ST. IGNATIUS WEBPAGE
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You can view or read last Sunday's Homily by clicking on links below:
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| TRUTH SERUM | 
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This week's Truth Serum is called "Running Dry." Its focus is on what to do when you're spiritually exhausted.
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| ST. IGNATIUS CALENDAR | 
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| POOR BOX COLLECTION | 
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Each weekend St. Ignatius specifies a Poor Box collection for a needful cause. This week we are collecting for Sister Judith Schmelz, the Baltimore Mercy Sisters, and their work in Guyana to combat human trafficking.
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| WORLD WATCH | 
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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SISTER JUDITH SCHMELZ FIGHTS TRAFFICKING IN GUYANA
My Dear Sisters and Brothers:
This past weekend I received an email note from a friend, Sister Judith Schmelz, R.S.M., who has been working in Georgetown, Guyana, for more than ten years. She holds a Ph.D. in science and is a former full-time professor of Loyola University. She founded and directed the west Baltimore Learning Bank on Baltimore Street for a number of years before she volunteered to go to work in Guyana, one of the poorest countries in the Americas located on the northern coast of South America with Venezuela bordering on the west and Brazil on the south.
Guyana's population is roughly 500,000 half of whom live in Georgetown, the capital city. It is there where Sister Judith lives and works with a small number of other Baltimore Mercy Sisters.
Approaching her ninetieth birthday, she has remained active in teaching and assisting her fellow Mercy Sisters in serving the very poor people of the impoverished capital city. She now has chosen to take up a whole new and difficult challenge: trafficking. Her email tells what she is facing.
"I have gotten heavily involved in the human trafficking issue here in Guyana. Because Georgetown is a port city and because there are large areas in the interior with many indigenous people, especially near the gold mines, Guyana is one of the major centers for trafficking....I organized a conference to help get us informed, raise our consciousness about the problem, and brainstorm about ways we could become involved. I have become good friends with Simona Broomes who started the Guyana Women Miners Association and has been fearless in rescuing many young girls caught in this situation.
Since the conference, two of us went to meet with Guyana's president to let him know what we were doing and to find out what the government is doing. It was an interesting experience! Also, our Bishop Francis Alleyne, O.S.B. attended the conference and afterwards said the diocese had a building he could let us use to house victims who were rescued. We have had a major cleanup of the structure---between 80 to 100 volunteers helped, including a group of young men from the local prison.
Our major challenge is how to attack the problem at its source...This is very complex. The government continues to deny that there is a problem, even while the international data lists Guyana as one of the MAJOR trafficking centers in the world. Until we find a way to address that issue, we will concentrate on caring for the victims and educating parents and children about the dangers involved. Now we need to renovate the building and plan programs for these young people. I think it has a lot of possibilities.
So, as usual, I turn to you and your parish to ask if you are interested in contributing to this effort. At almost ninety, I cannot go into the interior to rescue anybody, but I can help with organizing and fund raising, teaching and tutoring. Life continues to be a challenge!"
In my mind, this nun is living the Gospel of Jesus in a very significant and challenging way. The need to fight actively against trafficking, a multi-billion dollar business around the world, is something all Christians should be engaged in as much as possible. Sister Judith's request is an opportunity for our parish to provide some financial support so that the building given by the bishop of Georgetown can be renovated and serve the young women rescued from the snatches of the unconscionable people involved in this dark and evil industry. Please consider doing so by making a contribution to this week's POOR BOX. Thank you for whatever donation you can make.
Gratefully in Christ,
- To learn the stats on Human Trafficking in Guyana, click here
- To read Human Trafficking Trends in the United States, click here
- If you would like to know more about the global fight against human trafficking you can learn much by going to the Polaris Project Website. Do so by clicking on the logo below.
