Parish: 'the thought' - MARCH 12, 2024

To view 'The Thought' click on video above

Reflection on Lent

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What is Lent?

Lent is a 40 day season of prayer, fasting, and almsgiving that begins on Ash Wednesday and ends at sundown on Holy Thursday. It's a period of preparation to celebrate the Lord's Resurrection at Easter. During Lent, we seek the Lord in prayer by reading Sacred Scripture; we serve by giving alms; and we practice self-control through fasting. We are called not only to abstain from luxuries during Lent, but to a true inner conversion of heart as we seek to follow Christ's will more faithfully. We recall the waters of baptism in which we were also baptized into Christ's death, died to sin and evil, and began new life in Christ.

Many know of the tradition of abstaining from meat on Fridays during Lent, but we are also called to practice self-discipline and fast in other ways throughout the season. Contemplate the meaning and origins of the Lenten fasting tradition in this reflection. In addition, the giving of alms is one way to share God's gifts—not only through the distribution of money, but through the sharing of our time and talents. As St. John Chrysostom reminds us: "Not to enable the poor to share in our goods is to steal from them and deprive them of life. The goods we possess are not ours, but theirs." (Catechism of the Catholic Church, no. 2446).

In Lent, the baptized are called to renew their baptismal commitment as others prepare to be baptized through the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults, a period of learning and discernment for individuals who have declared their desire to become Catholics.

Got Soup?

We look forward to a very rich time over this Lenten season – particularly as we pray the “Stations of the Cross” followed by “Got Soup?” where we share fellowship with a simple dinner of soup, salad, and bread, and refreshments.

Last year, we usually hosted 40 participants. We need nine participants each Friday evening to make the night a success:

1 Host to coordinate our meatless dinner (soup, salad, bread, refreshments, no dessert). The parish will supply bowls, flatware, etc.
3 Assistants to work with host, to prepare food at home, set up and clean up, in Ignatian Hall (commitment - 5:30 pm. – 7:15 pm)
2 Leaders/Readers (prayerfully read prepared “Stations of the Cross” script)
2 Candle bearers
1 Cross bearer

Click the button below. We are grateful for your service.

Volunteer Sign Up Form

From the Environmental Justice Committee

Advocating bills before the Maryland General Assembly

by Theresa Furnari

The Environmental Justice Committee is pleased to be the voice of the parish in advocating bills before the Maryland General Assembly. Guided by the instructions by Pope Francis in his encyclicals, Laudato Si (2015) and his exhortation Laudate Deum (2023), for the last three years we have joined ranks with Maryland Catholics for Our Common Home to advocate bills that respond to the adverse consequences that humans have inflicted on our environment and that protect those most adversely. Committee members have assisted in the selection of bills, submitted written testimony, and lobbied in Annapolis for passage of the bills.

Here is where you can help. The link below is a summary of the bills and instructions as to how you can support them, which will only take a few minutes. The level of support can make or break the passage of bills and delegates and senators pay close attention to the positions of their constituents. The sooner you submit your response the better, as the discussion of the ultimate passage of a bill is going on now in committee rooms. Please consider submitting your vote of support before March 18, 2024.

Here is the link: bit.ly/MCCH-2024

The Environmental Justice Committee offers for your reflection this passage from Pope Francis's exhortation, Laudato Si (2015):

Reflection 17 - Population and Poverty

To blame population growth instead of extreme and selective consumerism on the part of some, is one way of refusing to face the issues. It is an attempt to legitimize the present model of distribution, where a minority believes that it has the right to consume in a way which can never be universalized, since the planet could not even contain the waste products of such consumption. Besides, we know that approximately a third of all food produced is discarded, and “whenever food is thrown out it is as if it were stolen from the table of the poor”.

Volunteer Opportunity

Here's an excellent opportunity to assist The Loyola School as the serve the children of Baltimore. The Loyola School Development Office is recruiting volunteers to provide support and assistance for the collection of data, while compiling a list of prospects via an excel spreadsheet to aid in the launch of a new outreach campaign commencing in March 2024. Volunteers will participate in a variety of tasks to research, input, and do a thorough review for the accuracy and completeness of all data compiled. This will be a part-time 4-8 unpaid flexible and hybrid position per week.

See Volunteer Job Description

Upcoming Events

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Tuesday, February 13

@ 7:00 pm - 8:30 pm

Reading and Discussion Group