July 25

OUR PARISHIONERS Octavia Blake, James Brandes, Catherine & Theresa Cooney, Lori Costello, Mary Lou Estok, Marie Gaffney, Elizabeth Hartnett, Minnie Holley, Russ Ideo, Rosemarie Jamison, Barbara Joy, Joseph McElroy, Janet Nti, Eva Poiani, Theresa Proctor, Ethel Smith, Mafalda Stanzione, Marie Surowicz, Kitty Vaughan, Grace Vicino, George Vincent

OUR FAMILY AND FRIENDS: Nicholas Barrett, Gary & Lucy Blankenship, Blanche Brown, Edward Butler, Bill Dagilis, Donna Daley, Americo DiCamillo, Kelly Dixon, Malik Ellis, Rachel Gould, Juan Graves, Greg Hawkins, Barry Hobart, Jerry Jenkins, Michael Robert Johnson, Willem Keyser, Claire Kieckhefer, Frank LaMacchia, Fr. Vito Lopardo, Ginny Magyar, Robert Maurer, Jennifer McCann, Walter McGugan, Jane Millar, James Mutchler, Michael Mutchler, Mary Nelson, Kathleen O’Boyle, Emmie Prettyman, Lois Shreve, Sandy Smith, Jennifer Sobajian, Deacon Tom Spalding, Mary Tartaglino, Andréa Rose Wallace

The next Baptism class AFTER TODAY, will be September 26, 2010 immediately following 11:30am Mass. It’s a class for first-time parents or new parishioners who now have a child to baptize. If you are expecting a child, you may attend the class before the birth, too.

ATTN: ALTAR SERVERS, READERS AND EXTRAORDINARY MINISTERS OF HOLY COMMUNION

TEAM A: is scheduled to serve next weekend, July 31/Aug 1. Schedules are posted in the working sacristy and on our website. If you cannot serve when you are scheduled, please make arrangements for a substitute. If you do not have access to the website and would like to have the schedule sent to you, please contact the office.

We are always looking for altar servers. If your child would like to be an altar server, please contact the parish office or sign up on our website volunteer page or send an email to dsnellings@stedwardbowie.org.

The Catholic Standard is the weekly newspaper for the Archdiocese of Washington. Interested in a subscription? Call 202-281-2428 and indicate St. Edward’s as your parish.

GLUTEN-FREE HOLY COMMUNION The celebrant at Sunday Mass has a pyx with gluten-free Eucharist for communicants in his line. Request it upon receiving if you have gluten allergies. Option 2: arrange with priest to receive from the cup.

As you travel on vacation this summer, remember to visit www.masstimes.org for Mass times and locations around the country.

Extraordinary Ministers of the Eucharist bring Communion to the sick and shut-ins after Mass every Sunday. Call the Rectory Office at (301) 249-9199 to arrange this service. TV MASS FOR SHUT-INS Channel CW50 Sundays at 10:30 AM; Daily TV Mass on EWTN Cable Network too; Sunday Radio Mass at WBAL-AM 1090 at 9:30am or www.radiomass.org.

We have monthly Mass at Pin Oak, Larkin Chase, Woodward Estates; Evergreen/Willows Senior Residences on Thursdays

If you are looking for something different to do this Summer, check out the barbecue at St. Mary’s Barnesville next Saturday. We put the notice for it again in our bulletin. The church is nearby a park with a nice but very do-able hill to climb called Sugarloaf Mt. Park. It would be a nice thing to pair with the dinner outing. I have done it before.

Some parishes go into a quieter time for the Summer, while some others have some busyness. For St. Mary’s, this major fund-raiser requires a lot of parish volunteers in their down-time of Summer. I am impressed that they pull it off every time.

I call your attention again to our call for catechists for our Religious Education program.

As I ponder the large natural disaster going on in the Gulf of Mexico, I just can’t come up with words for it. It is such a problem. It is sad that the science for putting in the oil rigs and sucking oil up was not matched with the technology to clean up and fix any failures and problems that could develop. It just was not there. So often, scientific development does forget or ignore the problem of failure, accidents, and human error—and when introduced into society, may lack the necessary tools to deal with brokenness and solving vital issues. It is the reason not to rush with science, but to move with discernment and full reason and full consideration of the variables of any new progress.

A few summer seasons ago I went to a beach off the Gulf, and shared a happy day with some Texan friends. That beach today is nearly deserted, due to its unnatural state right now. Sad thing.

On a happy ending, we rejoice in the new children born into our parish families. We are glad for their baptisms. The baptisms here are done by our two deacons and myself, and we offer a class off and on for families with a newborn. It will be held today in a classroom right after the 11:30 Mass. While the clergy regularly teach this session and meet the parents, if you are also interested in the sacramental prep ministry that we do—then you can call me about it. One thing that we need to do is update our welcome video. We have been using a produced one from a Catholic company, but it is dated and it features non-Bowie figures in it. It would be neat to have it feature St. Edward parents and their comments.

We can learn a lot from crayons: some are sharp, some are pretty, some are dull, some have weird names, and all are different colors...but they all have to learn to live in the same box.

Last week’s Offertory collection amounted to $7522.03 The 194 identifiable contributors (24% of the parish) gave $6808.00 (91% of the total collection). The unidentifiable loose collection was $714.03. Additionally $515.00 was collected for the new building fund, and $19.00 for Archdiocesan collections.

The collection for the Church in Latin America is this weekend, July 24/25. Thank you. For Mass-goers who do not receive monthly envelopes, mark your extra donation as Latin-America collection.

