3400 SE 43rd Avenue * Portland, OR 97206 * 503-777-1491 * www.sipdx.org

O c t o b e r 1 6 , 2 0 1 6

ST IGNATIUS CATHOLIC CHURCH

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What Is The Point Of Prayer?

Dear Parishioners:

Now that football season is in full swing, some quotes from notable coaches provide a bit of humor and wis-dom. Duffy Daugherty of Michigan State: “Football is not a contact sport, it is a collision sport. Dancing is a contact sport.” Or Lou Holtz from Notre Dame: “The player who complains about the way the ball bounces is likely to be the one who dropped it.” Or Shug Jordan of Auburn: “Always remember that Goliath was a 40 point favorite over David.” Or apropos today’s theme is Knute Rockne: “I’ve found that prayers work best when you have big players.”

Do you ever wonder why people pray? Sometimes it doesn’t seem to help, and at other times it does. I have prayed for many sick people. Some have recovered and returned to their healthy lives. More often they have stayed sick, gotten worse, and eventually died. I have no idea why some get well and others die. But I still pray, and so do you. Why?

There are lots of answers to that question. One of the reasons to pray is that it was part of early childhood learning. Remember “Now I lay me down to sleep, I pray the Lord my soul to keep. If I should die before I wake, I pray the Lord my soul to take.”

Another reason to pray is out of a sense of duty. Part of being a Christian is to ask God to bless others. But perhaps the main reason to pray is that you can’t help it. You want something to happen. With all your heart, you hope it will. That is prayer in its most spontaneous and genuine form.

Today’s Gospel gives an insight why Jesus prayed. He spoke of it as a necessity, not as something he ought to do, but as something he had to do. It was either that or give up. He told his disciples “a parable on the necessity of praying always and not losing heart.” Not losing heart. With him, the choice was just that clear. It was either prayer or despair. The point is, the same option confronts you and me.

There’s one thing that’s true about the human condition. Either God is with us, or we are alone. If God is with us, there is hope. Noth-ing we dream is too good to be true. But if we are alone, there is no hope. It is just us earthlings with our fragile strength pitted against the vast indifference of the universe. Atheists believe we are alone. Jesus thought that human meaning all hinged on prayer – where he met the divine Spirit.

I admire the courage of humanists who endure amazing hard-ships on their own. The accomplishments of the human mind astonish me, artists like Mozart and Picasso send chills down my spine, and medical progress makes me wonder what science will achieve in the next hundred years. But all the while, I know that we mortals have our limits. Science says that one day the sun will consume the earth. Will the great human drama cease to be? Leave out prayer, and that is an unthinkably discouraging thought. It means that everything depends on us, but that survival is beyond us.

On the other hand, prayer means that we have a dependable ally. That is what it meant to Jesus. His habit was always to pray. Oth-erwise it is safe to say that he could have lost heart. Think of the chal-lenges that confronted him. His religion branded him a heretic and ex-communicated him. His government called him a traitor and sentenced him to die. His friends turned their backs on him in his most desperate hour of need. Remember how he handled that? He went to a garden of olive trees and prayed. When all else failed, he turned to the one ally who would never let him down. Take away that option, and Jesus would have had nothing left but to lose heart and give up.

The same is true for you and me. Prayer is more than just a nice little religious exercise. When the chips are down and we don’t know what else to do, our instinct is to pray.

Today’s Readings:

Exodus 17:8-13

2 Timothy 3:14-4:2

Luke 18:1-8

Next Sunday’s Readings:

Sirach 35:12-14, 16-18

2 Timothy 4:6-8, 16-18

Luke 18:9-14

Preaching: Fr. John Ridgway, SJ

Mass Schedule

Saturday Vigil: 5:00 PM

Sunday: 8:00 AM & 10:30 AM

Sunday Contemplative: 7:30 PM

Daily: Monday - Friday 8:00 AM

Centering Prayer: Fr idays 7:00 AM

Anointing Mass: First Fr idays 8:00 AM

First Saturday Mass: 8:00 AM

Communion Service: Saturdays 8:00 AM

Reconciliation: Saturday 3:30-4:30 PM

or by appointment with a priest

*** www.sipdx.org *** October 16, 2016

Mass Intentions

Monday Oct 17 † Stacey Minkey

Tuesday Oct 18 † Katherine Putnam

Wednesday Oct 19 † Kathy Wepner Thursday Oct 20 † Ray Utz

Friday Oct 21 † Kenny Bibles

WelcomeWelcomeWelcomeWelcome to Our Parish

Kevin & Margaret Donofrio

Heidi Ruckwardt

We are so happy you are here! New to St. Ignatius Parish?

Register by dropping a “Welcome” card in the offering basket with your information, or

visit us online at http://www.sipdx.org/registration

As election season ap-proaches, gather with the St. Ignatius com-munity to explore Catholic social teach-ing and our experience as people of faith par-

ticipating in the political process. Parish Faith Formation leaders will facilitate the second of two interactive work-shops that present key themes from the USCCB’s Form-ing Consciences for Faithful Citizenship and invite par-ticipants to explore the focus area below: Oct. 16th from 12-3 PM: Forming my conscience in preparation for November elections. Join us at the Loyola Jesuit Center (3220 SE 43rd Ave). RSVP and learn more online: http://www.sipdx.org/faithful-citizenship or call 503.777.1491.

& the Common Good

St. Ignatius Parish Campout

Join the fun, friendship, and community at the St. Ig-natius Parish Campout. Where: Ft. Stevens State Park

When: July 31-Aug. 6, 2017

Cost: $185 for 6 nights

Send questions, requests, and completed forms to tgst3@comcast.net. Forms may also be turned in to the school office. Register by October 30th.

It’s then that you experience what Jesus relied on: you have an ally, and your ally’s name is God.

