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ST. IGNATIUS WEBPAGE
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You can view or read last Sunday's Homily
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TRUTH SERUM
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Looking at Hope, the first theme of Advent, this week's Truth Serum is entitled: Advent Hope, Staying Afloat. click here
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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's support goes to Little Sisters of the Poor, an organization that cares for the elderly who are of low income status.
click here
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MASS MUSIC
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Attached is the listing for the music selections at next Sunday's 10:30 Mass. click here
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WORLD WATCH
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Weekly updates on Christian persecution around the globe. Keep a prayerful watch on what is happening with your brothers and sisters! - click here.
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ST. IGNATIUS CALENDAR
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JOIN OUR LIST
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 Carissimi,
Paul Teie |
Last Wednesday Paul Teie, Director of Music [a.k.a. Il Maestro], sent me the message you find below. I share it with permission, because repetitio, going back to savor again and deepen graces received, is very Ignatian. "The madness" of Thanksgiving continues through Advent to Christmas, but gratitude remains a life-changing grace:
I just wanted to share a small moment I had very recently. For some reason, I just turned off the TV, put my laptop to sleep and set my phone to silent. I closed my eyes and began to list in my head all of the things for which I was grateful...It included the usual suspects, as well as a few things that surprised me - like incidents in my past that, at the time, I judged disasters, but in the end broadened and enriched my life. I let them pass through my mind one-by-one and there was barely a pause before the next one came to mind. 20 minutes later, the list was still rolling along.
No different from everyone else, I have a few challenges in my life. I don't think it is presumptuous to say that everyone is going through something that is uncomfortable or downright painful. This exercise put some of those negatives into clear perspective. Those struggles ...pale in comparison to the myriad gifts I have received in my life - in everything from the country in which I was born and the family I was born into, to my children, career and a multitude of smaller blessings.
Thanksgiving is a very busy time...But it is also a time to reflect on what we have to be grateful for. Maybe take a few minutes tomorrow, before the guests arrive and the madness begins, to take a little inventory of what you have to be thankful for. It may just color your day in a grateful glow.
Well said, Maestro!
Secondly...
Pastoral Council Election Results
 Kathleen Talty |  Lauren Kelly-Washington | 
Robert "Bob" Moore |
I am pleased to announce the results of the Election for Pastoral Council. Two hundred and nine parishioners voted for the two open elective positions. Kathleen Talty and Lauren Kelly-Washington received the highest number of votes and are elected. Bob Moore received the third highest number of votes and I have chosen him for the one appointed open seat. I am grateful to Janet Miller and Donna Egbulen for their willingness to run for office. I am grateful to Chis Kuczynski and Yara Cheikh, who are leaving the Council, for their sound advice-and even more for their on-going service in other parish ministries at St. Ignatius. Chris has promised me that he will continue to sing the Exultet at the Easter Vigil [HOORAY!].  Finally...
 Your pastor begs you on bended knee to take the online survey that will greatly help our parish community plan for our role in the future of the Catholic church in center city Baltimore. It will take a few moments, but we would greatly appreciate your input. It is confidential and does NOT require your name or email address. As always, I'm grateful for your commitment to Jesus, His ministry to our world, and the community of St. Ignatius. By your side, in His service,
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THE "HOPE" THEME OF ADVENT
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ADVENT WEEK 1 - THE THEME OF HOPE
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I WANTED TO SHARE THIS WITH YOU...
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 "The world is more than its burden, and life is more than the sum of its gray days."
I would like to share with you all an Advent reflection I came across as I was preparing my homily for the Sunday evening Mass. It's by Fr. Alfred Delp, S.J.
Delp was a German Jesuit priest who was imprisoned in Berlin during WWII. Known for being a gripping, dynamic preacher, he was also an outspoken critic of the Nazi regime, and an important figure in the Resistance movement against Nazism. Accused of conspiring against the Nazi government, he was arrested in 1944, tortured, imprisoned, and executed on Feb 2, 1945. (Learn about Fr. Delp by clicking here) While in prison, Fr. Delp was able to write a few Advent meditations, including the one I share with you today. These meditations were smuggled out of the prison in Berlin and read by his friends and fellow parishioners knowing what fate lay ahead for him. In the world in which we currently find ourselves, there was something about his reflections of the world in which he lived that I thought pertinent this Advent season. Enjoy!
 Once again, let us kneel down and pray for keen eyes capable of seeing God's messengers of annunciation, for vigilant hearts wise enough to perceive the words of the promise. The world is more than its burden, and life is more than the sum of its gray days. The golden threads of the genuine reality are already shining through everywhere. Let us know this, and let us, ourselves be comforting messengers. Hope grows through the one who is himself a person of hope and the promise.
