I send my messenger

Third Sunday in Advent, Sunday, December 15th, 2013

Fr. Todd Bragg

St. Margaret Anglican Church

Indianapolis, Indiana

" Behold, I send My messenger before thy face."  (St. Matthew 11:2 ff)

In today's Gospel passage coming from St. Matthew, we are listening to Our Lord speaking about His cousin, St. John the Baptist.  The passage begins by St. John, who is waiting in prison, sending two of his disciples to question Our Blessed Saviour if He is the long-awaited Messiah or should they wait for another.  Our Lord responds that if they want to know if He is the Messiah, that they merely need to look at the works that He has done.  Then He quotes Scripture in regards to St. John the Baptist:

"Behold, I will send My messenger and he shall prepare the way before Me; and the Lord, Whom ye seek, shall suddenly come to His temple."  (Malachi 3:1)

Two things that we should consider:  One, Our Lord did indeed come to His temple . . . . He came to earth as a human being.  Secondly, Our Lord does not need our assistance but He welcomes our assistance.

As I try to make the point so often, we do not have a God Who is far off or distant.  In other words, we do not have a God Who created us and then stays away at a distance.  He, on the other hand, was so concerned for His creation that He became One with His creation . . .  like us in all things but sin.

"Who is like unto the Lord Our God, Who dwelleth on high, Who humbleth Himself to behold the things that are in Heaven and in the earth." (Psalm 113:5-6)

We have a God Who not only created the universe but humbled Himself to become One with His creation.

"But we see Jesus, Who was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honour; that by the grace of God should taste death for every man." (Hebrews 2:9)

Christ made Himself lower than the angels so that He could not only experience living as a human being, walking in your shoes, but also so that He could experience death.  By experiencing death, He defeated death.  And by joining His Immortality to our mortality, by defeating death, He has included us and we are the ones who will benefit by His dying on the Cross but also by His rising to life again.

In regards to the second point, the same God Who created the universe does not need or require my help or assistance . . . .  but He does appreciate it when I do assist Him.  In other words, He does not require our help . . . . but He does desire our help.

Whether it be St. John the Baptist, St. Mary, St. Joseph, St. Margaret of Scotland, St. Gemma Galgani, etc.  the point is that each one of us can assist Our Lord in proclaiming the Gospel.  Each one of us has the opportunity to prepare the way of the Lord through our actions and our words.    St. James writes "But be ye doers of the Word, and not hearers only, deceiving your ownselves." (St. James 1:22)

Remember that Our Lord humbled Himself, not for His benefit, but for our benefit.  He had no need to humble Himself, but He did it out of love for you and me.  Thus, we can repay Our Lord by imitating St. John the Baptist and proclaiming the Gospel to those around us.

That ye may abound in hope

Second Sunday in Advent, Sunday, December 8th, 2013

Fr. Todd Bragg

St. Margaret Anglican Church

Indianapolis, Indiana

" . . . that ye may abound in hope, through the power of the Holy Ghost."  (Romans 15)

Let us set the scene for our mind's eye to picture:  We have just been through the worst day in the history of the world.  We have witnessed Our Blessed Saviour beaten, mocked, scourged at the pillar.  We have seen Him forced to carry His own Cross to the hill of Calvary.  We have been witness to His painful and agonizing dying on the Cross in addition to seeing His Blessed Mother by His side the whole time, with her heart agonizing out of despair and pity for her loving Son.  And after all this we are witnesses to Our Blessed Saviour being taken down from the Cross and laid in a tomb.  The Man that we came to view as our hope of the Messiah is now laid in the tomb, dead and lifeless.  We are confused, to say the least, and shocked and disappointed that so much would happen in such a short period of time.

