Saint Agnes Catholic Church Arlington, Virginia
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“Whoever drinks the water I shall give will never thirst;
the water I shall give will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”
T h i r d S u n d a y o f L e n t
P a r i s h I n f o r m a t i o n
Parish Clergy Pastor: Rev. Frederick H. Edlefsen
Parochial Vicar: Rev. Scott Sina
In residence: Rev. Cedric M. Wilson, O.S.A.
Parish Office 1910 N. Randolph Street • Arlington, VA 22207-3046
Office Hours: M-F 8:00 am – 4:00 pm
Phone: 703-525-1166 • Fax: 703-243-2840
Website: www.saintagnes.org
Parish Office Personnel
Inquiries: [email protected]
Business Manager: VitoriaVargas ([email protected])
Director of Outreach and Communications: Suzanne Rogers
Operations and Maintenance Manager: Eugene Boado
Program Coordinator, Protection of Children: Joan Biehler
Coordinator of Adoration, Security & Logistics: Michael Sirotniak
Accounting: Ligia Santos ([email protected])
Administrative Assistant: ([email protected])
Ministry and Communications Assistant: Loree Lopez
Religious Education Office Director (DFF): Marie Macnamara ([email protected])
Phone: 703-527-1129
Youth and Young Adult Ministry Youth and Young Adults Coordinator: Mackenzie Jardell
([email protected]) Phone: 703-527-1129
Liturgical Music Director of Music: Katrina Keat ([email protected])
Director, Saint Agnes Ensemble: Richard Lolich
School 2024 N. Randolph Street • Arlington, VA 22207-3031
Phone: 703-527-5423 • Fax 703-525-4689
Principal: Jennifer Kuzdzal ([email protected])
Assistant Principal: Ann Reid ([email protected])
Liturgy at Saint Agnes Sunday Mass
Saturday: 5:00 pm (Vigil) Sunday: 7:30 am, 9:00 am, 10:30 am (High Mass), 12:00 pm
Weekday Mass Monday – Friday: 6:30 am, 9:00 am (Rosary after 9:00 am Mass)
Saturday: 7:30 am, 9:00 am (Rosary after 9:00 am Mass)
Monday: 7:00 pm (in Spanish)
Sacrament of Penance Wednesdays: 6:30 - 8:00 pm - “The Light is ON”
Fridays: 7:00 pm - Until the Line Runs Out
Saturday 8:00 am-9:00 am; 3:00 pm–4:00 pm or by appointment
Stations of the Cross Fridays: 7:30 pm - Throughout Lent
This Week’s Mass Intentions
March Third Week of Lent
M 16 Third Monday of Lent
6:30 am Slane Family (Finneran Family)
9:00 am The Bilaniuk Family (Chase Family)
T 17 Saint Patrick, Bishop
6:30 am Patrick Connolly (Andrew & Sara Sullivan)
9:00 am Edward Scheuring (Robert & Edna Gorman)
W 18 Saint Cyril of Jeruselam, Bishop, Doctor of
the Church
6:30 am Robert & Virginia Scheifley (Haubert Family)
9:00 am Anna M. Huber (Holly George)
Th 19
Saint Joseph, Spouse of the Blessed Virgin
Mary
6:30 am Edward Heger (Herndon Family)
9:00 am Arthur W. O’Connor, Jr. Joan Harpole)
F 20 Third Friday of Lent
6:30 am Susana Bortell
9:00 am Scheifley Family (Carmen Guardia)
Sa 21 Third Saturday of Lent
7:30 am Conceciao Barros (Gloria Laranjeira)
9:00 am Elizabeth Gionet (Claudette Lester)
Vigil Fourth Sunday of Lent
5:00 pm Joann Rita Inglisa (Loree Lopez)
Su 22 Fourth Sunday of Lent
7:30 am Andriko Bilaniuk (Sloniewsky Family)
9:00 am Monica E. Stabile (Chase Family)
10:30 am Pastor’s Intention: For All Parishioners
12:00 pm Martina Barros (Maria Laranjeira) indicates person is deceased
Sunday Mass Readings:
Third Sunday of Lent GN 17:3-7; PS 95:1-2, 6-9
ROM 5:1-2, 5-8; JN 4:5-42
Jesus hung dying on the Cross. Bloodied and
parched. He cried out, “I thirst!” He thirsted
not for water. But for our presence with him in
Heaven. He thirsted not with his tongue, but
with his Heart.
