Spiritual Life
6A
Thursday, November 12, 2020
HIGHLIGHTS
CHURCH OF JESUS
CHRIST OF LATTER-DAY
SAINTS
Submissions
LA GRANDE — The Church
of Jesus Christ of Latter Day
Saints’ “Come, Follow Me” lesson
for the week of Nov. 16 is based
on the Book of Mormon’s Ether
Chapters 6-11. These verses cover
the travel of the Jaredites to the
promised land and the reign of
both righteous and unrighteous
leaders over several generations,
and how this impacted the people
and their prosperity.
At this time of great global
need, the Church of Jesus Christ
of Latter-day Saints is encour-
aging people to bring light to
Churches and faith-based groups are encouraged to submit Highlights
for the Spiritual Life page by 4 p.m. Tuesday for publication Thursday.
Submit by email to news@lagrandeobserver.com (with Highlights in
the subject line).
the world this Christmas season
through simple, meaningful acts
of service. Elder Marcus B. Nash,
a General Authority Seventy,
stated, “We can be a light that can
shine to the world. We invite all to
join with us this Christmas season
and light the world, one person
at a time, one by one, just as the
Savior did. Together, we can end
2020 on a positive note.” Begin-
ning Nov. 15, visit LightTheWorld.
Governments may change
but our covenant vow with
God remains the same
eople talk about faith
no matter what may come,
all the time and this
and this is not the time to
a good thing — how-
throw in the towel and allow
ever, along with our confi -
an election to crush our
dence, there must also be
hope. God’s word has not
a collection of other godly
changed, and neither has our
character traits operating
mission. We are still called
within us in order to have a
to have a spiritual impact
balanced
on those
and sincere
around us if
relationship
we choose
BILLY
with him.
to allow the
Faith is not
light and
HOLLAND
just a mag-
love of God
LIVING ON PURPOSE
ical wand
to shine
that is used
within us.
when we want something,
Whoever is sitting in
but rather an agreement
the oval offi ce should never
with God’s will that is a crit- quench our responsibility to
ical part of being his child.
love or hinder our burden to
As to the election, we
intercede. Everyone has an
knew that half the nation
opportunity to live as close
would be glad while the
to Christ as they want, and
other half would be sad, but political systems must not
how many were asking God douse the fi re of our deter-
about his prophetic timeline mination to keep pressing
pertaining to the end of the
forward for his glory.
age?
Governments may
Within the dissension,
change but our covenant
I along with many others
vow with God remains the
are praying for healing,
same. As it says in Romans
but we also accept that his
8:35, 38-39: “Who shall
sovereignty will have the
separate us from the love
last word. I believe he is
of Christ? Shall trouble or
reminding us today that all
hardship or persecution
is not lost. Whatever hap-
or famine or nakedness or
pens from this point for-
danger or sword? For I am
ward, we know that our
convinced that neither death
heavenly father will always
nor life, neither angels nor
sit on his throne and the
demons, neither the present
devil and his dark agenda
nor the future, nor any
must bow their knee to
powers, neither height nor
whatever he says.
depth, nor anything else in
Many devoted followers
all creation, will be able to
of Christ are feeling a sense separate us from the love of
of heaviness and despair, but God that is in Christ Jesus
let us remember that Chris-
our Lord.”
tians might function within
———
an earthly government but
Ordained minister and
spiritually we are citizens of
chaplain William “Billy” F.
heaven. The Lord has given
Holland Jr. is the founder of
his disciples a destiny and
an independent ministry in
a mission to fulfi ll for him
central Kentucky.
P
org to learn of ways to serve one
another and how to receive daily
prompts on service ideas.
ZION LUTHERAN
CHURCH
LA GRANDE — Zion
Lutheran Church is suspending
in-person worship while Unon
County is on a two-week pause
due to increased COVID-19 cases.
We hope to resume in-person
worship on Nov. 29. Our offi ce
will also be closed during the
pause. A recorded worship will be
posted on Zion’s Facebook page
and website over the weekend.