Then fast forward to:  "The first day of the week cometh Mary Magdalene early, when it was yet dark, unto the sepulchre, and seeth the stone taken taken away from the sepulchre.  Then she runneth and cometh to Simon Peter . . . " (St. John 20:1)  Now, albeit that there was a strong mixture of emotions that filled St. Mary Magdalene when she made a point to go to the tomb:  sadness; despair; confusion; being afraid; desperate; anxious.  All of these emotions were swelling up inside of her and, yet, despite all of this, I would contend that when she saw that the stone was rolled away, deep down underneath the layers of all of these various emotions, there was one more emotion underlying all of these others:  hope.

If we were forced to describe the holy season of Advent in one word, I think that many of us would use the word "hope."

"The Lord shall roar out of Zion, and utter His voice from Jerusalem, and the heavens and the earth shall shake: but the Lord will be the hope of His people, and the strength of the children of Israel." (Joel 3:16)

Yes, hope entered the world on that first Christmas morn some two thousand years ago but the hope was found in something very deceiving:  a small, helpless child born to poor, ordinary parents.  And yet, it would be wise for us to consider that sometimes looks can be deceiving.  What we see with our eyes is not always the reality.  This seemingly small, helpless babe was in reality the Saviour of the world, the long-awaited Messiah.  But to our eyes, without knowing any better, He was just a helpless infant.

The same thing happened some thirty-three years later on that hill at Calvary.  To the eyes of the world, it seemed that defeat was achieved on that Cross at Calvary.  And when He was taken down was the Cross and laid in the borrowed tomb, it seemed to the world that death had won.  And, yet, we have to keep in mind that what seems one way is not always what we perceive it to be.  The world expected and hoped for a Messiah.  They perceived that the Messiah would be a strong, powerful king or ruler with power and armies unimaginable.  The world received her long-awaited Messiah but He came in the form of a small, helpless babe.  Sometimes perceptions can be deceiving.

To the world, death had achieved victory on that Cross on the hill at Calvary, and yet, sometimes perceptions can be deceiving.  The victory for death was only fleeting and death was ultimately herself defeated by Our Blessed Lord's Resurrection from the grave.   As Christians, we are called to have faith and hope and to realize that not everything is as it may appear.

"Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen." (Hebrews 11:1)

Abraham and Sarah, though old in years, and certainly beyond child-bearing years, were promised to be the parents "of many nations."  In fact, Sarah laughed out loud at the thought of her becoming a mother at her age.  And yet, perceptions are sometimes deceiving.  What may seem a certain way . . .  in fact, it may seem impossible to us . . .  we always have to have hope and faith as Christians that nothing is impossible to God.  This is the message of Advent.

Behold, Thy King Cometh Unto Thee

First Sunday in Advent, Sunday, December 1st, 2013

Fr. Todd Bragg

St. Margaret Anglican Church

Indianapolis, Indiana

"Behold, Thy King cometh unto thee . . . ."  (St. Matthew 21)

Whenever we begin the Holy Season of Advent and I hear this Gospel passage being read from St. Matthew, it strikes me that this passage is really something that is read during Holy Week and not during Advent.  But keep in mind that during Advent, we are preparing a welcome for Our Blessed Saviour just like those people were welcoming Our Blessed Lord into Jerusalem some two thousand years ago.  Advent is about preparation and making our welcome for the King.

Now, St. Matthew reminds us that Bethphage was about a mile outside of Jerusalem.  Bethphage was known as the "house of figs and dates" due to what was grown there.  St. Matthew reminds us that Our Lord told His disciples to go and get both "an ass and a colt" for Him to use upon His entry into Jerusalem.  Now, it is a fair question to ask: why exactly would Our Lord insist on riding into Jerusalem when it seems that everywhere else He was very humble in walking everywhere He went.  Certainly, the answer would be to fulfill the prophecy of Zechariah:

"Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion; Shout, O daughter of Jerusalem; behold, Thy King cometh unto thee; He is just, and having salvation; lowly, and riding upon an ass, and upon a colt, the foal of an ass."  (Zechariah 9:9)

But then the question becomes, why would Our Blessed Saviour need two animals on His entry into Jerusalem?  Did He switch back and forth between the animals?  No, the early Church Fathers felt that the two animals: the ass and the colt symbolized the Jews and the Gentiles.  The ass symbolized the Jewish people because, in terms of faith, they were older and had a longer relationship with God; whereas the colt symbolized the Gentiles because they were new in regards to their relationship with God.

