Emmaus Blog

Tuesday, May 12, 2026: Heather Cox Richardson's Reflection on Mothers' Day (a suggestion from Victoria)  If you google the history of Mother’s Day, the internet will tell you that Mother’s Day began in 1908 when Anna Jarvis decided to honor her mother. But “Mothers’ Day”—with the apostrophe not in the singular spot, but in the plural—actually started in the 1870s, when the sheer enormity of the death caused by the Civil War and the Franco-Prussian War convinced writer and reformer Julia Ward Howe that women must take control of politics from the men who had permitted such carnage. Mothers’ Day was not designed to encourage people to be nice to their mothers. It was part of women’s effort to gain power to change society. The Civil War years taught naïve Americans what mass death meant in the modern era. Soldiers who had marched off to war with fantasies of heroism discovered that newly invented long-range weapons turned death into tortured anonymity. Men were trampled into blood...

Monday, May 11, 2026: I'm not adding women to the Bible. I'm uncovering the women male bias erased. Yesterday's Mothers Day celebration for the Emmaus community was compelling. Victoria and Marcie created a thoughtful reflection on the reading of the woman Jesus cured. Victoria pointed out that Jesus broke the temple rules in several ways: He went out of his way to bring the "bent over" woman into the circle of men in order to cure her. That was a big No-No. Women and men never mixed in the synangog .  He touched the woman -- something strictly forbidden by law He performed the cure on a Sunday -- also strictly forbidden. And he also called out the authorities for being hypocrites. Wow. Jesus shamed the leaders:  "14 Indignant because Jesus had healed on the Sabbath, the synagogue leader said to the people, “There are six days for work. So come and be healed on those days, not on the Sabbath.” 15 Jesus answered him, “You hypocrites! Doesn’t each of you on the...

Sunday, May 10, 2026:  Please join us this afternoon  - Sunday the 10th of May for our Emmaus Community Celebration.  We start at 3:45 with a community greeting followed by liturgy at 4:00 Potluck following the liturgy Join us In person at Christ Church United Methodist 1717 Yulupa Avenue, Santa Rosa, California 95403 or on Zoom using this link: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/5193158573?omn=87812850443 Passcode is: 1234 Or start Zoom from your browser and type in the Meeting ID and Passcode Meeting ID: 519 315 8573 Passcode: 1234 Emmaus Community Mothers Day Celebration by Victoria and Marcie Victoria: welcomes all present and those on Zoom, and provides a brief introduction of our theme for tonight’s liturgy.  And now let us begin our liturgy. (Victoria rings singing bowl three times)  Marcie: Opening Prayer: A Mother’s Day Blessing - from the Sister’s of Notre Dame de Namur All-loving God, we give you thanks and praise for mothers young and old.  We pray for y...

 Saturday, May 9, 2026:  Please join us tomorrow  - Sunday the 10th of May for our Emmaus Community Celebration.  We start at 3:45 with a community greeting followed by liturgy at 4:00 Potluck following the liturgy Join us In person at Christ Church United Methodist 1717 Yulupa Avenue, Santa Rosa, California 95403 or on Zoom using this link: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/5193158573?omn=87812850443 Passcode is: 1234 Or start Zoom from your browser and type in the Meeting ID and Passcode Meeting ID: 519 315 8573 Passcode: 1234 Emmaus Community Mothers Day Celebration by Victoria and Marcie Victoria: welcomes all present and those on Zoom, and provides a brief introduction of our theme for tonight’s liturgy.  And now let us begin our liturgy. (Victoria rings singing bowl three times)  Marcie: Opening Prayer: A Mother’s Day Blessing - from the Sister’s of Notre Dame de Namur All-loving God, we give you thanks and praise for mothers young and old.  We pray for ...