The Beatitudes

 

1When Jesus saw the crowds, he went up the mountain; and after he sat down, his disciples came to him. 2Then he began to speak, and taught them, saying:

3“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

4“Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.

5“Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.

6“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.

7“Blessed are the merciful, for they will receive mercy.

8“Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.

9“Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.

10“Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

11“Blessed are you when people revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. 12Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.”

Matthew 5:1-12

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Sermon on the Mount (detail)

OLRIK, Henrik

Approximately 1860

Sankt Matthäus Kieke

Altarpiece

Copenhagen

Denmark

 

 

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Sermon on the Mount

OLRIK, Hendrik

 

 

 

Most people are willing to take the

Sermon on the Mount as a flag to sail under,

but few will use it as a rudder by which to steer.

~ Oliver Wendel Holmes

  

 

 

 

 

The solutions to our current problems

cannot be solved from the level of consciousness

that created them.

~ Albert Einstein

 

 

 

 

Junna and Abby Yoshioka came for coffee on Monday!

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Bunco on Tuesday

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Donna Bucholz delivered the Five Candles ceremony in honor of Carla McFadden’s life.

 

Book Club at Van’s on Wednesday

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Marianne Loritz, Joan Evashevski, Van Farnsworth, Kelly Selva

(We missed you, Sharron!)

 

 

Our Rotary Meeting

Rotary-Annette desktop - 1.jpeg  The Waypoints : From 400 Farewells and 3,000 Miles.jpeg 

 

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Diane Gansauer (fellow club member) spoke to us about her 3,100 mile hike along the Continental Divide Trail from Mexico to Canada. 

 

"At the age of sixty-one, Diane Gansauer committed to something great: hiking the entire length of the Continental Divide Trail, from Mexico to Canada. Over a seven-year journey through mountains, rivers, and forests, Diane continued her work officiating celebrations of life. By the time she completed all thirty-one hundred miles of the trail, Diane had honored more than four hundred life stories through memorial services and gatherings. The Waypoints chronicles the wisdom that overlapped her experience of these lives and the trail, like stacked stones on the path, guiding the way."

 

 

Annette’s Celebration of Life Service

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ANNETE MARIE BRADLEY

MAY 21, 1947 – JANUARY 8, 2026

 

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The Service

 

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The Reception

 

 

 

Love is really the only thing we can possess, keep with us, and take with us. *

~ Elisabeth Kubler-Ross 

 

 

 

 

February 1, 2026 - Fourth Sunday after the Epiphany - Year A

                  Presentation of our Lord

Previous OPQs may be found at: 

 

* A recent repeat, and also one of Bob Bradley’s favorite quotes.

 

   Hear what the LORD says: 
          Rise, plead your case before the mountains, 
          and let the hills hear your voice. 
2   Hear, you mountains, the controversy of the LORD, 
          and you enduring foundations of the earth; 
     for the LORD has a controversy with his people, 
          and he will contend with Israel.

3   “O my people, what have I done to you? 
          In what have I wearied you? Answer me! 
4   For I brought you up from the land of Egypt, 
          and redeemed you from the house of slavery; 
     and I sent before you Moses, 
          Aaron, and Miriam. 
5   O my people, remember now what King Balak of Moab devised, 
          what Balaam son of Beor answered him, 
     and what happened from Shittim to Gilgal, 
          that you may know the saving acts of the LORD.”

6  “With what shall I come before the LORD, 
          and bow myself before God on high? 
     Shall I come before him with burnt offerings, 
          with calves a year old? 
7   Will the LORD be pleased with thousands of rams, 
          with ten thousands of rivers of oil? 
     Shall I give my firstborn for my transgression, 
          the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?” 
8   He has told you, O mortal, what is good; 
          and what does the LORD require of you 
     but to do justice, and to love kindness, 
          and to walk humbly with your God?

 

Agnus Day, by James Wetzstein

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Agnus Day appears with the permission of www.agnusday.org

 

 

February 2nd

Candlemas Day/Groundhog Day/Festival of Lights

 

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CANDLEMAN

James C. Christensen

  

 

 

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February 2nd

Groundhog Day or Candlemas?





If Candlemas be fair and bright,
Come winter, have another flight.
If Candlemas bring clouds and rain,
Go winter, and come not again.

