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Collect for Ash Wednesday
Almighty and everlasting God, you hate nothing you have made and forgive the sins of all who are penitent: Create and make in us new and contrite hearts, that we, worthily lamenting our sins and acknowledging our wretchedness, may obtain of you, the God of all mercy, perfect remission and forgiveness; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
Dear Trinity Cathedral family,
As we approach Ash Wednesday this coming week, we remember that the season of Lent is traditionally a season of self-reflection and prayer, of amendment of life, and of sacrifice and self-discipline. The appointed collect for Ash Wednesday from the Book of Common Prayer, along with the appointed Gospel lesson from Matthew and Psalm 51 give us a series of touchstones around which we might frame our own, personal Lenten “rule of life:” New and contrite hearts, lamenting our sins, forgiveness, the giving of alms, prayer, fasting, and humility – placing our treasures where our hearts are also.
Psalm 51, which is said or sung during the imposition of ashes, offers this prayer: “Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me.” And in the last verse, “The sacrifice of God is a troubled spirit; a broken and contrite heart O God, you will not despise.” This is a lesson in humility as the very basis of everything that we do in our lives. Contrition, having a contrite heart, is the humbling act of being conscious of and sorry for our actions; perhaps the most difficult state of being in our human condition. Jesus makes is abundantly clear in Matthew that humility is pleasing to God: “When you give alms, do not sound the trumpet before you….when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites who stand and pray on the street corners….when you fast, do not look dismal like the hypocrites to show others that they are fasting…do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, but instead treasures in heaven, for where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”
This is never easy, and if I’m honest, I struggle with it every day. Humility takes a genuine effort of the heart and of the ego….to admit exactly who we are and who we are not. To fess up when we’ve wronged others, or to keep silent when our words are vengeful or accusatory and to break that silence when our words must demand justice or amendment of our own lives or the lives of others. So as we receive ashes next week, may we be inspired to walk humbly with our God, in our Church, in the communities, in this nation, in our families, among our friends, in those times when it is most difficult or even seems impossible; may we humbly confess that we have sinned in thought, word, and deed, but then turn right around and walk in a new direction, with new and contrite hearts, proclaiming God’s love and forgiveness, not only for ourselves, but for those who may be against us. Amen.
Canon Jason Roberson
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Shrove Tuesday Pancake Supper 6:30 pm
All Souls Episcopal Church, Miami Beach
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Ash Wednesday Bilingual Services 7 am, noon, & 7 pm | |
Cathedral Grounds Beautification Day! - 9 am | |
Annual Meeting after 10 am service | |
Morning and Evening Online Reflection | |
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Begin and end your weekday with online reflections. Reflections feature prayers, readings from Holy Scripture, and contemplative music and are led by clergy from National Cathedral in the morning and from Canterbury Cathedral in the evening. In addition, daily Choral Evensong song by the Canterbury Cathedral Choir is available online. Select the applicable link below for access.
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If you would like to include someone on the Prayer List or add an anniversary or birthday for special prayers, please call the Cathedral office, use the 'Contact Us' link on our website, or send an email ...
office@trinitymiami.org
pastoralcare@trinitymiami.org
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Sick - In Recovery
Rev. Winnie Bolle, Domenica Brazzi, Doris Gray, Rev. James Considine, Helen Ebanks, Carol Cunningham, Robert Horton, Dom Spaziani, Jreve Simanelli, Ashley Ramos, Cathy Stahre
Altar Flowers
To the glory of God and in Memory of Bryan Angelo Garcia
Sanctuary Candle
To the glory of God and Thanksgiving for Cathedral Readers and Ushers
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Birthdays
Dawn Griffith
Teresa Romero
Lilliam Mena
Abdiel Davila
Anniversaries
Fr. Rafael Garcia
18th Ordination Anniversary
In Memoriam
Una Brinkley
Bryan Angelo Garcia
Armando Carranza
Anglican Cycle of Prayer
The Anglican Church in Rwanda / Eglise Anglicane de Rwanda
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Booker T. Washington
Booker T. Washington, founder of the Tuskegee Institute and its Bible training program, often gave lectures to his students. He urged them to read their Bible daily, and taught on the Ten Commandments, including "Honor Thy Father and Mother" and "Thou Shalt Not Steal."
