To view 'The Thought' click on video above | |
Editor's Note: I thought it would be fun to delve deep this week into this passage where we see Jesus open the eyes of a man who has been blind since birth. Although the world conceived the man as a sinner, Jesus understands him as a means for divine glorification; though the Jews are widely considered able people in the socioreligious terms, Jesus considers THEM as sinful. Jump into this theological treatise (dry to some, thrilling to me) about a man who didn’t know much other than “I was blind, but now I see!” - JCO. | |
The Irony of Ability and Disability in John 9:1–41 | |
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This research is part of the research project, ‘Hermeneutics and Exegesis’, directed by Prof. Dr Ernest van Eck, Department of New Testament and Related Literature, Faculty of Theology and Religion,University of Pretoria.
Introduction
The story of the man born blind in John 9:1–41 can be considered a paradigmatic narrative which demonstrates the experiences of the disabled and marginal sections of the 1st-century CE context (Clark-Soles 2018:337). The man born blind shares his unique experiences of disability and shows how the stigma of disability was attached to him even after the healing. Swinton (2018) comments:
Without the hermeneutical voice of people living with disabilities, the revelation that God desires to impart to us remains lacking. Disabled human bodies can carry powerful messages of redemption just-as-they-are. To see such things, we need to read Scripture in a quite particular way. (p vii)
The story of the man born blind persuades us to read John 9 from a disability perspective. How can human beings be transformed in their faith journeys irrespective of human-made boundaries and oppositions? How can a person born with disability take steps for transformed living? How can a believer overcome juridical trials through the means of bold proclamations and Christ-centred living? Answers to these questions are some of the significant undercurrents of the present article. The story of the man born blind can be considered one of the best dramatic stories within John’s narrative framework (Soleväg 2018:64–72). READ MORE
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From the Right for Life Ministry | |
Lenten Non-Perishable Food Drive to Support Baltimore City Homicide Victims' Families | |
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Looking for something charitable to do this Lent? Join your fellow parishioners in supporting Baltimore City homicide victims' families! Before or after Masses on Saturday, March 16th, and Sunday, March 17th, please drop off non-perishable, non-expired, non-opened food items in designated boxes outside the main church and the St. Peter Claver Chapel. You're encouraged, but not required, to bag your donations.
Items collected will support the Archdiocese of Baltimore's Grief Ministry, which serves the families of Baltimore City homicide victims. Some families are living in hotels, because their homes have become crime scenes. Others have been moved to witness protection. Many live in both poverty and food deserts. Children make up about one third of the people whom the ministry has helped. And, about half of the ministry's care packages go to mothers whose children have been murdered.
Also, financial donations from the weekend of March 16th and 17th that have the designation of "grief ministry" in the memo line will supplement our parish's contributions towards this valuable work for our neighbors in Baltimore.
If you have questions about how our parish is supporting this ministry, please contact Kate Flores at kcflores.bmore@gmail.com.
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Poor Box Focus for the Month of March | |
You know about the humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza. Before October 7, about 80% of Gaza's population of over two million people relied on humanitarian aid. Now, nearly every resident urgently needs aid. Our Poor Box collection for the month of March will go to Anera (American Near East Refugee Aid) which is an American 501(c)(3) non-governmental and non-religious organization that provides humanitarian and development aid to the Middle East, specifically the West Bank, the Gaza Strip, Lebanon and Jordan. It is one of the only groups that is successful in delivering food, water, medicine and hygiene kits right now to those in Gaza displaced by the war. The Poor Box is located in the narthex of the church at the bottom of the choir loft stairs and in St. Peter Claver Chapel. – Thank you for your kind generosity. | |
From the Environmental Justice Committee | |
The Environmental Justice Committee offers for your reflection this passage from Pope Francis’s exhortation, Laudato Si (2015):
Reflection 19: Reasons for Hope
In some countries, there are positive examples of environmental improvement: rivers, polluted for decades, have been cleaned up; native woodlands have been restored; landscapes have been beautified thanks to environmental renewal projects; beautiful buildings have been erected; advances have been made in the production of non-polluting energy and in the improvement of public transportation. These achievements do not solve global problems, but they do show that men and women are still capable of intervening positively. For all our limitations, gestures of generosity, solidarity and care cannot but well up within us, since we were made for love.
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Beautify for the Lenten/Easter Season | |
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Easter Flower Contributions
Parishioner assistance in the form of donations are needed for our annual Easter Flowers collection. This drive gives St. Ignatius the ability to decorate the sanctuary properly for such a great occasion. Flower orders are placed at the end of March. Donations are accepted until March 17. Those who give through Faith Direct can scroll down to a separate collection for Easter Flowers. Make sure you write in the “notes section” who the flowers are donated in honor of (living) or in memory of (deceased). Those who contribute by envelopes will find the flower collection envelope in the Narthex. Donors will have their names and loved ones in the bulletin and Ezine. Thank you in advance for your financial and prayerful assistance.
