Good Friday afternoon to all! Attached is our weekly bulletin for this Sunday, June 27th, the Thirteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time. This issue includes:
- an update on our Sign Replacement Project
- information about the wrap-up to this year's Spiritual Adoption Program
- a special message from the Client Services Program Manager at Our Daily Bread
- a letter from Archbishop Lori clarifying decisions made by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops at their Spring General Assembly
- and more!
Just click below to take a look...
Religious Freedom Week continues through Tuesday, June 29th.
Pray, Reflect, Act
June 25th
Pray - that Christian witness in the face of attacks on our churches will convert hearts to faith in Jesus Christ.
Reflect - Recent years have seen a number of high-profile attacks on houses of worship. Beginning in May of 2020, there was a wave of attacks on Catholic churches and statues. Vandals entered churches and desecrated sanctuaries. A man in Florida even attempted to set a church on fire with people inside. There have been at least 75 attacks so far, and that number continues to grow. The precise reasons for these attacks are often unknown. In some cases, they are tied to anger at perceived injustices from the past. Other cases may involve mental illness. In all cases, Catholics must remember that we worship the Lord who reveals the truth and beauty of the gospel in his suffering and resurrection, and that we are called to respond to aggression with compassion.
Act - The recent vandalism of churches and their sacred art gives us the opportunity to bear witness to our hope in the Lord whose beauty is revealed on the Cross. The USCCB Beauty Heals initiative invites us to learn about works of devotional art significant to local churches and how they inspire Catholics to live beautifully. Learn more at www.usccb.org/BeautyHeals.
For more opportunities to Pray, Reflect, and Act in support of Religious Freedom just click here:
Mass Obligation Reinstated
The dispensation of the Sunday and Holy Day Mass obligation in the Archdiocese of Baltimore will be lifted this weekend, June 26/27.
Telephone Scammers Are Spoofing Local Hospitals and Public Utilities to Steal Personal Information, Threatening to Terminate Medicare Benefits
The Consumer Protection Division has received reports that scammers are “spoofing” local hospital and public utility phone numbers in an attempt to steal personal and medical information, such as Medicare, Medicaid, and/or Social Security numbers, over the phone. Some of the scammers are threatening to terminate Medicare benefits if the call recipient refuses to provide personal information over the phone.
Because these incoming calls appear to be legitimate on the recipient’s Caller ID, these scams are a particularly dangerous type of deception. The scammers are hoping they can trick potential victims into answering the phone by spoofing legitimate phone numbers. If you are not expecting a call, be very wary of any calls that appear on your caller ID to be coming from a medical facility or public utility.
If you do receive an unexpected phone call that displays the name of a local hospital, medical facility, doctor’s office, or public utility, the Attorney General recommends that you let the call go to voicemail. You can then call the hospital or utility directly – using a telephone number listed on an official website – to ask if they called you and for what reason. Never give any personal information to a caller you do not know or on a call you did not initiate. If an unsolicited caller asks for personal information, such as SSNs or Medicare/Medicaid numbers, hang up immediately.
Medicare does not request personal information about you by telephone or make threatening calls requesting your information. If you think that there is a problem with your Medicare benefits, call Medicare at 1-800-Medicare (1-800-633-4227). TTY users can call 1-877-486-2048.
Report any suspected health-related scams to the Health Education and Advocacy Unit at 410-528-1840. Other suspected scams can be reported to the Mediation Unit’s consumer hotline at 410-528-8662. Hotline en español: 410-230-1712.
If you have divulged personal or medical information to someone who called you, and now suspect they may have been trying to scam you, contact our Identity Theft Unit at 410-576-6491 or idtheft@oag.state.md.us to learn how to recover and protect your identity.