CATECHIST NEEDED: The Parish Religious Education Program (CCD) is in need of several teachers for the upcoming year - specifically, Kindergarten, Level 3, Level 4 and Level 5 on Tuesday afternoons at 4:15 and Level 2 and Level 5 on Wednesday evenings at 6:30pm (the levels typically correspond to grade levels in school). Please consider being part of this wonderful and rewarding ministry. No experience is necessary, just a willingness to live the Gospel message by sharing your faith with the children of our parish. There is a teacher manual for each level to assist you in planning lessons and activities. There is also lots of help available through on-line resources and the Archdiocese. If you are interested in being a part of this rewarding ministry, please call Maureen Curtis at (301) 249-5473 or e-mail mcurtis@stedwardbowie.org. As soon as you call, we can meet and go over curriculums and answer any questions or concerns you might have.

All volunteers who work with children in the Archdioceses of Washington are required to have a background check and be fingerprinted. We would like to get this process started as soon as possible, so if you would like to volunteer and haven’t had this done within the Archdiocese, please call me soon so that we can get this started.

St. Mary’s in Barnesville, Md. cordially invites all to join in their 135^th annual Barbecued Chicken Dinner and Jousting Tournament on Saturday, July 31^st from Noon – 7pm. Full course dinners served inside are $12.00 for adults. Children 12 and under are free in the dining room. Carry out is also available. Good food is the focal point of the picnic. Outside, a snack bar serves sandwiches and drinks. There will be a Jousting Tournament, which is free to spectators from 1-3, craft booth, children’s games, baked good stand, a white elephant stand and other games of chance. St. Mary’s Church is

located at 18230 Barnesville Road in the sight of Sugarloaf Mountain in upper Montgomery County (I-270) to Route 109). Follow signs to Barnesville. For more information, call 301-972-8660.

Adults: What are my deepest needs? What keeps me from bringing these needs to God and asking God for help in meeting these needs?

Children: What can I do each day to improve the frequency and the quality of my prayer?

Catholic Days this week. Some saints and their memorial days and feasts to highlight for you.

Monday, July 26 – St. Anne and St. Joachim – Parents of the Blessed Virgin Mary; childless until old age, Anne promised to consecrate any child they may have to God. At a young age Mary went to live in the holy temple in Jerusalem. Christians have always been especially devoted to St. Anne. Many beautiful churches have been built in her honor.

Thursday, July 29 – St. Martha -Along with her sister Mary and brother Lazarus, Martha was a very close friend with Jesus. Martha’s great glory is her statement of faith when her brother died – “Lord, I have come to believe that You are the Messiah, the Son of God, Who is coming into the world.”(John 11:25-27)

Friday, July 30 – St. Peter Chrysologus – “Peter of the Golden Words” became Bishop of Ravenna, capital of the empire of the west. His weapons against paganism were his short sermons – full of moral applications and sound doctrine. He was declared a Doctor of the Church by Pope Benedict XIII.

Saturday, July 31 – St. Ignatius Loyola – Born of Spanish nobility; while convalescing from a battle injury, he read books on the life of Jesus and the lives of saints which touched him deeply. He founded the Jesuits. The Jesuits stated the Church in Maryland.

Join Fr. David Wathen, OFM, from the Franciscan Monastery in Washington, on a Pilgrimage to Lourdes, Parish, Nevers and Lisieux. Pilgrims will join in the celebrations for the Feast of Our Lady of Lourdes, will visit the places associated with St. Bernadette, will visit Paris and also Lisieux, the home of St. Therese, “The Little Flower.” For detailed information contact Fr. David. You may email: dwfm1400@hotmail.com or call Elizabeth Grinder at 301-740-9332 or lourdespilgrimageoffice@comcast.net.

Sarah’s aunt handed her the money for an abortion, along with a menacing warning: “Don’t come back until it’s done.” Sarah didn’t want an abortion, but she went to the clinic anyway. She felt that she had no other choice.

When she got there, the waiting room was so packed, the overwhelmed receptionist asked her to leave and come back in two hours. Outside, Sarah met a sidewalk counselor named George, who assured her that abortion was not her only choice and put her in touch with the Center for Pregnancy Concerns on St. Paul Street. They put her up in a hotel for a night while she started the intake process with two Gabriel Network staff members, Angela Greene and Joni Curl. One day later, Sarah moved into our Ellicott City Maternity Home. She did not go back to the abortion clinic.

Sarah chose life because generous donors to the Gabriel Project make sure that a maternity home was there for her. She chose life because you made sure that she would not be homeless and alone. She chose life because you made the reasons for abortion disappear!

This is what the Gabriel Network is about: empowering women to choose life. Empowering women to choose life over the disastrously misguided advice of others. Empowering women to choose life despite the apparent impossibility of it!

This past fiscal year – because of your generosity – Gabriel Network empowered almost 700 women to choose life! Our staff, Angel Friends and other volunteers helped hundreds of women with food, baby equipment, emergency shelter, rental assistance, scholarships, medical bills and other essential needs. More importantly, we provided a supportive, loving, Christian community where choosing life is valued and motherhood is nourished.

Perhaps our most remarkable achievement of the past year was doubling the capacity of our maternity homes so that we can house more women than ever in locations that are ideal for their success. By moving our Annapolis home to Bowie and our Sandy Spring home to Gaithersburg, and by merging with Sparrow House of Bel Air to open a new home in Baltimore, we now have a total of 24 beds in five homes throughout Maryland. St. Edward’s gives $1325 in pledges a year to this ministry. It comes from our regular Sunday collection.

‘Come and experience Healing and Anointing of the Holy Spirit from the power of the Word of God’, conducted by Br. Thomas Paul and Fr. Martin Kalamparambil, at Montgomery College, Glove Hall, 20200 Observation Drive, Germantown, MD 20876-4067 on Saturday, July 31^st and Sunday August 1^st from 9:00am to 6:-00pm. Healing Mass and confessions on both days. For more information, see the flier at the entrances or call 301-475-5704.