St. Hugh of Grenoble Catholic Church 135 Crescent Road Greenbelt ...

St. Hugh of Grenoble Catholic Church
135 Crescent Road Greenbelt, MD 20770
Website: www.sthughs.com
PARISH STAFF
Rev. Walter J. Tappe, Pastor
Rev. R. Scott Hurd, Pastoral Associate
Mrs. Lucy Fuentes, Bookkeeper
Mrs. Giuliana Ravina, Parish Secretary
Mrs. Tiffani M. James, School Principal
Mrs. Nanette Cepko, School Secretary
Mrs. Ginger Feliciotti, School Receptionist
Mrs. Katherine Kramer, Religious Education
Mrs. Jennifer Goltz, Director of Music
Dr. Gerald Muller, Principal Organist
Mr. Hung Le, Plant Manager
PARISH OFFICE
135 Crescent Road
301-474-4322, Fax: 301-474-9263
Office Hours: 8:00 a.m. - 3:30 p.m.
PARISH SCHOOL
145 Crescent Road
301-474-4071, Fax: 301-474-3950
Office Hours: 7:00 a.m. - 3:30 p.m.
SCHOOL OF RELIGION (CCD)
301-474-0239
SUNDAY MASSES
Saturday Evening Vigil: 5:00 p.m.
Sunday: 8:00 a.m., 9:30 a.m., 11:00 a.m.
DAILY MASSES
Monday-Friday: 7:15 a.m.; Saturday: 9:00 a.m.
HOLY HOUR
First Fridays at 7:00 p.m.
SACRAMENT OF PENANCE
Saturday: 3:45 p.m. - 4:45 p.m.
SACRAMENT OF BAPTISM
The second Sunday of every month after the 11:00 a.m.
Mass. Call the rectory to make arrangements.
SACRAMENT OF MARRIAGE
By arrangement. Contact the pastor at least six months
before intended date of wedding.
NEW PARISHIONERS
Welcome! Please call or register at the parish office.

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Fourth Sunday in
Ordinary Time
February 1, 2009
Come, let us bow down in worship;
let us kneel before the LORD who
made us.
— Psalm 95:6
In observance of World Marriage Day on February
14, I would like to share with you the address that
Capuchin Franciscan Father Raniero Cantalamessa,
preacher of the Pontifical Household, delivered at the
6 th World Meeting of Families that took place in
Mexico City from January 14-18, 2009.
Father Cantalamessa’s address was entitled “Family
Relationships and Values According to the Bible.”
The address was divided into three parts. We will
look at Part 1 this week, and devote the next two
weeks to Parts 2 and 3 respectively.
********
I divide my address into three parts. In the first part I
will focus on God's initial plan for marriage and the
family and how it came about throughout the history
of Israel. In the second part I will speak about the
renewal brought by Christ and how it was interpreted
and lived in the Christian community of the New
Testament. In the third part I will try to consider what
biblical revelation can contribute to the solution of the
challenges that marriage and family life are facing
today.
I will focus on the foundation of the family, and
therefore marriage and the relationship within the
couple, because I believe the Bible always has a very
opportune message in this regard; it is more apropos
than in relation to the family as a social reality and
the relationships within a family. In this context the
Bible reflects a culture that is very different from
today's culture. In addition, we know that a good
relationship between the parents is the basic
requirement for a family to be able to develop an
educational role with their children. Many of the
dramatic situations young people suffer today are the
consequence of broken or dysfunctional families.
Part I Marriage and Family: The Divine Project and
Human Achievements in the Old Testament
1. The Divine Project
We know that the Book of Genesis has two different
accounts of the creation of the first human couple,
which go back to two different traditions: the Yahwist
(10th century B.C.) and the more recent (6th century
B.C.) called the “priestly” tradition.
In the priestly tradition (Genesis 1:26-28) man and
woman are created at the same time, not one from
the other. Being man and woman are related to being
an image of God: “God created mankind in his
image, in his image he created them, man and
woman he created them.” The primary purpose of the
union between man and woman is found in being
fruitful and filling the earth.