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Black History Month Event - Save the Date | |
You are invited to join the Archdiocese of Baltimore as it brings “Tolton: From Slave to Priest” performance to Baltimore. The inspiring story of America's First Black priest and one of the “Saintly Six” Father Augustus Tolton story comes to life in this powerful multi-media live production, filled with music, drama and inspiring performances. It brings a message of hope and healing for the wounds that plague our culture. It is being held on Tuesday, March 19 at 7:00 p.m. at New All Saints Church. Tickets will be $25 with a free will offering. More ticket information to follow. For more on the performance, please visit http://www.toltondrama.com/ | |
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Umbrellas - Hats - Gloves
With the spate of winter and rainy weather we have had of late we have also collected a trove of umbrellas, hats and gloves! If yours is missing, you might check the shelf in the Narthex...it just might be there!
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If you are interested learning more about the boarder - then consider joining members of Holy Trinity in D.C. on an immersion trip to the Kino Border Initiative in Nogales, Arizona April 5-9. For more information contact Chris McCullough for travel details and costs.
What is the Kino Boarder Initiative?
The Kino Border Initiative (KBI) is a binational organization that works in the area of migration and is located in Nogales, Arizona and Nogales, Sonora, Mexico. It is named after Fr. Eusebio Kino, an early Jesuit missionary in the Sonoran Desert. The KBI’s vision is to help make humane, just, workable migration between the U.S. and Mexico a reality. Its mission is to promote US/Mexico border and immigration policies that affirm the dignity of the human person and a spirit of bi-national solidarity.
What is this trip about?
The goals of this trip are to humanize, accompany, and complicate. We often talk in the abstract about immigration and the border, but the word humanize means to listen to firsthand stories and experiences and recognize the dignity of each individual, whether they be migrants or border residents. Accompany means that we will be on a journey over the course of the days on immersion. You will have the opportunity to bear witness at the moment of deportation through conversations with deported migrants as well as along many different points in the journey, such as the desert and the federal courthouse. The focus of the immersion is not service, but rather presence. Complicate means that the simple answers are oftentimes the wrong ones. Instead, we invite participants to explore questions and nuance and the many different puzzle pieces of migration and the border without having to come to a definitive conclusion.
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Wednesday, March 6
@ 7:00pm - 8:30 pm
Environmental Justice Committee Meeting
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Friday, March 8
@ 6:00 pm - 7:30 pm
Stations of the Cross
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Sunday, March 10
@11:15 am - 12:30 pm
Embracing God's Gifts
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Sunday March10
@12:00 pm - 2:00 pm
“Saintly Six” Virtual Pilgrimage
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St. Ignatius Catholic Community, The Antiracism Task Force, the Pastorate of St. Ann, St. Francis Xavier and St.Wenceslaus and the Racial Justice Circle - invite you to celebrate the lives of the “Saintly Six” on a virtual Pilgrimage of prayer and praise.
Join us as we pray and sing a Pilgrimage with our 6 Black candidates for sainthood. Take time to feel their lives and their presence as Servants of God.
This will be 2 hours of prayers, song, slides, testimonies and reflections. We come together through the intercession of the Holy Spirit. We gather in affirmation, solidarity, reverence and recognition of their saintly paths on their Call to love praise and serve God.
Please join us
Sunday March 10, 2024
12-2p
Via Zoom
Registration can be submitted below.
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Tuesday, March 12
@7:00 pm - 8:30 pm
St. Ignatius Reading & Discussion Group
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Wednesday, March 13
@7:00 pm - 8:30 pm
Lenten Reconciliation Prayer Service with Confessions
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Thursday, March 14
@6:00 pm - 7:30 pm
Justice & Peace Meeting
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Friday, March 15
@ 6:00 pm - 7:30 pm
Stations of the Cross
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Sunday, March 17
@12:00 pm - 1:00 pm
Embracing God's Gifts Scripture Study
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Sunday, March 17
@7:15 pm - 8:30 pm
Never on Sunday: Young Adults
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Friday, March 22 -24
A Lenten Retreat in the Ignatian Tradition
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Friday, March 22
@ 6:00 pm - 7:30 pm
Stations of the Cross
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Offerings & Prayers & Snapshots | |
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NUMBERS SNAPSHOT
Last weekends
attendance and collection
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CONTRIBUTE
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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 designed and compiled by John C. Odean
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