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A Message from Your Steering Committee A lovely event for our January meeting was hosted by our Sodalist, Donna

Vaccarezza, and her non-profit organization, Fairytale Brides... net pro-

ceeds from all sales are donated to charitable organizations supporting

women’s empowerment programs. We heard from a recent scholarship

participant who benefited from this program. Beautiful donated gowns were

modeled by volunteers of this charitable organization. Take a look at a few

photos from this "gorgeous" event! Thank you, Donna!

TO JESUS THROUGH MARY

The women of St. Elizabeth Sodality are bound together by our faith and prayers,

and by our collective acts of love and charity. Imitating Mary, the Mother of God,

we become servants of the Lord, serving each other, our parish family, and our

community.

SAINT ELIZABETH SODALITY

NEWSLETTER FEBRUARY 2018

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LETTER FROM OUR PREFECT

February 2018

Dear Sodalists,

This month I have found so much information about St. John Paul and Di-

vine Mercy that I had difficulty condensing it to letter-length. The Great Mer-cy Pope believed that because of the evils of the world, God had entrusted the message of Divine Mercy to him. Pope Benedict XVI said, “In our time, hu-

manity needs a strong proclamation of God’s mercy. John Paul II, a great apostle of Divine Mercy, prophetically intuited this urgent pastoral

need.” Pope Francis tells us, “Listen to the voice of the Spirit that speaks to the whole Church in this our time, which is, in fact, a time of mercy. Pope

John Paul II had the intuition that this was the time of mercy.”

In 1959, Pope John XXIII had issued a ban on devotion to Divine Mercy and

to Sister Faustina. This actually was a temporary halt to the devotion pend-ing a more thorough Church investigation. Of course, at the time Poland was

under communist rule, which greatly impeded further investigation.

As a young man in his nature Poland, Karol Wojtyla was deeply moved by Sister Faustina’s Divine Mercy message. While secretly preparing for the priesthood, he often stopped by her community’s chapel as he returned to the

seminary after work. Father Wojtyla maintained his devotion to Divine Mercy after his ordination and as he rose in the Church. In October 1965, Arch-bishop Wojtyla wrote in his journal, “This matter (Faustina’s beatification) is

foremost on my mind.” After being bombarded with requests about Faustina from the Polish people and checking with the Vatican’s Holy Office, he began

the informative process for the beatification of the Servant of God, Faustina Kowalska. These years of the informative process led to a greater under-

standing of Faustina’s message and a lifting of the ban in 1978.

John Paul said that he felt very near to and was deeply influenced by Fausti-

na, “a gift of God for our time.” He had been thinking about Faustina for a long time when he wrote his second encyclical, Dives in Misericordia (Rich in

Mercy) in November 1980. In it he defines mercy as “love’s second name.” In the last chapter of the encyclical he stresses the importance of calling out for

God’s mercy even with loud cries.

In 1993, John Paul beatified Faustina. At that time, he said, “it is truly mar-

velous how Faustina’s devotion to the merciful Jesus is spreading in our con-temporary world and gaining so many hearts! Where, if not in the Divine

Mercy, can the world find refuge and the light of hope?”

Pope John Paul II canonized St. Faustina on the second Sunday of Easter in 2000, the Great Jubilee Year of the Incarnation. She was the first saint named in the new millennium. He wanted all people to understand her con-

soling words of light and hope, “Jesus, I trust in you.” In that homily, he also

S A I N T E L I Z A B E T H S O D A L I T Y

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LETTER FROM OUR PREFECT told us that the second Sunday of Easter would from then on throughout the

Church be Divine Mercy Sunday.

In 2002, on his final trip to his homeland, he dedicated the Shine of Divine Mercy in Krakow – Lagiewniki. This shrine is at the place where he had so often visited when he first learned of Faustina. During this trip he entrusted

the whole world to Divine Mercy. Quoting Faustina, he said, there must go

forth “the spark which will prepare the world for the Lord’s final coming.

His homily on this occasion inspired Cardinal Shonborn of Vienna to organize

the World Apostolic Congresses of Mercy attended by dozens of cardinals and bishops. Pope Benedict XVI called the dedication homily a synthesis of John Paul’s entire papal teaching, which showed that devotion to Divine Mercy is

an integral dimension of Christian life and prayer.

John Paul died on Saturday, April 2, 2005, the vigil of Divine Mercy Sun-day. He already had written his message for that Sunday and an archbishop read it to the people assembled in St. Peter’s Square. In his final message,

the Great Mercy Pope said that Divine Mercy is “a gift to humanity, which sometimes seems bewildered and overwhelmed by the power of evil, selfish-

ness and fear… How much the world needs to understand and accept Divine

Mercy.”

In conclusion, I’d like to share with you words from John Paul’s 1982 homily in Fatima. At that time, he made clear the connection between Marian conse-

cration and Divine Mercy. He said that the whole meaning of Marian conse-cration is to allow Mary to bring us to the pierced side of Jesus, the Fountain

of Mercy. Mary’s role is to help us graduate from “God’s school trust” to help us understand, believe in, and accept God’s love and mercy for us. Mary is

the one to bring us to Divine Mercy.

