[Oe List ...] Fwd: Father Michael Taffesse

Wed Mar 7 10:23:03 PST 2018

Thank you Margaret for reminding us again of this history and the
remarkable person Father Michael
was.

Peace,
Jeanette

On Tue, Mar 6, 2018 at 3:45 PM, Margaret Aiseayew via OE <
oe at lists.wedgeblade.net> wrote:

> Fr. Michael was a spiritual advisor to Haile Selassie.  Selassie was
> referred to as the Lion of Judah and his lineage went back into the 1100’s
> I think.  If you don’t have an image of Selassie google President Kennedy’s
> funeral and you will see the miniature Selassie walking beside the gigantic
> Charles De Gaulle of France.  They were in the front rank of the
> dignitaries attending.
>
> Our first International Training Institute in Africa was in Ethiopia and
> Fr. Michael was a participant.  He was imprisoned when the Derg took over
> the government and killed Selassie.  He was in prison for quite a while and
> tortured while he was there.  I can’t imagine what information they thought
> they would get from a priest, but he had large burn marks on his arms which
> is why even in the hottest of summers, he would still be wearing a long
> sleeved shirt.  (He would sometimes wear short sleeves in his room and I
> saw/and talked to him one of those days in the hall on the way from the
> bathroom.) He was scheduled for execution, but that was apparently not done
> in the prison which I believe was in Addis Ababa.  As he was being
> transported to his execution he was smuggled into Egypt by a leader of the
>  Coptic church there whose name I cannot remember at the moment.  We used
> to talk about him as he had also sent participants to the ITI.  Fr. Michael
> did some healing in Egypt and we worked with our government and the church
> there to bring him to the US under the auspices of the Ecumenical
> Institute.  In spite of all the changes we went through as a community, he
> insisted on staying in the building.  His gratitude for our participation
> in his rescue was unlimited.
>
> I don’t know exactly when he became involved in building the Ethiopian
> Coptic congregation in the Chicago area.  For many years, they rented the
> chapel of the Evanston First United Methodist Church.  They outgrew the
> space and eventually purchased the church on the southside.  I met
> Ethiopian Methodists in Iowa that asked as soon as I mentioned that I had
> spent time in Chicago if I knew Fr. Michael.
>
> Father Michael and my dad hit it off immediately.  They were both global
> churchmen.  From their first meeting, there was never a time I came home to
> visit that Dad didn’t ask about Father Michael or Father Michael ask about
> my dad when I returned.  It was a bit as if they had looked into each
> other’s souls and found peace residing there.
>
> Sorry, Linda, but you asked and now I have run on far too long again.
> Blessings, Margaret
>
> *From:* OE [mailto:oe-bounces at lists.wedgeblade.net] *On Behalf Of *Lynda
> C via OE
> *Sent:* Tuesday, March 6, 2018 1:03 PM
> *To:* Order Ecumenical Community
> *Cc:* Lynda C
>
> *Subject:* Re: [Oe List ...] Fwd: Father Michael Taffesse
>
>
>
> Margaret, what a heartfelt sharing!  We also experienced his special
> blessing when we told him about our adopted grandson Caleb from Ethiopia.
> He kept asking us to say his name again, which we southerners pronounce as
> Kay lub.  He asked us to spell it and as we did, his eyes brightened and he
> said “ Ah,  Ca’ Lib” (Cah’lib), and told us that Caleb was one of the first
> disciples.   So we share your delight in that memory of the connection of
> importance of one’s name.  He was a special presence and so revered and
> loved by his congregation.
>
>
>
> Please tell us more about Father Michael.  I know very little of history,
> other than he was in danger.  I will not be bored.
>
>
>
> Journey On, Father Michael!
>
>
>
> *From: *OE <oe-bounces at lists.wedgeblade.net> on behalf of OE List <
> oe at lists.wedgeblade.net>
> *Reply-To: *OE List <oe at lists.wedgeblade.net>
> *Date: *Tuesday, March 6, 2018 at 1:50 PM
> *To: *OE List <oe at lists.wedgeblade.net>
> *Cc: *Margaret Aiseayew <aiseayew at netins.net>
> *Subject: *Re: [Oe List ...] Fwd: Father Michael Taffesse
>
>
>
> Dear colleagues,
>
> When we were assigned back to Chicago from Rome, we were housed next to
> Father Michael.  Naomi was just a year old, but she had risen to her feet
> three months earlier to chase her sister.  When she walked down the
> hallway, she looked like a gyroscope on a loose string.  I have so many
> images from that year of Father Michael going down the hall behind her,
> bent over with both hands outstretched to catch her if she fell.  I always
> felt that a part of our deep friendship was that my daughters were named
> Esther and Naomi.  Their names had given me great credibility in his eyes.
>
> I remember the privilege of walking around uptown with Father Michael and
> having to stop sometimes two or three times as we went to a community
> meeting so he could bless parishioners coming our way.  Father Michael’s
> driving skills were legendarily poor.  When we completed the new parking
> lot, I went out and painted his name on the stopper for the first parking
> spot to the left.  (Those to the right were not angled to be as helpful.)
> I have always hoped that this ended his accidents in the parking lot.  I
> took great grief from many of our tenants at that time for giving him the
> only reserved space.  When I reminded them of his driving skills they
> usually got off my back.
>
> One day Fr. Michael came into the building with some of his parishioners
> and I was cleaning the floor of the elevator on my knees.  I told them they
> were welcome to come in and go up to his floor.  Fr. Michael introduced me
> to them as the mother of his first Naomi.  One of the parish members with
> him also had a daughter named Naomi.
>
> Fr. Michael also came to Naomi and Colin’s wedding and participated in the
> baptism of Austin that day with the Ethiopian cross he had given the
> minister of their ceremony.  It was used to sprinkle him in the name of the
> Father, Son and Holy Spirit.  He had given it sharing the story that it was
> from his local church there and they had given it to him the last time he
> had been home before he left for his full orders.  I believe he said he was
> 17 at that time.
>
> I feel as if I could go on and on and I do not want to bore you.  I was
> simply concerned that some of us may not have known him as well as others.
> Personally, it is a bit as if my father has died again.
>
> Emmanuel, Margaret Aiseayew
>
>
>
> Fwd: Father Michael Taffesse
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> Hello Colleagues,
>
>
>
> Regretfully, I am informing you that Father Michael Taffesse, a longtime
> resident of the ICA community and colleague passed away Sunday morning.  He
> will be greatly missed. His services are this Saturday March 10th . Mass
> is being held at 9805 South Commercial Ave. Chicago, IL at 7am with
> visitation until noon.  As more information presents itself, I will email
> it to you. I will be paying my respects and invite anyone who would like to
> pay theirs a ride with me. If you would like to ride along please let me
> know at your earliest convenience.
>
>
>
> *And I heard a voice from heaven saying, “Write this down: Blessed are
> those who die in the Lord from now on. Yes, saying the Spirit, they are
> blessed indeed, for they will rest from their hard work; for their good
> deeds follow them!’*
>
>
>
> *Revelation 14:13 *
>
>
>
> Best Regards,
>
> Lesley
>
>
>
>
>
> Lesley Showers
>
> Property Manager
>
> ICA-USA
>
> Ecumenical Institute
>
> 4750 N. Sheridan Rd.
>
> Chicago, IL 60640
>
> (773) 769-6363 P
>
> (773) 944-1257 F
>
>
>
>
>
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>
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