Second Sunday after Easter, April 14th, 2024

 Second Sunday after Easter, April 14th, 2024

In today's Gospel passage coming to us from St. John we hear Our Blessed Saviour refer to Himself as the Good Shepherd:  "I am the good shepherd: the good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep"  (St. John 10:11)   Our Lord compares and contrasts the difference between someone who truly cares about the sheep to someone who is merely a "hireling."  Our Lord states that the hireling is someone who does not have true concern for the sheep whereas a good shepherd will defend the sheep with his life.  I see so many examples of "good shepherds" around me on a daily basis.  I see those who are first responders who do not fail to rush head-first into danger.  Policemen, Firemen, Paramedics, Department of Corrections, . . . . These brave men and women think of others first before they think of their own personal safety.  And, quite frankly, they never know what the day will bring.  Look at the case of the New York City policeman who recently went up to a car which was parked illegally in a bus zone and he ended up losing his life in the process.  You hear about brave firefighters who go rushing head-first into burning buildings and think not of their own safety but instead focus on saving those inside the building.  And as a Department of Corrections Chaplain, I see what Correctional works go through on a daily basis:  working long hours in stressful situations; looking after a population who does not care about anyone else, let alone themselves. How about other examples around us such as the dedicated teachers who also work long hours preparing lesson plans, teaching students, grading tests.  And they do what they do because they want to make a difference in their students' life.  The same can be said for those dedicated parents who lay down their lives on a daily basis to give their children a better life.  These dedicated mothers and fathers work day after day to provide for their children a better life.  They want their children to have a better life than they had.  And they do it because they love their children.  "I am the good shepherd: the good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep"  In all of these examples mentioned and so many more we see people all over the world doing what they can to make the world a better place.  This is the example Our Lord teaches us that we are called to do what we can for others.   Go out and be God's instrument in the world.  Do what you can to make the world a better place in the Name of God.  Offer up your daily sacrifices and let God take care of the rest.

Please make a point to join us for Mass on Sunday.  St. Margaret Church gathers together each and every Sunday at 10:30 am.  We worship at the beautiful Chapel at Marquette Manor, located at 8140 N. Township Line Road on the Northwest side of Indianapolis.  Join us as we listen to the Word of God found in the King James Version of the Bible.  We use the 1928 Book of Common Prayer.  And receive the Most Precious Body and Blood of Our Saviour at Communion time.   We are all busy.  We all lead busy lives.  Take an hour out of your busy week and dedicate it to God.  Give that hour to God and spend it with Him.

First Sunday after Easter, April 7th, 2024

 First Sunday after Easter, April 7th, 2024

We have life pretty easy compared to, let's say, cavemen.  For example, we sit around and post funny pictures of cats on Facebook while our ancestors ran around trying not to be eaten by Dinosaurs.  Alright, I'm being a wee bit extreme in my comparisons but in so many ways, life is much easier for us than it was for past ages.  Due to technology, life is simpler, that is sure.  Whether it be travel or washing clothes, we have it so much easier than those that lived in past ages due to technology.  And yet, life is so difficult for us at times.  Whether it is dealing with other people that don't particularly like us or dealing with trying to keep up with  the overwhelming bills that are due.  Whether it is trying to find a job or dealing with things that break in your house or on your car.  The daily pressures of life seem to be a burden to so many people, especially those who are dealing with sadness, illness, or daily troubles.  And yet we know as faithful, firm, committed Christians, that are answer is right in front of our eyes.   "WHATSOEVER is born of God overcometh the world" (I St. John 5:4)  God is our answer.  This is because God is our foundation in a changing world.  While on the one hand, we do not know what life will give us from day to day . . .  sometimes, it seems to change hour to hour . . . minute to minute . . . . we do know that God will never leave us.  We know that God is always there in our corner.  We know that God is ever constant.  God truly is our foundation.  While we never know from day to day what life will give us, we know that as long as we have God with us we can overcome anything that life dishes out.

St. Margaret would like to have YOU join us on Sunday.  If you are reading this and you are able to be with us on Sunday, would you consider simply taking one hour out of your busy schedule and join us as we worship Our Heavenly Father. Take an hour out of your busy schedule and dedicate it to God.  Take an hour out of your busy schedule and hear the Word of God and listen to what God is saying to you.  Take an hour out of your busy schedule and join your brothers and sisters to worship as God's family.  Would you please consider joining us on Sunday morning?  We would love to see YOU! 