"On the next day much people that were come to the feast, when they heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem, took branches of palm trees and went forth to meet Him, and cried: Hosanna, Blessed is the King of Israel that cometh in the Name of the Lord." (St. John 12:12)

Let us make an effort during this Advent season to welcome Our Blessed Saviour into our hearts like we've never welcomed Him before.  It is difficult in the society in which we live because so many people are focusing on Christmas already by dwelling on the latest bargains and the latest gadgets and shopping and holiday festivities.  Now, there is nothing necessarily wrong with any of these things but Advent is a time of preparation . . .  preparing for the coming of the Christ Child into our hearts.  The world wants to make it a time of preparation with the emphasis on shopping and buying things and making purchases.  Let us take time out of our Christmas preparations in the secular sense and put that time into spiritually preparing our hearts for God.  Prepare a place for the Christ Child and make ready to welcome Him as your King this Christmas.

That a Prophet Should Come into the World

Sunday Next before Advent, Sunday, November 24th, 2013

Fr. Todd Bragg

St. Margaret Anglican Church

Indianapolis, Indiana

"When they had seen the miracle that Jesus did, said, This is of a truth that prophet should come into the world."  (St. John 6:5ff)

In today's Gospel passage from the sixth chapter of St. John's Gospel, we hear the miracle of the feeding of the five thousand.  Certainly, as we have stated in the past, Our Divine Saviour is very observant and also compassionate.  Thus, we have a God that is concerned about His sons and daughters.  In other words, He noticed that they were tired and hungered and He had compassion enough to take note and make a point to feed them.  In doing so, and rightfully so, the multitude was certainly impressed with such a miracle . . .  in other words, how He fed so many with so little.   And as a result of witnessing this miracle, they referred to Him as a prophet.

"Prophet," from the Hebrew "Nabi," meaning "to bubble forth," as from a fountain.  Also, another word was used in regard to the word "Prophet," this is the word "Ro'eh," meaning a "Seer."  The Prophet Samuel is described some seven times as a "Seer" or "Ro'eh."  Thus, the prophet proclaims the message given to him while the seer beheld the vision of God.

"And He said, Hear now My words; if there be a prophet among you, I the Lord will make Myself known to him in a vision, and will speak to him in a dream." (Numbers 12:6)

"I will raise up a Prophet from among their brothers, like to you, and will put My words in their mouths; and he shall speak to them all that I command him." (Deuteronomy 18:18)

We are all called to be prophets, in that we are called to relate what God has chosen to reveal to each one of us.  In order to do this, we have to first be focused on God.  In other words, we have to pay attention to God first in order to know what He is saying to us.  How many of us hear  something on the radio or TV or even in general conversation, but then we don't know what was said because we weren't paying attention.  We were hearing, but we weren't paying attention.  We could say that hearing is not necessarily the same thing as listening.  We need to listen to what God is saying, we need to pay attention to what God is saying in order to share what He is wanting us to know.

St. Augustine said:  "Christ is a Prophet and the Lord of Prophets; as He is an Angel, and the Lord of Angels. In that He came to announce something, He was an Angel; in that He foretold the future, He was a Prophet; in that He was the Word made flesh, He was Lord both of Angels and Prophets; for none can be a Prophet without the Word of God."

We need to pay attention to what God is speaking to us and what He would have us know in order to impart this knowledge to others.  Let us always make a point of first paying attention to Our Blessed Saviour, to listen to Him and what He is saying to us so that we can share this knowledge with others, both in word and in deed.

