Spiritual Life
6A
Thursday, April 1, 2021
HIGHLIGHTS
Good Friday
Stations of the Cross
Submissions
LA GRANDE — An ecumen-
ical Stations of the Cross event
will take place on Good Friday,
April 2, in La Grande. All are
welcome to pick up a map at the
United Methodist Church, where
the route through the stations
begins. Other stations will be at
the First Christian Church, Zion
Lutheran Church and First Pres-
byterian Church. The stations
will be available from noon until
6 p.m. on Friday.
Faith Lutheran Church
LA GRANDE — Faith
Lutheran Church will gather for
services and activities during
Passion Week and on Easter
Sunday. A Maundy Thursday ser-
vice begins at 6:30 p.m. April 1
(“maundy” refers to the mandates
Jesus gave at the Last Supper to
“love one another” and to “take,
eat and drink” — to participate in
Communion — in remembrance
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).
of him). A Good Friday Tenebrae
service will be held at 6:30 p.m.
April 2 (“tenebrae” is a service of
darkness focusing on Jesus’ words
from the cross).
On Easter Sunday, April 4,
a 7 a.m. sunrise service is fol-
lowed by a continental breakfast
at 7:45 a.m. Easter Art Sunday
school begins at 8:45 a.m., and the
Easter service will be at 10 a.m.
After the service there will be an
Easter egg hunt and a meal. The
elders will meet at 1 p.m.
Catholic churches’ Holy Week
and Easter services
UNION COUNTY — The
Catholic churches of the Grande
Ronde Valley are holding special
services during Holy Week, which
leads to Easter, April 4.
At Our Lady of the Valley
Catholic Church in La Grande,
Mass of the Last Supper begins at
7 p.m. on Holy Thursday, April 1.
The Good Friday service on April
2 also begins at 7 p.m. An Easter
Vigil Mass on Holy Saturday,
April 3, will be held at 8 p.m. And
on Sunday, April 4, Our Lady of
the Valley will hold Easter Mass
at 10 a.m.
Easter Mass will be cele-
brated at 8 a.m. Sunday, April 4,
at Union’s Sacred Heart Catholic
Church and at 12:30 p.m. at St.
Mary’s Catholic Church in Elgin.
Zion Lutheran Church
LA GRANDE — Zion
Lutheran will meet in person on
Easter Sunday, April 4, at 9 a.m.
and 11 a.m. COVID-19 precau-
Exploring the link between
faith and foolishness
ROBERTA SMYTHE
WALKING WITH THE SHEPHERD
A
s this is April Fools’ Day, it seems
fi tting to consider the link between
faith and foolishness. Certainly,
there are those folks who think that belief
in God, or in Jesus as God’s son and our
savior, is indeed foolish. Once a woman I
worked with asked me how anyone who
was intelligent could possibly be a believer.
After all, how could anyone with a rational
mind believe in such things? How could
someone believe without proof? How could
someone believe all those miracles in the
Bible?
For some folks, faith seems incom-
patible with reason, logic, science, intel-
lect, etc. This is not anything new. In fact,
Thomas Jeff erson, though a believer in
God, didn’t believe in Jesus’ miracles. He
even took a razor to his Bible to remove
all mentions of Jesus’ miracles and most
references to Jesus’ divinity.
And then there are the values held
by most people of faith. Values that are
often in confl ict with those held by much
of our society. People of faith value con-
cern for and service to our neighbors,
especially the disenfranchised, while our
society tends to value profi t, power and
self-reliance. And so those of faith may
be thought of as fools to donate time and
money helping others instead of enriching
themselves. Again, this is nothing new.
In the decades after Jesus’ death and res-
urrection, the Apostle Paul wrote to the
Corinthians, cautioning them about fol-
lowing “the wisdom of the world.” Paul
states that “God’s foolishness is wiser
than human wisdom,” and that “God
chose what is foolish in the world to
shame the wise.” I don’t know that people
of faith help others in order to shame the
wise, though that may be an eff ect.
In addition to this being April Fools’
Day, this is also Maundy Thursday, or
Holy Thursday, which is the day the
church remembers Jesus’ last meal with
his disciples. That meal was when Jesus
bent down to wash the feet of his disci-
ples, humbling himself for their benefi t.