Please make a point to join us for Mass on Sunday.  St. Margaret Church gathers together each and every Sunday at 10:30 am.  We worship at the beautiful Chapel at Marquette Manor, located at 8140 N. Township Line Road on the Northwest side of Indianapolis.  Join us as we listen to the Word of God found in the King James Version of the Bible.  We use the 1928 Book of Common Prayer.  And receive the Most Precious Body and Blood of Our Saviour at Communion time.   We are all busy.  We all lead busy lives.  Take an hour out of your busy week and dedicate it to God.  Give that hour to God and spend it with Him.

Easter Sunday, March 31st, 2024

 Easter Sunday, March 31st, 2024

In the Twenty-Seventh chapter of St. Matthew's Gospel, we hear the Passion of Our Lord.  At the end of the chapter we are also told of Our Blessed Saviour being laid in the tomb.  St. Matthew tells us that Our Lord is laid in the tomb that belonged to Joseph, who himself went to Pilate to ask for the body of our Blessed Saviour.  After He was laid in the tomb the chief priests and Pharisees, we are told by St. Matthew, that they also went to Pilate to ask that a guard be placed at the tomb because they remembered Our Lord's words that He would rise on the third day.  Pilate told them to set a guard and "they went, and made the sepulchre sure, sealing the stone, and setting a watch."

We also have been setting a watch . . . . we have been anticipating the arrival of Our Blessed Saviour.  We wait for Him every day.  We wait for Him to speak to us when we read Scripture.  We watch for Him when we sit in prayer.  We wait in anticipation when we have a problem or need assistance in our life and wait and watch for Our Blessed Saviour to come to our aid.  We watch for Him when we go to Mass and receive His Precious Body and Blood at Communion time.  At all of these times just described we need to watch for Our Blessed Saviour.  We need to listen to what He says to us.  So often, in the "busy-ness" of life, we do not take the time to pay attention, to listen.  Also, our attention is diverted by the distractions of this life:  whether they be issues that take up our time; or television; or computer; or jobs; or other diversions. God should always take the top priority in our life.  Nothing should take our attention off of Him.  Let us set a watch for Him and welcome Him into our heart.

PLEASE NOTE CHANGE IN TIME:  Mass will begin at 11:30 am instead of the usual time.  Please join us at 11:30 am on Easter Sunday in the Chapel

Easter Sunday Mass will be held on Sunday, April 5th, 2015 at 9:30 AM at St. Margaret Church.  Mass is held at Marquette Manor, which is located at 8140 N. Township Line Road on the Northwest side of Indianapolis.  Please note that on Easter Sunday, we will not be in the chapel as we normally celebrate there.  Rather, we will be on the Fourth Floor of Marquette Manor.

Palm Sunday, March 24th, 2024

 Palm Sunday, March 24th, 2024

In the liturgy for Palm Sunday, there are two Gospel readings.  And despite the fact that both of these readings are from St. Matthew, these two passages could not be more strikingly different.  In the first reading which we hear on Palm Sunday we are witness to Our Lord's triumphant entry into Jerusalem.  It is here in which we hear the vast crowds voicing their excitement and acclaim at the entrance of Our Lord:  "Hosanna, Hosanna!"   As we read these verses we can visualize in our mind the wonderful acclaim that the people give Him.  But later in the liturgy the second Gospel passage is from the Twenty-Seventh Chapter and the contrast from the first passage is sharp.  It is in this second passage where we hear about Our Lord being condemned before Pilate.  And instead of cheering crowds yelling "Hosanna," we now hear the crowd screaming "Crucify Him, Crucify Him!"  As I say, the contrast could not be more striking.  And yet even in our own life sometimes we witness sharp contrasts, don't we?  Have you ever begun working on a project and perhaps for a time everything seemed to go great and then suddenly everything went wrong?  Have you ever made a major change in your life and things go great and then suddenly for whatever reason things started going wrong.  Then all of the sudden you begin questioning "what went wrong?"  You may even begin to doubt yourself.  You may doubt yourself at times.  You may doubt your ability at times.  You may doubt the loyalty of others at times.  But there is one thing we can never doubt, it is the love which God has for His children.  God loves us and God is always nearby even though we do not realize it at times.  God is there for us in the good times and the bad.  We are never promised a perfect life, are we?  We are never promised a life without pain.  In life sometimes we will experience defeat.  But even in those times we know that God is there for us and with us.  The key is that we stay close to God and to stay loyal to Him.   We should always do our best to love God Who first loved us.   