What Manner of Love the Father hath bestowed on us

Twenty-Fifth Sunday after Trinity, Sunday, November 17th, 2013

Fr. Todd Bragg

St. Margaret Anglican Church

Indianapolis, Indiana

"Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed on us, that we should be called the sons of God."  (I St. John 3:1ff)

Remember from the Old Testament the story of Moses that the sons of the Hebrews were ordered to be killed and the mother of Moses placed Moses in a basket and floated him down the river where he was found by Pharaoh's sister, who raised Moses as her son.   Of course, we all remember this played out in that wonderful movie, the Ten Commandments with Charlton Heston?  Basically, if you remember the movie . . . and who doesn't . . . . it is very dramatic when Moses is portrayed as living the "Life of Riley" in the palace with all kinds of servants, and wearing fine clothing, and having power unimaginable.  But then he finds out that he is really a Hebrew, the son of Hebrew slaves and he chooses to live as a Hebrew, even if it meant living in bondage to the Egyptians.  From Hebrews we hear:  "By faith Moses, when he was come of years, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter."  (Hebrews 11:24)  And further on, we read:  "By faith (Moses) forsook Egypt, not fearing the wrath of the king: for he endured, as seeing him who is invisible."  In other words, Moses had faith in God, and would rather live in bondage with other slaves than to live in luxury under Pharaoh.  

In today's Epistle coming to us from the First Letter of St. John, we hear that the love that God has for us that He has called us to be His children.  It is interesting to hear about what people do in order to adopt children today.  All of the paperwork that they have to fill out.  All of the investigations that have to be done in regards to their background.  All of the thousands and thousands of dollars in regards to paying legal fees, medical bills, etc.  And, yet, they do all of this because they chose the one that they wanted to call their very own child.  Now, of course, adopting a child is not about the money that is involved but we only raise that issue to point out what people do in order to adopt a child and the price that they pay in order to place that child in a loving home.  Well, God paid the price as well when He adopted us:  He sent His only Son into the world to become a human; and that same Son paid the ultimate price upon the Cross.  So, seen in that respect, God, Our Heavenly Father, also paid a dear price for us as His adopted children here on earth:  He paid with His Son.

"And I will be a Father unto you and ye shall be My sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty."  (II Corinthians 6:18)

But St. John goes on in this passage by pointing out that not only are we sons and daughters of the Father through adoption, but that we need to acknowledge this adoption by not sinning or giving into sin.  Now, of course, each one of us is human and therefore, we are all imperfect.  But we are called to do what we can by keeping in God's grace and away from sin as much as possible.  "For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.  For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear: but ye have received the spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father." (Romans 8:14-15)

St. John goes on to point out that we know that we are following in Our Father's footsteps by the way in which we treat those around us.  "By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God, and keep His commandments."  (I St. John 5:2)  Thus, let us do what we can to not only obey the Commandments of God but also do what we can to love those around us.  Now, of course, we are not always going to like everyone that we come in contact with, but we need to do what we can to love those in whom we come into contact with.

The maid is not dead, but sleepeth

Twenty-Fourth Sunday after Trinity, Sunday, November 10th, 2013

Fr. Todd Bragg

St. Margaret Anglican Church

Indianapolis, Indiana

". . . for the maid is not dead, but sleepeth.  And they laughed Him to scorn."  (St. Matthew 9:24)

In today's Gospel passage, St. Matthew tells about two miracles.  As Jesus is gathered together with some of John's apostles, St. Matthew tells us that a ruler comes to ask Our Lord to come and heal his daughter because she is on the verge of death.  As they went to the house, a woman who had been sick for twelve years touches the hem of Our Lord's garment and is cured.  Now, St. Luke adds a bit to this same story.  He points out that there were a huge multitude of people when this woman touched the hem of His garment and immediately Our Lord asked, "Who touched Me?  When all denied, Peter and they that were with Him said, Master, the multitude throng you and press you, and say you, Who touched Me?"  (St. Luke 8:44)  But in St. Matthew's version, Our Lord merely turned to the woman and told her that it was her faith that made her whole.  