When Jesus sat by Jacob’s well, he said to a
Samaritan woman, “Give me a drink.” What’s
the meaning of this? In the ancient Semitic
world, the well was where men went to find a
wife, and where women went to find a
husband. When Jesus goes to the well, he is
looking for spouse – but not in the usual sense.
He is looking for a Church – intimate followers
wedded to him, not by natural bonds, but by
supernatural Grace.
The Samaritan woman was Eve. Her marriage
was wounded by disobedience to God. She was
– in a sense – every woman, in search of the lost
Spouse who was expelled from Paradise. By
going to the well, Jesus wanted her to
rediscover her true and long-lost Lover – the
Lover for whom she searched in vain in six
other men. As Jesus said, “You have had five
husbands, and the one you have now is not
your husband.” In the Bible, the number “six”
is a symbol of falling short. None of those six
men was her true spouse. But now, she meets
her seventh lover – seven being the Biblical
number of perfection, or completeness. She
meets the Beloved for whom her heart had
always longed, but sought in vain. Once again,
The Woman at the Well: Reflections on John 4
Pastor’s Column — Rev. Frederick Edlefsen
Eve meets Adam for the first time. A new
romance has begun.
Before the spark of divine love was ignited by
Christ, the woman’s heart was cold. Feel the
coldness. Feel the distance, in her words to
Jesus: “How can you, a Jew, ask me, a Samaritan
woman, for a drink?” In other words, “How can
you, a Jew, propose love to me?” In order to
ignite love, Jesus cleared away love’s obstacles:
her sins.
He begins by introducing her to the Love
himself, that is, to the Holy Spirit: “If you knew
the Gift of God,” he said, “and who is saying to
you, ‘Give me a drink,’ you would have asked
him and he would have given you living
water… Everyone who drinks this water (he
said pointing to the well) will be thirsty again;
but whoever drinks the water I shall give will
never thirst; the water I shall give will become in
him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”
What is this “Living Water?” It’s the Holy
Spirit. It’s the Gift of God. It’s the Uncreated
and Mutual Love of the Father and Son. It is the
life giving Power and Love of the Holy Trinity,
the God who is “Consubstantial, Indivisible and
Life-Giving.” When the Holy Spirit – who is the
Water of Life – takes possession of our lives
through his Seven Gifts, he purifies us of our
sins and makes us fall in Love with the divine
Spouse, Jesus Christ.
This encounter between Christ and Eve was
foretold in the Song of Songs in the Old
Testament. Hear the opening words of this
book, from the Bride: “Let him kiss me with the
kisses of his mouth! More delightful is your
love than wine! Your name spoken is a
spreading perfume – that is why the maidens
love you. Draw me!” St. Bernard of Clairvaux,
a 12th century monk, said that, in his passage,
the kiss from the mouth is the Eternal Word –
that is, the Son – who proceeds from the Father.
This shocking imagery conveys as good a sense
as any of the love that God gives us in sending
his Eternal Word, Jesus Christ, to us. Christ –
who is the “Kiss from the Father’s mouth” –
does indeed draw the Church to himself in a
divine romance. And he begins with Eve: the
woman at the well.
But first, he purifies her. He reveals her sins to
her, and she does not deny them. She admits
them, and says, “I can see that you are a
prophet.” And so, Christ had gone from being
just a Jew, to now being a prophet. But the
romance does not stop there. He reveals
himself as her true spouse, and he introduces
her to her true Father: “The hour is coming,” he
said, “and is now here, when true worshipers
will worship the Father in Spirit and truth; and
indeed the Father seeks such people to worship
him.” The woman replies, “I know that the
Messiah is coming, the one called the Christ;
when he comes, he will tell us everything.”
Third Sunday of Lent
Pastor’s Column
Continued
But Christ just told her everything. He
disclosed her whole life. And disclosed her
Father. And so, she was ready to hear the most
audacious and explicit words thus far spoken by
Christ: “I am he, the one who is speaking with
you.” Feel the warmth break through the
coldness. Feel her hardness of heart break
down. “I am he, the one who is speaking with
you.”
Notice that Jesus did not say this to scribes,
pharisees, lawyers or politicians. He did not say
this those who have the “3 Cs” – Cash, Control,
Connections. He said it to a troubled woman
with a checkered past, who had six “lovers” but
never knew love. He said it to a “Samaritan,”
who represents a fallen and tainted race. That
is, he said it to a humbled sinner, who confessed
her sins. He said it Eve: “I am he, the one who
is speaking with you.” The Bride has
rediscovered the Bridegroom. Eve rediscovered
Adam. And together, they find the way back to
the romance of Paradise.