Please make a point to join us for Mass on Sunday.  St. Margaret Church gathers together each and every Sunday at 10:30 am.  We worship at the beautiful Chapel at Marquette Manor, located at 8140 N. Township Line Road on the Northwest side of Indianapolis.  Join us as we listen to the Word of God found in the King James Version of the Bible.  We use the 1928 Book of Common Prayer.  And receive the Most Precious Body and Blood of Our Saviour at Communion time.   We are all busy.  We all lead busy lives.  Take an hour out of your busy week and dedicate it to God.  Give that hour to God and spend it with Him.

Fourth Sunday in Lent, Laetare Sunday, March 10th, 2024

 Fourth Sunday in Lent, or Laetare Sunday, March 10th, 2024

The Gospel for Laetare Sunday comes from the Sixth Chapter of St. John's Gospel.  As we begin this passage St. John tells us of the large crowds that have followed Our Lord due to them hearing about the many people that He has cured.  Our Lord's fame has grown far and wide due to the many miracles that He has performed.   And many of those gathered want to not only to see Him but to hear what He has to say.  Now the first thing that should strike us when we hear the story of Our Lord feeding the multitude is that Our Lord is a compassionate Lord.  He knew that these people that gathered together to hear Him and to get just a glimpse of Him would be tired . . .  would be hungry . . .  would need to be sustained and nourished.  And He called together the disciples and inquired what would need to be done.  Now, we all know what happened next.  Our Blessed Saviour multiplied the five loaves and the two fish into feeding the multitude.

What I would like to focus on is what Our Lord did after everyone was fed.  He called together the disciples and told them:  "Gather up the fragments that remain, that nothing be lost." (St. John 6:12)  Sometimes our lives feel like "fragments," in a sense.  We run here.  We run there.  We take care of our families.  We take care of our home. We go to our jobs.  We go shopping for what we need.  The list goes on and on.  As a result, we feel like we are running around from one place to the next, going from doing one thing into something completely different.  I know I feel this way very often.  And I talk to so many people that feel the same way.  Our lives are divided between this, that and the other.  But the important thing to remember is that God takes our "fragments" and makes them whole.  Just like Our Blessed Saviour fed and nourished the five-thousand, He feeds and nourishes us still today.  Just like He saw the vast multitude gathered around Him, He still sees us in need of His strength to carry on our daily lives.  And He is that strength.  He is the One Who nourishes us.  He is the One Who sustains us.  He is the One Who makes us whole.  He takes the fragments of our lives and makes our life complete.   There is no other person, thing, or feeling in the world that can make us complete.  There is only one person who can do this for us.  And that is God.  Give your heart to Him.  Let Him be your nourishment.  Let God be your sustaining force.  Let Our Blessed Saviour be the One you run to in order to be fed.

Please make a point to join us for Mass on Sunday.  St. Margaret Church gathers together each and every Sunday at 10:30 am.  We worship at the beautiful Chapel at Marquette Manor, located at 8140 N. Township Line Road on the Northwest side of Indianapolis.  Join us as we listen to the Word of God found in the King James Version of the Bible.  We use the 1928 Book of Common Prayer.  And receive the Most Precious Body and Blood of Our Saviour at Communion time.   We are all busy.  We all lead busy lives.  Take an hour out of your busy week and dedicate it to God.  Give that hour to God and spend it with Him 

