Parish: 'the thought' - September 18, 2018

September 18, 2018

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Anyone who hears these words of mine and obeys them is like a wise man who built his house on rock. The rain poured down, the rivers flooded over, and the wind blew hard against that house. But it did not fall, because it was built on rock. [Mt. 7:24-25]

Carissimi,

Given what is happening with our climate, our government, and the Universal Church, the above verses came to mind. This weekend we are celebrating the many ministries of this local Catholic Community founded on rock.

So many of us have heard and are putting into practice the Gospel of Jesus. If we keep at this, our local community will stand, and others will be drawn to join us in adoration and service.

Of course, it takes money to run a parish and fund its ministries, but even more, it takes the whole network of disciples who volunteer to build relationships of service among us and beyond us.

I am so grateful to and for every one of you for giving yourselves . It is a privilege to be your pastor.

If you are not familiar with all that is happening, I urge you to take the time to explore our website [ www.st-ignatius.net ].

The grace that inspires our people, the quiet good that is being done, will outlast the howling wind, bring to light what is in darkness, and clear the air.

Our little house is going to stand.

A Continuation of the Series...

Reclaiming Jesus Part 6:

"Beyond Borders"

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 concluding one:

VI. WE BELIEVE Jesus when he tells us to go into all nations making disciples. Our churches and our nations are part of an international community whose interests always surpass national boundaries. The most well-known verse in the New Testament starts with “For God so loved the world”. We, in turn, should love and serve the world and all its inhabitants, rather than seek first narrow, nationalistic prerogatives.

THEREFORE, WE REJECT “America first” as a theological heresy for followers of Christ. While we share a patriotic love for our country, we reject xenophobic or ethnic nationalism that places one nation over others as a political goal. We reject domination rather than stewardship of the earth’s resources, toward genuine global development that brings human flourishing for all of God’s children. Serving our own communities is essential, but the global connections between us are undeniable. Global poverty, environmental damage, violent conflict, weapons of mass destruction, and deadly diseases in some places ultimately affect all places, and we need wise political leadership to deal with each of these.

WE ARE DEEPLY CONCERNED for the soul of our nation…We commend this letter to pastors, local churches, and young people who are watching and waiting to see what the churches will say and do at such a time as this. Our urgent need, in a time of moral and political crisis, is to recover the power of confessing our faith…We believe it is time to speak and to act in faith and conscience, not because of politics, but because we are disciples of Jesus Christ—to whom be all authority, honor, and glory. It is time for a fresh confession of faith…He is the light in our darkness.

Pertinent media at this time...

America Magazine - The Jesuit Review - Fr. James Martin- Why I Stay Catholic(1)

Video: James Martin, S.J. - "Why I Stay Catholic"

Becky Ianni, Washington and Virginia director of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, holds a photo of herself as a child with a priest Aug. 21 outside the headquarters of U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops in Washington. Ianni says she was abused by the priest in the photo. (CNS/Bob Roller)

In the Face of This Scandal's Abuse of Power, Listen to the Powerless

In the Catholic world, it is difficult to talk about anything other than the church's self-inflicted crisis. That is not to say I have anything to add that hasn't been stated more intelligently or eloquently by others. What has been said bears repeating, though, again and again until the church has learned the lessons it evidently has yet to grasp.

The crimes outlined in the Pennsylvania grand jury report are horrifying in a scope and kind that institutional apologies do not sufficiently confront. Announcements by more attorneys general of investigations into their states' dioceses should be welcome news to all. The church clearly needs outside help if it has any hope of reforming, and given the fat checks to lobbyists that defend the accused and thwart efforts to deliver justice to victims, one could be forgiven for doubting the hierarchy's stomach for change. READ MORE

Jesuit Father Hans Zollner, president of the Center for Child Protection at the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome, speaks at a news conference officially launching the center in February 2015. Also pictured is Cardinal Sean P. O'Malley of Boston, head of the Pontifical Commission for Child Protection. (CNS photo/Paul Haring)

Father Hans Zollner: Post Abuse Crisis, How Can We Get Back to Our Christian Roots?

Hans Zollner, S.J., is a licensed German psychologist and psychotherapist with a doctorate in theology and one of the church’s leading experts in the area of safeguarding minors. He is the president of the Centre for Child Protection at the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome, a member on the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors and a consultor to the Congregation for the Clergy.

America spoke with Father Zollner in July and followed up recently as the sexual abuse crisis in the United States continues to roil the church. This is the first of three interviews James McDermott, S.J., is conducting about the abuse crisis.

What is your reaction to what we’ve seen in the United States and elsewhere over the last month?

The strongest impression I have is that it has now reached another level. The discussion and the awareness and the intensity, especially in the United States, is very surprising because you have gone through this for many years already. And it brings out the American [social and political] divisions that are visible in the country and in the church. READ MORE

Francis Summons World's Bishop's Conferences' Presidents to Rome for Meeting on Clergy Abuse

VATICAN CITY — Pope Francis has called all of the presidents of the world's v arious conferences of Catholic bishops to Rome for a February meeting on clergy sexual abuse, in the first such global summons by a pontiff.

Paloma García Ovejero, the vice director of the Vatican press office, announced the decision in a Sept. 12 briefing, saying the pontiff decided to make the move during a meeting of his advisory Council of Cardinals and has already set the dates for the encounter as Feb. 21-24. READ MORE

Pope Francis Appoints Archbishop William Lori Apostolic Administrator of the Diocese of Wheeling-Charleston

BALTIMORE, MD, September 13—Following his acceptance of the letter of resignation of Bishop Michael Bransfield, the Holy Father, Pope Francis, appointed Archbishop William E. Lori Apostolic Administrator of the Diocese of Wheeling-Charleston, while remaining Archbishop of Baltimore. The Holy Father further instructed Archbishop Lori to conduct an investigation into allegations of sexual harassment of adults against Bishop Bransfield. READ MORE

Pressing Pope to Accept His Resignation, Cardinal Wuerl Does the Right Thing

Cardinal Donald Wuerl of Washington, D.C., has done the right thing. He has asked Pope Francis to accept his resignation, which he submitted three years ago when he reached 75, the age at which all Catholic bishops submit their resignations.

The cardinal has been under heavy pressure to resign ever since the Pennsylvania grand jury report was released in August, in which Wuerl was criticized for his handling of abusive priests while he was bishop of Pittsburgh (1988-2006). He is the first U.S. cardinal to resign his archdiocese as a result of the abuse crisis since Cardinal Bernard Law did so in 2002 for his failure to deal with abusive priests in Boston. READ MORE

A Note of Thanks...

September 11, 2018

Dear St. Ignatius Catholic Church,

Saints James and John Catholic School truly appreciates your generous donation of children's backpacks and school supplies. With your help, Saints James and John Catholic School was able to provide each student with a new backpack and school supplies for the 2018-2019 school year. This could not have come at a greater time! READ MORE

Main Events over the Next Month

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 LGBT parishioners, as well as families with LGBT members. But that challenge is also where grace abounds because LGBT 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

Saturday, October 6 and Sunday, October 7

YOU’RE INVITED!

‘SOUL FOOD’ RECEPTION

Faith, Food and Fellowship

Want to get to know your St. Ignatius Justice & Peace Committee? What better way than by sharing an evening of Faith, Food and Fellowship – prayer followed with food and fellowship about justice |and peace issues.

RSVP a must…you need to choose your date before September 30

Click here to reserve your spot

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 a 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 be shown in church.

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.