March 20, 2018 Edition
Carissimi,

These thoughts by Shaine Claiborne, taken from The Irresistible Revolution: Living as an Ordinary Radical , invite us to consider whether, as Catholics, we are “numb, complacent, and comfortable.”

"When the Church becomes a place of brokerage rather than an organic community, she ceases to be alive. She ceases to be something we are, the living bride of Christ. The Church becomes a distribution center, a place where the poor come to get stuff and the rich come to dump stuff. Both go aw ay satisfied (the rich feel good, the poor get clothed and fed), but no one leaves transformed…

"The gospel is political—pledging allegiance to another kingdom, to another way of living together…martyrs were convicted of treason. Christians were considered atheists— faithless toward Caesar...

"Some Christians take so few risks, it’s no wonder folks have a hard time believing in heaven. Most of us live in such fear of death that it’s as if no one really believes in the Resurrection anymore. 

"Sometimes people ask me if I’m scared, living in the inner city. I usually reply, “I’m more scared of the suburbs.” The scriptures say that we should not fear those things that can destroy the body, but we are to fear that which can destroy the soul [MT 10:28].

"While the ghettos may have their share of violence and crime, the suburbs are the home of the more subtle demonic forces—numbness, complacency, comfort—and it’s these that can eat away at our souls."
A Palm Sunday Primer
A Video by Bishop Robert Barron on Palm Sunday
THE LAST WEEK –
SUNDAY: "A TALE OF TWO PARADES"

by  BOB KAYLOR
Mark 11:1-11

Traditionally, Lent is a time of preparation and penitence in preparation for Easter and we began the season on Wednesday night when we gathered for Ash Wednesday. That’s the personal and spiritual dimension of Lent. But there’s also a public and political dimension to the Lenten journey. It’s been said that one should never mix religion and politics, but the Gospels don’t have such restrictions. For Mark and for the other Gospel writers, the week between Palm Sunday and Easter is the climax of the conflict between two kingdoms or, to update the language, two worldviews: the worldview of human political and social systems and the worldview of the Jesus, whom the Gospel writers see as the one true and divine ruler of the world. That conflict is evident through the whole story of Jesus, but it comes to a head here in Jerusalem during the Passover.

So, I'd like to take us on a brief journey through that last week so that we can look at this conflict through first century eyes and, then, see how that conflict continues some 2,000 years later. The call to follow Christ is, after all, a call to see the world differently than humans traditionally have—to understand that Jesus was and is leading a revolution against the powers of this world, but doing so through a movement of justice, grace and peace over and against the human values of power, violence, and oppression. When we see more clearly what Jesus was doing in Jerusalem, we see more clearly our own call as his disciples. READ MORE
From now until Easter....
Below is the Mass and Event Schedule for Holy Week
Palm Sunday, March 24 & 25

  • Masses: 4:30 PM (Saturday), 8:00, 9:00, 10:30 AM, 6:00 PM
  • Reception in Ignatian Hall after 9:00 and 10:30 Masses

Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday

  • Daily Masses at 7:25 AM
  • Tenebrae Service at St. Vincent De Paul Church: 7:30 PM

Holy Thursday, March 29

  • Mass of the Lord’s Supper at 7:30 PM, followed by adoration in chapel until 10 PM

Good Friday, March 30    
   
  • Stations of the Cross: Noon
  • Sacrament of Reconciliation: Noon – 3 PM
  • Passion of the Lord: 7:30 PM

Holy Saturday, March 31

  • Solemn Easter Vigil Service at 7:30 PM, followed by fellowship in Ignatian Hall

Easter Sunday, April 1

  • Masses: 8:00, 9:00, 10:30 AM, 6:00 PM (9:00 Radio Mass will be a full hour long)
  • Reception in Ignatian Hall after 9:00 and 10:30 Masses
  • There will be an Easter Egg Hunt in Gonzaga Hall for the young children after the 10:30 Mass.

Viva House Collection Note of Thanks
From Viva House

Brendan and I want to thank all our fellow St. Ignatius parishioners, whose tremendous support through collecting [and helping us haul!] groceries and the poor box enables us to help our neighbors.

We look forward to the hope of spring and Easter. 

Willa Bickham
Upcoming Events and Meetings
Canceled due to weather
Women of the New Testament
Tuesday, March 20, 6:45 PM
Click here for complete information.


Respect for Life
Sunday, March 25, 9:45 AM
Click here for complete information.


Charm City Baroque
Sunday, March 25, 3 PM
Click here for complete information.


Embracing God's Gifts
Tuesday, March 27, 6:30 PM
Click here for complete information.



Ignatian Morning of Reflection
Saturday, April 7, 9 AM
Click here for complete information.


Ignatian 5K Run (or Walk)
Saturday, April 7, 9 AM
Click here for complete information.


Iñigo Book Group
Tuesday, April 10, 6:30 PM
Click here for complete information.



Ecumenical and Interfaith Prayer Service
Thursday, April 12, 7PM
Click here for complete information.



