woman in a tavern. She had just gone through sobriety, and she was new to her sobriety as she was playing this woman defending her life in a tavern,” Sinise said.

“At one point, she went to a Catholic church looking for an AA meeting. This little French woman, she asked her, ‘Where’s the AA meeting?’ She looked at her (Moira) and said, ‘You should become a Catholic,'” he added. “Something happened to her at that moment — I don’t know, something that had been aligned within her. Her mother was Catholic, but she fell away from the church and married a Methodist. She was not raised in any particular faith.” READ MORE
On Being Catholic

An old friend and mentor of mine,  Ernan McMullin , was a philosopher of science widely respected in his discipline. He was also a Catholic priest. I don’t know how many times fellow philosophers at professional meetings drew me aside and asked, “Does Ernan really believe that stuff?” (He did.) Amid all the serious and generally respectful coverage of the papal resignation and the election of a new pope, I often detect an undertone of this same puzzlement. Can reflective and honest intellectuals actually believe that stuff? READ MORE
The Ones Ignored
Understanding the New York State Abortion Law

In the midst of a battle over a  new abortion law in New York State , Cardinal Timothy Dolan suggested that a true progressive would be on his side of the debate.  He cited  Governor Al Smith’s aim to “always defend the ones ignored,” and asked, “Is it not the case that today the one most without a voice, the one hidden and ignored…is the baby in the womb? Is it not legitimate to ask why the protection of the civil rights of the preborn baby is not part of the dominant progressive agenda?” READ MORE