In the Yahwist tradition (Genesis 2:18-25) the woman
is taken from the man; the creation of the two sexes
is seen as a remedy for solitude: “It is not good that
man be alone; I will make him an adequate helper.”
The unitive factor is highlighted more than the
procreative: “The man will cling to his wife and the
two will be one flesh.” Each one is free with regard to
their own sexuality and to the other: “Both were
naked, the man and his wife, but they were not
embarrassed by each other.”
Neither of the two accounts references any
subordination of the woman to the man, before sin:
The two are on a level of absolute equality, although
it is the man who takes the initiative at least in the
Yahwist account.
I've found the most convincing explanation for this
divine “invention” of the difference between the sexes
not from a biblical scholar, but from a poet, Paul
Claudel: "Man is a proud being; there was no other
way to make him understand his neighbor except by
introducing him in the flesh. There was no other way
to make him understand dependence and need other
than through the law of another distinct being
(woman) over him, due to the simple fact that she
exists."
Opening oneself to the opposite sex is the first step
toward opening oneself to others, our neighbors, and

Page 3
to the Other with a capital O, which is God. Marriage
is born under the sign of humility; it is the recognition
of dependence and therefore of one's condition of
being a creature. Falling in love with a woman or a
man is the completion of the most radical act of
humility. It is becoming a beggar and telling the other
person, “I'm not enough for myself, I need your
being.” If, as (the German theologian)
Schleiermacher said, the essence of religion is the
“sense of dependence” on God, then human
sexuality is the first school of religion.
Thus far we have examined God's plan.
Nevertheless, the rest of the Bible's text cannot be
explained without also including the account of the
fall in addition to creation, above all what was said to
the woman: “I will greatly increase your pains in
childbearing; with pain you will give birth to children.
Your desire will be for your husband, and he will rule
over you.” (Genesis 3:16). The rule of the man over
the woman is part of man's sin, not of God's plan;
with those words God predicts it, he does not
approve it.
2. Historic accomplishments
The Bible is a human and a divine book, not just
because its authors are both God and man, but also
because it describes, weaved throughout the text,
both God's fidelity and man's infidelity. This is
especially evident when we compare God's plan over
marriage and family with the way it was put into
practice in the history of the Chosen People.
It is useful to be aware of the human deficiencies and
aberrations so that we're not too surprised by what
happens around us and also because it shows that
marriage and family are institutions that, at least in
practice, evolve over time, as any other aspect of
social and religious life. Following the book of
Genesis, the son of Cain, Lemek, violates the law of
monogamy taking two wives. Noah, with his family
appears as an exception in the middle of the general
corruption of his time. The very Patriarchs, Abraham
and Jacob have children with a number of women.
Moses authorizes the practice of divorce; David and
Solomon keep a veritable harem of women.
Nevertheless the deviations appear, as always, more
present at the higher levels of society, among the
leaders, than at the level of the people, where the
initial idea of monogamous marriage was likely the
norm, not the exception. In order to form an idea of
the relationships and family values that are held and
lived in Israel we can turn to the wisdom books:
Psalms, Proverbs and Sirach. These help us more
than the historical books (which deal precisely with
the leaders). They highlight marital fidelity, education
of offspring and respect for parents. This last value is
one of the Ten Commandments: “Honor your father
and mother.”
The deviation from the initial idea can be seen in the
underlying idea of marriage in Israel, even more than
in particular individual transgressions. The first great
deviation is that marriage changes from being an end
to being a means. Overall, the Old Testament
considers marriage to be a patriarchal structure of
authority, primarily driven to the perpetuation of the
clan. In this sense we must understand the
institutions of the levirate (Deuteronomy 25:5-10),
concubinage (Genesis 16), and provisional
polygamy. The ideal of a communion of life between
man and woman, founded on a reciprocal and
personal relationship, is not forgotten, but becomes
less important than the good of the offspring.
The second great deviation refers to the condition of
women: She goes from being a companion of man,
gifted with equal dignity, to appearing more and more
subordinated to man and serving a function for man.
This can be seen even in the famous eulogy of a
woman in the Book of Proverbs: “Who can find a
virtuous woman? For her price is far above rubies ...”
