Order of Malta Moment
April 13, 2012
Federal Association Knight Named By Vatican to UN Mission
Ambassador Thomas P. Melady, GCMOb has been appointed to the Mission of the Holy See to the United Nations and will participate in the meetings of the Disarmament Commission in April and the Arms Trade Treaty negotiations in July. Ambassador Melady is Former US Ambassador to Burundi, Uganda and the Holy See and the former President of Sacred Heart University. He is currently Senior Diplomat in Residence at the Institute of World Politics.
Preparing for Lourdes: Medical Team Screening Helps Select Malades
Under a socially and spiritually enhanced screening experience, this year’s malade candidates received a brief foretaste of what is to come in the 2012 Lourdes pilgrimage. Held in late January, the screening took place at Baltimore’s Mercy Hospital.
Knights and Dames greeted the malade candidates and their families near the hospital entrance and escorted them through the winding halls to the screening suite, where more volunteers offered food, refreshment and fellowship. Father Tom Malia, a chaplain at Mercy, said Mass for the volunteers on Saturday and Sunday morning. In all, 14 volunteers supplemented the work of the 21-member Federal Association screening team of physicians and nurses.
Twenty-three malade candidates passed through the screening event at Mercy. The medical team interviewed another 29 by phone or coordinated local examinations. Of these candidates, about 40 were selected, together with family members and other companions, as the malades that the Federal Association will bring to Lourdes this year.
On Saturday, each malade candidate met with members of the medical team to tell the story of his or her affliction. The interviews tend to stick to the medical subject matter. “We’re very careful not to promise a cure,” said Dr. Harry W. Johnson, Jr. KM, chairman of the Lourdes Medical Committee. “But we do want to give spiritual hope.” On Sunday, the medical team discussed the medical issues for each candidate to determine which candidates would be invited on the pilgrimage.
The candidates generally are practicing Catholics, but the invitation to Lourdes is not limited to them. “There have been people who went on the trip who were not practicing and went back to the Faith afterwards,” he said. “We have had some people who have converted.”
The team gives priority to the urgency of the candidate’s illness and fitness for the Pilgrimage schedule. “We pick the most serious ones who are able to go,” Dr. Johnson said. “It’s a pretty physically demanding trip, and some people might not be able to tolerate the demands of the Pilgrimage.” - Jay Merwin, KM, Baltimore
Petitions to Our Lady of Lourdes
To be placed at the altar at Our Lady’s Grotto in Lourdes, France
Even if you can’t go to Lourdes, you can have petitions placed at our Lady’s shrine. Write your special intentions, fold it twice, and mail it before April 25, to the address at the attached link. Please do not email or fax your petitions.
Print your name and address clearly on the return section of your envelope. This will enable us to send an acknowledgment card from Lourdes the day that your petitions are delivered to the Grotto. You may fill out more than one form and place it in the same envelope. Your intentions will not be unfolded or read. Click here to access the form. - Wayne Ruth, KM, Baltimore
Grants Committee Applications Due
Grant applications are due April 16! Of particular interest to our Grants Committee this year are projects that are transformative to a program's ability to care for the poor and the sick.
Programs are required to affirm that their practices adhere to the tenets and teachings of the Roman Catholic Church. Preference is given to those projects in which members of the Order are personally involved as hands-on volunteers beyond service on boards or advisory committees. Applications that will receive matching funds will receive preference from the committee. For more information and applications contact Leif Carlson in the Federal Association Office or call 202-331-2494. - Rowena Morris, DM, Chair, Grants Committee
Novena to Our Lady of Lourdes: Week 7
Prayer for the Seventh Week
(See the March 2nd Order of Malta Moment for the Novena Prayer, and pray the prayers for weeks 5 and 6)
Our Lady of Lourdes, you who pray for sinners, pray for us! You who wept over our sins! Grant us true repentance for our faults. Help us to detest all that can wound the Heart of your Divine Son. Make our contrition perfect by a sincere resolution not to offend Him again. Give us that Christian force which does not hesitate before any sacrifice, in order to merit forgiveness of sins and the grace not to fall again. Refuge of sinners, pray for us.