That meal is also when Jesus gave his dis-
ciples, both those in the room then and
those who follow him now, a “new” com-
mandment: love one another as I have
loved you. Jesus showed his love for the
disciples by being of service to them.
Another way Jesus showed his (and
God’s) love for others was to help those in
our world who were most in need: Jesus
fed the poor, healed the sick, mingled
with outcasts and socialized with the sin-
ners and tax collectors. If we are to love
as Jesus loved, those are the behaviors
we are called to emulate, no matter how
foolish they may seem to the rest of the
world.
———
The Rev. Roberta Smythe has been the
pastor at Zion Lutheran and St. Peter’s
Episcopal churches in La Grande since
September 2019. She previously served
churches in north-central and northwest
Montana. She was raised in the Oregon
City area and has degrees from the
University of Oregon and Pacifi c
Lutheran Theological Seminary.
Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
on April 3-4.
Visit www.churchofjesus-
christ.org to view and hear a
special invitation from Presi-
dent Russel M. Nelson, where
he testifi es that “Jesus Christ
lives! As our resurrected and
atoning Savior, He stands ready
to help us grow from the dra-
matic, unexpected events in our
lives. At this Easter season, let
us worship and praise Him for
the peace, hope, light, and truth
He brings to us.”
Conference sessions will be
broadcast on Saturday at 9 a.m.
and 1 p.m., with a priesthood ses-
sion at 6 p.m. On Easter Sunday,
a special event is planned for
the 9 a.m. morning session, and
the conference concludes with a
1 p.m. session,
The “Come, Follow Me” lesson
for the week of April 5 is based
on Doctrine and Covenants 30-36
in which early members of the
church are called by revelation to
serve as missionaries.
tions will be in place. Those
planning to attend are asked
to RSVP to Zion via email or
phone by noon Saturday, indi-
cating which service they will be
attending.
The 9 a.m. service will be
livestreamed to YouTube. The
link for that will be posted on
Zion’s Facebook page and web-
site on Saturday.
St. Peter’s Episcopal Church
LA GRANDE — St. Peter’s
Episcopal Church will not have
in-person worship this Sunday,
April 4, due to COVID-19. A link
to the livestream of Zion Luther-
an’s 9 a.m. service will be posted
to St. Peter’s Facebook page on
Saturday.
Church of Jesus Christ
of Latter-day Saints
LA GRANDE — All are wel-
come to participate in the Gen-
eral Conference of The Church of
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Words of the Buddha
As a mother would risk her life to protect her child, her only child, even so should
one cultivate a limitless heart with regard to all beings.
— Sutta Nipata 1.149
Ever grows the glory of one who is energetic, mindful and pure in conduct,
discerning and self-controlled, righteous and heedful.
— Dhammapada 2.24
If you fear pain, if you dislike pain, don’t do an evil deed in open or secret.
If you’re doing or will do an evil deed, you won’t escape pain: It will catch you even as
you run away.
— Udana 5.44
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1708 Jasper St., Cove, OR
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390 E. St., North Powder, OR
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First Christian
Church
(Disciples of Christ)
901 Penn Avenue 963-2623
lgdisciples@gmail.com
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~
SUMMERVILLE
BAPTIST CHURCH
LA GRANDE UNITED
METHODIST 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
Visit us at summervillebaptistchurch.org
“OPEN HEARTS, OPEN MINDS, OPEN DOORS”
1612 4th Street – 963-2498
Pastor Taylor Gould
For service information go to
www.lagrandeumc.org
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
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
Imbler
Christian
Church
440 Ruckman, Imbler 534-2201
www.imblercc@gmail.com
Sunday Services
9:00 a.m.
10:00 a.m.
Sunday School
Worship Service
Services
This
Week
La Grande Seventh-day
FIRST LANDMARK
MISSIONARY BAPTIST
CHURCH
Adventist Church
A Place where hope is found in Jesus
Join us in Fellowship & Worship
Saturday all age classes 9:30 am
Saturday Worship 11:00 am
1812 1st St. La Grande
Pastor Dave Tierce • 541-605-0215
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
We use the King James Version Bible
109 18th Street • 963-3402
Sunday School 9:15 a.m.
Sunday Worship 10:30 a.m.
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