Celebrating A Wonderful Way To Be A Catholic | | |
Emmaus ECC Newsletter
December 12, 2025
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Third Sunday of Advent
Gaudete! Rejoice!
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Preparing for Mass over Zoom: If attending by Zoom create a sacred space for yourself and your family. It is helpful to light a candle and put down a small cloth where you will place your bit of bread and wine. Download and print the worship aids. We gather at 10:00 am and mass begins at 10:30 am. Request Zoom link HERE.
Come to Church: All are welcome! When you ask people how they found us, the answer is often that they heard about us from a friend. Be that friend. Invite them to come with you to mass in our Sacred Space. We encourage you to come in person if you can. Advent is the best time to bring newcomers to church. We can all begin the new year together!
Community Meeting: after mass this Sunday. Fine tuning our Christmas Eve mass and the Christmas season.
Reconciliation Service: December 21st, as part of our mass that day. Every year we look forward to the sacrament of reconciliation, to that fresh start feeling as we proceed into a new year. We celebrate a communal reconciliation service at Emmaus.
Modern Mystics Book Group. Our next discussion is Sunday, December 21st, at 1:45 pm by Zoom. We plan to meet in person as well as online and will have a potluck meal again. We have changed our schedule to the first and third Sundays of the month. We will be discussing chapter six of the book, Tears of Things by Richard Rohr. Contact Deacon Connie or Bishop Kedda if you want to join the group.
Christmas Eve Mass: We will be celebrating Christmas on December 24th at 6:00 pm. This mass will be shared by Zoom. Please plan to join us. Email Bishop Kedda for the link.
Food Bank: Our support is crucial! Please bring canned goods and other non-perishables to church with you on Sunday and put them in our food bank bag. To donate to the Thurston County Food Bank, go HERE. Your generosity means families in our community will have the resources they need, even as our food bank lines continue to grow.
Synaxis: During this difficult time in our country Bishop Kedda recommends prayer time based on the readings of the day. One opportunity is Synaxis that takes place every day at 3:00 pm Pacific time and is sponsored by the Franciscans of Reconciliation. Use link HERE. Come join us for prayer.
Dispute Resolution Center: Online Training on January 27th. "Impactful Conversations -- Giving and Receiving Feedback." 8:30 am to 12:30 pm. Go HERE to find out more. Cost is $75.
Old Catholic Theology Summer School in Utrecht: July 5-10; 12-17, 2026. Plan ahead! See the information HERE.
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Websites to visit often: Bookmark our community website HERE and also our diocesan website HERE.
Follow Interfaith Works on Facebook HERE.
Facebook Page: Stay in touch! Visit our Emmaus ECC Facebook page for news during the week HERE. Visit the PNW Diocesan page HERE.
Bishop Kedda's blog: You can check it out HERE. Right now, she has started a series of reflections on her book All Creation Waits. Much has happened as the years have gone by -- how much of what she wrote is still relevant today.
If you have suggestions for how our community of Emmaus could be reaching out into our neighborhood to make a difference, contact Deacon Connie and share your ideas.
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Jesus,
you make
the blind to see.
Help us to see our neighbors’ needs.
You open deaf ears to hear.
Please open our ears
to hear the cry
of the poor.
You made
clean the lepers.
Clean us too, we beg,
of the many wrongs we do,
and the right things we fail to do.
Our
mute tongues
want to sing your praise.
We want to leap in joy like the stag.
Heal us, please.
The Sunday Website at St. Louis University
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Third Sunday of Advent
Signs of God's Loving Presence
This Sunday is Gaudete Sunday. We are called to rejoice, but in our Gospel John the Baptist doesn’t have much to rejoice about. He began his ministry knowing that God had a plan and knowing his role in that plan. He was preparing the world for the “One who is to come.” He was positive that God was about to break in upon the people with judgment. But Jesus does not act as expected.
John, locked behind bars for speaking truth to power, is filled with doubt. He sends his followers to ask Jesus: “Are you the One who is to come, or do we look for another?” The Messiah was supposed to bring justice, fairness, and order, and pull-down tyrants, like Herod, from their thrones. The Messiah was supposed to release the righteous ones, like John, from their chains. Perhaps John wonders if the revolution will start on time to free him.
Jesus doesn’t answer directly. Instead, he asks John’s disciples to judge for themselves from what they see and hear. Jesus knew the preconceptions that John and his followers had about how things were supposed to be. Only they can let go of their preconceptions and be open to what God is doing. Therefore, Jesus said, “Blessed is the one who finds no stumbling block in me.” In other words, blessed is the one who doesn’t give up and quit because God isn’t doing things in the expected way.
It turns out that the scripture Jesus refers to, from Isaiah 35, isn’t about the coming of a Messiah. It is about the coming of God. “Look, your God is coming,” as we hear in the first reading. What Jesus is claiming is that rather than just another Messiah, as in the past, God is entering history and changing the world through the ministry of Jesus.