The woman was speechless. And so were
Christ’s disciples, when they returned from
getting something to eat. She ran off in fearful
wonder yet elated joy to tell her neighbors:
“Come see a man who told me everything I
have done. Could he possibly be the Christ?”
She may well have said, “Come see my true
Lover! I have fallen in love for the first time
ever!” For to her, this man who started out as
just a Jew, and then as a prophet, was now
revealed to be the Christ. She discovered
pardon for her sins, and thus re-discovered
Love.
This tale is the story of the relationship between
the Church and Christ, the Bride and
Bridegroom. As the People of God, we all
identify with the woman at the well. We all
need pardon. We have all sought love in the
wrong way, even when we sought in earnest.
Our attempts to know our selves, others and
God are all marked by the number “6” – the
number of lovers that this woman had – that is,
the number of tragic incompleteness. We all
have that sense of falling short of what we
actually desire and long for.
During Lent, we prepare ourselves to encounter
the divine Light, who draws us into the eternal
Love and Power of the Father and the Son and
the Holy Spirit. This divine Light is the Person
of Jesus Christ, who tells us everything we’ve
ever done – who reveals our entire life to us –
and purifies it. And then, after he cleanses our
hearts, the “kiss” of the Father’s Word gives us
a new life and joy, which is a foretaste of
Heaven.
If we patiently endure the purification of heart
that life painfully assures – if we do so in a state
of Grace – we will have prepared ourselves to
encounter Christ, as did Eve in today’s Gospel.
This Lent, we should enter more deeply into a
life-giving purification that converts us to God
and prepares for Love. If we persevere in God’s
Grace, avoiding sin and confessing when we
fall, we will count ourselves among the friends
of the woman at the well, who said in the
Gospel: “We no longer believe because of your
word; for we have heard for ourselves, and we
know that [Jesus Christ] is truly the Savior of
the world.”
Confession
Wednesdays: 6:30 PM - 8:00 PM - “The Light is ON” Fridays: 7:00 PM - Until the Line Runs Out Saturdays: 8:00 AM - 9:00 AM, 3:00 PM - 4:00 PM
Stations of the Cross
Fridays: 7:30 PM Stations of the Cross in the Church
Lenten Soup Suppers Fridays 5:30 - 7 PM in the Parish Hall Friday, April 3: Hosted by Knights of Columbus (Fish Fry)
As a precaution resulting from the coronavirus outbreak, we are cancelling all Lenten Soup Suppers. A decision on the Fish Fry in April will be made at a later time.
Weekend of March 28-29 -- Lenten Mission Homily given during each Mass.
Monday, March 30 9:30AM (after 9AM Mass) -- “Where are we going?” / Confessions 7:00PM talk -- Part 1: “The Problem of Hardness of Heart” 7:30PM talk -- Part 2: “The ‘How’ of Overcoming This in Family Life”
Tuesday, March 31 9:30AM (after 9AM Mass) -- “How are we going to get there?” / Confessions 7:00PM talk -- “Faith and Hope in Divine Providence and One's Personal Purification of
Heart.”
Wednesday, April 1 9:30AM (after Mass) -- "What are the odds of success of the outcome of life?" 7:00PM talk -- “Mary at the Foot of the Cross and Our Crosses” 7:30PM talk -- “Meeting Jesus in Confession of Sins and the Way of Penance”
Voluntary donations will be taken up; proceeds will go to support Dominican
Students studying at the Dominican House of Studies.
Lenten Mission Talks With Reverend Basil B. Cole, O.P.
Saint Agnes Church — Fifth Week of Lent
It’s a BABY!
Baby Item Collection
Shower at-risk babies with joy this Lent. Please join the Challenge Club and St. Agnes Pro-Life Awareness Ministry in donating baby items to A Woman’s Choice Crisis Pregnancy Center! Donations will be taken during Lent, from March 1 - April 5 (1st thru 6th Sundays in Lent). We will have dona-tion boxes in the church vestibule as well as in the Parish Center, the evenings of Soup Suppers. There will also be a box at St. Agnes School.
Questions: [email protected]
Lenten Food Drive For Madison County
February 26 – April 5 Sponsored by the Girl
Scouts
Please consider contributing a bag or two of non-perishable groceries to those
in need in Madison County, VA.