To Jesus through Mary,

Lynn Hill

S A I N T E L I Z A B E T H S O D A L I T Y

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February Meeting Please join St. Elizabeth Sodality on Wednesday, February 21st as we make Rosaries for our parish (no experience needed!) We will pray the Rosary at

7:30pm in the Church and move to the Commons to bead rosaries and enjoy re-freshments.

Questions contact Linda Kriz at lckriz19@gmail.com

Apostolic Committee February Update

SOME 2018 Empty Bowls Event

Please join us at the SOME Empty Bowls Event, which is SOME’s annual event host-ed in partnership with the Corcoran School of the Arts and Design and local potters to

support SOME’s meal programs. Guests select and take home a beautiful handmade bowl crafted by local artists, and enjoy a supper of soup, bread and dessert donated

by local restaurants. The proceeds from the event help SOME continue to provide

more than 1,000 meals each day to hungry and homeless District residents.

The event will be on Tuesday, March 13, 2018 from 6:00-8:00pm at The Shrine of the Most Blessed Sacrament, which is located at 3630 Quesada Street, NW, Washington,

DC. Tickets are $25.00 and can be purchased online at https://some.org/events/

empty-bowls/ .

For more information, please contact Rebecca Potts-Dupre at 202.797.8806, ext.

1131 or at rpotts-dupre@some.org.

S A I N T E L I Z A B E T H S O D A L I T Y

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S A I N T E L I Z A B E T H S O D A L I T Y

2017 – 2018 Sodality Calendar

Meetings begin with Recitation of Rosary October 11: Opening Mass followed by a wine tasting social and a wine basket raffle. Sodality celebrates 20 years! Contacts: Ronnie Heller and Alane Musselman November 8: Home decorating for the holidays. Demonstration and Holiday themed craft project. Contacts: Barbara Hanrahan; Roberta Mancini December 13: Annual Christmas Party with outreach activity for Rainbow Place shelter for women. Contact: Alane Musselman Also our annual gift collection for St. Joseph’s House, serving children and teens with intellectual and developmental disabilities. Contact: Therese Brendler and Mary Ellen Blumberg January 10: Fairytale Brides on a Shoestring, a non-profit bridal shop with net proceeds donated to charitable organizations supporting women’s empowerment programs will offer a presentation about their charitable recipients and host a display of several designer gowns and a light reception. Contact: Donna Vaccarezza February 21: Rosary making project – Rosaries to be donated to parish communities.Contacts: Linda Kriz and Ronnie Heller March 14: Sodality Movie Night. Popcorn provided! Deb Anderson April 7: Daytime Retreat/Presentation by our Associate Pastor, Father Chip Luckett on the Psalms. More details to come! May: Rosary and closing Mass, which will include installation of new officers and consecration of Sodalists. A potluck dinner will follow. Ronda Earenfight Other Sodality Activities and Outreach: May: Baby Bottle Drive for Rockville Pregnancy Center Weekly Prayer Group Meetings: Tuesday at 10:45 AM; Prayers offered for Intentions posted in Sodality Book Holy Hour: First Wednesday of each month 7:00 – 8:00 PM

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SODALITY CONTACTS 2017-2018

S A I N T E L I Z A B E T H S O D A L I T Y

TITLE NAME EMAIL PHONE

Moderator Father Chip Luckett cluckett@stelizabethchuchmd.org 301-881-1380

Prefect

Lynn Hill lynnhill556@gmail.com 301-330-1289

STEERING COM-MITTEE Co-Chairs: Members:

Carmen Boston Valerie Veise Deb Anderson Therese Brendler Ronda Earenfight Barbara Hanrahan Ronnie Heller Linda Kriz Roberta Mancini Alane Musselman Donna Vaccarezza

carmenboston403@gmail.com vtveise@gmail.com rdfineran@verizon.net tgbrendler@gmail.com rondarichard@yahoo.com hanner22@aol.com helrj30@gmail.com lckriz19@gmail.com rmancini4000@hotmail.com alaneandbob@gmail.com vadona@aol.com

301-984-3934 301-330-1343 301-642-0726 240-605-3364 240-672-2290 301-881-4172 301-230-2044 240-401-1965 440-263-0137 301-580-1912 301-742-9623

Treasurer Teresa Whirang Cho chorang1@gmail.com 301-814-4390

Secretary Judy Clavelli judyclavelli@yahoo.com 301-251-0768

Spirituality Marlana Ottinger mso912@aol.com 301-523-0735

Spiritual Bouquets Judy Clavelli judyclavelli@yahoo.com 301-251-0768

Adoration Dee Callegari Lynn Hill

deemont@hotmail.com lynnhill556@gmail.com

301-412-8700 301-330-1289

Membership Marion Adineh meadineh@verizon.net 301-230-2639

Apostolic Therese Brendler Mary Ellen Blumberg

tgbrendler@gmail.com ladeda871@comcast.net

240-605-3364 301-670-6920

Publicity Dee Callegari Becky Hutton

deemont@hotmail.com linushutton@aol.com

301-412-8700 301-704-4143

Mary’s Helpers Deb Anderson Donna Vaccarezza

rdfineran@verizon.net vadona@aol.com

301-642-0726 301-742-9623

Prayer Group

Linda Kriz Ronnie Heller

lckriz19@gmail.com helrj30@gmail.com

240-401-1965 301-230-2044