John expected violence – an ax to the root of the tree, burning up the chaff, the wrath of God in judgment. Jesus reveals that the kingdom of God is not what anyone has been expecting. It turns out that God does not come to do violence but is willing to suffer violence at the hands of humanity. John saw violence as the answer to all of Israel’s problems and didn’t realize that humanity can never reach peace through violence.
The prophet Isaiah claimed that there are visible signs to see when God is at work. Jesus points to the signs in his ministry of God’s loving presence with him. The anawim, the have-nots, the needy, the desperate, the poor – the blind, the deaf, and the lame – are being raised up out of their desperation. The way we know that God is with us is when real change takes place, a change that includes deliverance.
We recognize this change in ourselves as we allow Christ into our lives. Growing up in any society, people can be locked into prisons of false selves. Society molds and shapes us with varying degrees of tyranny and sometimes we don’t even know that our true self has been crushed and forced out of sight. We don’t know who we are until Christ sets us free to become who we were always meant to be. Both mental and physical healing are signs of God’s loving presence.
When we choose to follow Christ, we are choosing to be with Christ on the cross, a victim willing to suffer violence for the sake of God’s kingdom. We are choosing not to return violence for violence. Many Christians find this way of non-violence a stumbling block, and give up and quit on the idea, because they don’t think it works. Many Christians will wear a cross around their necks, not understanding that it means you are willing to die rather than cause harm to another.
Advent is about waiting patiently for the coming kingdom of God, and for shalom peace on earth, and it is about living in the in-between time. In fact, our lives are Advent lives, for we live in the tension of the coming of the kingdom of God, and the not yet of that kingdom.
Mother Kedda
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Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed, citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.
~Margaret Mead~
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On Being a Different Kind of Catholic Church
I received this message from Bishop Tomasz Jordan Puchalski of the Reformed Catholic Church in Poland. I ask you to take time to read it. We all need to know our faith tradition. As you are aware, we are in full communion with the Reformed Catholic Church in Poland, and we too are rooted in the Old Catholic faith tradition:
My dearest sister,
I wrote a reflection on today’s sad commemoration. Maybe you can share your thoughts about this:
On July 18, 1870, during the First Vatican Council, two dogmas were proclaimed: the dogma of papal infallibility and the dogma of the pope’s universal jurisdiction. This decision, expressed in the constitution Pastor aeternus, declared the Bishop of Rome infallible ex sese, non autem ex consensu Ecclesiae – by his own authority, not by the consent of the whole Church. For many, this marked a turning point, dividing the path of the ancient, undivided Catholic Church from the newly emerging vision of the Catholic Church under the leadership of the “new papacy.” For this reason, this date is also particularly significant for our Old Catholic community of the Reformed Catholic Church in Poland.
Although our Church is not formally a member of the Union of Utrecht, it fully embraces the Declaration of Utrecht from September 24, 1889, which states:
“We hold fast to the faith of the ancient Church, as expressed by St. Vincent of Lérins: We hold that which has been believed everywhere, always, and by all; for that is truly and properly Catholic.” This principle forms the foundation of our position regarding the papacy.
Read the whole message HERE.
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Interfaith Works Homeless Services: Donation drop offs can be taken to our admin office 110 11th Ave SE 10am-4pm, Mon-Thurs
Thanks so much!
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The Emmaus ECC Statement Against Racism
Our faith calls us to racial justice. We recognize that our faith demands that we transform our beliefs, values, systems, and commitment to racial equity. Scripture has given us the way for such healing to occur, and the responsibility to pursue it.
Our faith calls us to lives of charity, advocacy, and action on behalf of marginalized people. In the Pacific Northwest, we are especially committed to justice for Indigenous, Latina and Latino, African American, and Asian communities, whose oppressive histories and realities are well-documented.
We value the voices of people of color in this calling and in these efforts. We believe all people are loved equally by God our creator. We commit to partnering with ecumenical, interfaith, and civic initiatives to pursue racial justice in our local communities. We will seek solidarity with broader initiatives but will not wait on them in order to act. “The time is always right to do what is right” (Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King).
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ECC Statement on Race:
Our nation is in desperate need of racial healing and transformation. The healing process cannot begin until the truth of our country's past and present sins are confronted. As people of Christian faith, we acknowledge and renounce both past and present dehumanizing, oppressive, abusive, enslaving, violent and lethal actions and inactions against African American communities. We proclaim that it is time for metanoia – turning away from evil and turning toward God's liberating love.
As members of the ECC, we believe in the power of communication to heal and that the search for truth can lead to justice. As such, we pray that our country will begin a process of truth-seeking that will lead to long-term reconciliation. We in the ECC pledge to begin a deliberate and transparent truth-telling process within our own faith communities.
