Anno Domini 2024 October 25
Beloved of the Lord:
Today is Friday, 25 October, in the year of our Lord 2024. The scheduled services are as-follows:
- Saturday (tomorrow): 10:00 AM, Mass, Bl. Alfred the Great, King & Confessor.
- Sunday: 8:30 & 10:00 AM, Mass, Christ the King.
Please note the change above, marked in red. From tomorrow forward, inclusive, the Saturday Mass will take-place at 10:00 AM. The old time was originally chosen as a nod to the old, Roman custom of anticipatory Mass. If you knew that you could not attend on Sunday, you could fulfill your Sabbath obligation by receiving the Sacrament on Saturday evening. However, that being a relatively uncommon practice in Anglican circles, it has rarely, if ever, been used as-such, here at Saint Matthew's. Now, you may attend Mass on Saturday morning, and have the rest of the day free.
This Sunday, after the 10:00 Mass, there will be no coffee-hour. We will, instead, depart the Parish for the County Grill, on the George Washington Memorial Highway, just over the York County line. This is our monthly Parish Brunch, usually held on the last Sunday of the month. Come and join us, even if if you attend the early service!
Starting yesterday, and ending tomorrow, Saints Constantine and Helen Greek Orthodox Church is holding their annual Fall Greekfest. This is a major fundraiser for their Parish ~ let us support our brother- and sister Christians in their work for our Lord. Go and get your lamb-shank today!
We've all heard the saying that familiarity breeds contempt. Although we hope that this is not always true, it often is. Here, at S. Matthew's, we offer the Holy Sacrament, usually eight times per week. I doubt that there is another Parish, of any Church, within hundreds of miles of us, that can claim the same.
I want to take this opportunity to remind everyone of this tremendous gift, and to urge all of us to take greater advantage of it. The human body may consume all manner of things to sustain its existence. The human soul, however, has only one food of which it may partake to insure its survival ~ the Sacrament of the Body and Blood of our Lord, Jesus, the Christ.
We should all present ourselves at the table of our Lord as often as we may. It should be our greatest priority, every day of our mortal life. If we fail to prepare ourselves in this life, for the next, we shall never see it. At-least, we shall never see the parts of it that we wish, but only those that we do not. I remain
in His praise,
The Venerable T. L. Crowder
Rector, Saint Matthew's Parish