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Reflection from Our Co-Pastors
Tuesday, February 22, 2022
'Though I walk in the valley of darkness, no evil do I fear. Your rod and staff comfort me' - Psalm 23, Verse 4
Once upon a time, an old Hasidic tale teaches us, the local Jewish congregation was very concerned about the fact that their rabbi disappeared into the forest every single Sabbath night. Was he chanting with angels? Was he praying with Elijah? Was he communing with God? So, after months of this, they finally sent someone to follow him. The next Sabbath, the sexton followed him to a cottage on the far side of the cliff. And there, the sexton could see through the window, lay an old gentile woman, sick in her bed and wasting away. The rabbi swept the floor, chopped the wood, lit the fire, made a large pot of stew, washed the bedclothes and then left quickly in order to get back to the synagogue in time for morning services. The sexton, too, arrived back breathless. “Well,” the congregation demanded, “did our rabbi go up to heaven?” The sexton thought for a minute. “Oh, no, my friends,” he said and smiled softly. “Our rabbi did not go up to heaven. “Our rabbi went much higher than that.”
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There are some kinds of pain that cannot be taken away in life. Loss. Hurt. Rejection. Disability. But those who enter into the pain of another know what it is to talk about the love of a God who does not change the circumstances that form us but walks through them with us every step of the way.
Comfort is a small and tender thing. All it takes is regular presence, patient listening and genuine concern. It demands that we go out of ourselves to the other in ways that advantage us not a whit.
The real question, come to think about it, is whether or not the congregation kept their old rabbi or got themselves a new one.
To go down into pain with another breaks open the heart of the God who looks among us always for the face most like God’s own.
(From Songs of the Heart: Reflections on the Psalms by Joan Chittister)
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We offer the opportunity for in-person prayer with another of us who is alone. How great to be person-to-person in prayer during this time. Please let us know if you want someone to pray with you or if you want to pray with someone. Days and times are up to you. If you are interested in prayer partners, please call 970-493-9536 (Office) or email us at marymagdalafc@gmail.com
Photo by Renate Vanaga on Unsplash
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At Mary of Magdala, ECC This Week | |
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Sunday Feb 27 - Shared Service with 301 Faith Partners
10:30 a.m. Only on Zoom. 301 Faith Partners Presiders, lectors, musicians and choir members will be live streamed from the sanctuary.
Drive-by Eucharist will be available immediately following the service until 12:15 pm.
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Remembering Verna Bodig
Verna Bodig, a member of our community, died a peaceful death on Valentine's Day, February 14, 2022. She had been an active community member until she became ill.
A celebration of her life will be held at Bohlender Funeral Chapel, 121 W. Olive St. Fort Collins on February 24, 2022 (Thursday) at 2:00pm. All are welcome to attend.
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Mary of Magdala's Community Walk and Talk
February 25, 2022 1:00 PM at Rolland Moore Park has been CANCELLED due to weather.
--> Stay Tuned, we will reschedule <--
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Praying for peace, health and well-being through challenging times
+Mary Detweiller, member
+Dick Life, member
+Paul Wagner, brother of Co-Pastor Rev.Jane and her Aunt Gloria Farrell and family.
+Joel, friend of Brad Rouse
+Dave Burgoon of TLC
+Dave Skinner- friend of Sharon Friedman
+Linda Browell - member
+Gale -beginning chemo. Uncle of Gaston Lopez, member
+Harry, 11 year canine companion to Gray La Fond.
+Yvonne Keefe - member
+Michael Juranek - friend of David and Mary Lou Devlin
+Everly Parks - friend to Lynne and Jim Barnes, members.
+Miles - friend of David and Mary Lou Devlin
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+Rosemary - Fr Michael's mother
+Suzanne King - member
+Joanne Gallagher - member
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A blessed and peaceful repose of souls for those who've passed and comfort for the friends and families.
+Verna Bodig, member
+Kathie Reiten, mother of Pastor Rick.
+Mary Lynn Eyestone, sister of Joan Chapman Smith, member
+Jerry Foxhoven, uncle of Bill Smith, member
+Craig Starbird, brother-in-law of Mary Lyons, member
+Fr. Denny Dempsey - and in gratitude for his spiritual presence in my life - Gaston Lopez
+Leo Six – Father of Michael Six, member
+Dolores Orsi - mother of member
Jared Orsi
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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. | |
#BLM Reflection
Last Sunday, our chair of the Social Justice Ministry, Tom Moos presented the below reflection.
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I’m sure that those of us who grew up in the 60’s (or were already adults) remember images like these in news stories covering the Black Panthers - images of fearsome, gun-toting Black men, sporting leather jackets, sunglasses and black berets. Even today, the common perception is based only on partial truths.
Founded in 1966 in Oakland, CA by Huey P. Newton and Bobby Seale, the Black Panther Party for Self Defense practiced “copwatching”. Legally and openly carrying weapons, members followed police around the city or patrolled looking for instances of police brutality especially against African Americans. FBI director, J. Edgar Hoover, described the Party as “the greatest threat to the internal security of the country” and Governor Ronald Reagan passed the Mulford Act repealing the law which allowed the public to carry loaded firearms. Ironic, isn’t it, that stricter gun controls were acceptable when it was Black men carrying the guns?!!
However, less well known is the Black Panther’s Ten-Point program demanding freedom, decent housing, employment, and education, release of the unjustly tried from jails, fair hearings by juries drawn from their
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Black communities, exemption from military service (remember the context: the Vietnam war), and an end to police brutality and to the capitalist processes that made a few rich on the backs of Black community labor. At its beginnings, the Party championed Black masculinity, but at its height, 60% of the approximately 5000 members were women. In fact, from 1974 to 1977, a woman, Elaine Brown, chaired the Party.
By day, the Black Panthers started over 60 community social programs, the so-called Survival Programs. They operated free healthcare clinics and ambulance services, taught self-defense classes, fed kids breakfast before school, delivered groceries to the elderly, provided free sickle cell anemia testing, started child development and clothing centers, and initiated voter education, free busing to prisons, free housing cooperatives, and more.
History and public perception are often written and molded by the rich and powerful. When that history and perception is tainted by fear, hatred and racism, there remains much to be relearned, exposed by the light of truth.
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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.
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Our Vision – ‘Our guiding Light’
Weaving a tapestry of love, hope and justice for the world.
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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.
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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.
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