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Memorial Day
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 Throughout my Junior High and High School years Memorial Day was, for me, the holiday that most other students got to take off from school, but I didn't. I played in the band, and band members were always required to play at the Memorial Day ceremonies in downtown Spokane, where I grew up. I have always had mixed emotions about Memorial Day. I love America and our long held stance to be the one who looks out for those who are overtaken and terrorized by oppressors. And yet I dislike it as well, because it mostly means killing and war. As I progress through life my thinking has evolved to a place where I can almost never think of killing and war as just or permissible. I often find myself conflicted as I try to sort through the great atrocities committed globally, and what solutions there are in standing up for the oppressed and stopping the reign of terror against them.
As a follower of Christ, and as a recent convert to Catholicism, I have found a great deal of sense in the Catholic stance and commitment to "work for peace". Through my unfolding Catholic understanding, I can say this about war...war reminds us to be people who work for peace.
Considering this upcoming Memorial Day weekend, and realizing I needed to put something about it in this week's edition of "Parish, the thought", I went searching the internet. I found a Memorial Day homily that was given by Bishop Samuel J. Aquila of Denver in recent years. It made good sense to me, and as one who has struggled to fight through these issues, I thought I would share it with you.
In Christ,
"War Reminds Us to be People Who Work for Peace"
Today, as we gather to honor our dead, we are reminded of the gift of eternal life that our God has promised to us, His people. He gives to us the promise in the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. God's intent for all of us is to live with Him forever in heaven. That is His divine will and we are free to choose and to embrace His will, to say "yes" to it or to say "no" to it. We especially honor today those who have died in war, those who have fought for our freedoms as Americans. We know, too, that war is never pleasant, that in the midst of war, even when it is a just war, evil is present.
One day I can remember speaking with one of my uncles. All four of my mother's brothers fought in World War II. All four of them came back home alive. One of them, though, was a prisoner of war for three-and-a-half years in Japan. He was in the Baton March, and he was one of the few who survived that march. He rarely spoke of the war. I asked him one time, when I was in college, what it was like. At that time the Vietnam War was going on. There were all sorts of questions around that war, so I wanted to know what it was like in World War II.
The gist of what he said was, "There is no glory in war. No matter how just the cause may be, war is always horrific, even when you are trying to battle evil and you are on the side of good. To kill another human being is never easy. To hold a fallen comrade in your arms is never easy. There is always a darkness to war." - READ MORE
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Events of the Next Week
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Women of the New Testament
Women of the New Testament explores the diverse roles of women in the early church by studying and discussing the New Testament, other writings and practices of the early church, and scholarly commentary on these sources. In the light of this process, the group-women and men-pray to discern the roles to which women (and men) are being called in the contemporary church.The next meeting for Women of the New Testament group will take place on Tuesday, May 20 at 7 p.m. in Ignatian Hall. The group is led by Melody Gordon-Healy.Yo may contact her by email at mghealy@att.net.
Maryland Gubernatorial Candidates Forum
- Tuesday, May 20
DEFEND LIFE and Maryland Coalition for Life will be sponsoring a Maryland Gubernatorial Candidates Forum on Tuesday, May 20 at 7:30 PM at the Plum Gar Community Center in Germantown, MD (19561 Scenery Drive, 20876). The purpose of this forum is to hear the candidates' responses to critical questions about the Sanctity of Human Life and other important issues. For further information, click here.
Corporal Works of Mercy: "Bury the Dead"
- Sunday, May 25
The Young Adult Ministry is sponsoring a parish wide Corporal Works of Mercy Activity during the Easter Season. This week's Mercy focus will be the 6:00 PM Mass on Sunday, to be celebrated in memory of the deceased Veterans of the Parish.
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Please Register Your Children For Next Fall's PREP Now!!!
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Interested in signing your children up for religious education classes here at St. Ignatius? Then register your children for next year by June 1st to receive a discount on the registration price. Our Parish Religious Education Program (PREP) is made up of dedicated teachers that devote their time to serving the children of our parish. Consider participating in this wonderful and vital program for our children! You can register quickly and painlessly on our website by clicking here.