Dr. Greer Gordon and "Racism in the Catholic Church"
Saturday, April 14, 8:30 AM
See box below for complete information.


Film Showing: "Roadtrip Nation - Beyond the Dream"
Sunday, April 15, Following the 6PM Mass
Click here for complete information.


Register now for "Racism in the Catholic Church"
Have you registered for "Racism in the Church: A Catholic Conversation" yet?
Pope Francis said, “Racism today is the ultimate evil in our world.”


Dr. Greer G. Gordon’s back by popular demand following the Call to Action Conference this past October. Dr. Gordon will continue our exploration of Racism in the Catholic Church, specifically here in Baltimore. This event will be held at St. Ignatius Catholic Church on Saturday, April 14 .

We invite you to join us for a prayerful, closed-door (confidential), conversation on the ways in which the Roman Catholic Community can be active in addressing racism and discrimination. We welcome every interested person to this conversation, and hope that each parish, and academic institution of the Archdiocese of Baltimore will send at least two representatives to participate. Rooted in the Social Teachings of the Church, the day will offer insights into: the nature of discrimination and racism; the Church’s understanding of racism as a sin; tools for identifying and addressing racism; and the development of a practical action plan.

Included in the day will be a presentation by Baltimore’s Racial Justice Circle.
Click here  for complete information, and to register for event.

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 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 Area
presented by
Catholic Men's Fellowship of Baltimore
SATURDAY, MARCH 24 AT 6:00 PM
Loyola Blakefield, Dining Hall

Saturday, March 24, 2018, members of the Catholic Men’s Fellowship from St. Francis Xavier and St. Jo seph Parishes will be hosting the Ninth Annual Nothing Wasted Charity Dinner in honor of Fr. Frank McGauley, S.J. at Loyola Blakefield High School. Wine and hor d’oeuvres will be served in K nott Hall at 6:00 pm followed by Dinner at 6:30 pm. Fr. Dominic Totaro, S.J. , a missionary to Nigeria for eighteen years, will be the speaker. You are invited and there is no charge for the dinner.  Click here for complete information and to register.
Loyola University Maryland cordially invites you to “Dead Man Walking: The Journey Continues” 

 
Monday, March 26, 2018 - 7 PM
Loyola University - McGuire Hall 
 
Sister Helen Prejean is a member of the Congregation of St. Joseph. She spent her first years with the Sisters teaching religion to junior high school students. Realizing that being on the side of poor people is an essential part of the Gospel, she moved into the St. Thomas Housing Project in New Orleans and began working at Hope House from 1981 – 1984.

During this time, she was asked to correspond with a death row inmate Patrick Sonnier at Angola. She agreed and became his spiritual adviser. After witnessing his execution, she wrote a book about the experience. The result was Dead Man Walking: An Eyewitness Account of the Death Penalty in the United States . It became a movie, an opera and a play for high schools and colleges.

Since 1984, Sister Helen has divided her time between educating citizens about the death penalty and counseling individual death row prisoners. She has accompanied six men to their deaths. In doing so, she began to suspect that some of those executed were not guilty. This realization inspired her second book, The Death of Innocents: An Eyewitness Account of Wrongful Executions, which was released by Random House in December of 2004.

For additional information about the event, and to order tickets, please visit the  event website .

In the Media
by  Miles Townes | February 21, 2018

What will preachers do this Easter—April 1, 2018? Will they make a joke in passing, before digging into the serious stuff? Or will they embrace the opportunity to do something more?

It’s a rare opportunity. The last time Easter fell on April Fools’ Day was in 1956. Due to the quirks involved in dating Easter against the Gregorian calendar, the two coincide only intermittently. After 2018, the next one is 2029, and then again in 2040—but after that, not again in this century. April Fools’ Day is not significant in Christianity, but it is the perfect excuse to talk about jokes in the Bible.

For a long time I believed otherwise, that the Bible was all heavy stuff. I based my ideal of Christian discipleship on a very serious Jesus, and I tried to be a very serious Christian. But in college, I happened to read Kurt Vonnegut’s essay “Palm Sunday.” Von­negut was not a Christian, yet he was invited to preach at an Episcopal church on Palm Sunday, 1980 (alas, March 30). Vonne­gut takes on Mat­thew 26, in which Jesus says, “For you always have the poor with you”—a text that is notoriously problematic for all sorts of Christians. READ MORE
A Simple Prayer Method From A Simple Pontiff

by Omar Guitierrez

It is becoming increasingly clear that our Pope Francis is a pope who, as  Stephen White put it , smells like his sheep. He is a man of his people, and a father who communicates to his people in a fashion that they seem to like.

More evidence of this is a means to prayer that the Holy Father authored when he was still the Archbishop in Argentina. It is a lovely way to pray, and it showcases Pope Francis’ sense of simplicity, his priority for family, his love for the poor and also his recognition that prayer is powerful.

Readers may already know the prayer. It has been around for a while, but several sources are saying that it was written by Cardinal Bergoglio. I should note as well that it was attributed to him well before he became Pope Francis.

So here it is: Pope Francis’ five finger prayer guide.  READ MORE