Grace and Holy Trinity Cathedral

06/02/2026

Today the Church celebrates the feast of Blandina and Her Companions, the Martyrs of Lyons.

Blandina was a young Christian slave who, along with her companions, was martyred in Lyons, France in 177 AD during the persecution under Marcus Aurelius, and is remembered for her extraordinary courage and faith in the face of brutal torture, inspiring fellow Christians and becoming a powerful example of Christ’s strength perfected in human weakness. Blandina and her fellow Christians in Lyons suffered persecution in Roman Gaul and remained steadfast under brutal oppression. Their witness is remembered as a sign of the Church’s endurance amid suffering and of the power of communal faith. Their commemoration honors both individual bravery and the Church’s corporate fidelity under trial.

Blandina was apprehended together with her master, who was also a Christian. During her interrogation, Blandina was subjected to horrific tortures from dawn to dusk. Her tormentors took turns inflicting various forms of pain upon her, expecting her to either renounce her faith or succumb to the agony. Yet, Blandina remained steadfast, repeatedly proclaiming, “I am a Christian, and nothing wicked is done among us”. Her perseverance was so extraordinary that even her torturers marveled at her ability to survive, admitting they were exhausted and had no more methods of torture to employ against her. Blandina’s ordeal continued in the amphitheater, where she was hung on a post in the form of a cross and exposed to wild beasts. Miraculously, the animals did not harm her. As she hung there, praying fervently, her fellow Christians saw in her a reflection of Christ crucified, which strengthened their own resolve.

Today’s Readings: https://prayer.forwardmovement.org/daily-readings/2026-06-02

Learn more: https://www.dailyoffice2019.com/commemorations/5eccdcb2-9443-404c-a36d-41d9d595f90f

06/02/2026

06/01/2026

Pridefest is almost here, and we want you to be part of the fun!

The Diocese is looking for volunteers for KC Pride this month, including:

🌈 Booth setup crew
🏳️‍🌈Table hosts
🏳️‍🌈Pride Mass and Parade

See you June 5-7!

Pride Mass and Parade
We will gather together at 9 a.m. on June 6 at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in Kansas City to pray, worship, and share the story of God’s love for all. After Mass, those who wish to march in the parade will walk from St. Paul’s to Westport to line-up. From there, we will march, wave and proclaim the love of God to all.

Learn more & get involved: https://diowestmo.org/event/kansas-city-pride

06/01/2026

Learn about the scourge of gun violence and the toll it has taken on our communities.

Learn about the issue at one of these sites:
Everytown for Gun Safety (Everytown.org)
Gun Violence Archive (GunViolenceArchive.org)
Johns Hopkins Center for Gun Violence Solutions (publichealth.jhu.edu/departments/health-policy-and-management/research-and-practice/center-for-gun-violence-solutions)
Giffords Law Center (giffords.org/lawcenter/gun-laws)
Brady United Against Gun Violence (BradyUnited.org)

06/01/2026

Today we celebrate the Feast of the Visitation (transferred from May 31).

The Feast of the Visitation, celebrated on May 31, commemorates Mary’s visit to her cousin Elizabeth as told in the Gospel of Luke. Bearing the unborn Christ, Mary journeyed to the hill country to share in Elizabeth’s joy, for Elizabeth too was expecting a son—John the Baptist. When Mary greeted her, Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit and cried out, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb!” In that moment, the child in Elizabeth’s womb leapt for joy, recognizing the nearness of the Savior. Mary responded with her song of praise, the Magnificat, proclaiming God’s mercy and the lifting up of the humble. The Visitation reveals the meeting of the old and new covenants, of prophecy and fulfillment, and of two faithful women whose openness to God made way for salvation’s unfolding. The feast invites the faithful to share Mary’s joy, her humility, and her readiness to bear Christ into the world through lives of gratitude and service.

Father in heaven, by your grace the virgin mother of your incarnate Son was blessed in bearing him, but still more blessed in keeping your word: Grant us who honor the exaltation of her lowliness to follow the example of her devotion to your will; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

Today’s Readings: https://prayer.forwardmovement.org/daily-readings/2026-06-01

05/31/2026

Worship with us today in person at 8 a.m., 10:30 a.m. and 5 p.m. or online at 10:30 a.m.

📖 Digital Bulletin: https://www.kccathedral.org/the-digital-liturgy
📺 Online Worship: https://www.kccathedral.org/worship
🔗 Links in bio

Almighty and everlasting God, you have given to us your servants grace, by the confession of a true faith, to acknowledge the glory of the eternal Trinity, and in the power of your divine Majesty to worship the Unity: Keep us steadfast in this faith and worship, and bring us at last to see you in your one and eternal glory, O Father; who with the Son and the Holy Spirit live and reign, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
—Collect for the First Sunday after Pentecost: Trinity Sunday

05/30/2026

Matthew 13:36-43

Then he left the crowds and went into the house. And his disciples approached him, saying, “Explain to us the parable of the weeds of the field.” He answered, “The one who sows the good seed is the Son of Man; the field is the world, and the good seed are the children of the kingdom; the weeds are the children of the evil one, and the enemy who sowed them is the devil; the harvest is the end of the age, and the reapers are angels. Just as the weeds are collected and burned up with fire, so will it be at the end of the age. The Son of Man will send his angels, and they will collect out of his kingdom all causes of sin and all evildoers, and they will throw them into the furnace of fire, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. Let anyone with ears listen!"

Today’s Readings: https://prayer.forwardmovement.org/daily-readings/2026-05-29

05/29/2026

Matthew 13:31-35

He put before them another parable: “The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed that someone took and sowed in his field; it is the smallest of all the seeds, but when it has grown it is the greatest of shrubs and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and make nests in its branches.”

He told them another parable: “The kingdom of heaven is like yeast that a woman took and mixed in with three measures of flour until all of it was leavened.”

Jesus told the crowds all these things in parables; without a parable he told them nothing. This was to fulfill what had been spoken through the prophet: “I will open my mouth to speak in parables; I will proclaim what has been hidden from the foundation of the world.”

Today’s Readings: https://prayer.forwardmovement.org/daily-readings/2026-05-29

05/28/2026

Mechthild of Magdeburg was one of the most original medieval mystics, and the first to write in the German language. Mechthild is known to us primarily through her work The Flowing Light of the Godhead, which consists of seven books written over a period of thirty years.

In one famous passage of her book, she writes:
“A fish cannot drown in water,
A bird does not fall in air.
In the fire of creation,
God doesn’t vanish:
The fire brightens.
Each creature God made
must live in its own true nature;
How could I resist my nature,
That lives for oneness with God?”

Draw the souls of your people into your love, O God, that like your servant Mechthild, we may yearn to be fully yours, for you know us better than we can know ourselves; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God now and for ever. Amen.

Today’s Readings: https://www.episcopalchurch.org/lectionary/mechthild-of-madgeburg

Learn more: https://schccompanions.org/mechthild-of-magdeburg-leaping-into-love

05/27/2026

Noonday Prayer for Wednesday in the week of Pentecost.
The service begins on page 103 in the Book of Common Prayer. The online bulletin is here: https://www.kccathedral.org/the-digital-liturgy/noonday-prayer.