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Collecting Medical Supplies for Peru
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 Again this year several parishioners are going to Chulucanas, Peru to provide medical care. The sponsoring agency is Global Health Ministry. We are asking for donations of over-the-counter medicines [acetaminophen, ibuprofen (adult, children's and infants), vitamins (children's and adults), antacids, etc.], as well as toothpaste, toothbrushes, deodorant, soap and other toiletries. All goes directly to the people of this impoverished area of Peru. Boxes will be available in the Narthex and outside the Chapel Of Grace throughout the month of May. Thank you in advance for your continued support of this remarkable ministry.
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Mark Your Calendars For These Upcoming Events.
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Young Adult Council First Meeting!
- Sunday, June 1
Interested in the growing young adult community at St. Ignatius? Want to have a hand in forming it? St. Ignatius is establishing a council to coordinate social and spiritual activities for young adults in the parish and surrounding area. If you are interested in getting involved in this new ministry, come to our first meeting on June 1, 2014 after the 6 PM Mass. We hope to see you there!
Young Adults Potluck & Movie Night
- Thursday, June 5
Join us for a night of fellowship as we host a potluck dinner and a movie on Thursday, June 5th at 7:00PM in Ignatian Hall. We invite Young Adults to bring a favorite dish to share, to stay for the movie, and to just hang out! Come to meet other parishioners and/or bring a friend. (Movie title will be announced shortly!)
We will be hosting various events throughout the summer so if you're not on our e-mail list you won't know about it! Contact Duarte Aguiar at DuarteAguiar@st-ignatius.net and he will fix that! Also, check us out at http://www.meetup.com/Saint-Ignatius-Church-Baltimore/ for more events at St. Ignatius.
Celebrate Pride Month With Our St. Ignatius Community!
- Friday, June 13
Embracing God's Gifts, our parish's Gay & Lesbian ministry, is inviting you to join us on Friday, June 13th at 7 PM in the Chapel of Grace, where we will give thanks to God for the gift of family. Through music, readings, prayer & a spirit of gratitude, we will gather to celebrate being members of God's family. Please contact Gordon Creamer at 410.236.8225 if you are interested in participating in the planning process. All are welcome and please bring a friend! A light reception to follow in Ignatian Hall.
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Hallelujah...
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This past Sunday was the 5th Sunday of Easter. Fresh in our hearts is the work of Jesus on the Cross and the message of the Resurrection. This week we came across the reworked version of the Leonard Cohen song Hallelujah from the movie Shrek. It so wonderfully captures what led up to Jesus' crucifixion that we thought you would enjoy the story of how this version of the song came about. Enjoy!  | | Kelley Mooney's spiritual lyrical adaptation of Leonard Cohen's "Hallelujah" |
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In the Media
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Power Player -
'Operation Crimea' and the Reign of Vladimir Putin
From the very beginning of his rule, Vladimir Putin has assumed that his ability to govern Russia indefinitely was highly dependent on the strength of the ideological justification of his power. Indeed, he was never elected according to even elementary democratic standards. For this reason, the state's ideology was of primary importance in the decision-making process for Putin's regime-even higher than for the Soviet leaders. Thus, many domestic and foreign policy decisions have been decided upon in order to cultivate Putin as a national leader and savior of the nation. The obsession with his personal power makes Putin indifferent to the long-term national interests of his own country, such as the diversity of the Russian economy, the state of science, the flight of talented people from the country and, certainly, the development of democratic traditions that the Russians so badly need.
Ultimately, Putin's hostile attitude toward the West was determined by his belief that Western leaders and the media do not see him as a democratically legitimate leader of Russia, and, for this reason, systematically plot to remove him from power. For the same reason, his attitude toward the former Soviet republics has depended on the character of their regime. If they were authoritarian, similar to his own, the relations between Russia and the post-Soviet republics were more or less good, but if these republics happened to make movements toward democracy, which could set an example for the Russian people, then they became fierce enemies. - READ MORE
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e-zine compiled by John. C. Odean
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