What is prayer? Prayer is awareness of God, engagement with God, abandonment to God. Prayer is as natu-ral as breathing, as spontaneous as wonder. Prayer holds your breath at the beauty of fall leaves, prayer breaks your heart at the pain of a child. Prayer begins when God’s Spirit lifts your mind and heart to pay attention to divine beau-ty revealed in creation. Or urges you to confront evil and redress injustice.

St. Ignatius taught his Jesuits that to be “contemplatives in action” means that prayer and life are not separate things. Ignatian spirituality wants to bring your nitty-gritty details of life to prayer, listening and looking for God’s presence at work in your daily life and the world around you.

This way of praying provides insight as you go about your daily routine at home, work, and play. Prayer helps ground your actions in love, justice, and the compassion of God. With this horizon of prayer, you are much more than what you do – you are a faithful companion co-laboring with the Risen Jesus to animate God’s reign. This sifting through the divine murmuring in our hearts is the prayer that Jesuits do daily called the “examen of conscious-ness.”

It is difficult to understand how you and I can persevere in prayer so that prayer becomes unceasing. One suggestion is the traditional prayer called “The Jesus Prayer.” You pray the phrase, “Lord Jesus, Son of the Living God” while inhaling a breath. And then you pray the phrase “have mercy on me” while exhaling.

In this form of prayer, inhale the sacred name of Jesus and exhale a plea for mercy. At first, begin by sitting quietly and concentrating on your breathing. When you are persistent, every breath will become a prayer and every moment of life – even while sleeping – an offering of praise.

Fr. Craig Boly, S.J.

“Care for Creation” Family Night

Ready for some family fun? Join in our next Family Night Sun-day, October 23rd for relay races, dinner and open gym, fun loops and other great activities. Sign up online to bring a soup or side dish and enjoy a great time with friends. Debbie from the nursery is available to entertain the youngest members of the family and Jody Chrisan-Gray leads our open gym activities. 4:30-7:00 pm in Dillon Hall.

Mt. Tabor Weed Warrior Event

Join the Weed Warrior effort at Mt. Tabor Park on Saturday, October 29 from 9 AM-12 PM. Details at http://www.solveoregon.org.

Visit www.EcoChallenge.org and Choose How You Will Care for Creation this Month!

Thanks to all our school families and our parishioners who sup-ported our jog-a-thon. This annual fundraiser helps support the school, and our students, staff, and parents always look forward to the event.

Last week we opened our parent portal for grades six, seven, and eight on School-Speak, our new student information system. This system allows our parents to log in and check their children’s progress online. Teachers update grades regularly and parents no longer need wait for notes or reports from their child’s teacher. This system will increase communication between the school and home regarding student progress.

Later this week our students and staff will participate, along with schools all across our state, in the Great Oregon Shakeout. Each year, the day serves as a reminder of the need for earthquake preparedness and gives us a chance to review our procedures in the event of a disaster. Our teachers address the issue at an age-

appropriate level with their students.

Wishing you a good weekend.

Monica O’Callaghan

Principal

Parish Off ice

503 -777 -1491

off ice@sipdx.org

Fr Craig Boly, SJ ext . 231

Pastor: cboly@sipdx.org

Fr John Ridgway, SJ

jridgway@sipdx.org ext-229

Pastoral Counci l

Kevin McKay co-Chair

kbmckay@me.com

Joyce Keane co-Chair

keanejm@earthlink.net

A full list of staff & council Members are located on

Our webpage at www.sipdx.org

Growing Together Nursery

Childcare is now available for children ages 6 months to 5 years for the 8:00AM and 10:30AM Masses and up to age 12 for other events. Please RSVP to Debbie Noonan at nurse-ry@sipdx.org no later than 48 hours before the event.

Mother & Chi ld

Be a part of Mother & Child's "Campaign for Change" to help in raising nearly 20% of Mother & Child's annual funding. We hope you will take a bottle to collect your spare change. Learn more about Mother & Child at www.momchildpdx.org. Bottles will be at all the entrances of the church, and can be returned to the Parish Center at any time, or left in a basket by Mary's altar after all weekend Masses, through Oct. 30th. Thank you for your gener-ous contribution in caring for the parents and children in our com-munity.

Mom’s Group Meetings

Sunday, Oct. 23rd, Nov. 6th and 20th, and Dec. 11th from 9:15-10:15AM in the Parish Dining Room. Come and find nourishment, support, and humor for your parenting role.

St. Ignatius Parish School

Women’s Club

Join the Women’s Club as we return to the Vine Gogh Art Studio on Mon-day, Oct. 24, at 6:30 pm. Local artists will offer step-by-step painting classes on canvas. Title of the painting is “Autumn Walk”. There is no need to be Michelangelo as no experience is necessary! This is art for the non-

artist. Cost is $35 for all art supplies. Carpooling is available. To reserve your ticket, please call Nancy (503-659-9473) or Sharon (503-775-1060) by Oct. 20th.

Pictoria l Directory Sign -up

It’s not too late! Sign up for your photo today. For hav-ing your photo taken, you will receive a free pictorial directory and 8x10. Register by calling Erin Walker at 503.777.1491 or online at www.sipdx.org/announcements.

Children’s Liturgy o f the Word

Families with Children ages 3-11, please register your child for Children’s Liturgy of the Word if they plan to attend this year. It’s important to have current contact information for informational and safety purposes. There are forms available in the back of the church or you can register online at our website www.sipdx.org. We are still in need of adult or youth assistants for Children’s Liturgy of the Word. The commitment is 1x/month during the 10:30 a.m. mass; no planning required. St. Ignatius School parents get FairShare hours and the time fulfills many high school service requirements for youth. Contact Beth at bschaller@sipdx.org.