FAITH LUTHERAN
CHURCH
LA GRANDE — The sermon
Sunday, Nov. 15, at Faith Lutheran
Church will be based on Matthew
25:14-30, the Parable of the Tal-
ents. In this teaching we see that
God carefully distributes gifts to
each person according to their
ability, and we are highly hon-
ored as we use those gifts with
the words: “Well done, good and
faithful servant.”
Faith Lutheran will have its
annual voters meeting following
the Divine Service. At this
meeting the congregation is given
reports on the church’s ministries
along with considering a 2021
budget and slate of church offi -
cers. Congregants may access the
meeting via technology.
ST. PETER’S EPISCOPAL
CHURCH
LA GRANDE — St. Peter’s
Episcopal Church will not be wor-
shipping in person until 2021.
Links to a recorded worship will
be posted to the church’s Face-
book page over the weekend.
Italian teen set to become fi rst millennial saint
By Joanne M. Perce
The Conversation via AP
ASSISI, Italy — The
Catholic Church on Oct.
10 at a special Mass at the
Basilica of Saint Francis of
Assis beatifi ed 15-year-old
Carlo Acutis. The action
puts the late teenager one
step away from sainthood
and allows Catholics to
venerate him as “Blessed
Carlo Acutis.”
Acutis died of leu-
kemia in 2006 at the age
of 15. He was avidly inter-
ested in computers, video
games and the internet. He
also was a devout Cath-
olic who went to Mass
daily and persuaded his
mother as well to be a reg-
ular attendee. One of his
pet projects was designing
a webpage listing mira-
cles across the globe asso-
ciated with the bread and
wine consecrated at Mass,
believed by Catholics to
be the body and blood of
Christ.
After his death, towns-
people began to attribute
miracles to his interces-
sion, including the birth of
twins to his own mother
four years after his death.
His case was submitted to
the Congregation for the
Causes of Saints, one of
the offi ces that make up
the papal administrative
structure — the Curia —
of the Catholic Church. It
initiated the process of his
offi cial canonization in the
Roman Catholic Church.
For Acutis to become
a saint, the Vatican would
have to verify a second
miracle in his name. But
the pope can waive this
requirement.
Over the centuries, sev-
eral children have been
proclaimed “Blessed” or
“Saint.”
One group of child
saints was venerated from
late antiquity onward
because of their mention
in the gospels: the Holy
Innocents. In the Gospel
of Matthew, King Herod,
threatened by rumors of
the birth of a new king,
sends soldiers to Beth-
lehem to kill all male
infants and toddlers. These
children became known as
the Holy Innocents.
Sometimes child saints
have been canonized as
part of a larger group of
martyrs. For example,
among those martyred
in China for their Chris-
tian faith are 120 Chinese
Catholics killed between
1648 and 1930. Members
were recognized for their
unswerving dedication to
the Catholic faith during
several periods of intense
persecution.
They were canonized
by Pope St. John Paul II
in 2000. In his homily on
that day, the pope made
special mention of the
heroic deaths of two of
them: 14-year-old Anna
Wang and 18-year-old Chi
Zhuzi, both of whom died
in 1900.
Other child saints were
canonized as individuals.
One example is Maria
Goretti, an Italian girl
murdered in 1902. Only 11
years old, she was alone at
the home her family shared
with another family when
she was attacked by the
adult son of that family.
A few child saints were
deemed to have demon-
strated heroic virtue in
other ways. In 1917, three
peasant children from the
town of Fatima in Portugal
claimed to have received
visions of the Blessed
Virgin Mary. News of this
spread, and the location
became a pilgrimage site.
The oldest child, Lucia,
became a nun and lived
into her 90s; her cause
for sainthood is still in
process.
However, her two
cousins, Francisco and
Jacinta Marto, died young
of complications from the
Spanish fl u: Francisco in
1918 at the age of 10, and
Jacinta in 1919, age 9. The
two were beatifi ed in 2000
by Pope St. John Paul II
and canonized by Pope
Francis in 2017.
They were the fi rst child
saints who were not mar-
tyrs. It was their “heroism”
and “life of prayer” that
was considered to be holy.