Donations can be left in the baskets in the back of the church. Cash donations and gift cards for Food Lion or Walmart
may be brought to the Parish Office.
Thank you for your support!
(No glass containers, please.)
Questions: contact Colleen Smith: [email protected].
To purchase tickets or to RSVP, contact
Mackenzie at [email protected]
PA
RIS
H L
IFE
Health Precautions Due to concerns about coronavirus
outbreaks, there will be no "Sign of
Peace" at Mass until further
notice. Please carry with you a personal
supply of hand sanitizer and wash your
hands before and after Mass. Also, this
should be done before and after visiting
public places outside of church. For
those who need it, hand sanitizer is
located near each church entrance. If
you have flu-like symptoms, please do
not come to Mass, and you are
dispensed from your Sunday obligation.
Thank you for your cooperation.
CYO Track & Field Calling all runners! CYO Track & Field is
about to kick off another great season,
and we're recruiting any Saint Agnes
School and Saint Agnes Parish CCD
students interested in joining the team.
Practices will be held on Saturday
mornings at Yorktown High School from
8—9a.m., beginning Saturday, March 28.
The season's sole track meet will be
hosted at Bishop O'Connell High School
on Saturday, May 16. If you have any
questions, contact Andrea Schmieg
([email protected]) and Cheryl
Samuel at ([email protected]).
Easter Flower Memorials
The Easter Flower Fund is in honor of
living or deceased loved ones. To make
a memorial, please complete the info
below, place it in an envelope marked
Easter Memorial, and return it to the
Parish Office or in the collection basket.
Names must be received by March 16.
In honor of:
_________________________________ Requested by:
_________________________________ Donation:
_________________________________
Newly Established Thomas More Guild
The CBA is a community of legal professionals that
educates, organizes and inspires its members
faithfully to uphold and bear witness to the Catholic
Faith in the study and practice of the law. Beginning
this spring, the local chapter—the Thomas More
Guild— will meet monthly, and Father Sina will serve
as the guild’s Chaplain. Interested attorneys and
canonists should email [email protected].
The Shroud of Turin Talk and replica are coming to Our Lady of Lourdes in
Arlington on March 15, at 6 p.m. Considered one of
the greatest mysteries of our time, the Shroud of Turin
continues to amaze and baffle scientists, doctors,
historians, artists and theologians. Scientists cannot
explain the source of the image which contains
photographic and 3-D properties on a cloth centuries
old. Bill Wingard, a speaker for the Shroud, will
present the case for authenticity.
Post-Abortion Healing Retreat An Entering Canaan Day of Prayer & Healing for
women who have experienced abortion will be held
on Saturday, March 21, 2020. Come begin your healing
journey and experience God's hope and mercy. For
more information and confidential registration, please
contact Project Rachel Ministry at 888-456-HOPE
(4673) or [email protected]. If you would be
willing to offer a Spiritual Bouquets on behalf of those
attending a Day of Prayer: [email protected].
Seeking Administrative Assistant
St. Agnes is looking for a full-time Administrative
Assistant. This person is the face of St. Agnes and will
frequently answer calls and receive those that are in
need. Therefore, the person must have good people
skills, be a good listener with a strong sense of mercy,
compassion and discretion. For a complete job
description, visit: https://saintagnes.org/employment.
CYO Volleyball St. Agnes CYO Girls' Volleyball will begin in mid-
March. All St. Agnes and CCD female students in
Grades 3-8 are invited to join a St. Agnes CYO
volleyball team. It’s a great opportunity to form new
friendships in our community. We rely heavily on
VIRTUS trained volunteers to make this program a
success. If interested, contact CYO coordinator. To
register: https://reg.sportspilot.com/106537/leagues.
Weekly Prayer Intentions:
For those who are sick in our midst:
Sr. Annemarie Miller, Samantha Brown, Olivia
Egge, Dorothy Myrtle, Rosemary Shimer,
Christopher Ayala, John Mulrooney, Michael
McEnrue, Rafael Romero, and the residents of
Cherrydale Health and Rehabilitation.
To add a name, or if a name may be removed because
the person is no longer ill (Deo gratias!), please contact the
Parish Office at 703-525-1166. Names of the sick are listed for
approximately four weeks unless we are notified otherwise.
Saint Agnes Essentials:
Infant/Child Baptism:
Baptisms are celebrated the first and third
Sundays of each month, after the Noon Mass.