Upcoming Events:
Apr 14 - Montgomery County, MD - Volunteers needed for the Easter Party for the teen mothers, children and babies at St. Ann's Infant & Maternity Home, 4901 Eastern Avenue Hyattsville, MD. Contact: Chrissy Page
Apr 17 - Baltimore - Volunteers needed for My Sister’s Place Women’s Shelter 3rd Tuesday Dinner 4-6:30 PM. Contact: Margie Counselman
Apr 18 NoVA - Defense of the Faith meeting with Robert Bartlett, SSG (Ret), a former malade on the Lourdes Pilgrimage, at the home of George and Carmen Egge, 4365 North 26th Street, Arlington, VA. Contact: Terry White
April 19-20 - Charlotte - Day of Formation for candidate class of 2013 and sponsors. Click here for details.
Apr 21 NoVA - Cherrydale Health and Rehab Center, 9 AM Mass at St. Agnes Church followed by service. Volunteers needed. Contact: Terry White
April 21 - Wash DC - Federal Association Day of Reflection - Washington Theological Union - 9:00 - 2:00. All members and candidates invited. Click here for RSVP form.
May 2-9 - Lourdes Pilgrimage.
May 4 - Syracuse - First Friday Mass and Breakfast at 7 AM. Contact: Margaret Martin
May 12 - Syracuse - Assumption Church Pancake Breakfast - Volunteers arrive by 7:30 AM. Contact: John Clark
May 17 - Baltimore - Volunteers needed for My Sister’s Place Women’s Shelter 3rd Tuesday Dinner 4-6:30 PM Contact: Margie Counselman
May 22 - Lancaster, PA - Defense of the Faith Series, “With Liberty and Justice for Some”, featuring Marie Hilliard, Ph.D., DM. Dr. Hilliard is Director of Bioethics and Public Policy at The National Catholic Bioethics Center. Mass 6:30, with lecture following at St. John Neumann Church. Contact: Pat Whalen
May 28 - Syracuse - Malta House Birthday Party; arrive by 2:30 PM. Contact: Kathy Mezzalingua
Jun 11 - Kansas City, MO - The St. James Place Steak and T-shirt Dinner for the hungry; contact Georgia Lynch for details.
Jun 16-17 - Annual Spring Retreat of the Federal Association; St. Mary's Seminary, Baltimore; Rev. Thomas Hurst, S.S., retreat director. Click here for RSVP form.
Jun 19 - Wash DC - St. John the Baptist Mass & Reception; St. Matthew's Cathedral; 6:30 PM; His Eminence Donald Cardinal Wuerl, celebrant. Contact: Joe Dempsey
Jun 19 - Baltimore - Volunteers needed for My Sister’s Place Women’s Shelter 3rd Tuesday Dinner 4-6:30 PM Contact: Margie Counselman
Jun 22 - Lancaster, PA - Federal Association's primary observance of the Feast of St. John the Baptist; Mass - St. Mary's Church, 6:00 PM; dinner at the Hamilton Club. Contact: Pat Whalen
Jun 23 - Columbus - Mass for the Feast of St. John the Baptist - 5pm @ St. John the Baptist Church. Contact: Charles Mifsud
Jun 24 - Kansas City, MO - St. John the Baptist Mass and Dinner - is scheduled at the home of Chuck and Jackie Sullivan. Contact Georgia Lynch for details.
Jun 24 - Dallas - Feast of St. John the Baptist Mass and Dinner with Bishop Farrell as celebrant 4 PM St. Monica Church, followed by dinner. Contact: Theresa Martter
Sovereign Military Hospitaller Order of St John of Jerusalem of Rhodes and of Malta
Federal Association, U.S.A.
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