Reflection from our Co-Pastors

Tuesday, August 30, 2022

What is love?

Jesus’ active ministry in Luke is being described as ‘filled with the Holy Spirit after being baptized in the Jordon (4: 1). The next mention of Jesus as ‘filled with the Holy Spirit’ (14,15) tells of Jesus completing 40 days in the desert with tempting by the devil. Then Jesus begins speaking in Galilee and then in Nazareth (14-21) in such a way that, “He returned in the power of the Spirit to Galilee, and his reputation spread throughout the region…and all were loud in praise” (14,15).

Those 40 days may be considered one of the dark nights for Jesus. According to the sole purpose of this difficult experience is to further love. After a time in the dark ourselves and coming into the dawn, how might we experience love?

“The dawn is an awakening to a deepening realization of who we really are in and with God and the world, and of what has been going on within us in the night. Always, and most important, the dawn is an awakening in love.” (1)

We speak so often of Jesus’ message of love. Sometimes, someone may be asking, “What ‘love’ are we talking about?” Sunday’s Gospel had a good example (Luke 14:12-14): “Then Jesus said to the host, ‘Whenever you give a lunch or dinner, don’t invite your friends or colleagues or relatives or wealthy neighbors. They might invite you in return and thus repay you. No, when you have a reception, invite those who are poor or have physical infirmities or are blind. You should be pleased that they can’t repay you, or you’ll be repaid at the resurrection of the just.’ “ (Isn’t this just like the Good Samaritan in spirit?)

This love that awakens in us after a dark period “…is divine in its nature and glimpsed only through the gift of divine light, the greatest of all mysteries. It is the source, means, and end of all life, yet no one can explain or define it... It is far greater than any feeling or emotion and completely surpasses any act of human kindness. It is the sheer gift of contemplation, completely unattainable by autonomous human effort…it is indeed the breath of the Divine, and [St.] John says he does not even wish to speak of it lest he ‘make it appear less than it is.’” It is up to us to participate in this immense love.

How do we recognize we are moving into the dawn; how do we participate? Gerald May (1) has three examples: freedom from attachment that restrains us (i.e.fear), contemplative prayer with its movement upon our lives i.e, from autonomous self-determination to self-giving willingness to be led, and the realization of our essential union with God and all creation.

Where are we on our journey?

1. Gerald G. May 2004. The Dark Night of the Soul (About the book)

Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay

This Week at Mary of Magdala, ECC

Midweek Mass On Wednesday

11:00 a.m. in the Fireside Room

(no Zoom available for Wednesday Mass)

Please join us in the Fireside Room for weekday Mass Hope to see you there!

Check out the Joint Ecological Team

Please join the next 301 Faith Partners Joint Ecological Team (JET) meeting on:

This Tuesday, August 30, at 5:30 pm
via Zoom HERE. Meeting ID: 350 899 592 | Passcode: 028929.

The JET meets as needed to plan educational events, bike to work day, volunteer opportunities and advocacy.

Volunteers Still Needed !!

Some great opportunities for volunteers with Habitat for Humanity.

Build Day on Saturday, Sept 17 -- First and foremost we need 2 more individuals for our planned 'Build Day' on Saturday, Sept 17. No experience is necessary, just a desire to contribute time and energy. Contact Len Russ via this email.
Also needed are volunteers to prepare and serve lunch to the crew. Contact Steph Dugger at this e mail.
Volunteer at the Habitat Re-Store -- Open to adults and children 14-and-older, with a parent; see their website.
Bird House Builders -- that's right! We need volunteers to help with building birdhouses. Email Jerry Freier for more information.
And as always, requesting prayer to bless the efforts made to provide housing for those in need.

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.

The Workbooks are $20 each but the printed version may be sold out. Digital copies are available, but check for either via this LINK. St. Paul's does have 10 workbooks available for purchase. Please reach out via St. Paul's office directly at this email for information.

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 this same link and hovering over the 'Visit Vimeo.com…' link in the #2 of 'Here’s How this Works.'

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

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

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-

+ Harry, 11 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

22nd Sunday in Ordinary Time - Sunday, August 28, 2022

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

Sunday's #BLM Refection

When considering the inventors of personal computing, names like Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak of Apple or Bill Gates of Microsoft come to mind. However, it was the IBM PC released in 1981 that became the de-facto standard for personal and home computers and it was Mark Dean who invented several landmark technologies that contributed substantially to launching the personal computer age.

Mark Dean was born in 1957 in Jefferson City, Tennessee. As a child, he loved to build things. With help from his father, he constructed a tractor from scratch. He was a top student in elementary, high school and at the University of Tennessee where he studied engineering.

He began his career at IBM shortly after graduating from college. With his colleague, Dennis Moeller, he invented the Industry Standard Architecture (ISA) systems bus which allowed external devices like disk drives, printers, keyboards, speakers and monitors to be plugged into the PC and work cooperatively with the computer’s operating system. Although these external devices still had to be configured by the user, the ISA made computers more accessible and usable. Most importantly, the open and freely available architecture documentation meant that IBM didn’t have to invent proprietory peripherals. The IBM PC became the standard for PC clones which dominated the home computer market for decades.

Dean also invented the color monitor. While some of us may have dim memories of analyzing data with punch cards or programming using line editors on amber, text-based screens, today we can’t imagine desktops, laptops, tablets or phones without apps in living color. Mark Dean also led a team in developing the first giga-hertz chip which allowed computers to break the performance barrier of processing a billion calculations per second.

In 1996, Mark Dean was named an IBM fellow, the first African-American to receive that honor. He also received the Black Engineer of the Year President's Award and was inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame. Probably few of us have heard of Mark Dean. However, this computer scientist and engineer has contributed appreciably to the home computing technology of the modern world.

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.