Contact the Parish Office to register at 703-525-
1166 or [email protected].
Marriage Preparation:
Call the Parish Office for Pre-Cana at least seven
months prior to your wedding.
Anointing of the Sick:
Call the Parish Office to request Anointing of the
Sick. Anyone with a serious illness should
request this sacrament before being admitted to
the hospital.
Homebound Visitation:
Contact [email protected] or call the
Parish Office at 703-525-1166.
How to become Catholic:
Interested in joining the Catholic Church or want
to learn more? Contact Marie Macnamara in the
Faith Formation office at 703-527-1129 or a priest
for more information. Rite of Christian Initiation
of Adults (RCIA) classes are held on Mondays at
7:30 p.m.
Holy Orders/Consecrated Life:
Is the Lord calling you? For information about
priesthood, the permanent diaconate, or the
consecrated life, contact a priest or the Diocesan
Vocations Office at 703-841-2514.
Registration/Change of Address:
Registration cards are in the racks at main
entrances of the church, the Parish Office, or on
our website. Return them to the Parish Office, or
email them to [email protected].
Adoration Chapel “Come to Me, all you who labor and are burdened,
and I will give you rest" (MT 11: 28).
Jesus Christ waits for you in the most Holy Eucharist.
Permanent and substitute adorers are needed daily
between 1:00 am and 4:00 am to restore perpetual
adoration in the Adoration Chapel at St. Agnes. To
make a commitment, please e-mail Michael Sirotniak
Congratulations to all CCD and SAS 2nd graders who received their First Penance on
Saturday, March 7th. We pray for them as they prepare for their First Holy Communion.
Youth Night: This Sunday, March 15th from 6-8 p.m.
in the school gym. Come for food, fun, fellowship,
and faith!
Annual Dodgeball Tournament: St. Agnes Youth
Ministry will be participating in the Deanery 1 Dodge-
ball Tournament with other parishes in our area on
March 22nd from 5-8:30 p.m. at St. John the Beloved in
McLean, VA. See flyer in parish life section to sign up!
WorkCamp: The next WorkCamp meeting is April
19th from 5 – 6 p.m. in the Parish Hall.
For more information and updates text @stagnesym to
81010 or follow us on Instagram @stagnesyouth
Young Adult Women’s Bible Study: every other
Wednesday from 7-8:30p.m. in the St. Agnes Convent.
Come and join other Catholic women and share in
faith and friendship! The next meeting will be on
Wednesday, March 18th.
TRIVIA NIGHT: Clarendon Theology on Tap turns
to Trivia this month! Join us on Monday, April 13th at
6:30-8:30 for food, drinks, and some trivia! If you are
interested in attending and joining the Saint Agnes
trivia team, please contact Mackenzie at
Youth Ministry (9th - 12th Grades)
Young Adults (Ages 21-35)
Saint Agnes School and CCD
School: For more information contact the school office
at 703-527-5423.
CCD: Contact Marie Macnamara in the faith formation
office at 703-527-1129.
† CCD †
Religious Education
K - 8th Grade
Classes held
September to May on
Sundays from 10:10 -
11:25 a.m. (picture above) Vocation Mass with Bishop Burbidge
Stewardship Report
Stewardship: Parish Support - 8 - 0808
Sunday Collection (in pew & via mail) $ 16,814
Faith Direct (electronic collection) estimated $ 13,374
Total Offertory for Week $ 30,188
Poor Box $ 415
Offertory Budget (FY 19-20) $ 1,680,000
Offertory Budget (through 3/08/20) $ 1,170,507
Offertory Actual (through 3/08/20) $ 1,156,439
Bishop’s Lenten Appeal The BLA is critical to our diocesan needs, and we are
asking every household in our parish to support this
appeal to the extent that they are able. The BLA
funds many programs, services and ministries that
serve people in need and furthers the Gospel mission
of Jesus Christ in our diocese. Let us join together to
do the Lord's work. If you haven’t had a chance to
fill out a pledge card, please fill one out today.
Stewardship Reflection “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty
again.” JOHN 4:13
Jesus reminds us that material things, even
something as basic as water, can never satisfy us for
long. When we build our lives around material
possessions, we always want more. True Joy and
Peace only come when we follow Jesus; when we
become more “God-centered” and less “self-
centered.”
![[docx] Lent with Saint Bernard](https://static.documents.pub/doc/80x56/5883088d1a28abe70d8b6da9/docx-lent-with-saint-bernard.jpg)
