Our Journey Inward 2017
Our Journey Inward 2017
It is a strange walk with the Lord, when people refer to us as the “Ministry without boundaries”. Bishop Peter Hickman, our formal presiding bishop indicated that St Mary Magdalene Community was a Church to the outposts.
All this began in the springtime of 2012. We started in the ECC by saying Mass in our home. We had three people for only one Mass and most of the time Rachel and I made up the community. We followed well founded suggestions to give up the Home Mass idea so we moved into a La Baron Conference center. It was there we changed Caesar’s famous quote “I came, I saw and I conquered” TO “They came, they saw and they left.” People didn’t seem to want to go to Mass at a Hotel.
We moved our Mass to the Catholic Worker Center in Albuquerque NM and very shortly realized that we were not compatible to their ways of completing their mission. We said Mass once a week in their Kitchen. We had a sacristy but that changed three times in three months.
Then we moved to the Albuquerque Center for Peace and Justice. It was a supreme networking location that has 65 organizations members that connect one way or another. It was not suited for promoting a church community and did not encourage a sacred space for Mass. There were people coming in and out causing distractions and interruptions. St Mary Magdalene Community did have a large space for weekly Mass on Saturdays at 5:00 PM. This is space was subject to change when another organization needed our location and we ended up in the office. Our most recent feeling of growth is two men showing signs of wanting to return to our Mass. They are telling others of their experiences and seems as though they are our public relations.
As of July 2014 we entered into a new sacred place. The chapel of the 1st Congregational Church is our new home where we can have Mass every Saturday night at 5:00 pm We invite you to join when you can. All are welcomed and Affirmed.
We have come to consensus that the most important preparation and development our daily lives is “Eucharist”. Mass is the absolute reason for any of our involvements in other organization’s ministries. The extension of our Mass is to minister to the homebound that has persisted before we entered the Ecumenical Catholic Communion. At one time we served four and now we still have two wonderful women. These wonderful members have blessed us personally and graced us with their families in their walk with the Lord. We look, forward each week to seeing them as they help spiritually to strengthen us.
Each of these moves allowed us to constantly look inward and wait for direction from the Lord. We continuously stop to listen in 2014 as we heard in a whisper “Be still and know that I am God”. Although we have moved to four different locations in two years, we are still trying to remain faithful even when it seems we are not successful. We are still the people of the desert and are constantly reminded of the fact that the desert has no paths and no clear direction. It becomes so important to listen to the prompting of the Lord and always be ready to support others who need a respite on their journey.
Presented February 8, 2017
Fr. Mark & Rachel Sutton OFS
It is a strange walk with the Lord, when people refer to us as the “Ministry without boundaries”. Bishop Peter Hickman, our formal presiding bishop indicated that St Mary Magdalene Community was a Church to the outposts.
All this began in the springtime of 2012. We started in the ECC by saying Mass in our home. We had three people for only one Mass and most of the time Rachel and I made up the community. We followed well founded suggestions to give up the Home Mass idea so we moved into a La Baron Conference center. It was there we changed Caesar’s famous quote “I came, I saw and I conquered” TO “They came, they saw and they left.” People didn’t seem to want to go to Mass at a Hotel.
We moved our Mass to the Catholic Worker Center in Albuquerque NM and very shortly realized that we were not compatible to their ways of completing their mission. We said Mass once a week in their Kitchen. We had a sacristy but that changed three times in three months.
Then we moved to the Albuquerque Center for Peace and Justice. It was a supreme networking location that has 65 organizations members that connect one way or another. It was not suited for promoting a church community and did not encourage a sacred space for Mass. There were people coming in and out causing distractions and interruptions. St Mary Magdalene Community did have a large space for weekly Mass on Saturdays at 5:00 PM. This is space was subject to change when another organization needed our location and we ended up in the office. Our most recent feeling of growth is two men showing signs of wanting to return to our Mass. They are telling others of their experiences and seems as though they are our public relations.
As of July 2014 we entered into a new sacred place. The chapel of the 1st Congregational Church is our new home where we can have Mass every Saturday night at 5:00 pm We invite you to join when you can. All are welcomed and Affirmed.
We have come to consensus that the most important preparation and development our daily lives is “Eucharist”. Mass is the absolute reason for any of our involvements in other organization’s ministries. The extension of our Mass is to minister to the homebound that has persisted before we entered the Ecumenical Catholic Communion. At one time we served four and now we still have two wonderful women. These wonderful members have blessed us personally and graced us with their families in their walk with the Lord. We look, forward each week to seeing them as they help spiritually to strengthen us.
Each of these moves allowed us to constantly look inward and wait for direction from the Lord. We continuously stop to listen in 2014 as we heard in a whisper “Be still and know that I am God”. Although we have moved to four different locations in two years, we are still trying to remain faithful even when it seems we are not successful. We are still the people of the desert and are constantly reminded of the fact that the desert has no paths and no clear direction. It becomes so important to listen to the prompting of the Lord and always be ready to support others who need a respite on their journey.
Presented February 8, 2017
Fr. Mark & Rachel Sutton OFS