(Proverbs 31:10) It is a eulogy of woman made
completely in terms of man's needs. Its conclusion is:
Happy the man that possesses such a woman! She
weaves him beautiful clothes, honors his house, she
allows him to walk with his head held high among his
friends. I don't think that women today would be very
excited about this eulogy.
The prophets played an important role by shedding
light on God's initial plan for marriage, especially
Hosea, Isaiah and Jeremiah. They posited the union
of man and woman as a symbol of the covenant
between God and his people. As a result of this, they
once again shed light on the values of mutual love,
fidelity and indissolubility that characterize God's love
for Israel. All the phases and sufferings of spousal
love are described and used in this regard: the
beauty of love in the early stage of courtship (cf.
Jeremiah 2:2), the fullness of joy on the wedding day
(cf. Isaiah 62:5), the drama of separation (cf. Hosea
2:4) and finally the rebirth, full of hope, of the old
bond (cf. Hosea 2:16, Isaiah 54:8).
Malachi shows the positive effect that the prophetic
message could have on human marriage, and
especially, on the condition of women. He writes:

Page 4
“The Lord is acting as the witness between you and
the wife of your youth, because you have broken faith
with her, though she is your partner, the wife of your
marriage covenant. Has not the Lord made them
one? In flesh and spirit they are his. And why one?
Because he was seeking godly offspring. So guard
yourself in your spirit, and do not break faith with the
wife of your youth” (Malachi 2:14-15).
We have to read the Song of Songs in the light of this
prophetic tradition. This represents a rebirth of the
vision of marriage as eros, as attraction of the man to
the woman (in this case, also of the woman to the
man); it presents the oldest account of creation.
On the other hand, certain modern exegesis is
mistaken when it tries to interpret the Song of Songs
exclusively in terms of human love between a man
and a woman. The author of Songs writes from within
the religious history of his people, where human love
was assumed by the prophets to be a metaphor for
the covenant between God and his people. Hosea
turned his own marital situation into a metaphor for
the relations between God and Israel. How could we
imagine that the author of Songs would leave all of
that behind? The mystical interpretation of Songs,
beloved in the tradition of Israel and the Church, is
not a later imposition, but rather it is in some way
implicit in the text. Far from detracting from human
love, it confers upon it new beauty and splendor.
********
Thanks to all those who participated in last week’s
postcard campaign to let our congressional
representatives know about our opposition to the
Freedom of Choice Act (FOCA) that would establish
a person’s recourse to abortion for any reason as a
fundamental human right. If you still wish to
participate in this campaign, there are additional
postcards at the rectory.
In light of this compaign, it might be helpful to clarify
the Church’s teaching on abortion, which is based
upon what is called the natural law—the universal
sense of right and wrong that is accessible to every
person of good will regardless of religious belief. I
quote from Archbishop Wuerl’s catechism, The
Teaching of Christ:
“Christ’s law concerning attacks on human life has
been proclaimed most fully by the Church on the
subject of abortion. The victims of abortion are clearly
innocent and are particularly helpless.
“Though the reasons that prompt people to kill the
unborn are not always negligible, the insufficiency of
the reasons is usually clear. A desire to escape
burdens, for example, or to maintain a higher
standard of living, is understandable, but it clearly is
not reasonable to kill for that. No one who wishes to
act according to the mind of God could fail to discern
the contempt for a basic human value, the lack of
love of neighbor, and the glaring lack of justice that
are involved here.
“It sometimes happens that two lives seems to be at
stake, the life of a mother and the life of her unborn
child. How is one to act in such situations? Pope Pius
XII treated this question in some detail:
‘Any direct attempt on an innocent human life as a
means to an end—in this case to the end of saving
another human life—is unlawful. Any direct deliberate
attack on innocent human life, in whatsoever
condition it is found from the very first moment of its
existence, is wrong. This principle holds good both
for the life of the child and for that of the mother.
