Hello,
My name is Len Heckwolf and I am the new Chair of the Green Team. Our group is focused on opportunities to educate the parishioners of St. Ignatius on environmental issues and act to improve the ways in which we all affect Nature and the environment.
Lent provides us with a wonderful opening to reflect and act upon elements of our lives in which we would like to be more engaged. Consideration of God’s gift to us of Nature and the environment is such an opportunity. The Lenten Creation Care Calendar (
click here
) provides a valued tool to ponder Nature’s gifts to us and to provoke us to realize the severe risks our collective treatment of the environment is having and actions we can take to improve human society’s relationship with Nature.
As Pope Francis articulates in the opening paragraph of his Encyclical on Nature,
Laudato Si
:
“Praise be to you, my Lord, through our Sister, Mother Earth, who sustains and governs us, and who produces various fruit with cultured flowers and herbs”. This sister now cries out to us because of the harm we have inflicted on her by our irresponsible use and abuse of the goods with which God has endowed her. We have come to see ourselves as her lords and masters, entitled to plunder her at will. The violence present in our hearts, wounded by sin, is also reflected in the symptoms of sickness evident in the soil, in the water, in the air and in all forms of life."
Take time this week to read the Calendar and plan to reflect and act in those ways we can improve our precious Earth and ourselves as we are all under God’s kingdom.
I
n Christ's Magnificent care and love,
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Ash Wednesday and Valentine's Day
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Looking for God’s Love: When Ash Wednesday Falls on Valentine’s Day
by Rita Buettner
Every year my sons and I spend time picking their valentines for school.
Whether we make their cards or buy them off the shelf, we always consider the options carefully. One of many lessons I have learned as a mother is that not just any valentine will do. You can’t choose Pokemon valentines over Star Wars without serious consideration.
When our boys bring home the valentines from their classmates, it’s clear why picking just the right ones to give matters so much. An elementary school student uses his valentines to make a statement about himself, sharing what he enjoys with others.
This year, though, Valentine’s Day will be a little different. This year, Ash Wednesday falls on the same day. Although we can exchange sweet notes any time, the usual sugar-coated fun doesn’t fit into a day of fasting, abstinence, and penance.
READ MORE
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Lenten Events and Mass Schedule
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Below are various Lenten Events and Masses happening in and around St. Ignatius Parish
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- Wednesday, February 14 – Ash Wednesday Mass Schedule
- Wednesday, February 21 – Lenten Evening of Reflection
- Wednesday, February 28 – Lenten Prayer Walk with Bishop Madden
- Wednesday, March 7 – Lenten Evening of Reflection
- Wednesday, March 14 – Lenten Evening of Reflection
- Monday, March 19 – Lenten Penance/Reconciliation Service
- Saturday, March 24 – Palm Sunday
- Sunday, March 25 – Palm Sunday
- Wednesday, March 28 – Tenebrae Service
- Thursday, March 29 – Holy Thursday
- Friday, March 30 – Good Friday
- Saturday, March 31 – Holy Saturday
- Sunday, April 1 - Easter
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From the Justice & Peace Committee
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Two Important Justice & Peace Events You Can Participate in
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The St. Ignatius Justice and Peace Committee is hosting two important events over the next couple of weeks that we wanted to bring to your attention. The first is a training session on Saturday, February 24th for those wishing to make social visits or become Pen Pals with
people being detained by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). Come this Saturday to see what you can do to comfort those who find themselves in uncertain desperation.
Secondly, our Justice & Peace Committee is hosting Bishop Madden's monthly
Prayer Walk for Peace in the City
. This month's walk will center here at St. Ignatius Catholic Community and the surrounding geographic area on Wednesday, February 28th. Information for both events is listed below.
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DC Detention Visitation Network Training
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Saturday February 24th
10:30AM -12:30 PM
On any given night, about 1,000 (or more) people are held in immigration detention in at least five detention facilities in Maryland and Virginia, incarcerated in actual or virtual jails solely because they have been accused of or determined to be in the US without authorization.
The DC Detention Visitation Network seeks to lessen their isolation and vulnerability by providing friendship and support through in-person visits and letters.
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Join us at a volunteer training session to learn more about the immigration detention system and some things you can do to help people who are negatively affected by it.
Please RSVP to:
or 443-620-3380.
Location:
Ignatian Hall
St Ignatius Catholic Church
740 N Calvert Street
Baltimore, MD 21202
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The St. Ignatius Justice & Peace Committee is hosting this month's
Prayer Walk for Peace in the City with Bishop Madden
. This Lenten walk, on Wednesday, February 28, beginning at 5:30 PM, will begin here at St. Ignatius (740 N. Calvert Street).
The evening will begin with the meal downstairs in the parish hall, which is accessed through the doors to the lower church. Signs will clearly point the way. (If you are able to bring a Lenten soup, salad or bread, please contact Diane White at
dwhite718@comcast.net
OR Rose Ann D'Alesandro at
rdalesandro@jesuits.org
. Your contribution to the Lenten "lite supper" will be greatly appreciated.)
During the walk, we will pray at specific locations that have been affected by physical violence and the violence of social injustice, and for all those individuals who have been so terribly affected by violence, and for a change of heart in those given to violence.