But there were also
those who were dropped
from the offi cial list of
saints because of details
that were later revealed.
One such case was of a
2-year-old Christian boy
Simon from Trent, Italy,
whose body was found
in the cellar of a Jewish
family in 1475. Simon’s
body was on display and
miracles were attributed to
him. It was 300 years later
that the Jews of Trent were
cleared of murder charges.
In 1965 his name was
removed from the Calendar
of Saints by Pope Paul VI.
This long history shows
sanctity is not limited to
adults who lived in the dis-
tant past. In the eyes of the
Catholic Church, an ordi-
nary teenager in the 21st
century too can be worthy
of veneration.
———
The Conversation is an
independent and nonprofi t
source of news, analysis
and commentary from aca-
demic experts. The Con-
versation is wholly respon-
sible for the content.
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Northeast Oregon Directory of Churches
Services
This Week
GRACE COMMUNITY
LUTHERAN CHURCH
The Place
62848 Philynda Loop in Island City
“We are called to Serve”
Sunday School for all ages - 9:00 am
Sunday Worship 10:00 am
Phone: 541-568-4230
grace.lutherancove@gmail.com
LA GRANDE UNITED
METHODIST CHURCH
“OPEN HEARTS, OPEN MINDS, OPEN DOORS”
1612 4th Street – 963-2498
Pastor Taylor Gould
For service information go to
www.lagrandeumc.org
Imbler
Christian
Church
440 Ruckman, Imbler 534-2201
www.imblerchristianchurch.org
Sunday Services
9:00 a.m.
10:00 a.m.
Sunday School
Worship Service
Zion Lutheran
Church
(an ELCA church)
902 Fourth Street,
La Grande, OR
(541) 963-5998
9:00 am - Worship
10:00 am - Fellowship & Refreshments
10:30 am - Classes
Pastor: Roberta Smythe
www.zionlagrande.org
Cove United
Methodist Church
1708 Jasper St., Cove, OR
North Powder
United
Methodist Church
First Christian
Church
(Disciples of Christ)
901 Penn Avenue 963-2623
lgdisciples@gmail.com
390 E. St., North Powder, OR
JOIN US... Catch the Spirit!
Worship
10:00 a.m.
Worship: 9:00 a.m. Cove
Worship: 10:00 a.m. N. Powder ~Join us at The Lord’s Table~
Amazing Grace
Fellowship
1316 T St., La Grande, OR
541-568-4567
Sunday 10:30 a.m.
2 Cor 12:9 My Grace is
sufficient for you.
SUMMERVILLE
BAPTIST CHURCH
Sunday Services:
Sunday School & Adult Bible Classes
9:45AM
Children’s Church & Worship Service
11:00AM
Family Worship Service
6:00PM
Wednesday:
Prayer Mtg, Children’s Bible Club, Youth
Group 7:00PM
A church for your whole family
IS 40:31
Visit us at summervillebaptistchurch.org
La Grande Seventh-day
Adventist Church
1531 S. Main St.
Union
541-562-5531
A Place where hope is found in Jesus
Join us in Fellowship & Worship
Saturday 11am
2702 Adams Avenue, La Grande
963-4018
lagrandeor.adventistchurch.org
Learning for Today and Eternity
Little Friends
Christian Preschool/Childcare 963-6390
La Grande Adventist Christian School
K-8th Grade 963-6203
www.UnionBaptistOregon.org
109 18th Street • 963-3402
Sunday School 9:15 a.m.
Sunday Worship 10:30 a.m.
Sunday Morning Worship
Service 11:00 am
Sunday School at 9:45 a.m.
Birthing, Building and Being
the Body of Christ
FIRST LANDMARK
MISSIONARY BAPTIST
CHURCH
1812 1st St. La Grande
Pastor Dave Tierce • 541-605-0215
We use the King James Version Bible
Sunday School - 10:00 am
Worship 11:00 am
Sunday Evening Bible Study - 3:00 pm (Effective June 10)
Wednesday Evening - 6:30 pm
“Where you can find TRUTH according to the scriptures”
www.flmbclagrande.com