Never and in no case has the Church taught that the
life of the child must be preferred to that of the
mother…No, neither the life of the mother nor that of
the child can be subjected to an act of direct
suppression. In the one case as in the other, there
can be but one obligation: to make every effort to
save the lives of both…
‘Deliberately, we have always used the expression
“direct attempt on the life of the innocent person”,
“direct killing”; because if, for example, the saving of
the life of the mother-to-be, independently of her
pregnant condition, should have as an accessory
consequence, in no way desired or intended, but
inevitable, the death of the fetus, such an act could
no longer be called a direct attempt on an innocent
life. Under these conditions the operation can be
lawful, like other similar medical interventions,
granted always that another good of high worth is
concerned, such as life, and that it is not possible to
postpone the operation until after the birth of the
child, nor to have recourse to other efficacious
remedies.’ (Address to the Family Associations,
November, 1951)
“Such an operation, then, can be a morally good act.
It is aimed entirely at saving life, and is in no way
directed against innocent life. The death of the
unborn is neither desired nor intended.
“Here the lines are fine drawn. But they are drawn
precisely where the Christian conscience has always
drawn them, and in a way that rings true for all who
have reverence for every kind of basic value. They

Page 5
are not determined by a weighing and calculating in
an effort to ‘justify’ a direct attack on human life for a
‘sufficient’ reason can only be a cloak for
arbitrariness. Clearly it is not enough to have good
intentions. What is needed is a resolute will to honor
God by respecting the basic forms of human
goodness whenever we are confronted with a direct
choice to do so or not.”
Have a great week!
Father Tappe
Parish News
First Friday Holy Hour
Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament will take place
Friday, February 6 th from 7:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m.
Come and “watch an hour” with our Lord.
First Saturday Devotion
Devotions in honor of Our Lady of Fatima will be held
Saturday, February 7 th after the 9:00 a.m. Mass.
Rosary for Life
Knights of Columbus invite parishioners to pray the
rosary after 5:00p.m. Mass Saturday, February 14 th .
The special intention calls for society to recognize the
preborn child from the moment of conception – our
meditations were written by Priests for Life.
Father Hurd in Theology on
Tap
Our own Father Hurd, as part of the Archdiocese of
Washington’s Theology on Tap Program, will share
the story of how God led him from the Episcopal
Church to embrace the fullness of the faith in the
Catholic Church. Fr. Hurd’s talk is scheduled for
Tuesday, February, 17, at James Hoban’s Irish
Restaurant and Bar, 1 Dupont Circle, NW,
Washington, DC 20036. Happy Hour begins at 6:00
p.m., and Fr. Hurd’s talk will begin at 7:00 p.m. More
information in Theology on Tap, which is geared for
young adults in their 20’s and 30’s, is available at
www.adw.org.
CYO News
If you want your runner, jumper, or thrower to
participate on our team, please register your child
(see below). Outdoor season runs from March 1 -
May 16.
• Registration deadline is February 20,
2009
• First practice is tentatively set for
February 24, 5:15-6:30pm at St. Hugh's
School. Parents are encouraged to
attend.
To register, please complete the online registration
form on the CYO website at www.washcyo.com:
1. Click on CYO Online Registration/Forms
2. Click on Players (to register participants)
3. Follow the instructions to register or update
information (revise current grade). If your
child is already registered for a sport this
school year, just print out a copy of the form,
sign, and pay the fee.
4. The cost is $50 per athlete, if a parent
volunteered at Labor Day Bingo. For all
others, the cost is $100.
5. Return a signed printout of the form and
check payable to " St.Hugh's CYO " to head
coach Karen Spruill via kidmail: c/o Cameron
Spruill (6 th Grade), or mail to St. Hugh's.
Contact Coach Karen at (202) 262-7605 or
karenmspruill@yahoo.com if you have questions or
need more information.
CYO Softball: Anyone interested in coaching Girls’
Softball should contact Alden Lewis, Athletic Director,
at alcoach@comcast.net.
If you need information about CYO or are
interesting in volunteering, please contact Terri
Weber at (301)262-2544 or terweb95@verizon.net.
Outreach to University of
Maryland Students
On Wednesday March 4, the Sodality of Our Lady
will lead a parish-wide outreach to the members of
the University of Maryland Catholic Student Center.
Our church will prepare and serve a home cooked
meal for Catholic students to share after their 5:30
pm Mass, and we expect to feed over 100 students.