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Fr. Rafael Garcia:
Thank you for 18 years of faithful
service to the people of God!
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This coming Monday, February 20th, we join with our entire diocese and the wider Church in congratulating Father Rafael Garcia on the 18th anniversary of his ordination to the priesthood. The cathedral will celebrate with him this Sunday, and we remember him and his family in our prayers this weekend. We are deeply grateful for Father Garcia's service at Trinity Cathedral. Thanks be to God! |
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These are difficult times and many struggle to make ends meet. When you come on Sundays, please consider bringing one or more items of canned or boxed food. Items to consider include canned goods, peanut butter, packaged cereals, paper products, dish and laundry soaps, boxed dinners, toiletry items, and feminine hygiene products. Remember that we cannot accept expired food or items that need refrigeration.
Gift Card Ministry
The LGBT ministry has organized an on-going Gift Card collection drive to aid in the purchase of perishable food items for food pantry recipients. Our Sacristan - Roberto Soto - personally distributes these cards on a weekly basis. To continue to help this cause or if you or someone you know could benefit from this ministry, please contact Roberto Soto at:
Trinity Cathedral, c/o Roberto Soto
464 N.E. 16th Street, Miami, FL 33132
(787) 586-8262 or via email probosoto@hotmail.com
Names of donors and recipients will remain confidential
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Calling all Gardeners and Non-gardeners
Saturday, February 25th 9am - Noon
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Help us to clean up and beautify the gardens of the Cathedral!
Don't forget to bring gardening gloves, tools, clippers, sunscreen and hat. Water and light breakfast provided
Select image for more information
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February 19, 2023
Last Sunday in Epiphany
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Exodus 24:12-18; Psalm 2; 2 Peter 1:16-21; Matthew 17:1-9
Exodus 24:12-18
In Exodus 24, God calls Moses up the mountain in order to deliver to Moses “the tablets of stone, with the law and commandment, which I have written for [the Israelites’] instruction.” The Torah is a gift from God, a covenant into which God desires to draw God’s people. It is an intimate teaching of right relationship with God and with one another. But this transmission of teaching from God to Moses is not a rote lecture with a PowerPoint and spreadsheets. It is a drawing into mystery, an encounter with the unspeakable and unknowable glory of God. It is an encounter that utterly transforms Moses. Here we see that God’s beauty and transcendence, and our invitation into God’s Being, go hand in hand with God’s very close interest in how we treat one another on this earth. It is, in fact, in enacting God’s desire for our relationships with one another that we can be swept up into God’s awe-inspiring and transformative presence.
- When has being in right relationship with others drawn me into the presence of God?
- When have I seen the interaction of justice and transcendence in my life?
Psalm 99
“Let the people tremble…” “Let the earth shake…” “Fall down before his footstool…” Psalm 99 is a psalm about worship, but it is a worship that is unsettling and destabilizing. This passage reminds us that encounters with God can upset the tidy categories into which the world arranges itself.
God’s presence is unsettling because it is re-ordering. God loves justice, establishes equity, and desires the unsettling of unjust power. The psalmist sees this aspect of God as worthy to be praised, as evidence of God’s holiness.
God’s presence is mystery, but it is not chaos. God speaks from “out of the pillar of cloud” to those who call upon God’s name. Even in God’s unsettling mystery, God wants to make Godself known to us.
- When have I been unsettled by God’s Word or God’s beauty?
- How is God trying to make Godself known to me?
2 Peter 1:16-21
Second Peter is said by tradition to have been written by Peter the Apostle (though most modern scholars now doubt that St. Peter actually penned this letter himself). In the first chapter of this letter, the author is reminding the readers of Peter’s witness to the Transfiguration, described in today’s Gospel passage. I wonder about that event that Peter was able to witness as a young man and wonder how many times he returned to it in his memory during the hardships and doubts of his life. Verse 19 advises, “You will do well to be attentive to this as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts.” The memory of the Transfiguration, and the witness of Scripture in general, is offered to all those who have heard or read it, including us. We can use it to illuminate what we can in the cavernous dark room of fear in today’s world, knowing the promise not only that the day will dawn and light will surround us but also that the morning star will rise in our hearts and blaze within us.