Advent is the time of the promise, not yet the fulfillment. We are still standing in the middle of the whole thing in the logical relentlessness and inevitability of destiny...
The sounds of devastation and destruction, the cries of self-importance and arrogance, the weeping of despair and powerlessness still fill the world. Yet, standing silently, all along the horizon are eternal realities with their age-old longing. The first gentle light of the glorious abundance to come is already shining above them...This is today. And tomorrow the angels will relate loudly and jubilantly what has happened, and we will know it and will be blessed if we have believed and trusted in Advent.
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THE FIRST WEEK OF ADVENT
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Why Should We Care About Advent?
Rob Bell explains why this time of year is all about the waiting.
Christmas is coming. It may seem like it's way too soon to be talking about trees and lights and presents and eggnog and all that. But Christmas is the culmination of Advent, and Advent is about the church calendar and the church calendar is something we never stop talking about. So that's what I'm writing on here: Advent. But to talk about Advent, we need to talk about sound, and then time and then Spirit.
First, then, a bit about sound.
If you are quiet enough in your kitchen, you will hear a noise. It is a continuous sound, a long, droning noise with no particular beginning or ending. It has very little, if any, dynamic range. It may go up and down in volume, but those changes are rarely perceptible. It is the same flat noise, and it goes on and on and on, hour after hour, day after day. If it's loud enough, it can grate on the nerves, but otherwise it's simply there.
Making that sound, mostly unnoticed, there in the corner of your kitchen. It is the buzzing of your refrigerator.
Now for another noise. I'm currently listening to the new Jónsi album (he of Sigur Rós fame), which I've had on repeat for a number of weeks now. From the first bleeps, squawks and chirps of the first song, the album is full of noises. Drums, voices, piano-the noises stop and start, come and go, they're loud and quiet. Some notes sustain for a measure or two, others come and go within the second. The kick drum rumbles, the cymbals clang, the strings flutter. All those sounds work together to make something compelling, inspiring, beautiful, evocative, confrontative, urgent, hopeful, honest or peaceful-something that sounds stunning. - READ MORE
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A HOLIDAY GIVING CLASSIC
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 Angel Tree/Jesse Tree
As you may have seen this past Sunday, it's that time of year again for Angel Tree, the program where parishioners and friends purchase Christmas gifts for children whose parents are incarcerated, and Jesse Tree, where people buy warm gloves, hats, socks, scares, etc. as Christmas gifts for our homeless brothers and sisters who are served by our Loaves & Fishes ministry, as well as grocery gift certificates for the women served by My Sister's Place. There are two trees this year: one in the narthex and one in the gallery. Please take an ornament and remember those who are less fortunate when you are doing your Christmas shopping. If you take an Angle tag, be sure to leave us your name and contact information. Angel ornaments represent a child's Christmas wish, which should be WRAPPED and labeled with the Angel tag when they are returned and put under the tree no later than December 13. The other ornaments, which specify something warm for those who are out in the cold, should be placed under the tree UNWRAPPED for ease of delivery. As always, your generosity is greatly appreciated. If you can volunteer to help deliver the Angel Tree gifts to the families before Christmas, please contact Dan or Brandie D'Orazio at dgdorazio@gmail.com or bdorazio@gmail.com; 410-385-0944.
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| TODAY...2015 WORLD AIDS DAY CELEBRATION OF COMMUNITY |
From B'More Aware:
December 1st is World AIDS Day, and we invite you to join with us to celebrate and remember the lives of those we have lost to HIV/AIDS and to recommit to the common cause of a future free from HIV/AIDS. The day's events are as follows:
| 3-7 PM: | HIV Testing | | 3:30-6:30 PM: | Community Health Fair | | 6:30-7 PM: | Community-wide Candlelight Vigil | | 7:15-8:30 PM: | World AIDS Day Interfaith Service | | 8:30-9:30 PM: | Reception | | Location: | Mount Vernon Place United Methodist Church
10 E. Mount Vernon Place, Baltimore
Across from the Washington Monument |
Admission is FREE. The event will be followed by a reception.
ASL Interpretation for the deaf / hearing impaired will be provided.
For more information, please contact: celebrationofcommunity@gmail.com (443) 421-9090
To download flyer for this event, click here.
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INTEREST MEETING OF THE PARISH'S LOYOLA EARLY LEARNING CENTER
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 The Parish's Loyola Early Learning Center Committee is conducting a feasibility study. The plan is for this preschool to open in 2017 for initially 20 children (between ages 2 and 3), and expand to 60 enrollees in future years. This school would be available to children of parishioners and children from low income families in low income the wider community.