Jesus, the heart of our faith, lived and died for love. He showed no partiality. God's community is diverse and totally integrated. We pray for God's guidance and mercy as we work to attain racial justice and build the beloved community, walking together the path paved with truth, love, equity, and justice. In the prophetic tradition, we boldly proclaim, "Let justice roll down like waters and righteousness like a mighty stream." (Amos 5:24)
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Good
Shepherd
Ministry
Contact Fr. David Gerardot HERE.
Phone: 360-789-5149
For a description of Good Shepherd Ministry go HERE.
For the news and information on Good Shepherd Ministry go HERE.
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Joe's Environmental Tip
To help keep waterways clean and safe from pollutants, use biodegradable detergents at home
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Elevator speech: An Ecumenical Catholic is someone who wants to engage deeply with the example of the early Church, when congregations were small, inclusive, participatory, and centered on Christ’s message of love, collaboration, and service. Ecumenical Catholics believe that God is present in all things, and that to know and care for all the people, the earth, and all the living things around us is how God wants us to serve Them. (Submitted by Beverly Marshall-Saling).
ECC YouTube Channel: Go HERE for videos of the 2022 ECC Synod. You can also catch the "Parade of Parishes" which shows off what various ECC communities are doing to be churches in action. It is awesome to see other ECC communities around the country.
ECC Ecclesiology: HERE.
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ECC Diocese of the Pacific Northwest
Vision Statement
Ecumenical Catholics of the Pacific Northwest
Restoring relationships of justice, peace, and love
with God, with one another, and with all of Creation
by living out our baptismal ministry as the Body of Christ.
Mission Statement
We are the Ecumenical Catholic Church of the Pacific Northwest embracing a network of sacramental communities in Washington, Oregon, and Idaho. As authentic Catholics we celebrate our continuity with the undivided Church of the first millennium and believe that salvation is offered to all. Our unity is built on scripture and the Nicene Creed, and Eucharist is the visible sign of that unity. We are in communion with the association of Churches known as the Ecumenical Catholic Communion and function within the generous parameters of the ECC Constitution.
We Believe
We are the People of God, baptized in Christ – bishop, priests, deacons, and laity – who believe that all people are unique and sacred. We believe that all people possess valuable gifts and talents to be shared. Participation of all the baptized in the work of the Church is essential to our call as the Body of Christ serving in this region. Therefore, we are a synodal Church.
We Offer
The ECC Diocese of the Pacific Northwest offers a joyful way of being Catholic focused on love, not guilt. We welcome all people and offer unity with diversity. We commit ourselves to dialogue and cooperation with others. We believe we have a responsibility to be open to ecumenical dialogue with all the baptized, and we support interfaith cooperation and understanding.
We do
We join together as Church to follow the messianic call of the Holy Spirit to form sacramental communities, to preach the good news of salvation and liberation to all, to offer a refuge in Christ for those who suffer prejudice, and to conform our lives to the example and teachings of Christ Jesus. The setting in which we live fosters an awe of God’s majestic creation, and respect for the land, water, and mountains, as well as the diverse animal life, and all the people who lived on this sacred ground before us.
Distinctions
We are the people of God who seek to dive deeper into the Catholic faith handed down to us by our ancestors from the teachings of the early Church. We believe that anyone who is gifted and called by God, qualified for ordination, and is called by a community, may present themselves for ordination. We believe that marriage is a partnership for the whole of life, and if two adults intend to commit themselves to such a union, they may celebrate a sacramental marriage. We believe that persons have the right to follow their sincere and informed consciences in moral decision making. We recognize that only the Holy Spirit possesses infallibility. No human or institution can claim this.
The Diocesan Constitution may be read HERE. See Website HERE.
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Contemplative Prayer/Scripture study: noon on Thursdays at St. John Episcopal Church. Contact Fr. David for more information.
Sundays we gather at 10:00 and mass begins at 10:30. All are welcome to join us! You are also able to join us by Zoom. Email Bishop Kedda for a link.
Thursday study group: 6:30 pm by Zoom with Oregon Episcopalians.
Synaxis: Every day at 3:00 pm. Sponsored by Franciscans of Reconciliation. Use link HERE. Come join us for prayer.
Modern Mystics Book Group: December 21st at 1:45 pm by Zoom. Followed by a potluck.
Christmas Eve Mass: December 24th at 6:00 pm by Zoom only.
Get to Know a Muslim: First Fridays of every month. Open invitation to join them 1:00 to 3:00 pm. For more information read their flyer HERE.
Enter into Friday Stillness: Fridays. Contact Rev. Kathleen Bellefleuille-Rice for more information.
| | Emmaus ECC | Member of the Ecumenical Catholic Communion | www.emmaus-ecc.org | |
NOTICE
The Sacraments of Marriage, Reconciliation and Anointing, are available upon request. Contact us about Funerals and grave side services. Preparation is required for Baptisms -- for parents when children to be baptized are below age seven; for those over age seven, our community supports the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults. Our priests are also happy to meet with you individually, and confidentially, to discuss any spiritual or pastoral concerns you may have.
Bishop of the ECC Pacific Northwest Diocese
We Support Marriage Equality
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