- Where can I allow the witness of the glory of God to give me hope?
- What could I see differently if I held it up to the light of God’s glory?
Matthew 17:1-9
On this Transfiguration Sunday, the Gospel passage is indeed about the Transfiguration, the disciples’ vision of Jesus’ shining form, and the Father’s words about him. Peter, James, and John, after seeing Jesus’ stunning, luminous appearance, and seeing him speak with Moses and Elijah, hear these words: “This is my Son, the Beloved; with him I am well pleased; listen to him!” The spare and economic use of the voice of the Father in the New Testament lends emphasis when we do hear it, and centers on Jesus’ belovedness. It is his belovedness that gives him authority, and it is his belovedness by the Father that he has come to share with all of humanity.
With dazzling changes in Jesus’ appearance and a cloud filled with light that can somehow overshadow everything, the voice of the Almighty God fills the air, speaking of Jesus’ divine authority: “Listen to him.” Immediately, Jesus gives Peter, James, and John an opportunity to heed the Father’s words; he gives a command: “Get up and do not be afraid.”
- How does God proclaim my belovedness?
- When have I heard Jesus say, “Get up and do not be afraid”?
This Bible study was written by Sarah Faehnle Mast, a seminarian at the Seminary of the Southwest.
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On the day of His execution, Jesus was brutally beaten. To add insult to injury, He was forced to carry his heavy cross through the streets of Jerusalem to the place of his execution. Three accounts of this day make a note of a man named Simon, who gave Jesus respite.
Luke 23:26 says, “[The soldiers] seized a man, Simon of Cyrene… and placed on him the cross to carry behind Jesus.”
Since Cyrene is located in Northern Africa, it seems at least very plausible that Simon was a man of color.
Simon disappears from the story as quickly as he appears, but the example is extremely powerful. On the most important day in history, he literally carries the cross of Christ.
In America, it’s easy for those of us who don’t experience systematic racism to forget how prevalent it really is. It’s easy for us to ignore what makes us uncomfortable, or to choose our news sources based on what we want to hear, and not what we need to hear. Simon sets a powerful example I’m trying to follow. Even Christ accepted help carrying his cross. Our brothers and sisters of color have been carrying a heavy burden for hundreds of years. Now is the time for us to help shoulder it. Don’t wait for a passing Roman soldier to prompt you into action.
In Galatians, Paul, an early church leader, says exactly the same thing. “Carry each other’s burdens,” he writes, “and in this way, you will fulfill the law of Christ.”
You can read about Simon in Matthew 27:32, Mark 15:21, or Luke 23:26.
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Frederick Douglass
Feast Day: February 20
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Frederick Douglass, described in the Episcopal lectionary as a Prophetic Witness, was the author of several autobiographical accounts of his life as an American slave, and later, as an abolitionist. He was also a strong supporter of women's suffrage, the right to vote.
How is Douglass important to us today?
An ongoing feast for Frederick Douglass is a reminder that, even 150 years after the end of slavery, we have work to do in healing racism and other forms of inequality.
Douglass also reminds us that there are moments we must speak out, even when it is uncomfortable to do so, even when our message may not be popular. Doing the work of Truth and Love is not always easy, but the fruits of our efforts can be profound.
Learn more ...
Collect:
Almighty God, we bless thy Name for the witness of Frederick Douglass, whose impassioned and reasonable speech moved the hearts of people to a deeper obedience to Christ: Strengthen us also to speak on behalf of those in captivity and tribulation, continuing in the way of Jesus Christ our Liberator; who with thee and the Holy Ghost dwelleth in glory everlasting. Amen.
