The Marian Messenger. Come Holy Spirit! Help us to give ourselves entirely to Jesus through Mary. Prefect s Perspective. Calendar of Events

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1 THE MARIAN MESSENGER! APRIL 01, 2015 The Marian Messenger Newsletter of the Sodality of Our Lady of the Annunciation St. Hugh of Grenoble Catholic Church Greenbelt, Maryland Come Holy Spirit! Help us to give ourselves entirely to Jesus through Mary. Prefect s Perspective Spring is upon us! The days are getting longer, the temperatures warmer and plants are beginning to grow and bloom. The Sodality has many events this spring, including the Taste of Home at the University of Maryland on Wednesday, April 22, the Parish Tea on Sunday, May 17 and our end of year Mass and banquet on Thursday, June 11. I hope that Sodalists will also be able to attend Confirmation on Thursday, April 30 (4pm), First Communion on May 3 at the 11am Mass, and the crowning of Mary on May 10 following the 11am Mass. We have so many opportunities this spring to show our devotion to the Lord and our willingness to serve others. As I write this, just last week we celebrated the Feast of the Annunciation on March 25. We are reminded of the message of Gabriel to Our Lady, Hail, full of grace, the Lord is with you. The consent of Our Lady is of great importance in salvation because her yes initiated the restoration of the human race. May we always be mindful of times when we need to say yes to the Lord. I share with you this prayer from the collect of the Mass of the Common of the Blessed Virgin Mary: O God, who willed that at the message of an Angel your Word should take flesh in the womb of the Blessed Virgin Mary, grant that we, who pray to you and believe her to be truly the Mother of God, may be helped by her interceding before you. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, forever and ever. Suzanne Reminder: Our lector for... Apr. 5: Suzanne Lomax May 3: Rita Radich June 7: Cindy Perry Calendar of Events Apr 05 Easter Sunday Sodality 8am Marian Messenger Published Jr.Sodality Easter Egg Giveaway Apr 12 9am Divine Mercy Sunday 3pm Apr 22 UMD: A Taste of Home 4:30-8:30pm Apr 30 4pm May 02 Sodality Union Meeting May 03 Mass & 8am-10:30am 1st 11am Mass May 10 May Procession & Crowning of Mary after 11am Mass May pm June 11 End of Year 5pm 6pm Spring Birthdays Apr 7 Mary Ann Tretler Apri 14 Cindy Perry Apr 30 Blanche Rumbold May 28 Monica Huber June 6 Kathy Labukas June 10 Rita Radich June 11 Mame Ellis June 24 Suzanne Lomax June 29 Magdalene Fuchs June 30 Peggy Hool PAGE 1

2 THE MARIAN MESSENGER! APRIL 01, 2015 Third Annual Archdiocesan Women s Retreat Several Sodalists attended the 3 rd Archdiocesan Women s Retreat, held on Saturday, March 21 at the Church of the Resurrection in Burtonsville. The theme of the conference was Gathering the Wisdom of Women: Changing Water into Wine. The morning keynote speaker (English track) was Colleen Carroll Campbell, a prominent author and print and broadcast journalist. She discussed her faith journey from college to the present and discussed how various Saints have inspired and guided her along the way. She paid special tribute to the Teresas, St. Teresa of Avila, St. Thérèse of the Little Flower, and Blessed Teresa of Calcutta. Attendees had a choice of afternoon sessions, including speakers on marriage and family life, images of Mary in art, nonviolent problem solving, and joys and challenges of grandparenting. Mass was celebrated by Cardinal Wuerl and there were opportunities for confession and adoration. It was a faith filled and wonderful coming together of over four hundred women in the Archdiocese. --Suzanne Lomax Sodality Union News National Council of Catholic Women(NCCW) Offers New Domestic Violence Resource Nearly 1 out of every 4 U.S. women are the victims of severe intimate partner violence, according to the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Women are much more likely to be victims of intimate partner violence with 85% of domestic abuse victims being women. The film, 50 Shades of Grey, normalizes intimate partner violence and glamorizes sexual exploitation of women wrote Dr. Rebecca Woodhull, President of the NCCW in a letter of dissent to Universal Studios. Woodhull urges you and your parish Council of Catholic Women to write editorial letters and contact your movie houses to ask that they not allow the film. In her letter to the President and CEO of Universal Studios, Dr. Woodhull emphatically denounced the vigorous marketing of sexual violence, domination and submission to impressional movie-goers, in whose minds deviance, sexual exploitation, and violence against women will become normalized. Since NCCW s first Resolution on Pornography in 1970 and the first Resolution on Domestic Violence in 1993, it has worked to raise awareness about the dangers of pornography and to protect women from domestic violence. Domestic Violence affects women, children, the workplace and legal systems; it is a critical healthcare issue and a right to life issue. A new 51-page resource, Women Healing the Wounds, provides everything women need to know about the issue and what we can do about it. It is available to download free of charge, at nccw.org. Women Healing the Wounds includes a customizable safety flyer, a section on teen dating violence (a growing problem), resources, Church teaching, and more. Please visit the website, --Edited from an article released on February 18, 2015 PAGE 2

