Dear Cathedral Family,
We will read together this Sunday the love commandment in Matthew’s gospel. As Jesus explains it in the culmination of his encounter with entrapment-minded Pharisees, this is the preeminent command—to love. All other commandments, all prophecy, all righteous action, flow from this essential command to love God and neighbor. As all creation arises from God’s love, all our actions are to answer out of love.
Love in this sense is not about feeling, but commitment and action. It is like the “hesed” of Hebrew Scripture, the “steadfast love” of God. It endures, as the Psalmist writes, from age to age, one generation to another. This is the love we are commanded to embody as God’s people.
In our time together this Sunday, Bragg Van Antwerp, stewardship chair and Junior Warden for Finance, will introduce our stewardship campaign for 2024, and Julie McClelland will announce our Bicentennial invitation to join the Legacy Society through planned giving to Christ Church. Both of these invitations concern commitment and action, our “steadfast love” in answer to God’s love, extending as God’s love does, from generation to generation.
As we enter our final week of preparation for the Bicentennial celebration, we will have one more Saturday of cleaning and tidying the campus. And you still have time to let us know that you, and any guests you might invite, will be here on November 5. It is shaping up to be a glorious day, and I look forward to sharing it with you all.
Faithfully,
Beverly+