We hope you will join us as we continue to step out in faith to reclaim our city for Christ.
Parking: There is some metered street parking nearby. You can also use the Sun Paper Garage, which is only about a block away on Calvert and Monument. This facility requires payment
Parish phone: (410) 727-3848
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Upcoming Events and Meetings
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Ash Wednesday Masses
Wednesday, February 14
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Green Team Meeting
Thursday, February 15, 7PM
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Women of the New Testament
Tuesday, February 20, 6:45 PM
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Lenten Evenings of Reflection
Wednesdays (February 21, March 7 and 14) - 6 PM
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St. Ignatius Concert Artists at Mercy Hall
Wednesday February 21, 7:30 PM
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Young Family Ministry: "Coffee & Conversation at R House"
Saturday, February 24, 10 AM
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D.C. Detention Visitation Network Training
Saturday, February 24, 10:30 AM
See box above for complete information.
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Respect for Life Meeting
Sunday, February 25, 9:45 AM
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Embracing God's Gifts
Tuesday, February 27, 7 PM
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Lenten Prayer Walk with Bishop Madden
Wednesday, February 28, 5:30 PM
See box above for complete information.
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Carissimi,
As you know, we have held a parish picnic at Blue Ridge Summit for several years. Blue Ridge is closing and the dedicated parishioners who did the work are now serving the community in other ways.
We could move the picnic to a venue in or near Baltimore on a Sunday after the 10:30 Mass.
- Do you think we should?
- Would you come if we did?
- Would you be able to help to plan and organize the event?
If there is no longer interest in a picnic, we’ll cook up other events and programs.
If we can gather some willing workers, we will soon need to reserve a venue and make other plans.
Much affection,
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It's Time to Register for the 5K
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Run (or Walk) in the Park for Others
Register now for
Runners for Others: An Ignatian 5K. The 3.1-mile race and 1-mile family walk kick off at 9 a.m. Saturday, April 7, in Patterson Park.
Click here
to register through Charm City Run, or paste
www.MDSJ.org/Ignatian5K
i
nto your browser.
As an extra incentive, all who come to the registration table after the March 11 Sunday Masses will get a free Ignatian 5K T-shirt (while they last) if they show registration confirmation or register on the spot.
The family-friendly race allows strollers and leashed dogs; children 10 and younger register for free. All parishioners are welcome to come join the fun and support the runners. To volunteer with the race, send your name and contact information to
anne.haddad1@gmail.com
.
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Worship with Offerings, Liturgy and Prayers for Others
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POOR BOX
Each weekend St. Ignatius specifies a Poor Box collection for a needful cause. This week's
support goes to the
DC Detention Visitation Network.
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MASS MUSIC
Attached is the listing for the music selections at next Sunday's 10:30 Mass.
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PERSECUTED CHRISTIAN REPORT
Weekly updates on Christian persecution around the globe. Keep a prayerful watch on what is
happening with your
brothers and sisters!
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Wojtek Wolski, pictured in an undated photo, will play for Team Canada in the Olympics. He credits his faith and his parents for helping him persevere after a neck injury in 2016. (Credit: CBNS photo/courtesy Martin Cloutier.)
Fire on Ice: Wojtek Wolski’s faith helps keep his Olympic dream alive
TORONTO, Canada - Wojtek Wolski has gone from being a can’t-miss prospect from St. Michael’s College to a disillusioned young man who wanted to quit hockey, to a hospital patient facing a long comeback after a shattering injury, and now to a man who has a shot at Olympic glory.
Every stage has been a physical and emotional trial for the 31-year-old left wing from Etobicoke, Ontario, and he credits his hard-working parents, Zofia and Wes, as well as his Catholic faith for his perseverance.
“The only time you really fail at something is when you quit,” said Wolski, who joins Team Canada in its gold-medal quest starting Feb. 15 against Switzerland in PyeongChang, South Korea.
READ MORE
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Colosseum to be Lit Red for Persecuted Christians
ROME - The Roman Colosseum will be illuminated by red lights later this month to draw attention to the persecution of Christians around the world, and especially in Syria and Iraq.
On Saturday, Feb. 24, at 6 p.m. the Colosseum will be spotlighted in red, to represent the blood of Christians who have been wounded or lost their lives due to religious persecution.
Simultaneously, in Syria and Iraq, prominent churches will be illuminated with red lights. In Aleppo, the St. Elijah Maronite Cathedral will be lit, and in Mosul, the Church of St. Paul, where this past Dec. 24, the first Mass was celebrated after the city’s liberation from ISIS.
The event, sponsored by Aid to the Church in Need (ACN), follows a similar initiative last year, which lit-up London’s Parliament building in red, as well as the Basilica of the Sacred Heart in Paris and the cathedral in Manila, Philippines. In 2016, the famous Trevi Fountain in Rome was lit.
READ MORE
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READER NOTIFICATION:
"Parish: the thought" is a publication of St. Ignatius Catholic Community, Baltimore. Each edition contains articles and news feeds that are included for awareness of current topics in our world today. The positions expressed by outside authors and news feeds are theirs' alone, and do not necessarily reflect the views, opinions or positions of St. Ignatius Catholic Community or its staff.
- This e-zine was compiled by John C. Odean
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