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Weekly Bulletin Insert
Life Transformed - Introduction
February 19, 2023
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episcopal church.org
February 19, 2023 – Last Sunday in Epiphany (A)
Intro: Life Transformed – The Way of Love in Lent
The journey through Lent into Easter is a journey with Jesus. We are baptized into his life, self-giving, and death; then, we rise in hope to life transformed. This Lent, communities are invited to walk with Jesus in his Way of Love and into the experience of transformed life. Together, we will reflect anew on the loving actions of God as recounted in the Easter Vigil readings. Together, we will walk through the depths of salvation history into the fullness of redemption. Throughout Lent, come along with us as we explore Life Transformed: The Way of Love in Lent, produced by Hillary Raining and Jenifer Gamber. You can find resources mentioned below at iam.ec/lifetransformed or by scanning the QR code.
Wednesday, February 22
Today’s Prompt: How do you incorporate rest into your life?
Read: “Thus says the Lord: Stand at the crossroads and look, and ask for the ancient paths, where the good way lies; and walk in it, and find rest for your souls. But they said, ‘We will not walk in it.’” – Jeremiah 6:16
Thursday, February 23
Today’s Prompt: How does community help or hinder your growing in Christ?
Read: “But to all who received him, who believed in his name, he gave power to become children of God, who were born, not of blood or of the will of the flesh or of the will of man, but of God.” – John 1:12-13
Friday, February 24
Today’s Prompt: Where do you see the seven practices of the Way of Love in this story?
Read: “Finding no way to bring him in because of the crowd, they went up on the roof and let him down on the stretcher through the tiles into the middle of the crowd in front of Jesus.” – Luke 5:19
Saturday, February 25
Today’s Prompt: How might you connect with others in the spirit of renewal?
Read: “He said, ‘Go out and stand on the mountain before the Lord, for the Lord is about to pass by.’ Now there was a great wind, so strong that it was splitting mountains and breaking rocks in pieces before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind, and after the wind an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake, and after the earthquake a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire, and after the fire a sound of sheer silence.” - 1 Kings 19:11-12
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Visit to castle's dungeon in Ghana offers ACC lessons on church's complicity in the trans-Atlantic slave trade
episcopal news service
Members of the Anglican Consultative Council from 39 provinces, including The Episcopal Church, paused their week of business sessions in Ghana to spend Feb. 15 visiting Cape Coast Castle, a United Nations World Heritage site where centuries ago enslaved Africans where held before being loaded onto ships bound for colonies in North and South America and the Caribbean.
Leading the visit, Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby was joined by Archbishop Cyril Ben-Smith, who is hosting this ACC meeting as head of the Province of West Africa, and West Indies Archbishop Howard Gregory, who is a descendant of African slaves.
Cape Coast Castle was built in the 1650s and passed through Swedish, Danish and Dutch possession until becoming a headquarters for British colonial administration in the 1660s. Africans were taken from their homes and held in dungeons at the castle, with squalid, overcrowded conditions and little ventilation. It was one of 50 castles on Africa’s west coast, 39 of them in Ghana, that served as points of embarkation for slave ships. An estimated 12 million to 25 million Africans passed through Ghana’s ports to be sold across the Atlantic as slaves.
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Episcopal leaders express frustration, concern over limits on teaching of Black history
episcopal news service
In the 1980s, as a teenager in an all-Black high school in Detroit, Michigan, the Rev. Ronald Byrd Sr., The Episcopal Church’s missioner for African descent ministries, learned he had a place in America.
“I am almost certain that we were one of the first schools around the nation that started teaching, as part of the curriculum, Black history,” Byrd told Episcopal News Service on Feb. 1, the first day of Black History Month. “I learned about the contribution of Blacks to this American experiment in terms of innovation and building communities.”
As Episcopalians and the nation begin to commemorate Black History Month, the substance of what will be taught in the newly developed Advanced Placement African American Studies course continues to make headlines. On Feb. 1, the College Board announced it had updated the curriculum, purging references to Black scholars associated with critical race, queer, and feminist theories, and making the study of Black Lives Matter optional. It also added “Black conservatism” as an idea for a research project.
The AP African American Studies curriculum was developed with input from professors of more than 200 colleges, including from historically Black institutions. AP courses are college-level courses and exams offered at the high school level.
