St. Mary Magdalen Catholic parish in Altamonte Springs, FL is my home church. My wife was a member of the parish throughout her youth, we were married there in 2008, and it's really the only parish I've known as a Catholic.
Today, it's where I meet in small groups with young and old, men and women, rich and poor alike. It's where I worship alongside Anglos, Spanish, Vietnamese, African-Americans, and people from a number of other backgrounds. It's where I study and where I teach, where I confess my sins and where I pray. And it's where I receive the Eucharist each morning--the home-base of my relationship with Christ.
While many parishes around the country are closing their doors, St. Mary Magdalen is booming with activity. Last I heard, we have 5,800 people on our parish register and over 160 different ministries (though I'm always quick to caution that abundant activity doesn't necessarily produce holiness--just ask Martha.)
Over the last year, a videographer chronicled the life of our parish, and he just finished editing the final video. The parish debuted it this past weekend, and I think the video does a wonderful job highlighting the life of our community. Check it out!
(You'll see me make a cameo at the 6:35 mark, where I talk about a weekly food collection that our parish justice community began a few months ago. We're pretty happy with how it's going, as many parishioners have begun connecting the Mass with caring for the poor--not to mention that we've collected over 4,000 pounds of food in just a couple short months.
Also, the priest at the 0:43 mark is Msgr. Ed Thompson, my spiritual director, lecture partner, and personal hero. If you haven't heard his incredible story--especially how he held hands in prayer, concurrently, with both Mother Teresa and Archbishop Fulton Sheen--be sure to check out this video.)
2 comments:
Brandon, we exchanged messages last week. One of my sorrows over the last 18 months or so, is that I didn't share some history with the SMM team who were accumulating history for the anniversary. It's one of those things I "meant to do" but didn't, sadly!
My family moved to SMM in 1964 when I was in 6th grade. We came from Cincinnati which had a very developed Cathoic school system, to the extent we had school buses to pick us up!
In 6th grade we had a school with 6A, 6AA, 6AAA in an honest to gosh school building.
My parents brought me to this missionary colony in the diocese of St. Augustine where the church building was a military surplus quonset hut and my school was, get this, a detatched garage in a rented house on Roy Blvd. Our desks were plywood sheets on saw horses and we shared the garage with a boat.
When it was cold we closed the garage door and fired up a kerosene torpedo, when it was hot we opened the garage door and endured the gnats. You think I'm kidding? Ask Mike Malatesta, he was right there.
Anyhow, St Mary Magdalen is a great parish and I am glad you are there to supplement it!
Pete,
Wow! What an awesome heritage (though I can't imagine having class in those conditions).
I don't know if you saw it, but SMM put together this big 50th anniversary history project. You can download the project PDF here:
http://stmarymagdalen.org/ParishInfo/documents/50AnnivHistoryProject.pdf
Thanks for your comment!
Your brother,
Brandon
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