HAPPY EARTH DAY APRIL 22 ND

 

HAPPY EARTH DAY 🌎

INFI

IN PRAISE OF PLANET EARTH    The blue planet earth is alive. The mystic earth is awakening. And the mountains and the streams and the seas are full of life and dance with pounding hearts. Within them the Mind of Creator is alive. Stones and rocks and minerals are, although we can not see it with our eyes, deeply breathing in all serenity. In those stones, on those rocks, in those minerals We feel the Resonance of Creator. Animals, plants, insects and fish as well All are active and full of joy. Clear and pure is the sky and the sun is shining. And the land is at peace. Our body too and our cells too are shining. All living beings and all things are living together in harmony. They are radiating life.   by Masami Saionji Chairperson May Peace Prevail On Earth International

NITE GRATApril22ITUDE TO

MOTHER EARTH

MOTHERS DAY FELLOWSHIP MAY 14TH

The parish life team will offer a Mother’s Day fellowship on Sunday, May 14TH

We plan to have an assortment of cookies, lemonade, coffee, and tea. If anyone would like to make a contribution, please let me know.

Blessings to you all for a wonderful new week and I hope to see you soon

Alice Jo

A SECOND CHANCE; THE ARK OF NOAH

 

The flood story makes modern readers squirm. We would far rather look at charming storybook images of the animals parading two by two into the ark than deal with the underlying theme of divine wrath unleashed on all of creation. Nicaraguan artist José Ignacio Fletes Cruz suggests another way to interpret this foundational sacred narrative. In this oil painting on canvas, the ark is presented not as a refuge where God seals off Noah and his family from a doomed world but as a bustling community center open to all—a second chance for humanity.

Fletes Cruz paints in a naive style, rooted in Nicaraguan folk art, which he mastered in a Christian commune founded in the 1960s in the remote Solentiname Islands in Lake Nicaragua to put the egalitarian principles of liberation theology into practice. The group’s support for the Sandinista Liberation Front’s rebellion against dictator Anastasio Somoza Debayle ultimately led to its destruction. Fletes Cruz has remained true to the community’s original mission, even if its utopian ideals now lie in tatters in post­revolutionary Nicaragua.

Viewing the ark of Noah as a type for the church has a long history in Christian theology and art, but there is no hint of ecclesiastical stuffiness in this carnivalesque scene of milling crowds beside the high-and-dry boat. The people have taken over the ark and keep watch on its deck for the new captain of the ship—one who comes in the name of the Lord, bringing social justice and salvation. Says Fletes Cruz: “Christ has revolutionized everything—and that is my message.”

ARTICLE FROM THE CHRISTIAN CENTURY

ANNE ARUNDEL COUNTY SHARING PROGRAM FOR THANKSGIVING

Holiday Sharing Program for Thanksgiving

Holiday Sharing  of Anne Arundel County matches donors to seniors and families in need during Thanksgiving

  

Jane Papenberg has identified a family with four children and four adult who will benefit from our Thanksgiving Gifts

Gift Cards from Aldi and Lidl’s are being collected

You can also donate $$ Cash $$ to be used to purchase Gift Cards

PLEASE BRING THE CARDS TO CHURCH ON NOVEMBER 13 TH OR NOVEMBER 20^TH.

JANE WILL DELIVER THEM TO THE FAMILY ON NOVEMBER 20^TH

 

SHROVE TUESDAY PANCAKE SUPPER AT ST JOHNS

 

Calling all congregational members, family and friends. The Shrove Tuesday pancake supper is back. The pancake supper will be held on 21 February in the fellowship hall, between 4 PM and 6:30 PM. There will be pancakes, sausages, breakfast casseroles and beverages. Come enjoy a meal with family, friends and neighbors, with us doing the cooking.
Mark the 21st of February 2023 on your calendar and come enjoy the starting of Lent will everyone.
 
The Fellowship and Outreach Teams 🤗

Asking for donations of a box of Pencils or disinfectant wipes for AA Co. Schools .  Cash Donations are also welcome at the door. 

PLT Discernment; New Posting / Canidates Stepping forward

Each of us has the opportunity to recognize the gifts and talents of a fellow parishoner by nominating her or him to serve on our Parish Leadership Team . Another option is to consider if you are being called to fill one of the vacancies. The election will be held on February 19, 2023. 