This year's menu will include baked ham, baked
potatoes, broccoli casserole, corn pudding, peaches
and homemade desserts. Each person who is willing
to help will take a recipe home in advance, prepare
the dish on the day of the event, and bring it hot to
St. Hugh's between 4 and 4:25 pm on March 4. The
hot food will then be transported to the Catholic
Student Center, where it will be set out and served.
Please help us provide fellowship and a taste of
home for the students! If you are able to help out and
cook, transport or serve, please call Suzanne Lomax
at 301-441-3670.

Page 6
St. Hugh’s Sodality
White Elephant Sale, Bake Sale & Coffee Social
March 15, 2009. We would greatly appreciate
Volunteers and Donations for this annual event.
Contact Barbara Ford (301)441-8241, Peggy
Compton (301)345-7666 or JoAnn McCarthy (301)
474-8946. Donation Drop-Off Date: Saturday March
14, 2009 between 9:00am – 1:00pm
Christmas Bazaar
A hearty thanks from the parish to all who helped to
make our 2008 St. Hugh's Christmas Bazaar such a
success. Thanks to the members of the Bazaar
Committee who did all the planning: Ginger Felliciotti,
Rita Radich, Barbara Ford, Patty Moore, Kathy
Schieck, Sharon Miller, Eileen Connolly, JoAnn
McCarthy, Bridget McDermott, Solange Hess, and
Shirley Donkis. Thanks to the adult volunteers who
assisted the Committee: Marie Christy, Mame Ellis,
Ann Moriarty, Peggy Rooney, Anne marques, Yshiko
Waldner, Cathy Holcombe, Ela Cameron, Terri
Weber, Marti Galvin, Becky Bailey, Maggie Cornett,
Henrietta Stattel, Marguerite Kincius, Karen Lannon,
Jean Chamberlain, Paul Javier, Carmen Pickens,
Veronica Penick, Ray Turek, Anastasie Beyegue,
Jeanette Holman, Bernadette Ouaorah, Beatrice
Banning, Ellen Hanyok, JoAnn Kelleher, Blanche
Rumbold and Mike Feliciotti. Thanks to the student
volunteers who also assisted: Celsiane Cornett,
Bridget Cornett, Joe Capotosto, Florianne Beyegue,
Mark Bailey, Robert Bailey, Nigel Cameron, and
Leslie Cameron. The Bazaar and Raffle together
raised $7664.32 for the parish.
Income Tax Information
The parish will be happy to provide an official 2008
statement of contributions for all those who need it,
but to prevent needless preparation of statements for
all parishioners, we are asking those who need them
to fill in the form below and drop it in the collection.
Statements cover all contributions, which are
identifiable (made through the envelope system).
Name
__________________________________________
Address
__________________________________________
Envelope #
__________________________________________
Pray for the Sick
Please pray especially for Ray Turek, John Solari,
Miles Davis, Dianne Morao and Megan Clarke. To
add a name to the sick list, please call the rectory.
Names remain on the list for a month.
Pray for our Troops
Please pray especially for Michael Smith, James
Hall, Christopher Pfaffman, Jake Gigliotti, Erin
Barcus, Matthew Dwyer, Anthony (Tj) Hose, Anthony
Ladnier and Steven P. Stratchko Jr. To add a name
to the list or to remove a name, please call the
rectory.
From the Principal’s Office
It was a pleasure speaking to you last week! Don't
forget to check the Catholic Standard for a picture
of our students delivering baked goodies to our local
community servants! The picture and information
about our community involvement is included in the
article, “Catholic Schools Reach Out in Service to
Their Communities.” The sixth and seventh grade
students did such a wonderful job with this project.
They have really made our school shine in our local
community! Our community truly values these
individuals. Please join our students in praying for the
health and safety of all our service men and women.
In His service,
Mrs. James
GIANT, SAFEWAY and TARGET
Remember to select St. Hugh as your school of
choice at Giant, Safeway, and Target. Our Giant
code is 00558. This is a quick and easy way to raise
funds for our school! Register today!
Box Tops for Education
Our school is still collecting “Box Tops for Education.”
