At St. Ignatius Church we're all about picking up the ministry of Jesus. He cared about the marginalized of society - the least, the last, the lost. Sometimes he referred to them as 'the oppressed poor.' If you have been at St. Ignatius for very long, you will find that this focus is central to the life of our Parish. Yet, we always have so much to learn in regards to 'how do we most effectively do the work and ministry of Jesus, and reflect his love and values?' This past week RELEVANT MAGAZINE posted a fantastic article about this very topic. We share it with you now.

 The Wrong Way to Approach the Poor

A few attitudes to get rid of before we attempt to help.

There is a heartening development within the mainstream Church of late: people are starting to take what Jesus said about the poor seriously.

Indeed, gone are the days when simply taking up a collection for inner city, rural, or overseas missions would suffice. Instead, Christians of all ages are rolling up their sleeves and getting far more hands-on in matters of poverty. We take mission trips, we volunteer in homeless outreach ministries, some of us even do advocacy work in our spare time. We are involved.

Yet as a new generation of Christians heeds God's call to serve "the least of these" in our society, I feel that it is necessary to stop for a moment and reflect upon our approach to serving with those living in poverty.  MORE

Elizabeth's Closet, a ministry of St. Ignatius Church, is a maternity clothes exchange, enabling moms to loan or donate clothing to the church so that expectant moms have access to an affordable maternity wardrobe. This ministry gratefully accepts gently used maternity clothes which may be loaned and returned later, or donated permanently.

Email: Stephanie Holtz. To learn more about this ministry go to our webpage by clicking here. 

To view video on Elizabeth's Closet Ministry, click on video below.

Elizabeth's Closet

So many of you remember Carol Hillery, a remarkable woman and a devoted member of our parish who faithfully served as the Liturgy Coordinator at St. Ignatius for over ten years. Carol passed away on April 4th.

The above Memorial Mass photo of Carol's smiling face looking up to God will greet all our ministers as the photo will be placed next to the cross tabernacle in the sacristy. Surely, Carol still watches over us as we celebrate His joy with our beloved Carol in His company. 

One of our goals is to deepen our understanding of the principles of Catholic social teaching and then, through word and action, to help integrate these principles more fully into the life of our parish community.

How you can help? By supporting us with your time, talent, and ideas; and expand Saint Ignatius' efforts to new areas. If this sounds interesting and you want to get involved with the parish's newly forming Advocacy Ministries in the areas of Immigration and Economic Issues; or our Education Endeavors and Projects, we invite you to join us at our next meeting on Thursday, June 12 at 7:30 PM in Ignatian Hall.

For a copy of our agenda, contact the committee chair, Candra Healy, chealy@loyola.edu. All are welcome! 

As we've had many new members this past year, we wanted to encourage you to make your giving and support an easy and regular part of your church participation. Faith Direct simplifies your regular offertory and Historic Trust Fund contributions by arranging to have one electronic transfer each month directly from your bank account to ours. 

To learn about Faith Direct click on the button on the left. When asked to enter the church code for your transactions, our church code is MD301. We depend on the kindness and faithful contributions of you, our members! 

It's time to register your children for the 2014-2015 Parish Religious Education Program (PREP). PREP is made up of dedicated teachers that devote their time to serving the children of our parish. For planning purposes, we are so appreciative of your early sign-up. To register quickly and painlessly click on the PREP icon...or  click here.