We are encouraging you to give this prayerful and careful consideration and respond as soon as possible. Please call or e-mail Bob Porto with any questions or your nominations. (410-971-4963  or bporto2008@gmail.com)  We will continue to post weekly updates via the News Wire, emails and Pulpit Announcements.

We currently have two parishoners who have stepped forward to be on the Leadership team; Bob Porto and Damien Robinson.  Thanks to both of them , we can always have more people on the ballot.

Thanks and Blessings to all 

Bob Porto 

Nominating Officer

SOCIAL JUSTICE MINISTRY CONVOCATION

Welcome to the
44th Annual
Social Ministry Convocation

February 25, 2023
Mercy High School
1300 E Northern Pkwy,
Baltimore, MD 21239
9am - 3 p.m.

https://www.archbaltsmc.org/register

GO TO THIS LINK TO REGISTER IF YOU WISH TO ATTEND.  TWO PEOPLE FROM OUR PARISH ARE ATTENDING. ALWAYS ROOM FOR MORE.

VIEWING , SERVICE AND LUNCHEON FOR JAMES RYAN SR.

 

ST JOHN THE EVANGELIST

Hello to all,

It is with great sadness that we need to inform you that Jackie’s Dad ; James Ryan Sr. passed away on March 14^th.

 There will be a viewing at Barranco & Sons Funeral Home on  Wednesday March 22^nd from 2-4 P.M. and from 6-8 P.M.  Barranco & Sons is located at 495 Ritchie Hwy. Severna Park Md. 21146.  Phone # is 410-647-2400   

                                                                                                                                         The Funeral Service will be Thursday March 23^rd at  10 A.M. at St John’s Evangelist Church 689 Ritchie Hwy Severna Park Md. 21146

Luncheon after service @ 11:30 a.m.  Will be at the Atreeum at Soaring Timbers 610 Bestgate Rd. Annapolis, Md. 21401.  PH # 410-224-4242

 If you wish to send condolences Jackie's  address is 409 Bethian Trail Severna Park , Md. 21146

SCB Parish Life Team

A REFLECTION ON THE SEVENTH BEAUTITUDE BY JOAN CHITTISTER

 

Purity of heart' beatitude is at the core of what we need in this country

There's always something

In fact, a good deal of the Bible can easily be dismissed as foreign to the modern world. So much of every book of the Bible is in need of interpretation in a world of digital icons and multiple translations, not to mention the very archeology of the place. 

On every page, something cries out for cultural, social or historical explanations. As in, what exactly is a burning bush or a sea of reeds or the vizier of the pharaoh. Some people let that kind of information go by. Others study most of their lives, one Scripture after another, to apply thousands of years of the spiritual life to this one. And, to tell the truth, all of that is an enriching and soul-stretching exercise. 

But not everything in Scripture lies behind a plexiglass of uncertainty, of confusion and ancient script. Not, for instance, in the first six Beatitudes of Jesus. 

On the contrary, the Beatitudes have a very clear place in life. Anybody's life anywhere. Yours, mine, the Iraqi refugee next door. The Jewish and Black and Asian home or convenience store or political implications down the street. The Beatitudes are not a denominational code of professional religion. They are the about the parameters of what it means to be equally human, always needy, forever aware of what it is to be one of the "children of God." 

The Beatitudes of Jesus are easy to spot. They make sense. They provide a veritable way of life for those who take them seriously.

Justice, mercy, meekness, peacemaking, mourning and righteousness — the first six Beatitudes of Jesus — are easy to spot. They are not just aphorisms, pretty prayers or a recitation piece.

The Beatitudes are verbs. They set out to do things. They change us and everything around us. In fact, to be real at all, they require a very public demonstration of very important dimensions of life.

We're either fair and just with people — or we're not — and if we are not, they know when they're being exploited. 

Being merciful to others eases their lives and helps them to start over in life with dignity, with their sins forgiven and life renewed.

Humility makes us comfortable when we're out of our comfort zones. It takes our differences and turns them into a family of equals. It forbids the oppression of others and prods us to speak the truths of life at all times. 

When we grieve for people in the midst of their hardship or losses, we take them out of their deserts of loneliness and give them a new sense of life when life goes dry and empty. 

Most of all, the righteous rejection of evil and our commitment to the needs of others is the glue that brings families, neighborhoods, the world together. 