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Archbishop of Canterbury appointed honorary Chief of Oguaa People and named “Nana Kofi”
anglican communion news service
The Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby was appointed an honorary Chief of the Oguaa people yesterday (Wednesday) during a visit to the supreme traditional ruler – Omanhene or King – Osabarimba Kwesi Atta II. Oguaa is the indigenous name for Cape Coast and the Omanhene heads a Council of Chiefs. The traditional rulers have no formal role in the governance of Ghana but retain influence over their traditional areas.
The Archbishop’s visit to the Omanhene was expected to be a short courtesy visit, slotted into a day at Cape Coast for members of the Anglican Consultative Council (ACC), which included a tour of the Cape Coast Castle – a former slave-trading post, and a service of reflection and reconciliation at the adjacent Christ Church Cathedral. But the Omanhene invited all members of the ACC to observe the proceedings.
Archbishop Justin and members of the ACC walked from the Cathedral to the Omanhene’s palace, led by local drummers, musicians, and dancers, including a young child performing acrobatic dance moves on stilts while wearing a British Union Flag dress. It was an opportunity for ACC members to experience something of the local Ghanaian customs and cultures.
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Archdiocese of Miami offers to take in priests exiled from Nicaragua
catholic new agency
The archbishop of Miami, Thomas Wenski, announced that his archdiocese will receive with open arms the priests and seminarians who were exiled by the dictatorship in Nicaragua, offering them longer-term housing.
The prelate explained to Florida Catholic Media that although they will initially be taken in by Nicaraguan families living in the United States, they are invited to then stay at the St. John Vianney College Seminary in Miami on a permanent basis.
“I’m offering them the hospitality of the seminary as well as the opportunity to get acclimated, acculturated and see what the next steps would be after that,” Wenski told Florida Catholic Feb. 11.
The archbishop said that the priests will be able to take “intensive English classes” while finalizing their immigration paperwork.
He noted that, although he would like them all to stay in the archdiocese, he has “already heard from a few bishops who need Spanish-speaking priests who would be happy to help them out.”
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Russian clergymen convince the occupiers that the murders of Ukrainians are "not crimes, but the truth of God"
religious information service of ukraine
So, a 26-year-old priest of the Russian Orthodox Church, Father George, who serves in a church on the outskirts of Moscow, came to Ukraine to support the Russian invaders.
According to Russian propagandists, the chaplain of the Russian Orthodox Church, being on the front line near the locality of Verkhnetoretske convinced Russian troops that killing Ukrainians and seizing the territories of another state is not a crime or sin, but supposedly the highest manifestation of love.
"The military duty, the tasks that you perform, is really the highest manifestation of love. Love, which is manifested precisely in service, the willingness to give everything for another person...," the cassocked propagandist said.
The priest of the Russian Orthodox Church conveyed greetings to the rashists from housewives from Russia and shook their hands. This is reported by the Spiritual Front of Ukraine.
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Memphis-area church honors Tyre Nichols by exhibiting his photography
episcopal news service
St. George’s Episcopal Church in Germantown, Tennessee, a Memphis suburb, is honoring the life of Tyre Nichols by displaying eight of his photos in the parish’s art gallery.
The exhibit, entitled “Through Tyre Nichols’ Eyes,” will be on display in the main hallway between the narthex and parish hall through Feb.
28.
The goal of the exhibit is “to honor Tyre as a person,” the
church’s rector, the Rev. Dorothy Sanders Wells, told Episcopal News Service, and to help people see him as more than just a victim. “We wanted to show the lens through which he saw the world.”
Nichols, who was 29, died on Jan. 10 after being severely beaten three days earlier by Memphis Police Department officers who had pulled him over for a traffic stop. His death sparked an outcry across the country against
police violence.
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Celebrating the life of Absalom Jones
at the Church of the Incarnation
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Bishop Chilton R. Knudsen Visits Trinity | |
Celebrating Alice's Baptism | |
Uncovering the historic 1920s steps leading up the south entrance of the Nave | | | | |
