May 14, 2019
Carissimi:
This Sunday at the 10:30 Mass, fifteen of our young parishioners, Payton Angela Cavanaugh, Grace Gianna Costello, Mairead Cecilia DeBrabander, Alejandra Rose Doyle-Hines, Edith Joan Engelke, Harriet Elizabeth Engelke, Jackson Patrick Graney, Eva Bridget Greene, Maria Anastasia Lawson, Ella Ferdinand Marsalis, Angel Adelina Quinn, Carter Maximilian Richardson, Theodore Jerome Stephens-Kalmar, Leah Hildegard Vey, and Matthew Francis Wetzler will receive the Sacrament of Confirmation at the hands of our dear friend Bishop Madden.

This Confirmation class has been together for two years, discussing, discerning, discovering their faith and serving the poor and homeless.

They have learned that the social teaching of the Church calls us all to put words into deeds and adoration into service.

They have experienced with all of us the determination needed to reform our Church and the compassion needed to heal one another’s wounds.

Their parents have stretched to juggle family commitments and student schedules. Their sponsors have mentored and supported them. Ashley Henery, our confirmation catechist, and Sherri Currie, the director of the PREP program, have given of themselves generously.

God bless them all in the years ahead.
An Update From Archbishop Lori...
Dear Friends in Christ,
The past year has been difficult for many in our Church. Over the past months, we found ourselves discussing, yet again, the Church’s failure to appropriately handle allegations of child sexual abuse and abuse of power by those in authority. Many of you have had these difficult conversations with friends and family members. Many experienced internal struggles over questions about the Church’s leadership and governance – and some were led to question even the faith itself.

During the many listening sessions and parish visits I conducted over the past year, I have tried to listen to the questions so many have been asking and to appreciate the anguish and anger many have felt. Many of you generously shared your feelings and frustrations and your struggles. By doing so, you helped me and my co-workers to better understand what our Church needs to do to heal and to become safer and once again worthy of your trust. It guided the actions I’ve taken since then, including implementing the first-of-its-kind third-party reporting system for allegations against bishops. READ MORE
Our next Survey...
Our 2nd Survey: "Environmental Opinions"

In March we shared with you that over the course of the year we will be conducting four surveys to get your opinions and perspectives on topics of importance to St. Ignatius. This is the second one and is our "Environmental Opinions Survey." We would like to know your views on the condition of our environment, the threats of climate change, and what we can collectively do to improve our planet. If you would be so kind as to take a minute to complete it, we would be extremely grateful!                
Reminder....

Mass Schedule Change

Just a reminder that beginning Saturday, May 18 the new Mass schedule will go into effect. Please note the new times below.

SUNDAY
9:00 AM 10:30 AM & 5:00 PM
SATURDAY VIGIL 4:30 PM
WEEKDAY MASS (MON-FRI) 7:25 AM
Our First Time Communicants
And What A Day It Was...

On Sunday, May 5th at the 10:30 Mass a group of our children experienced their First Holy Communion. They were Ivy Dziedzic, Kipling Dziedzic, Patrick Evermann, Jude Hopkins, Brian Mills, Nadia Mishra, Annie Molino, Daniel O’Doherty, Alice Oliver, Charles Oliver, August Sappington, Magda Steinbacher, and Mae Stevens.

Their parents and our wonderful catechists, Ted and Katherine Engelke, lovingly prepared them for this step in their journey of faith, this step in their pilgrimage of life.

As Fr. Casciotti said: "Children are a blessing for our parish. They bring out the best in us. Children engage us in handing on faith and protecting and nourishing life and all that is humane." We thought you'd like to view the photo gallery of their First Holy Communion.
Immigration Event Followup
News reports are telling us of the latest violence between Israel and Gaza. However, as many attention-grabbing headlines, sound bytes, tweets, tickers, and their accompanying brief articles are wont to do, they overlook the day-to-day realities of the affected individual humans—our fellow, beloved children of God.

