'Reflections from Your Co-Pastors' and Wednesday Mass will pause for Lent. Join us for the many Lenten prayer and worship offerings, in person and on Zoom.

Reflections From Your Co-Pastors - Tuesday, February 21, 2023


Tomorrow is Ash Wednesday. Probably many, if not most us. went to church on Ash Wednesday to have blessed ashes placed in the sign of the Cross on our foreheads. And if we didn’t get to church, we were reminded of it all day by the majority of people who had already received them. This was especially true in the more densely populated areas where some received ashes before going to work, like at 5am!



How long have Christians been observing Ash Wednesday? How long has this been a tradition? One online source, says it came out of the Council of Nicea in 325. It was largely a local custom until Pope Gregory (590-604) institutionalized it. What a wonderful and entrenched tradition!


To Ponder: Now, take into consideration that Ilia Delio wrote an essay at the end of January 2023 speaking to the power of tradition along with the question, ‘does it still have value?’ She writes: “"A healthy traditionalism means engaging the tradition as a vital way of life, in which a tradition can enrich culture, and, in turn, be challenged by culture to evaluate its core values." See Why Tradition Matters - Center for Christogenesis. Just something to think about! We at Mary of Magdala and in the ECC, have the cultural space to think about this.


Today: Our theme for Lent 2023 is Blooming in the Desert. We plant lovers know the time it takes to germinate, push through the soil and up towards the light, and the need for




nourishment along the way. As Lent begins, we are being asked to consider our own germinating in our Lenten desert, anticipating our Easter blooming!


Next Week: Please join us once a week, either Wednesday evenings at 7:30pm beginning March 1, or 10:00am beginning March 2, to reflect on passages from the “Not by Bread Along” booklet. If you have not received one, please contact the MoM office and we will get one to you. Zoom link is in the email announcements.


Here is a teaser line from “Not by Bread Along” for tomorrow, Ash Wednesday:


“How foolish I’ve been with my smug self-improvement plans, as if bean-counting success would impress a [God] all-too-aware of my [fundamental…] nature, as if I could control and judge what sacrifices were required…as if I could control anything. Even vowing to undertake Lenten disciplines, our faith teaches, is God’s inspiration, a sign that God is actively drawing us back…from our ego-driven pride.”


Consider: In conversation with God, what is God calling you to do for Lent, for the good of your own spiritual journey toward transformation?

Image by svklimkin from Pixabay

The Season of Lent 'Blooming in the desert, a new perspective on Lent’


For an updated calendar of all Lenten opportunities for prayer and reflection, click here. Copies will be available at Mass on Sunday


  • Weekly Lenten Forum on End of Life
  • Soup Supper Taize Services - beginning March 2
  • Lenten Daily Readings with Co-Pastor led reflections - beginning March 1
  • Online Lenten reflections with Father Teri
  • ...and more.

For the 2023 Lenten season, Mary of Magdala is invited to participate in a “rice bowl” alms-giving Social Justice project


The Social Justice Committee considered several worthwhile charities but settled on supporting the following 3 charities for the Lenten project:

 

  • Homeward Alliance: helps at risk and unhoused individuals and families with a continuum of programs that address basic needs, housing-focused case management, behavioral health, and employment services. (https://www.homewardalliance.org/)
  • ISAAC: The Interfaith Solidarity And Accompaniment Coalition works in solidarity for human dignity and immigration justice, creating communities of welcome, recognition, healing and accompaniment. (https://isaacnoco.org/)
  • TACSCO: Turkish American Cultural Society of Colorado is collecting funds to help front line workers and victims of the recent tragic earthquake in Turkey and to provide longer-term assistance to help residents recover and rebuild. (http://www.tacsco.org/)

 

Each family is invited to take home a “rice bowl” and put alms into it during Lent. Indicate which of the 3 charities you would like your donation to support by marking one of the choices on the label on the front of the box.. If you wish to donate by check, you can make the check out to Mary of Magdala (and indicate the charity on the memo line) The Social Justice committee will collect the rice bowls at the end of Lent (Sunday -March 26) and deliver the donations to the respective organizations.

 

Thank you for your help. Have a blessed and holy Lent!

This Week at Mary of Magdala

301 Faith Partners Shared Service & Potluck - This Sunday - February 26, 10:30 am - No 12:30 Mass


Our Next 301 Faith Partners Shared Service will be on Sunday February 26 at 10:30 am followed by a 3 church potluck.


Join us after the service for a potluck dinner. 🥮🍤🥘🌮🥗🍕🥙 😊

IF you are able, please bring a dish to share.



Hope to see you there for fellowship & good food!

We need Your Input!

Survey is open this week


The focus of the Joint Eco-Justice Ministry (a 301 Faith Partners effort), is to explore and act on topics related to eco-justice.


We are interested in what the members of Mary of Magdala think would be important topics on which to act.

