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Reflection from our Co-Pastors, Thursday, August 25, 2022


“The soul is in God and God in the soul, just as the fish is in the sea and the sea in the fish.”

― St. Catherine of Siena, The Dialogue of St. Catherine of Siena


Just asking -- Sometimes it is so easy to ‘find’ God, and sometimes so hard to ‘find’ God when we are not even separated! Meditating on this thought from Catherine of Siena, it goes from my mind (dualistic) to my heart (non-dualistic). There is a womb here in this ocean, a warm, enveloping, safe place, a place of being completely held. A friend of mine had a serious stroke and this place of being completely held is how she described her feeling when she was between life and death.


On the DeMello Spirituality Center website is this story: “Excuse me,” said an ocean fish to another fish.


“You are older than l so can you tell me where to find this thing

they call/he ouan?”


”The ocean,” said the older fish, “is the thing you are in now.”

“Oh, this? But this is water. What [I]’m seeking is the ocean,” said the disappointed fish as he swam away to search elsewhere.”

 

And again —-

“A man came to the master in sannyasi robes. He said: “For years I have been seeking God. I have sought him everywhere that he is said to be: on mountain peaks, the vastness of the desert, the silence of the cloister,

and the dwellings of the poor.”


“Have you found him?” the master asked. “No. I have not. Have you?”


What could the master say? The evening sun was sending shafts of golden light into the room. Hundreds of sparrows were twittering on a nearby banyan tree. In the distance one could hear the sound of the highway traffic. A mosquito droned a warning that it was going to strike . . . . And yet this man could sit there and say he had not found God. After a while he left, disappointed, to search elsewhere .


Stop searching, little fish. There isn’t anything to look for.

All you have to do is look.” 


It seems to me that our religious concept of the Incarnation is ‘Look’ and ‘Be’ and ‘Breathe’ and ‘Touch’ and ‘Love.’ Here’s what Joan Chittister says:


“Once we have come to the point that we can allow God to be for us always, always beckoning – beyond any single way of worship, any one set of devotions, any need to be less than alive and full of joy of it, any desire to close off people and life, any idea that the daily is dull and empty of real spiritual experience, we have begun to grow into the spiritual life. Then we are finally ready to find God in the very lives we are leading right now…anything that divides life into opposing parts – into the ‘spiritual’ and the ‘material’ – as if one is not the essence of the other, may be religion, but how can it possibly be a healthy spirituality.”


Consider how Mary, Mother of the World, can be a pivotal example of deep spirituality – she united the Divine and the Material inextricably in the Word Made Flesh. Maybe the Assumption is another example that there is no separation anyway…so may we fish help each other enjoy the day living in the Ocean!

 Image by GLady from Pixabay

This Week with the 301 Faith Partners

Mark Your Calendars!

Please join us this Sunday - Aug. 28th

after mass - for our 

Summer Hospitality Supper


Bring your own "take out" for dinner.  Iced tea, lemonade, wine, and ice cream and pop-sicles will be provided by the Hospitality Ministry. We will be meeting in the Fellowship Hall, (so, no chance of being rained out, and no need to bring a lawn chair!)


Of course, anyone is welcome to come just for ice cream and visiting. 

Hope to see you there!

Registration is now open

Fall Adult Faith Formation Offering

The Enneagram Journey


A 12-week course begins

Tuesdays, September 13 – November 29, 2022

From 6:30-8pm held in person and virtually via Zoom.

 

Grant Lord, that I may know myself that I may know Thee. Augustine

 

The Enneagram is a Spiritual tool that helps facilitate self-knowledge. It is an ancient personality typing system that helps people better understand who they are and what makes them respond or act in the particular ways that they do. The clergy of the 301 Faith Partners have all been studying the Enneagram and found it to further their understanding of self, and others in such a significant that we would like to offer it to the members of all three congregations.

 

Pastor Felicia says about her Enneagram Studies:


“I have been shocked, humbled and astounded at the precision at which this ancient tool has described my motivations and values and have felt a spiritual shift in compassion for myself and others as a result. This is certainly growth in Christ-likeness through self-knowledge. To learn from the Enneagram is to participate in work that actually grows our souls.”

 

Workbooks can be purchased for $20 at this LINK . You will also need to purchase access to the online videos for a fee of $10 which provides 6-months for you to watch and re-watch these videos. You will find the link to purchase the videos by following the link above and hovering over the 'Visit Vimeo.com…' link in the #2 of 'Here’s How this Works.'

 

Please join us as we delve deeply into this ancient tool of spiritual growth led via video by the Suzanne Stabile and facilitated by the 301 Faith Partners' Clergy.



To register, click the button below. This offering is available to parishioners from all three of our 301 Faith Partner congregations.

Click here to Register For the Enneagram Journey

If you have questions or are in need of a scholarship please reach out to Reverend Jane or Mother Rosean. Below is a link to brief video about the Enneagram Journey Curriculum to view at your convenience.


Click here for the Enneagram Journey Curriculum video.


Request for Prayers

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Praying for peace, health and well-being through challenging times


+Luca Jerome Epton - great grandson of Jim and Colleen DeMuth,members

+Jeff Akkerman - For Asher's surgery and for discernment/guidance in finding a new job

+ Jeralyn Logan requested by Rev. Jane Reina


+ Sarah Reveron and her daughter, Aliana - niece and grandniece of Rev. Jane Reina

+ Jane Tavener, sister of member Susan Tavener-Berry

+ Cory Breslin - friend of member Kerrie Anderson


+ Jim, husband of Dori Carroll member

+ Joanne Gallagher member

+ Edward for healing and Marge for hope, relatives of Ruth Conley, member

+ Yvonne Keefe - member

+ Rosemary - Fr Michael's mother

+ Suzanne King - member-

+ Harry11 year canine companion to Gray La Fond.

+ Yvonne Keefe - member

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A blessed and peaceful repose of souls for those who've passed and comfort for the friends and families.

 

+ Wendell Schwarz, brother of Sr. Mary Colleen, OSB

+ Kevin Ricke -nephew of Father Jim DeMuth

+ John Hynes - father of Rev. Jane's children


+ Mother of Bishop Kae Madden

+ Dennis Snyder. brother-in-law of Ruth Alexander, member

+ John Crowfoot, friend of Jean Christen, member

+ Lauren Roob - friend of Rosanna Bateman, member


+ Dona Bosse - member

 + Gloria Farrell, aunt of Co-Pastor Jane

+ Tom Froehlich, brother of Ann Russell, member

+ Verna Bodig, member

Please send prayer requests to marymagdalafc@gmail.com. Prayers will be listed for one month unless requested for longer. Prayers for the repose of souls will be listed for six months unless requested for a longer time.

Service Recordings and More

21st Sunday in Ordinary Time - Sunday, August 21, 2022

 

A video recording of readings and the homily by Rev. Jane Reina is available here. The full Sunday Mass worship aid is available to assist with prayer and meditation.

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Our Vision – ‘Our guiding Light’

Weaving a tapestry of love, hope and justice for the world.


The 301 Faith Partners--Mary of Magdala, Trinity Lutheran, St Paul's Episcopal --have a Vision, Mission and Values statement that guides our relationships, interactions, and shared projects and ministries.


Read about our Mission, Core Values and Covenant here.

Newsletters of Trinity Lutheran Church and the St. Paul's Episcopal  

What are our partners in ministry up to? Click here for the Trinity Lutheran Church monthly newsletter, "Tidings". And here is St Paul's weekly bulletin.