3 Sodality Celebrated St. Patrick s Day with Style There were leprechauns and shamrocks and donuts galore at the Sodality bake sale and coffee social held on March 15, Grenoble Hall was brimming with Irish soda bread, scones, pistachio cookies, shamrock and leprechaun shaped sugar cookies. There were also pies, challah rolls, quick breads, brownies and everyone s favorite, chocolate chip cookies. JoEllen Sarff even donated gluten free cookies for those who are sensitive to wheat protein. Cindy Perry really enjoyed those! Our Ways and Means chairperson, Mary Bitter, organized the bakers and the decorations for the day s events and did a great job. She was very grateful to all those who donated baked goods and passes along her thanks to the Sodalists for their support. An especially BIG thank you goes to Marti Galvin and Ken Bitter for picking up the donuts and to Donna Peterson for making sure we had coffee and other needed supplies. Raffle Ticket Sales Support Catholic Education Who will be the lucky winners of the James Cardinal Hickey Scholarship Raffle Prizes? Thanks to our dedicated Ways and Means Chairperson, Mary Bitter and to her devoted husband, Ken, our Sodality sold over 750 tickets this year. Proceeds from the sale of the raffle tickets support Catholic educational opportunities in the Archdiocese of Washington and local Sodality projects. The raffle is sponsored by the Sodality Union. Sodalities from throughout the archdiocese are participating in the ticket sales. The drawing will be held on Saturday, April 11, Five cash prizes will be awarded. The top prize is $500. So get those ticket stubs out and stay tuned for the announcement of this year s winners. Two years ago, Sodalist Mary Anne Tretler was one of the lucky winners. This year it could be YOU! Our Lives Are Our Walk to Emmaus At the inspiring Palm Sunday weekend retreat at the Washington Retreat House on March 27-29, half a dozen Sodalists from St. Hugh s were in attendance. Rev. Richard DeLillio, OSFS, served as the spiritual director of the retreat. In addition to scripture, he referenced Pope Francis Joy of the Gospel and various writings of St. Francis de Sales. Referring to how the risen Lord unfolded salvation history when talking to the downcast disciples on their way to Emmaus after the crucifixion, Father DeLillio reminded us that our lives are our walk to Emmaus. In addition, Father spoke of how we are the body of Christ and since we are, we should act like Christ. He offered seven ways to be and act like Jesus: prayer, simplicity, build community, broaden our horizons, engage the poor, be more prophetic and challenging, and get fresh air (new perspective). In another discussion, focused on the sent part of discipleship, he reminded us that we are called to go. Our discipleship is a vocation of movement that calls us out of the present moment in response to God s call. As partners with Christ we are called to finish the mission of redemption. This redemption is a conversion, said Father and he identified four movements involved with conversion: Something ends, a light appears on a new direction, we let go of the old, and finally, we move on to a new beginning. He also shared a handout with numerous pillars of gentle strength. The pillars were thoughts taken from the writings of St. Francis de Sales and included such thoughts as these: We are already saved. The last chapter of our life is already written--our concern is for the present chapter we re writing right now. We need to love who we are and not mourn who we didn t become. God never tires of forgiving, we get tired of asking. We are a work in progress, never a finished product. If we cooperate in God s plan until the day we die, we will surely meet our God face to face. Father DeLillio is a professor of homiletics at Catholic University and has a blog on the internet which is found at livetodaywell.org. --Stories on this page by Cindy Perry

4 A Literal Translation Elder Mullan, SJ Man is created to praise, reverence, and serve God our Lord, and by this means to save his soul. And the other things on the face of the earth are created for man and that they may help him in prosecuting the end for which he is created. A Contemporary Reading David Fleming, SJ A Contemporary Version John Reilly, SJ The goal of our life is to live with As Christians we believe we come God forever. God, who loves us, from a loving God who freely gave us life. Our own response of creates each one to seek and find love allows God s life to flow into God s life forever, as one humanity, us without limit. one planet and one universe. All the things in this world are gifts of God, presented to us so that we can know God more easily and make a return of love more readily. As Christians we believe God creates all other things that we may discover in them God s presence and action and begin now to share God s own life, by learning to love one another and to care for our kinship with all the other creatures that so wonderfully share, sustain and support our lives. From this it follows that man is to As a result, we appreciate and use all It follows that we will find our true use them as much as they help him these gifts of God insofar as they selves in a freedom to choose what on to his end, and ought to rid help us develop as loving persons. helps to share our lives with others, himself of them so far as they hinder him to it. But if any of these gifts become the not what hinders this. center of our lives, they displace God and so hinder our growth toward our goal. For this it is necessary to make ourselves indifferent to all created things in all that is allowed to the choice of our free will and is not prohibited to it; so that, on our part, we want not health rather than sickness, riches rather than poverty, honor rather than dishonor, long rather than short life, and so in all the rest; desiring and choosing only what is most conducive for us to the end for which we are created. St. Ignatius Loyola First Principle and Foundation Spiritual Exercises (see Rediscover Catholism at ) In everyday life, then, we must hold ourselves in balance before all of these created gifts insofar as we have a choice and are not bound by some obligation. We should not fix our desires on health or sickness, wealth or poverty, success or failure, a long life or a short one. For everything has the potential of calling forth in us a deeper response to our life in God. Our only desire and our one choice should be this: I want and I choose what better leads to God s deepening his life in me. To come to this freedom we need at all times, where it is left to our own choice, to hold ourselves open and ready for all things, wealth or poverty, fame or disgrace, health or sickness, a long life or a short one, and with everything else. So we want to be graced by God into a spiritual freedom that is both deeply interior and gratefully responsive to God s prior love in creating us, to desire and choose in all things what better helps each of us to share the life for which God has made us all. Note: The Sodality of Our Lady was origionally founded by the Jesuits and is based in Ignatian Spirituality.. Thank you, Cindy Perry, for sharing this with us.