Please complete this short survey so we can know more about what is important to our community. Questions? Contact Linda Joyce

DONATIONS NEEDED

FOR PERMANENTLY PLACED FAMILIES

The Donation Task Force could use kitchen tables/chairs, couches, living room chairs, twin/queen comforters/blankets, towel sets, and twin box springs/metal frames/mattresses. Please contact Jodi at (970)371-5345 or jodi@familyhousingnetwork.org.

 

DAY CENTER NEEDS

The Day Center is in need of full size shampoo and conditioner. Please check out the signup genius link here if you have any availability to help volunteer on the weekend.

Request for Prayers

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


+Anne Beavan - member

+Patt, friend of Jean Christen, member

+Mickey Bogart, friend of Cathy Engel

+Jeff Akkerman, member


+Kolten Weitzel, grandson of Kerrie Anderson, member

+Peter Marshall, brother of member Margie Karuzas, member

+ Jim Carroll, husband of member Dori Carroll


+Everly, five years old and Kiersten, friends of Lynne Barnes, member

+ Mary Detweiller, member

+ Peter, friend of Sharon Troyer

+ Uriah - grandson of Mother Rosean


+ Joanne Gallagher member

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

+ Rosemary - Fr Michael's mother

+ Suzanne King - member

+ Harry12 year canine companion to Gray La Fond.

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

 

+ Lee Yeazell, brother of Bruce Yeazell, member

+ Miles, young friend of Ted (nephew of the Devlin's, members)

+Steve Muzikar, cousin of Co Pastor Jane



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

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

+ Mother of Bishop Kae Madden

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

Sunday Mass February 19 2023

Celebrating the 7th Sunday in Ordinary Time

A video recording of the readings and the homily given by Father Michael Nicosias available here.

Black LIves Matter Reflection - Sunday February 19, 2023


Carter G. Woodson was born in 1875 to illiterate parents who were former slaves.  As a teen, he worked in West Virginia coal mines to help support his family’s meager income.  He was largely self-taught and didn’t enter high school until the age of 20 but completed his diploma in 2 years. While earning a bachelor’s degree in Kentucky, he worked as a teacher and school principal. 


He traveled abroad to the Philippines, Europe and Asia and eventually earned a master’s from the University of Chicago and became the second African American (after W. E. B. Du Bois) to earn a Ph.D. from Harvard and the only person, born of slaves in the US, to ever earn a doctorate in history.


Though Woodson was a dues paying member of the American Historical Society, he was not allowed to attend their conferences. He became convinced he had no future in a white-dominated historical profession and observed a prevailing ignorance and lack of information concerning Black life and history.  He feared that “a race without history has no worthwhile tradition and becomes a negligible factor in the thought of the world.”


To prevent that fate, he co-founded the Association for the Study of Negro Life and History in 1915 and the following year

began publishing “The Journal of Negro History”, an academic quarterly featuring book reviews and articles about African-American history, culture, and the Black experience in the United States. Today renamed “The Journal of African American History”, it also played a vital role in providing women of color a platform for publication of their works.


Carter Woodson believed that education and increasing social and professional contacts among Black and Whites could reduce racism and promoted the organized study of African-American history partly for that purpose.  He launched Negro History Week in February 1926, which  became an annual celebration and eventually morphed into Black History Month.


Believing that history belonged to everyone not just the historians, Woodson engaged Black civic leaders, high school teachers, clergymen, women's groups and fraternal associations in his project to improve the understanding of African-American history. It is indeed most fitting, that during this Black History Month, that we honor this man who has come to be known as “the Father of African-American  History”.

Mass and Service Schedule

Wednesday Masses during Lent are paused through Easter - 11:00 am

  • Cancelled. Join us for Ash Wednesday service and other Lenten offerings


Ash Wednesday February 22. All open to our three communities

  • 7:00 am - St. Paul's Episcopal
  • 12 Noon - Trinity Lutheran
  • 7:00 pm -Mary of Magdala, ECC

Sunday February 26 10:30 am

  • 301 Faith Partners Shared Service at 10:30 am - Mother Rosean and Rev. Jane presiding
  • Followed by POTLUCK with our partners! Bring your favorite 'shareable'


Sunday March 5 12:30 pm

  • Father Teri Harroun presiding


Mary of Magdala Parish Membership And Sunday Offertory

All are invited and ALL are welcome to join our parish community.


Here is the webpage with more information. If you would like to contribute to Mary of Magdala, here ways to schedule a single or recurring Sunday offertory.

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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.

The ECC Regional Website is now live - View here.

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

Click here for the Trinity Lutheran Church monthly newsletter, "Tidings". And here is St Paul's weekly bulletin.

Mary of Magdala Member Directory

Need to view, update information or download a copy of the member directory? Just click here.


There are mobile apps available.

Apple App Store: Get the iPhone / iPad app here

Google Play Store: Get the Android app here