Leadership Council’s First Meeting for 2022-23 Fiscal Year-

And runoff process

The Leadership Council will meet in the Fireside Room at the Church at 6:30 pm, Monday May 23. All LC meetings are open to members. If you wish to attend, please email us at marymagdalafc@gmail.com

At our annual meeting we conducted our LC election. Two of the three seats were filled by David Cloyd and Joan Chapman-Smith. Congratulations to you both! A runoff election for the third seat will be launched tomorrow via email. Please participate as we will need a quorum of members to vote to validate the election.

Those in the runoff are Ruth Alexander, Joni Bouveron and Lisa Jones. (Click on names to see their video message.)

Join us for discussion on our

May 'Isaac Reads' book.

“Don’t be Afraid, Gringo: A Honduran Woman Speaks from the Heart:

The Story of Elvia Alvarado”

**Note New date** - We will be meeting virtually on May 24th.

If you have previously signed up for ISAAC Reads - you are already on the list and do not need to sign up again. If you are new to the program - sign up here

ISAAC Reads is a book group with discussion on a book that deals with immigration issues or just immigration in general. We pick a book to discuss every 6 wks.

Read about the book here. For questions, email Lisa Jones.

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.

Recording - 5th Sunday in Easter, May 15, 2022

Here is the video recording of the readings and the homily by Father Michael Nicosia. The worship aid is available for you to print or view to assist with prayer

Social Justice Reflection, Sunday May 15 #BLM

The term Black Madonna usually refers to art depicting the Blessed Virgin Mary and Infant Jesus as black. There are between 400–500 Black Madonnas in Europe. Most are in churches or shrines and are venerated by believers. Some are associated with miracles and attract substantial numbers of pilgrims. Though some Madonnas were originally black or brown when they were made, others have turned darker due to factors like aging paint pigments or candle smoke.

One of the most famous is The Black Madonna of Częstochowa. According to legend, it was painted by Luke the Evangelist, was discovered in Jerusalem in 326 by Helena the mother of Constantine, moved to Constantinople and eventually to Poland where today it draws numerous national and international pilgrims. Indeed, one of my earliest childhood memories is seeing Our Lady of the Hermits, a Black Madonna at Einsiedeln Abbey in Switzerland, to which numerous miracles are attributed.

Compared to Europe, Black Madonnas are relatively rare in the US. One example particularly relevant to our BlackLivesMatter reflections, is Our Lady, Mother of Ferguson and All Those Killed by Gun Violence. 

This icon was commissioned by Rev. Mark Bozzuti-Jones, an Episcopal priest at Trinity Church in New York City in 2015 after the shooting of 18 year old Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri. Brown and a friend were walking down the middle of Canfield drive. Officer Darren Wilson stopped and ordered them off the street. A struggle ensued between Brown and Wilson when Brown reached through the window of the police SUV. Wilson fired twice from inside the car hitting Brown’s hand. The boys fled. Wilson pursued on foot and shot Brown 6 times in the front of his body after Brown, according to witnesses, turned back towards the officer, raised his hands in surrender and said “don’t shoot”.

In the icon, an African-American Mary has her hands raised in a “don’t shoot” posture (also the prayer position). A silhouette of the Christ child in a gun’s crosshairs appears over her womb. The child also has hands raised and is superimposed by the Sacred Heart encircled by a Crown of Thorns symbolizing the sacrificial love of God, especially towards those oppressed by gun violence against people of color.

Today, we have Denise Meyer’s Black Madonna statue in the church with us. It belonged to her mother who passed away 10 years ago. Denise and her 10 siblings grew up cherishing Mary, prayed the rosary as a family and often brought roses to the Church to decorate Mary’s statue in May. Thank you Denise, for sharing this with us today.

Past Recordings, Bulletins, and Announcements

For all bulletins, reflections, Sunday recordings during, visit our webpage. Please contact us with questions, concerns and ideas for better connection with and for the community - marymagdalafc@gmail.com. And feel free to call the office at 970 493-9536

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.