Now, when Our Lord had arrived at the ruler's house, He soon discovered that the young woman had died already.  St. Matthew tells us that there were people there at the home bewailing the death of the young girl.  We are told that there were minstrels / musicians there in the house as well playing lamentations about the girl's death.  Our Lord stated, " . . .  give place: for the maid is not dead, but sleepeth." (v. 24)   Now, in all fairness, if it were you and I facing the same circumstances and some stranger walks into the house and calmly announces that our friend was not really dead, we would probably have the same reaction.  But Our Lord did what He came to do.  He got everyone out of there so that He could go to work.  He raised the young girl to life again.  

Now, a couple of observations in regards to this story.  First, Our Lord used the word "sleep."  Note that He also used that word "sleep" in similar story.  Remember that He used this word when He was speaking of Lazarus.  See St. John 11:11:  "Our friend Lazarus sleepeth."    Now, St. Bede wrote concerning Our Lord using this phrase:  "As though He said, to you she is dead, but to God, Who has power to give life, she sleeps only, both in soul and body."  In Psalm 119:7, we also hear: "Turn, O my soul, into thy rest, for the Lord has been bountiful to thee."  

Secondly, what seems foolish and laughable to those who are not believers, Our Blessed Saviour is able to turn something truly unbelievable into something miraculous.  " . . . with men it is impossible, but not with God; for with God all things are possible."  (St. Matthew 10:27)   God is the One Who makes things possible.  He is the One Who achieves what we thought is not attainable.  He is the One Who performs miracles just when we had lost hope.  What seems impossible to us, is not impossible to God.  As Christians, we are called to look beyond our physical sight, our physical vision.  We are called to looked down deep.  Because what appears one way to the outward senses is something completely different from reality. 

Following pictures were taken on Sunday, November 10th, 2013 when Bishop Larry Shaver and Mrs. Carol Shaver visited St. Margaret of Scotland Church.  We are always happy when they are able to join us for Mass.  

Above:  Mrs. Carol Shaver along with His Grace, Bishop Larry Shaver

Above:  Mrs. Margaret Simpson; Bishop Shaver; Jean Smith

Above:  Mrs. Linda Decker with Bishop and Mrs. Shaver

Above: Fr. Todd Bragg along with His Grace, Bishop Larry Shaver, after Mass.

Above:  Bishop Larry Shaver at the Coffee Hour

Render unto Caesar

Twenty-Third Sunday after Trinity, Sunday, November 3rd, 2013

Fr. Todd Bragg

St. Margaret Anglican Church

Indianapolis, Indiana

"Render therefore unto Caesar the things which are Caesar's, and unto God the things that are God's."  (St. Matthew 22:15ff)

Did you ever hear the phrase, "Politics makes strange bedfellows?"  In today's Gospel passage from St. Matthew, we see some strange bedfellows joining together to trap Our Blessed Lord in His words.  On the one side, we have the Pharisee's, who saw themselves as extremely devout Jews, who prided themselves on following Jewish laws and customs down to the letter.  They wanted nothing to do with the local Roman authority and did not even want to pay tribute to the local officials because, as devout Jews, they felt that they should only have to pay tribute to God and not to man.  On the other side, we have the Herodians, who followed King Herod, the Roman-appointed king.  Thus, the Herodians very much supported the Roman government and its' local officials.  Thus, we have two opposite sides joining together to trap Our Saviour.  Strange bedfellows, indeed.

Now, they prefaced their question to Him by smoothing Him over.  They gave Him lots of compliments prior to asking the question if it is lawful to pay tax or not.  Now, of course, in their own way, they were very clever to ask this question because they knew that they would have Him either way whichever way He answered.   Because if He answered that it was not lawful to pay tribute, then they could accuse Him of  not obeying the local Roman authority.  But on the other hand, if He stated that it was permissible to pay tribute, then they could accuse Him of paying heed to man before God.