5 Reflection Grounded in Ignatian Spirituality If even the smallest things are beyond your control, why are you anxious about the rest? (Luke 12:26) I know that God loves me and cares for me so why is it so hard to trust that he will give me what I need? I like the illusion that I am in control of my life, yet everything about my life-my faith, my family of origin, the country in which I was born, my talents and even my limitations-is a gift. It seems that Jesus is telling me that I can choose to be grateful and to share my gifts or I can choose to worry and hoard them for myself. Which is the better choice? In the first principle and foundation of the spiritual exercises, St. Ignatius reminds me that I am created to know, love, and serve God and that all of creation are gifts to help me fulfill that purpose. Ignatian Spirituality teaches me that my only desire, then, is to do whatever leads me to a deepening awareness and cooperation of God s presence in my life. I trust that God is in my gifts and my limitations. I strive to do what I can do and let God do the rest; let go of anxiety, and let God provide. It was only when I came to realize this (I came to my senses.) that I felt free to live my God-given purpose. Whether it was paying the mortgage, planning an event, or finding meaning in the loss of a loved one; the money, the help, the God in the experience was always there. Becoming aware of God s presence in the moment (in the NOW) has provided graces beyond my expectations. I have learned that if I turn my back on anxiety or worry, I am free to seek the God who is in all things. Mother Teresa said that we are not called to be successful, we are called to be faithful. So even if the anxiety doesn t immediately leave, I remain faithful in prayer and action. I do what I can do and let God do the rest. For me, this is an ongoing process of growing mindful of God s presence in all things. In Luke 12 Jesus tells the disciples (us) to seek God first and all other things will come. I have St.Ignatius to thank for giving me the Examen prayer, that when practiced daily has had the effect of trainging the eyes of my heart to see God in the midst of my day, to feel gratitude for his action in my life, to express sorrow for choosing my own needs over his desire for me, and to ask for his forgiveness and the grace to choose what he desires for me. -Editor Thank you, God, for your incomprehensible and inexhaustible love and mercy. Give us the grace to be open to the guidance of your Spirit so that we may become Christ for others.we ask this through Christ, Our Lord. Amen. ST. HUGH S SODALITY INVITES YOU TO ITS THIRD ANNUAL SUNDAY AFTERNOON TEA SUNDAY MAY 17, 2015 GRENOBLE HALL 2:00-4:00 pm

6 ST. HUGH OF GRENOBLE CATHOLIC CHURCH 135 CRESCENT ROAD GREENBELT, MD MARY WADE, EDITOR CINDY PERRY, ASSISTANT EDITOR Executive Council Moderator Fr. Walter Tappe Prefect Suzanne Lomax Vice-Prefect Candy Culhane Recording Secretary Marti Galvin Corresponding Secretary Betty Triplett Treasurer Barbara Ford Committee Chairs Spiritual Life Margaret Zanin Apostolic Life Susan Mathis Membership Franca Onunkwo Public Relations Rohanie Bacchus Hospitality Donna Peterson Ways & Means Mary Bitter Special Services Ellen Hanyok Junior Sodality Mary Wade Historian JoEllen Sarff Keep current on our news by visiting our webpage: Let us remember to pray... PRAYER CORNER for all our deceased Sodalists, parishioners and their family members who have died, especially for Bobby Middlestetter (Peggy Compton s son) and Tom Dwyer, Sr. (husband of the late Shirley Dwyer); for those who are ill, especially for Liz Labukas, Tom Lonsbury, Bridget McDermott, and for Susan and James Mathis daughter Maggie and their newborn granddaughter, Ellie; for the intentions of our Sodality prayer partners;...and for all those intentions written in the Sodality Prayer Book.