Indeed, the Beatitudes of Jesus change the very core of life. 

Jesus did not preach the Beatitudes as lulling examples of soft poetry, though poetry they are. They are within us, the steel spine of life. They hold us up through everything. They enable us to build a new world around us. They are here to enable us to hold up the weakness of the human race, and remind us that we are the co-creators of a world in pain just waiting for us to notice it. Near us. With us. In our own backyards. And with all those others, as well. 

Good. But what about the seventh beatitude? Happy are the "pure of heart for they shall see God"? Now that's something else entirely. 

Being "pure of heart" is not satisfied by physical behaviors or mere acts of public charity. It has nothing to do with changing my behavior in a way that will make you comfortable or give you security or contribute to your physical well-being. Or even if it does, I will never know why you did it. You see, the seventh beatitude is all about motives. Mine.

Jesus is very clear about that when he confronts the scribes and Pharisees, saying, "You brood of vipers and hypocrites. You tell the people that they are no longer bound to care for their elderly parents" — a major ethical principle of Judaism — provided they now make an offering, or korban, to the keepers of the Temple instead.

So, what are these religious officials doing here? Is the intention to see that the older generation is cared for or to make money for the Temple itself? Listen carefully: The deal is that the religious obligation of the children can now be met by paying the Temple officials the money rather than using it for the direct caring of their parents. Clearly the motive is toxic. Whatever good may be done on the side this way — though Jesus doesn't name any — the fact is that it was not done for the right reason.   Clever, indeed.

In fact, purity of heart has to do with intentionality, with why I really do things. With my motives. With the real reason for what I do, which, however good it makes me look on the outside, may indeed be poisonous on the inside. 

Being "pure of heart," is not an obsolete factor in the spiritual life. In fact, it seems to be the very core of what we need in this country right now but are finding so difficult to determine.

Why are congressional representatives, for instance, continuing to declare Donald Trump's lie that this legally honest presidential election was stolen from him, was actually a fraud, was taken from him by all sorts of nefarious and nonexistent evidence? Why? Because they actually believe it? Or because they will do anything to cater to Trump enough to receive his endorsement of their own election? But which is it: a hidden political gain or a genuine commitment to the good of the nation?

Have these leaders of ours been fooled, too — or are they simply pulling the strings of Trump's paranoia for their own good? It's an important question. After all, the integrity of the country is at stake.

Which, in that case, means that the country will be sending liars to Congress consciously, foolishly, and with what credentials to prove that they are really operating in our best interest?

And if we ourselves do not call those motives out, who will be the real fools in the end: Trump? Trumpers? Republican shills who want the seat more than they want honest government, a good future, a just system? The Lexico Dictionary calls the shill "an accomplice of a confidence trickster or swindler who poses as a genuine customer to entice or encourage others." 

Their dishonesty lies in the fact that it's all for their own sake, for the sake of a congressional seat they intend to win even if they have to lie to get it.

The national spiritual malignancy lies in this: Those who will lie to you to get your support will lie to you when they get it, as well. Their seat will not be for your good. Not for your sake. Not for the sake of the welfare of the country. Not to make the country, the future, the children of tomorrow secure. 

No, what the shill does is whatever the shill must do to reap the harvest for their own benefit. And when lying is for their own good, they will do it to you again. 

From where I stand, it seems to me that of all the Beatitudes we're in need of at this moment in time, purity of heart may be the one that the political, social, moral dimension of the government may be in need of most. If the preservation of the Constitution, the commitment to democratic principles, the integrity of its representatives is not central, what will be? 

Only purity of heart can save us now. A precious few have stood to call out the lie.

As Jesus said later, "Where are the others?"

Joan Chittister

A Benedictine Sister of Erie, Pennsylvania, Joan Chittister is a best-selling author and well-known international lecturer on topics of justice, peace, human rights, women's issues and contemporary spirituality in the church and in society. 

Excerpted from NCR

FAREWELL LUNCHEON ON SUNDAY MARCH 26TH

 

We are very sad to inform everyone that we will be losing three very special parishoner's at the end of the month, Bill and Christina Yates and Carmen Dimeo.  The Yates are moving to Florida and Carmen is moving to Pennslyvania.  To wish them farewell, we will have a fellowship luncheon after mass in the Linthicum Room on March 26th . If you wish to assist , please contact Alice Jo Weaver.  Hope to see everyone there.