Families with young children are invited to attend a focus group in the Chapel of Grace on Sunday, December 13, 2015. The meeting will begin at 11:45 AM and should end by 1:00 PM. Children are welcome.
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UPCOMING EVENTS
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Prayer Walk With Bishop Madden For Peace in the City
- Tuesday, December 1
 Please join Bishop Madden for his next prayer walk on Tuesday, December 1st at 5:30 PM at St. Wenceslaus Church (2111 Ashland Avenue). The evening will begin with a light meal and end before 7:30 PM.
This month there will be a candlelight walk, with strong symbolism as we begin the Advent season. Police escorts will assist with street crossings and along the way.
This is a critical time to help a pivotal East Side neighborhood. There have been many violent incidents around St. Wenceslaus this year. Yet there is hope for the neighborhood especially in light of partnerships with nearby Johns Hopkins Hospital. This continues to be a critical time to pray for our city, and for this East Side neighborhood in particular. The neighbors are always encouraged by our witness, and we know that our prayers are heard.
If you are interested in participating and would like to go with other members of St. Ignatius, we will gather at our church at 740 N. Calvert no later than 5:00 PM and will drive to St. Wenceslaus Church. For those who need a ride, we will make the parish van available.
 Embracing God's Gifts - Wednesday, December 2 The final gathering for the year of Embracing God's Gifts, our Lesbian and Gay Ministry, will occur on Wednesday, December 2nd, 2015 at 7 PM. There is no gathering for November or late December with the coinciding Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays.
December 2nd will be a wonderful opportunity to give thanks to God for the endless blessings we have received this year and for all that His Spirit has accomplished through each of you in our Embracing God's Gifts ministry. It will be a potluck celebration, so if you are able to bring something to share, please email Gordon Creamer at themissionbridge@yahoo.com.
 Ignatian Mornings of Reflection - Saturday, December 5 On the first Saturday of the month, Ignatian Mornings of Reflection are held. These mornings are excellent opportunities to pull away from the hustle and bustle of daily life in order to "dial down" and quiet our hearts before God. Morning of Reflection is under the direction of Father Bob Hamm, S.J., Director of the Xavier House and assisted by Toni Moore-Duggan. They will guide us in an experience of Ignatian Spirituality starting at 8:45 AM and concluding before the 12:10 Mass. This month's theme is "Esperanza! Waiting in Joyful Hope!" All are welcome.
Young Family Ministry Potluck Brunch
- Saturday, December 5
 The Young Family Ministry will hold a Potluck Brunch on Saturday, December 5, from 9:30 AM -12:30 PM at the home of the Holtz family. We will have an open house, so there is no pressure to arrive on time. Children are welcome! Please RSVP to Stephanie Holtz at srholtz@gmail.com. Directions will be given when you RSVP individually.
Cottage in the Church - Sunday, December 6 
Cottage in the Church, a market place featuring goods made by low/no income women in Baltimore and beyond, and the organizations that serve them, will take place next Sunday, December 6 in Ignatian Hall after every morning Mass. Sponsored by the Women's Justice Sub-Committee of our Justice and Peace Committee, the idea came about as members discussed Pope Francis' recent comments disparaging the women's pay inequity. Cottage in the Church offers the friends and families of St. Ignatius parish the opportunity to purchase Christmas gifts to help women in need in Baltimore and the world beyond.
We will feature: Green boughs and wreaths, as well as handmade jewelry by Little Sisters of the Poor. Gift items to benefit Gilchrist Hospice Care/Partnership with Tanzania. Scarves, soaps and jewelry by Women's International Network, which rescues young girls from Traffickers. Candies by Garden Village Community Association. Gift bows made by a local woman using recyclable materials. Gift baskets made by women learning job skills at Benevolent Baskets. Items by women artisans in developing countries sold through the non-profit 10,000 Villages. And many gifts from members of our parish family to benefit local Women's Religious and Asylee Women Enterprise. For more information, email Andraya Dolbee at andrayadolbee@gmail.com, or call 443-341-6065. Plan to start your Christmas shopping here - for the greater good! And if you would like to bake your special cake or cookies to donate to the Bake Sale Table for the benefit of Asylee Women Enterprise, email Claire McCaig at clairemccaig51@gmail.com or call 410-557-7753
Fr. John Donahue, S.J. Lecture: "The Year of Mercy"
- Monday, December 7
 Pope Francis declared that this next year (beginning December 8) will be a Holy Year of Mercy: "I have decided to announce an Extraordinary Jubilee which has at its center the mercy of God. It will be a Holy Year of Mercy. We want to live in the light of the word of the Lord: "Be merciful, even as your Father is merciful" (cf. Lk 6:36). And this especially applies to confessors! So much mercy!... I am confident that the whole Church, which is in such need of mercy for we are sinners, will be able to find in this Jubilee the joy of rediscovering and rendering fruitful God's mercy, with which we are all called to give comfort to every man and every woman of our time. Do not forget that God forgives all, and God forgives always. Let us never tire of asking forgiveness. Let us henceforth entrust this Year to the Mother of Mercy, that she turn her gaze upon us and watch over our journey: our penitential journey, our year-long journey with an open heart, to receive the indulgence of God, to receive the mercy of God."
