La Mesa Presbyterian Church

09/07/2026

09/07/2026

Happy Labor Day!
“Pray for the dead, fight like hell for the living!”

“Mary Harris “Mother” Jones rose to prominence as a fiery orator and fearless organizer for the Mine Workers during the first two decades of the 20th century. Her voice had great carrying power. Her energy and passion inspired people half her age into action and compelled them to join in the struggle.

Born August 1, 1837, as Mary Harris in Cork County, Ireland, the woman who would become Mother Jones immigrated to North America with her family as a child to escape the Irish potato famine.

In her early 20s, she moved to Chicago, where she worked as a dressmaker, and then to Memphis, Tenn., where she met and married George Jones. The couple had four children when tragedy struck: A yellow fever epidemic in 1867, which killed hundreds of people, took the lives of Mary’s husband and all four children.

Mary moved back to Chicago and returned to commercial dressmaking. She opened her own shop, patronized by some of the wealthiest women in town. According to one account of her life, Mary’s interest in the union movement grew when she sewed for wealthy Chicago families. “I would look out of the plate glass windows and see the poor, shivering wretches, jobless and hungry, walking alongside the frozen lake front,” she said. “The tropical contrast of their condition with that of the tropical comfort of the people for whom I sewed was painful to me. My employers seemed neither to notice nor to care.”

Tragedy struck Mary again when she lost everything in the Great Chicago Fire of 1871. After the fire, Mary began to travel across the country, from town to town in support of workers’ struggles.

Mother Jones’ organizing methods were unique for her time. She welcomed African American workers and involved women and children in strikes. She staged parades with children carrying signs that read, “We Want to Go to School and Not to the Mines.”

May we be inspired by Mother Jones today to stand alongside the most vulnerable among us!

Commissioned by Leslie Albanese

Signed Giclee Prints: kellylatimoreicons.com

09/07/2026

Blessed Labor Day!

09/07/2026

The language of love is a beautiful sound.

09/07/2026

Today, on International Day of the World’s Indigenous Women and Girls, we honor the voices, knowledge, strength, and leadership of Indigenous women and girls around the world. 🌎💚

Today and every day, we celebrate Indigenous women as protectors of culture, communities, and the natural world.

09/07/2026

Pope Leo XIV’s September prayer intention is “for the care of water” as Christians celebrate the Season of Creation.

In his prayer for the month of September, Pope Leo asked the Holy Spirit to guide Christians to denounce waste and pollution and to defend “the right of every brother and sister to drink without fear and without inequality.”

Learn more about Pope Leo's September prayer intention: https://catholiccourier.com/articles/popes-prayer-intention-for-september-is-for-the-care-of-water/

09/07/2026

Loving our neighbors means dismantling the systems that oppress them. That means paying attention to how your privilege insulates you from the impacts of climate change, racism, sexism, heterosexism, ablism, etc and doing your best to address those inequities. We can do that with our votes, with sharing what we have with others, with providing care and resources, even when those resources are just our time and attention.

09/07/2026

Matushka Olga: International Day of the World’s Indigenous Women and Girls, September 5

When I needed clothes, you gave me something to wear.
~ Mt 25:36 FNV

The small, unassuming woman, Matushka Olga—given name Arrsamquq—of the Yup’ik tribe, was canonized by the Eastern Orthodox Church in 2023. Saint Olga of Alaska is the first North American woman to receive such an honor. Olga didn’t write volumes of spiritual books or cross oceans with evangelical zeal. She wasn’t a cloistered nun or on the cutting edge of reform in the church and society.

Instead, Olga lived an ordinary life according to most Saints’ standards. She supported her husband, a postmaster and orthodox priest, and raised her children. In the small town of Kwenthluk (population approximately 750), where she was born and died, Olga did small acts of kindness with great love. She provided the community with what she could, making parkas, fur boots, clothing, mittens, and socks and giving food.

Olga also acted as a midwife for young mothers-to-be. In the warm public bathhouse, she sat with women who had been physically and sexually abused. She offered them counseling and prayer but never judgment. Olga spoke from experience.

Her intimacy with the Spirit gave her insight into those she ministered to. It was said that she knew when a woman was pregnant even before the woman knew herself. She also could discern if more expertise was required for a delivery than she could offer as a midwife.

The quote, “Not all of us can do great things, but we can do small things with great love,” has been attributed to Mother Teresa. Perhaps this best sums up Olga’s life. She was a caregiver, a giver who cared—an ordinary person able to meet her family’s and neighbor’s needs. God created beauty through her. This ability makes her a Saint; this makes you a Saint!