 

 

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LECTIONARY

Micah 6:1-8

Psalm 15

1 Corinthians 1:18-31

Matthew 5:1-12

 

“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven . . . “
Matthew 5: 1-12

THE WORD:

Today’s Gospel is the beautiful “Beatitudes” reading from the Sermon on the Mount, Matthew’s compilation of the sayings and teachings of Jesus. The word “blessed,” as used by Jesus in the eight maxims, was written in Greek as makarios, a word which indicates a joy that is God-like in its serenity and totality.

Specific Greek words used throughout the text indicate several important meanings:
‘The poor in spirit:’ those who are detached from material things, who put their trust in God.
“The sorrowing:”  this Beatitude speaks of the value of caring and compassion – the hallmarks of Jesus’ teaching.
“The lowly:” the Greek word used here is praotes – true humility that banishes all pride; the “blessed” who accept the necessity to learn and grow and realize their need to be forgiven.
“They who show mercy:” the Greek word chesedh used here indicates the ability to get “inside a person's a skin” until we can see things from his/her perspective, consider things from his/her experience mind and feel his/her joys and sorrows.
“The peacemakers:” peace is not merely the absence of trouble or discord but peace is a positive condition: it is everything that provides and makes for humanity’s highest good; note, too, that the “blessed” are described as peace-makers and not simply peace-lovers.

 

 

First Reading Micah 6:1-8

1   Hear what the LORD says: 
          Rise, plead your case before the mountains, 
          and let the hills hear your voice. 
2   Hear, you mountains, the controversy of the LORD, 
          and you enduring foundations of the earth; 
     for the LORD has a controversy with his people, 
          and he will contend with Israel.

3   “O my people, what have I done to you? 
          In what have I wearied you? Answer me! 
4   For I brought you up from the land of Egypt, 
          and redeemed you from the house of slavery; 
     and I sent before you Moses, 
          Aaron, and Miriam. 
5   O my people, remember now what King Balak of Moab devised, 
          what Balaam son of Beor answered him, 
     and what happened from Shittim to Gilgal, 
          that you may know the saving acts of the LORD.”

6  “With what shall I come before the LORD, 
          and bow myself before God on high? 
     Shall I come before him with burnt offerings, 
          with calves a year old? 
7   Will the LORD be pleased with thousands of rams, 
          with ten thousands of rivers of oil? 
     Shall I give my firstborn for my transgression, 
          the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?” 
8   He has told you, O mortal, what is good; 
          and what does the LORD require of you 
     but to do justice, and to love kindness, 
          and to walk humbly with your God?

Psalm 15

1   O LORD, who may abide in your tent? 
          Who may dwell on your holy hill?

2   Those who walk blamelessly, and do what is right, 
          and speak the truth from their heart; 
3   who do not slander with their tongue, 
          and do no evil to their friends, 
          nor take up a reproach against their neighbors; 
4   in whose eyes the wicked are despised, 
          but who honor those who fear the LORD; 
     who stand by their oath even to their hurt; 
5   who do not lend money at interest, 
          and do not take a bribe against the innocent. 
     Those who do these things shall never be moved.

Second Reading 1 Corinthians 1:18-31

18For the message about the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.  19For it is written, 
     “I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, 
          and the discernment of the discerning I will thwart.” 
20Where is the one who is wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? 21For since, in the wisdom of God, the world did not know God through wisdom, God decided, through the foolishness of our proclamation, to save those who believe. 22For Jews demand signs and Greeks desire wisdom, 23but we proclaim Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, 24but to those who are the called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. 25For God’s foolishness is wiser than human wisdom, and God’s weakness is stronger than human strength.

26Consider your own call, brothers and sisters: not many of you were wise by human standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth. 27But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; 28God chose what is low and despised in the world, things that are not, to reduce to nothing things that are, 29so that no one might boast in the presence of God. 30He is the source of your life in Christ Jesus, who became for us wisdom from God, and righteousness and sanctification and redemption, 31in order that, as it is written, “Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.”

Gospel Matthew 5:1-12

1When Jesus saw the crowds, he went up the mountain; and after he sat down, his disciples came to him. 2Then he began to speak, and taught them, saying:

3“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

4“Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.

5“Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.

6“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.

7“Blessed are the merciful, for they will receive mercy.

8“Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.

9“Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.

10“Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

11“Blessed are you when people revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. 12Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.”