This indeed is the good news of the Gospel! - and on Monday, December 7 at 7:30 PM in the Chapel of Grace, Fr. John Donahue, S.J. will once again join us for a lecture on The Holy Year of Mercy. Fr. Donahue was for many years Professor of New Testament at the Jesuit School of Theology in Berkeley, CA, and was the first Raymond E. Brown Distinguished Professor of New Testament Studies at St. Mary's Seminary and University in Baltimore. He wrote "The Word" column in America magazine from 1998-2001. He has given workshops on biblical topics throughout the United States, and has taught in Africa and the Philippines. - There is no cost for this event.
 IMMACULATE CONCEPTION
- Tuesday, December 8
Next Tuesday is the feast of the Immaculate Conception, a Holy Day of Obligation. Masses will be celebrated in the Chape l at 7:25 AM, 12:10 PM and 5:30 PM. To learn more about the Immaculate Conception, we've included an article entitled "8 Things You Need to Know About the Immaculate Conception" published by the National Catholic Register. CLICK HERE.
Advent Penance Service - Wednesday, December 9  Enter into the Advent season with the freshness of reconciliation with God by attending our Advent Penance Service. This year's service will be held at St. Vincent de Paul Church - 120 N Front St, Baltimore - at 7:30 PM on Wednesday, December 9th. Several priests will be available for individual confession, including those from St. Ignatius. Please join us for a time of prayer, reflection, and mercy at this solemn time of year. Justice & Peace Advent Prayer Service - Thursday, December 10  Advent is a time to reflect and refocus on the important areas of our faith. At a time of the year when schedules get hectic, it is helpful to slow down and contemplate the real message of Advent. Join us for a meditative evening of 'lessons and carols' highlighting the beautiful artwork located within St. Ignatius Church on Thursday, December 10th at 6:30 PM. Arranged to focus on five specific pieces, attendees will sing, pray, and process through the church taking time to reflect on a social justice issue associated with the artwork. Hosted by the Justice & Peace Committee, the evening will provide an opportunity for parishioners to intentionally and prayerfully reflect on the Advent season, the Holy Year of Mercy, and the important work we are called to do as Christians. The Justice & Peace Committee is organized through subcommittees with work that focuses on: developing diversity in our community; supporting immigration reform; advocating for economic justice through a paid sick leave initiative; promoting justice for women; and alleviating hunger and homelessness in Baltimore City. The emphasis of each subcommittee will be highlighted by a particular station during the event. All are welcome. A simple supper will be served following the prayer service. We hope you will join us!
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IN THE AREA
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 Bmore Seoul to Soul 3
- Saturday, December 5
This event combines Peabody student's classical music performance, Korean traditional dance and Baltimore style hip-hop dance. As with previous Bmore Seoul to Soul concerts, our goal is to celebrate our diversity through the universal language of the arts and build bridges of communication and trust between variety of cultures in our community. It will be an entertaining and learning event, with the collaboration of traditional cultural dancing and music, a Peabody Institute classical concert and MICA and the community's art exhibit, all wrapped up into one event! The location is Maryland Institute College of Art, Brown Center: Falvey Hall - 1301 W. Mount Royal Ave. Baltimore, MD 21217. For more information, click here.
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IN THE MEDIA
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Man on the Moon Gets a Message From a Little Girl (Video)
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John Lewis Christmas Advent 2015 - Man On The Moon
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Let's remember all the lonely people right here on Earth this Advent
Blessed Teresa of Calcutta said the greatest poverty of all is loneliness. As part of a campaign to reach out to older people this Christmas season, the UK department store John Lewis produced this TV ad called "The Man on the Moon." It's the story of a young girl named Lily who looks at the moon one night through her family telescope and sees a man. She watches as he goes about his chores all alone, and she becomes determined to send him a message to let him know that someone on Earth is thinking about him.
During this year's Advent and Christmas seasons, let's remember those who are alone or forgotten and find a way to reach out to them-even if it's just a smile or a kind word.
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