This Week.

“Grant us, Lord, not to be anxious about earthly things, but to love things heavenly…”

This is the opening line of the collect for this past Sunday, and maybe a prayer we should say weekly. There are lots of earthly things to be anxious about right now. But as the prayer says, we do not have to rely on just us to keep us focused on things heavenly, but by the grace of God granted to us we can to hold fast to the things that shall endure.

Today is the Feast of St. Matthew the Evangelist. In this year’s lectionary cycle we have been reading from Matthew’s gospels most Sundays, and we have recently been challenged by his parables giving us a glimpse of what the Kingdom of Heaven.

Matthew’s gospel gives us the Sermon on the Mount. This “sermon” is not a sermon at all, but is instead a collection of Jesus’ teachings (or his “greatest hits”). It is the essential teachings for followers of Jesus to take their role in the Kingdom of Heaven with is already breaking into the world. It begins with the familiar Beatitudes. While we may think of these as nine quaint blessings that get cross-stitched on pillows, they are really prophetic declarations of what is and what will be. Presiding Bishop Michael Curry calls these blessings “the precedent for what it means to follow in the way of Jesus in the first century or the 21st century.”

So I invite you during this anxious season, to join me in working to “love things heavenly” by exploring the Sermon on the Mount. Each Tuesday at BSC we will read and reflect on a portion of Matthew 5-7. Then on Tuesday afternoons, I will share reflections and prayers on that week’s reading.

I hope you will join us!

-Kelley

SCHEDULE

• 11:45 a.m. Worship at BSC
  I will be on in front of Norton around 10 a.m., come by and say hello. Then join us in Norton 121 as we begin our look at the Sermon on the Mount during a short service of prayers and scripture.
• 3-6 p.m. Drop-in Hours at Trinity Commons
  Come by for a chat or just to take a break. And if you are interested, you can even grab a popsicle or ice cream cone. You can also drop in on Zoom.

• 6 pm Worship at Trinity Commons & Zoom
  Join us for Church in the chapel. Wear a mask and invite a friend. You can also join us via Zoom.