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The gathering space at Church of the Crucifixion, Glen Burnie, was packed with people of all ages April 17 as they sat down to a large meal and waited anxiously for the first Discovering Christ session to begin. Discovering Christ is a six-week series, stretching through May 22, which explores the foundations of the Catholic faith and is designed to help men and women encounter Christ, said Father Erik Arnold, pastor. The program was designed by ChristLife, a lay Catholic apostolate of evangelization in Baltimore.

WASHINGTON – A workable comprehensive immigration reform bill on the table, more sympathetic leadership in Congress and a “this year or maybe never” incentive are prodding immigration advocates to action. After a day and a half of briefings and strategizing with advocates who work on immigration every day, activists from more than 66 dioceses took their campaign for immigration reform to Capitol Hill April 19.

LONDON – A revised code of ethics will prevent doctors from providing contraceptives and abortion referrals at a London Catholic hospital popular with celebrity mothers. The finalized code, which is expected to be passed by the hospital board May 16, will encompass all staff and resident practitioners at the Hospital of St. John and St. Elizabeth.

Maryland parishioners will have an opportunity to help educate the future priests of the Archdiocese of Baltimore when the second-collection plate is passed to them the weekend of May 5 and 6. Last year parishes throughout the Archdiocese of Baltimore raised more than $300,000 to help pay for the education of the seminarians enrolled in the six-year program, and members of the archdiocesan vocations office are hoping to top that record-setting figure this spring.

Dina Nagdimunova admits that much of what she learns in her finance textbooks at Loyola College in Maryland, Baltimore, is forgotten soon after exams. That’s why she thinks it’s important to apply what she studies in class in real-world situations. Ms. Nagdimunova, a 21-year-old senior who was born in Russia, serves as a paid intern with Safenet Corporation in Belcamp, an information security company. She found her internship through a career Web site offered by Loyola College.

In the April 12 issue, a book review reprinted from Catholic News Service praised “An Inconvenient Truth,” Al Gore’s book that accompanies his movie of the same name. A central theme of Gore’s efforts is to assert that we have a moral obligation to take action against carbon dioxide emissions. We read “The final 15 pages at the conclusion of the text are a composite of individual and collective action responses ….” The connection to morality gets the attention of religious-minded readers; and indeed, “global warming” is becoming something of a secular “religion” all by itself.

When St. Ursula, Parkville, parishioner Susan Livingston graduates from College of Notre Dame of Maryland, Baltimore, in May and enters the workforce, she will suddenly be responsible for her own finances. The 22-year-old Parkville resident has had a few job interviews, but no concrete offers for when she earns her bachelor’s degree in history with a concentration in pre-museum studies, but is hopeful she will secure an entry-level position in a museum before the end of the summer. “I’m starting to get a little anxious just because I don’t have a job lined up yet,” Ms. Livingston said. “I know my parents will be there for me if I need them, so that takes some of the stress out of it.” Though her parents have pledged their financial support if she absolutely needs it, the 2003 Institute of Notre Dame, Baltimore, graduate is looking forward to becoming economically independent.

In his book “Dumbing Down Our Kids,” author Charles Sykes wrote, “If you think your teacher is tough, wait until you get a boss. He doesn’t have tenure.” When entering a new workplace, whether just out of college or not, it is important to know proper office etiquette, dining etiquette and dress attire. Natalie Kauffman, director for the Center of Career and Service Learning at the College of Notre Dame of Maryland, Baltimore, said an individual should spend some time observing how the office is run and try to adapt accordingly.

WARSAW, Poland – Poland’s Catholic bishops criticized legislators’ rejection of proposed constitutional amendments that would have protected life from the moment of conception. “Arbitrary parliamentary arithmetic has won the upper hand over each person’s elementary right to life,” said the bishops in a statement April 13. “The church in Poland will go on supporting actions by all people of good will to care for the most defenseless,” they said. The “negative result” of the vote should not weaken “efforts to obtain agreement in the Polish parliament on such a fundamental question for our nation’s future as the inviolability of human life.”