On Sunday, May 5th, 2019, following the 10:30 Mass, we ( see photo ) had the opportunity to be reminded how our Christian faith compels us to remember those in need, and to learn more about the people of Gaza and their families. Jacqueline ("Jackie") Sofia, a co-founder of Sitti Soap, with Baltimore ties, shared with us how she found herself drawn to help empower Gaza refugee families living in Jordan through meaningful employment. READ MORE
The March of Time
Let the Two Teens Dumbfounded by a Rotary Phone Force You to Contemplate the March of Time

"How do I restart?"

Last year, Kevin Bumstead posted a video that features the simplest setup in the world: two teens have four minutes to make a phone call on a rotary telephone. But the simplest premises sometimes lead to the deepest, most existential questions.

Because this is much more than two teen boys fumbling with a piece of technology so foreign to their understanding of the world, it may as well be one of Indiana Jones’ three trials in  The Last Crusade . It is also a meditation on the relentless march of time and the way everything you know and love will one day be rendered strange and incomprehensible. Your favorite gadget. Your slickest device. None of it is any match for time.

Time — like these boys, who figure the phone out at the buzzer — is undefeated. It is coming for us all.
Upcoming Events
Tuesday, May 14 - 6:30 PM
St. Ignatius Reading and Discussion Group
Click here for complete information.

Saturday, May 18 - 1 PM
Embracing God's Gifts Writing Workshop
See box below for complete information



Tuesday, May 21 - 6:45 PM
Women of the New Testament
Click here for complete information.



Sunday, May 26 - 9:45 AM
Respect for Life
Click here for complete information.

Wednesday, May 29 - 5:30 PM
Bishop Madden's Prayer Walk for Peace in the City
Click here for complete information.
This Saturday
Worship with Offerings, Liturgy and Prayers for Others
POOR BOX 
This week's Poor Box support goes to support
Vulnerable Families in Crisis.

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.

In the Media
New Rules on Abuse Mark a Major Step Forward

By  Rick Rojas | May 3, 2019


The Vatican Curia moves slowly, as we say here in New England, "Like molasses in January running uphill in a blizzard." So it is quite remarkable that less than three months after the conclusion of the Vatican summit on clergy sex abuse in February, Pope Francis' new motu proprio, Vos estis lux mundi, establishes new laws for the universal church regarding both the scourge of abuse and the equally abhorrent covering up of such abuse.

" 'Vos estis lux mundi' is one of the 'concrete measures' Pope Francis mentioned as a result of the February conference," Boston Cardinal Sean O'Malley, chair of the papal commission on clergy sex abuse of minors, told NCR in an email. The first such concrete measure was the  March motu proprio  that made the reporting of abuse mandatory for all who work in the Vatican itself. Those standards are now extended to the universal church. READ MORE
      Still from "Tolkien" film trailer      
The Friendships and Hardships That Shaped Tolkien
A Q&A With 'Tolkien' Filmmaker Dome Karukoski

By Juliet Vedral 5-08-2019
In the church circles I’ve been in, pastors and lay people alike love to talk about the friendship between J.R.R. Tolkien, author of The Hobbit, Lord of the Rings, The Silmarillion, and fellow Oxford don C.S. Lewis. Their friendship and fellowship not only led to some of the greatest fantasy writing, it also led to Lewis’ faith. In some ways, Tolkien is talked about more as Lewis’ sidekick.

But Dome Karukoski’s Tolkien, out in theaters this Friday, focuses on another story of friendship, that of the Tea Club and Barrovian Society (TCBS) which Tolkien was a part of during his education at King Edward’s School in Birmingham. The film tells the story of Tolkien’s early life as an orphan living in poverty and at the mercy of his benefactors, and the love and friendship he finds in spite of it. Tolkien is gorgeously shot and filmed with warmth, humor, and friendship.

I had the opportunity to speak with Finnish filmmaker, Dome Karukoski, the movie’s director (and Tolkien super-fan). This interview has been lightly edited for clarity and length. READ MORE