‘Weekly Post. Anno Domini 2024 July 9

Beloved of the Lord:

Today is Tuesday, 9 July, in the year of our Lord 2024. The scheduled services are as-follows:

• Tuesday: 5:30 PM, Mass, Saint Thomas More, Martyr.
  6:30 PM, Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament, Evensong.
• Wednesday: 12:10 PM, Mass, Seven Holy Brothers, Martyrs.
• Thursday: 8:00 AM, men's Morning Prayer & Breakfast.
  6:30 PM, Mass, Solemnity of Saint Benedict, Abbot, followed by Soup & Study.
• Friday: 9:00 AM, Mass, Saint John Gualbert, Abbot, with Gregorian Canon.
  Immediately following, Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament.
• Saturday: 5:00 PM, Mass, Saint Silas, Martyr.
• Sunday: 8:30 & 10:00 AM, Mass, Trinity VII.

We are two weeks and two days from the commencement of the annual Convocation of Anglican Churches (CAC) Synod. The Synod will be held in Amherst, Virginia, on the campus of Sweet Briar College. All events, including meals, will be held there. Our lodging is at the Elston Inn, also located at the school.

EVERYONE who can possibly attend should do so. This Synod marks the beginning of a new life in Christ for Saint Matthew's. We have been in the wilderness, and are now come into the Valley of Peace.

Our entrance-into the CAC will rejuvenate both those who were here before us, and we ourselves. Yes, there are issues of administrivia that must be addressed, and that process is already well under-weigh. Some canonical items will be on the agenda for consideration during our approaching sessions. All necessary forms were e-mailed to you previously; they can be sent again, if needed, or hard-copies may be had at the Parish.

God speaks to us in many ways. We have His holy Scriptures, wherein His will for us is directly revealed. We have His holy tradition, those things that He has taught us via revelation through His most Holy Church. We have, perhaps most importantly, His holy Sacraments, the only way, per the words of our Lord Himself, that the Father's saving Grace comes to us. Thus, God communicates, in every sense of that word, with us in many ways.

The only avenue that extends from us to God-ward is prayer. I was reminded last week by one of our faithful of the power of prayer to achieve all things that are in-accord with the Father's designs. A day without prayer is unimaginable to me. I do occasionally worry that my prayer is too informal, more of a running monologue than the classic formats of thanksgiving, petition, etc., all of which latter should be done briefly.

Pray ~ pray to the Father, or to the Son, or to the Holy Ghost, individually; end in the name of Jesus, or that of the most holy Trinity. Pray for yourselves, your family, and all that you may know. Pray for Saint Matthew's, your family in God, and the seat of your faith and worship, that it will reach the unchurched, growing deeper in faith, and greater in numbers. Pray for the Clergy in the Parish, that they do all that they can and should do in-support of you, and of the greater Church, and of the Kingdom. Pray without ceasing,

in His praise,

The Ven. T. L. Crowder, Vicar General

Pastor, Saint Matthew's Parish