‘Weekly Post. Anno Domini 2024 August 22

Beloved of the Lord:

Today is Thursday. 22 August, in the year of our Lord 2024. The scheduled services are as-follows:

• Thursday (today): 6:30 PM, Mass, Octave Day of the Assumption, followed by Soup and Study.
• Friday: 9:00 AM, Mass, Vigil of S. Bartholomew, with the Gregorian Canom.
  Immediately following, Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament.
• Saturday: 5:00 PM, Mass, S. Bartholomew, Apostle & Martyr.
• Sunday: 8:30 & 10:00 AM, Mass, Trinity XIII. Parish Brunch following 10:00 Mass.

As-noted in our schedule, the monthly Parish Brunch will fall on this-coming Sunday, after the 10:00 Mass. We will meet at UNO, in the Kiln Creek shopping center. We've eaten there a number of times previously, with no complaints!

Although it is a way off, remember that we will be hosting the AD 2025 Synod for the CAC. Everything, including the timing, has been left to our discretion. We've not yet had any internal discussions on this, but I ask that everyone keep it in their prayers.

We are now at the half-way point of Trinitytide, which occupies the second-half of our Christian year. In it, we study the ways and teachings of Holy Mother, the Church. This is chiefly accomplished through the many Pauline Epistles, and their corresponding, illustrative Gospel readings.

The first day of the Christian year, which commences, naturally-enough, the first-half of the Kalendar, is the first Sunday in Advent. This will be upon us sooner than we think, as this year it will fall on 1 December. The Seasons ~ or 'tides ~ of this first part of the Kalendar trace our Lord's incarnation; His earthly life. Throughout it, we learn directly from the Son of God what it means to be His servant, to be a Christian.

Perhaps the central lesson of Trinitytide is the distinction between the letter of the law and the spirit of the law; between heavenly things and earthly things, between supernatural things and material things. The first time that this lesson was clearly presented was on Trinity VIII. This-past Sunday, we saw another explicit reference to the idea ~ the letter killeth, but the spirit giveth life.

As we pass-through this yearly cycle of teachings, be always mindful of where we are in the Kalendar, for in so-doing, it may serve as a reminder to check our own lives, as-to where we are in-relation to God, and the lessons being taught us. I remain

in His praise,

The Venerable T. L. Crowder

Pastor, Saint Matthew's Parish