Reflections from your Co-Pastors Tuesday April 27, 2021
The first reading this past Sunday was Acts 18. 1-4, 18, 24-26. It is here for your review and possible contemplation. Context is everything and so as the story tells, Priscilla accompanied Paul and her husband, Aquila, on a dangerous trip during the early persecution of Christians. Why would a woman go on this dangerous trip? Why would we consider her important when, as someone said recently, ‘Priscilla is only mentioned!’
A mention by name in Judaism is meaningful and powerful. It tells of lineage, inner nature and character. Priscilla wasn’t the only woman. While her name and likeness are inscribed in Catholicism, she is joined by other early Christian women in the Crypt Church of the cathedral in Washington, DC. There is an experience of God to find these women in the Crypt, in the womb of Christ, in the ‘upside down.’
“Paul left Athens and went to Corinth. There he found a Judean Christian named Aquila, a native of Pontus, who had recently come from Italy with his wife Priscilla, because Claudius had ordered all Judeans and Judean Christians to leave Rome. Paul went to see them. Because he was of the same trade, he stayed with them and they worked together…
After staying in Corinth, a considerable time, Paul said farewell to the believers and sailed for Syria, accompanied by Priscilla and Aquila. When they reached Ephesus, after having visited their synagogue, Paul left Priscilla and Aquila there.
Now there came to Ephesus, a Judean named Apollos, a native of Alexandria. He was in an eloquent person, well-versed in the scriptures. He had been instructed in The Way of Christ. He spoke with burning enthusiasm and taught accurately the things concerning Jesus, though he knew only the baptism of John. He began to speak boldly in the synagogue; but, when Priscilla and Aquila heard him, they took him aside and taught him the rest of the story.”
Of the four characters, Priscilla and Aquila are mentioned most often. Paul and Apollos are supporting characters. Priscilla and Aquila worked beside Paul. Could they have been called by the communities to stay longer to instruct, preach, encourage and comfort those early persecuted Christians? They were willing to be the hands and feet of Christ and to give up their lives, like the Good Shepherd. Priscilla sounds like a disciple to the disciples, like Mary of Magdala.
It is revelatory, I think, that Priscilla’s name is part of Acts. She must have been accepted by the apostles and disciples as equals and there must
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have been more women. Their discipleship set an example. They were mentors and conveyors of the true meaning of the Good News, Love. Discipleship is not without danger and we, women and men equally are called today as then to the same discipleship. Joan Chittister reminds us:
“What is discipleship? Christian discipleship is by nature a very dangerous thing. It has put every person who ever accepted it at risk. It made every follower who ever took it seriously on alert for rejection, from Martin of Tours to John Henry Newman, from Mary Ward to Dorothy Day. Discipleship casts every fragile new Christian community in tension with the times in which it grows. In the early church to be a Christian community meant to defy Roman imperialism, to stretch Judaism itself, to counter pagan values with Christian ones. It demanded very concrete presence; it took great courage, unending fortitude and clear public posture. Real discipleship meant the rejection of real things: it meant the rejection of emperor worship, the foreswearing of animal sacrifice, the inclusion of Gentiles, the elimination of dietary laws, the disavowal of circumcision, the acceptance of women and the supplanting of law with love, of nationalism with universalism, of a chosen people with a global people - YOU! Then, the following of Christ was not an excursion into the intellectual, it was real and immediate and cosmic. It was not easy then and it will not be easy now.
The problem with Christian discipleship is that instead of simply requiring a kind of academic or ascetic exercise - the implication of most other kinds of 'discipleship' - Christian discipleship requires a kind of living that is sure, eventually, to tumble a person from the banquet tables of prestigious boards and the reviewing stands of presidents, and the processions of ecclesiastical knighthood to the most suspect margins of both church and society. To follow Jesus, in other words, is to follow the one who turns the world upside down, even the religious world. Real discipleship is a tipsy arrangement at the very least. People with high need for approval, social status, and public respectability need not apply.”1
We are a priestly people, disciples. May you bless the world today with your whole being.
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Family Housing Network
- presents
The 3rd Annual
Heroes for Homeless Families
We are delighted to gather together to enjoy a spring evening honoring some local heroes in our work to serve families experiencing homelessness. While continuing to stay safe in the open air and in our cars, we will have dinner provided by CHeBA Hut Toasted Subs, popcorn and candy, an online silent auction and watch the movie, Above the Clouds.
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When? - Friday, April 30, 2021
from 6:30 - 10:00 pm
Where? - Holiday Twin Drive In Theater
2206 S Overland Trail, Fort Collins, CO 80526
Join us on April 30 and celebrate the efforts of local heroes who support Family Housing Network as we strive to make homelessness short lived and non-recurrent for our local families in our community. Add to Calendar
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Prayer Requests and Service Links |
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Praying for peace, health and well-being through challenging times
+Anna and Joshua Moore - daughter & her husband of members Tom and Lisa Moos
+Patricia - sister of Co-Pastor Rosean
+Jarrid Stout - friend of Michael Six
+Adele Eastman - friend of Co-Pastor Jane
+Hope - granddaughter of Co-Pastor Rosean
+Laura Templet - member
+Rob Frank - friend of Kerrie Anderson - member
+Jerry Padilla, father and Ryan Cordova nephew of Lisa Jones - member
+Joanne Gallagher - member, and for her sister, Dr. Barbara Immroth
+Aidan - grandson of Mother Kae.
+Lauren Roob - friend of Rosanna Bateman
+Liz and Ken Zornes and family, whose daughter is struggling with addiction - friends of Sandra and Dick Life
+Michael Keefe, son of member Yvonne Keefe
+Dona Bosse - member
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+Rosemary - Fr Michael's mother
+Dani - niece of the Cloyds - members
+Jim and Lucille Bowen friends of Suzanne King, member
+Ruth Parker, sister of Dori Carroll
+Leo Six – father of Michael Six
+Mike Gudim
+Suzanne King - member
+Robert Browell
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For the peaceful repose of souls for those who've passed and comfort for the families.
Mary Crosby - member
Clint Wisdom - brother-in-law of Joan Chapman-Smith
Leon - father of Mother Cynthia
Kristin - daughter of ECC priest Scott Jenkins.
Joan Kneeland - sister-in-law of Bill Kneeland
Rita Ortiz, friend of Deacon Rosean
Margie Weitz - member
Chris Bachman, friend of Lisa Jones
Bob, husband of Joyce Dehaven -
friend of Cathy Engel
David Heyman -member
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Service Recordings
View the recording for 4th Sunday in Easter,
April 25 here. For the homily of Leslie Black Elk and Co-Pastor Rev. Jane Reina, click here. Here is a printed version of the liturgy to assist with prayer
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For all bulletins, reflections, Sunday recordings during our hiatus from celebrating together, visit our webpage. Please contact us with questions, concerns and ideas for better connection with and for the community - marymagdalafc@gmail.com
Newsletters of Trinity Lutheran Church and the St. Paul's Episcopal
What are our partners in ministry here up to? Go here for the Trinity Lutheran Church monthly newsletter, "Tidings". And here is St Paul's weekly bulletin
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