These labels are on many food items. We only
accept Box Tops for Education labels. We do not
accept Betty Crocker points or Campbell’s Soup
labels. You can drop your box tops in the box set up
in the back near the school bulletin board. Thank
you!

Page 7
From the Director of
Religious Education
Saint of the Week
Josephine Bakhita, February 8
Saint Josephine was a young Sudanese girl sold into
slavery and brought to Italy where, while serving as a
nanny, she was sent to live with the Canossian
Sisters of the Institute of the Catechumens in Venice.
There she was baptized, and, having reached
majority age, was granted her freedom by Italian law.
In 1896 she joined the Canossian Daughters of
Charity where she served humbly for the next twenty
five years. She died after a long and painful illness,
during which she would cry out to the Lord: "Please
loosen the chains... they are so heavy!" Her dying
words were "Our Lady! Our Lady!"
For many years, Josephine Bakhita was a slave, but
her spirit was always free and eventually that spirit
prevailed. Born in Olgossa in the Darfur region of
southern Sudan, Josephine was kidnapped at the
age of seven, sold into slavery and given the name
Bakhita, which means fortunate. She was resold
several times, finally in 1883 to Callisto Legnani,
Italian consul in Khartoum, Sudan.
Two years later he took Josephine to Italy and gave
her to his friend Augusto Michieli. Soon Bakhita
became babysitter to Mimmina Michieli, whom she
accompanied to Venice's Institute of the
Catechumens, run by the Canossian Sisters. While
Mimmina was being instructed, Josephine felt drawn
to the Catholic Church. She was baptized and
confirmed in 1890, taking the name Josephine.
When the Michielis returned from Africa and wanted
to take Mimmina and Josephine back with them, the
future saint refused to go. During the ensuing court
case, the Canossian sisters and the patriarch of
Venice intervened on Josephine's behalf. The judge
concluded that since slavery was illegal in Italy, she
had actually been free since 1885.
Josephine entered the Institute of Saint Magdalene of
Canossa in 1893 and made her profession three
years later. In 1902, she was transferred to the city of
Schio (northeast of Verona), where she assisted her
religious community through cooking, sewing,
embroidery and welcoming visitors at the door. She
soon became well loved by the children attending the
sisters' school and the local citizens. She once said,
"Be good, love the Lord, pray for those who do not
know Him. What a great grace it is to know God!"
The first steps toward her beatification began in
1959. She was beatified in 1992 and canonized eight
years later.
New Parishioners
We ask that everyone in the parish be properly
registered. Registering and using offertory envelopes
enables us to maintain current records of those who
are actively attending and supporting the church.
This information is required in order to have children
baptized, to be married in the parish, to receive
letters of testimony so that you can stand as a
sponsor for Baptism or Confirmation and to receive
parish mailings. If you are not registered, please see
a greeter after Mass to begin the registration
process. Thanks.
READINGS FOR THE WEEK
Monday: Mal 3:1-4; Ps 24; Heb 2:14-18;
Lk 2:22-40 [22-32]
Tuesday: Heb 12:1-4; Mk 5:21-43
Wednesday: Heb 12:4-7, 11-15; Mk 6:1-6
Thursday: Heb 12:18-19, 21-24; Mk 6:7-13
Friday: Heb 13:1-8; Mk 6:14-29
Saturday: Heb 13:15-17, 20-21; Mk 6:30-34
Sunday: Jb 7:1-4, 6-7; Ps 147; 1 Cor 9:16-19,
22-23; Mk 1:29-39
Week of Feb. 2- Feb. 8
Monday 7:15 a.m. Intention of Gloria Wilson
Tuesday 7:15 a.m. Vira McKinney
Wednesday 7:15 a.m. Joseph Eckenrode
Thursday 7:15 a.m. Dorothy M. Moulton
Friday 7:15 a.m. Int. of Marie-Noel Wambo
Saturday 9:00 a.m. Int. of Roger Lynn & Alixis
Stattel
5:00 p.m. Intention of Parish
Sunday 8:00 a.m. Alex Banning
9:30 a.m. Special Intention
11:00 a.m. George & Helen Kingston