Third Sunday in Lent, March 3rd, 2024

 Third Sunday in Lent, March 3, 2024

Do you ever have trouble driving early in the morning or early evening when it starts to go from dark to light or from light to dark?   I am talking about that "in-between" point where it's not quite dark and it's not quite light.  It's almost as if you can see things, yes, but there's doubt about what you are seeing.  I guess the same thing may be true when you are out driving and it is foggy.  You think you see something off in the distance . . . . but you are not quite sure . . . is it or isn't it?   I am sure you can all think of an example of what I am talking about, a time or two where you thought you saw something but you were not quite sure because of the darkness or because of the fog.  I am thinking about this because last week or the week before it was so foggy and it was hard to see off in the distance early in the morning.  But as I was struggling to see off in the distance due to the fog, as the sun rose up, it was almost as though the fog instantly disappeared.  It literally like moving from dark to light instantly.  I remember literally struggling to see off in the distance one second and everything was clear the next.  Of course, for Christians, Our Blessed Saviour is the light of the world.  He is our light.  He gives light not only to the world but He gives light to our personal journey as well.  As we hear in the Epistle appointed for today's Mass:  "For ye were sometimes darkness, but now are ye light in the Lord . . ."  (Ephesians 5:1 ff)  St. Paul explains that prior to knowing Christ, we were struggling to find our way in the dark.  Just like in the haze or the fog, we were not quite sure of what was ahead.  But Christ gives light to the darkness of the world.  And when Christ is in us, we shine forth the light of Christ to the world around us.  During this holy season of Lent, hang on to Christ.  Make Him the most important part of your life.  Dedicate your life to Christ and allow Him to brighten the darkness that this world can only offer. 

Please make a point to join us for Mass on Sunday.  St. Margaret Church gathers together each and every Sunday.  We worship at the beautiful Chapel at Marquette Manor, located at 8140 N. Township Line Road on the Northwest side of Indianapolis.  Join us as we listen to the Word of God found in the King James Version of the Bible.  We use the 1928 Book of Common Prayer.  And receive the Most Precious Body and Blood of Our Saviour at Communion time.   We are all busy.  We all lead busy lives.  Take an hour out of your busy week and dedicate it to God.  Give that hour to God and spend it with Him 

Second Sunday in Lent, February 25th, 2024

 Second Sunday in Lent, February 25th, 2024

In the Fifteenth Chapter of St. Matthew's Gospel, we hear the story of Our Blessed Saviour meeting the woman of Canaan who besought Our Lord seeking favour for her daughter.  Now keep in mind that this woman was not Jewish, and yet she made a point say to Our Lord: "Thou Son of David: my daughter is grievously vexed with a devil." (St Matthew 15:22)  Right from the beginning, it is evident that this woman must have recognized the greatness of Our Lord or else she would not have referred to Him as "Thou Son of David."  It seems that Our Lord initially ignores her because He says not a word at her request.  After that she then proceeds to bother the disciples for her request because St. Matthew informs us that the disciples "besought Him, saying, Send her away: for she crieth after us." (v.23)  After this, Our Lord still ignores her request by basically saying, in essence, that He was sent for the children of Israel.  And despite all of this, this woman still persisted until finally Our Lord recognized her persistence and her faith when He said:  " O woman, great is thy faith: be it unto thee even as thou wilt." (v.28)

Now the point that we can all learn from this is that we should be determined and to have faith.  The woman of Canaan had both.  She recognized Our Lord to be the source of help and healing for her daughter.   But she was also determined.  In faith, we need to be determined.  But we need to be determined for the right reason.  In other words, sometimes we only get "religious" when we need God for something:  We want to get hired for a new job.  We need a favour of some sort.  We need guidance to get our of a jam.   Now there is nothing wrong with going to Our Heavenly Father when we need His assistance.  What is wrong, though, is when we ONLY go to Him when we need something and forget about Him the rest of the time.  A lot of people only go to God when they get into a jam or when they need something.  They suddenly get real "religious" when they are in need but the rest of the time they act as if there is no God.  Our Lord came to offer us Salvation.  He came to die on the Cross for us.  But He also spent some thirty-three years on this earth being a human being like you and I.  He knows what it is like to walk in your shoes.  He knows what it is like to laugh and to cry.  He knows what it is like to work and to rest. He knows what it is like to walk in your shoes as a human being.  As such, we can go to Him on a daily basis and we should go to Him on a daily basis.  Do not just go to God when you are in need of something.  Go to God every day with your concerns, your joys, your sorrows, your everything.

Please make a point to join us for Mass on Sunday.  St. Margaret Church gathers together each and every Sunday.  We worship at the beautiful Chapel at Marquette Manor, located at 8140 N. Township Line Road on the Northwest side of Indianapolis.  Join us as we listen to the Word of God found in the King James Version of the Bible.  We use the 1928 Book of Common Prayer.  And receive the Most Precious Body and Blood of Our Saviour at Communion time.   We are all busy.  We all lead busy lives.  Take an hour out of your busy week and dedicate it to God.  Give that hour to God and spend it with Him