December 18, 2018


 Carissimi,

I want to share this poem with you as Christmas approaches. How blessed we are to be together on the journey of life, on the feast of new life.

A Blessed and Merry Christmas!
On Another Note...
I want to inform you that the Jesuit Provinces of the United States have released the names of all Jesuits credibly accused of sexual abuse of a minor or vulnerable adult since 1950.
 
Information like this is traumatic. The abuse of power by those invested with a sacred trust has fractured lives and communities, including our own.

Some who have been victimized will be triggered to relive what they went through. Some who have known or been impacted by someone on this list will feel grief or betrayal. This is one step in the long road before us Jesuits of reparation, reform, vigilance, and—pray God—healing.

There may be people who experienced abuse but never told anyone who will be encouraged to come forward. As Fr. Santarosa, S.J. of the Western USA province has written:
 
We do so because the People of God demand and deserve transparency. We do so because we hope that this act of accountability will help victims and their families in the healing process. We do so because, while the vast majority of Jesuits of our province are not on this list, it is important that parents not wonder whether their children are safe in a church, in a school or in any other setting where a Jesuit may be present.
 
This link will take you to the Maryland Province website:


You will find there:
  • The cover letter of our provincial, Fr. Robert Hussey, S.J.
  • The list of Maryland Jesuits credibly accused since 1950.
  • FAQ with more information and context.
 
You will notice that three Jesuits on the list lived at one time at St. Ignatius:
  • One lived in the rectory from 1968 to 1969 but was assigned elsewhere.
  • One was assigned to the parish from 1975 to 1976.
  • One lived in the rectory from 1988 to 1989 but was assigned elsewhere.
 
No known allegations have been made relating to their time living in the rectory.
 
Your brother,
The Third Week of Advent: "JOY"
As I re-juggled my “to do” list of Christmas preparations, my thoughts bounced around the changes that have come and how Christmas will be somewhat different this year — good changes, challenging changes, hard changes — the interesting mosaic of life. It’s different for all of us, yet we all share in that changing landscape of life. Sometimes finding joy in the changes is easy. Other time it's very challenging.

As I pondered the changes in my life, and in our world, I thought about Christmas and the birth of Baby Jesus. Sometimes that manger scene seems so irrelevant and so far removed from day-to-day life. Yet an old verse in the Bible brought freshness to my soul this week as I pondered how the Baby Jesus impacts my life today. It truly gives new cause for joy — to stop and listen again.

“For unto us a child is born ...and He will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace” (Isaiah 9:6-7) . READ MORE

We offer you the following Advent devotional video: "The Christmas Scale"
Tomorrow Night...
Advent Penance Service
Wednesday, December 19, 7:30 PM

Enter into the Advent season with the freshness of reconciliation with God by attending our Advent Penance Service . The Service will be held this year here at St. Ignatius. Parishioners of St. Vincent de Paul as well as St. Ignatius will be participating in the Chapel of Grace. All of our priests will be participating. Please join us for a time of prayer, reflection, and mercy at this solemn time of year.

View video on Penance or “The Sacrament of Reconciliation”
In the Reeves Gallery
New Gallery Exhibit This Weekend

Our Christmas Exhibition in the Reeves Gallery is on display this Sunday, December 23rd. Artist Loring Davena Boglioli presents "Distillation" - a refinement and condensation of a life’s exploration in traditional fiber arts and history and inspired by availability of recycled materials, color manipulation and common geometric shapes.

Boglioli’s self-taught fiber art skills began in toddlerhood, nurturing an insatiable need to sew. A brief, stifling art school stint contributed little, but professional and life experiences enhanced her compositions with spontaneity, dimension and eccentricity. During a lifetime of practice and perseverance through middle age, an avocation became a vocation.

Loring's designs are unabashedly bold, rhythmic, kinetic and playful, emerging from bags of scraps abandoned on her porch, or scavenged from flea markets and yard sales. Completely original, unique designs are assembled using traditional techniques. Loring fuses the venerated and innovative, reinterpreting color, shape and spatial frolic, using various weights and shades of woolens and synthetic fabrics and felts. “Meticulous hand-stitching” with various sizes and types of needles and threads on felt pieces, frequently cut freehand, become undulating, eye-popping designs like those seen in Country Living Magazine, January 1997. This visual freshness, enthusiasm and sophisticated naïveté is a trademark of all her work.

Loring will be joining us in the gallery after the 10:30 Mass this Sunday, and will return for the official opening of the exhibit on Sunday, January 6th.

Visit Reeves Gallery before or after Mass to view this enthralling work! View samples by clicking here .
Upcoming Events
Wednesday, December 19 - 7:30 PM
Advent Penance Prayer Service
View box above for complete information



Sunday, December 23
Confession in the Chapel of Grace
Confessions will be heard in the Chapel of Grace from 4:30 to 5:30




Monday, December 24
Christmas Eve Mass Schedule
Click here for complete information



Tuesday, December 25
Christmas Day Mass Schedule
There will be two Masses on Christmas Day: 8 AM in the Chapel of Grace, and 10:30 in the Church.


Monday, December 31 - 8 PM
26th Annual New Year's Eve Interfaith Prayer Celebration
Click here 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 for a new ambulance for St. Lukes Hospital in Nablus, West Bank .

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

A great stocking stuffer....
St. Ignatius Quartet CD
Here's a perfect gift or stocking stuffer - A beautiful CD of our St. Ignatius quartet in an album called "Christ Is Born Today." This favorite presents the anthems and music of Christmas and the Advent Season.

You can pick up a CD either from an usher at weekend Masses or from the Parish offices during the week. The price is $5.00. 
In the Media
A Holiday Release

Sometimes, the way a movie impresses itself upon you makes its actual quality irrelevant. That being said, Mary Poppins Returns is a good movie. It has delightful visuals, charming music, sharp wit and a “don’t forget, I can do anything ” performance from Emily Blunt. There are probably things wrong with it, but they don’t come to mind right away, because the preeminent reaction to Mary Poppins Returns is a warm welcome back. You just want to run into its arms.

Did you forget the original Mary Poppins ? How dare you. The 1964 movie starring Julie Andrews and Dick Van Dyke is on the Disney Mount Rushmore. Did you know it earned 13 Oscar nominations, the most ever for a Disney movie? Did you know it was nominated for Best Picture, one of only four Disney movies to have that distinction? Did you know Julie Andrews won both the Academy Award and the Golden Globe for Best Actress as Mary Poppins? That’s all true. Mary Poppins is an unimpeachable, all-time movie. READ MORE
I don’t like devotional books.

I rarely get swept up in emotional worship experiences.

And as much as I’ve wanted to be the girl who sings with her arms raised, eyes closed and heart full of joy, I just end up fixated on whether or not I’m flashing sweaty armpits to everyone around me (spoiler: I probably am).

For years, I participated in small groups and Bible studies feeling like there must be something wrong with me. I couldn’t connect to the kind of devotional, emotional spirituality so many of my friends seemed to enjoy; and most of the time I’d rather study the details of Paul’s arguments about justification than meditate on a Psalm.

Then I came across an essay by C.S. Lewis called, “ On the Reading of Old Books ,” and it completely changed my perspective. “For my own part, I tend to find the doctrinal books often more helpful in devotion than the devotional books,” Lewis wrote, “and I rather suspect that the same experience may await many others.” Years of worry that I was unspiritual or a bad Christian began to melt away. Lewis continued: READ MORE