NOTE FROM PASTOR JR FOR SUNDAY, OCTOBER 29, 2023
This Fifth Sunday of October, we at Covenant will observe as “All Saints Sunday.” “All Saints Day” is November 1st. We will remember with pictures around the altar and name cards on the wall, those who have impacted our lives and are numbered among those Hebrew 12 refers to as our “Great Cloud of Witnesses.”
We will also observe Sunday as “Pink Sunday.” There are 2 Pink Sundays on the liturgical calendar: the 3rd Sunday of Advent and the 4th Sunday in Lent. This Pink Sunday in October Covenant designates to remember those who have died from Breast Cancer; and to stand in solidarity with those living with it, and their loved ones.
Both observations are significant to me because of 2 wonderful women I have called Mama. One was our Covenant Church Mother, “Mama” Dorothy Swims, who joined our Great Cloud of Witnesses, October 28, 2021. The other was my birth Mother, “Mama” James Ella Reid Finney,” who joined my Great Cloud of Witnesses February 12, 1990.
Both were “Saints” that lived out God’s unconditional love for other people. A lesson emphasized in the assigned gospel text this week that includes the two greatest commandments identified by Jesus: “love God and love others.” In presenting “Mechthild’s” teaching on contemplation and compassionate action, Theologian Wendy Farley says “Love of God and of humanity are not two separate things, as if one could love God but shun humanity. Compassionate action reflects and mirrors the divine image. Love is not an emotion or obligation but is God present in the soul. When we love others with warmth, affection, and care for their needs, it is God loving them through us.” To which all I can say is “AMEN!”
Join us this Sunday, in-person, by Zoom, Facebook Livestream or YouTube, for these special observances. My sermon will be “Remembering and Loving One Another,” based on lectionary gospel text, “Matthew 22:34-40.”
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