Now, before He answered their question, He also prefaced His answer by first telling them that they were hypocrites because He knew their hearts and He knew that they were asking the question merely to trap Him in the answer that He gave.  But, true to form, Our Lord out-flanked both parties by giving them an answer that they had not expected in the least.  He asked to see a coin and pointed out that it was Caesar's picture on the coin, and to therefore render to Caesar what belonged to Caesar and to give to God what belonged to God.

As a Man, Jesus knew what it was to be a member of society:  He was a devoted son; He was a carpenter; He was a contributing member of the society in which He lived.  Thus, He certainly was aware that human beings, if they are to reside together, will have to live under a form of government or authority for the good of the whole.   In other words, He was not unfamiliar with living under the authority of others while He lived here on earth.

If we look elsewhere in St. Matthew's Gospel (St. Matthew 17:24-26) we hear the story of Jesus and St. Peter travelling to Capernum:

" . . . and when they came to Capernum, (the tax-collectors) came to Peter and said, 'Doth not your master pay tribute?'"  Meaning, in other words, give up your tax to be here in Capernum.  Now St. Peter went to Our Lord and told Him about the situation and Our Lord responded:  "Lest we should offend them, go thou to the sea, and cast a hook, and taketh up the fish; and when thou hast opened his mouth, thou shalt find a piece of money; that, take, and give unto them for Me and thee."

Thus, as we just saw, Our Lord was not opposed to paying His fair-share, just as everyone else did.  But the point is this:  we must always remember that, as Christians we are a sort of dual citizen, we are citizens here in the local communities where we live but we are also citizens of Heaven.  And this is where our true citizenship awaits us because St. Paul reminds us in today's Epistle to the Philipians (3:17):  "For our citizenship is in Heaven; from whence we look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ."    We are called to do our part as citizens where we live here on earth but we are never to forget that we are citizens of the Heavenly Kingdom and that it our true home.  Where we are living now is only temporary, our  Heavenly home will be eternal and this is what we are striving towards.

Ruler of Our Hearts

Christ the King, Sunday, October 27th, 2013

Fr. Todd Bragg

St. Margaret Anglican Church

Indianapolis, Indiana

" . . . My kingdom is not of this world."  (St. John 18:36ff)

If you look at the definition of "king" in the dictionary, you will find the following definition:  "a male sovereign or monarch; a man who holds by life tenure, and usually by hereditary right, the chief authority over a country or people  . . . .  a person or thing preeminent in its' class."

Typically when we think of a king or a queen we think of a person who is born with royal blood,  who by virtue of the family line that they were born into, they were born into royalty.  The young Prince George, for instance, who was baptized this past week, is already being heralded as the future "King of England" already in line to be succeed to the throne.

Now, in the Gospel passage that we heard today, we were witness to the scene of Our Saviour being brought before Pilate and being asked questions by Pilate.  Now, it is my opinion that Pilate did not know how to deal with Our Blessed Lord because here is someone being brought before him that is being charged with treason and claiming to be a king and yet there was absolutely nothing "kingly" about this man brought before Pilate:  He was not dressed in royal attire; He was not attended by an army; etc.  Thus, Pilate was certainly puzzled as to why these charges were even being leveled against Our Saviour.

We must always be aware when we are speaking about Our Blessed Saviour, that what appears on the outside is not always accurate of what is inside.   " . . . for the Lord seeth not as man seeth, for man looks on the outward appearance but the Lord looketh on the heart."  (I Samuel 16:7)  Thus, Pilate did not see a king before him . . .  nor did he see anyone that even resembled a king in the slightest.  But you see Pilate, just like so many others during that time were only looking at outward appearances.  Thus, they did not see a "king."  But with Jesus, we have to look beyond the outward appearance.

You see, Jesus did not come to be a "king" by earthly standards.  If He did, yes, He would have been dressed in fine attire fit for a king.  If He planned on being a "king" simply based on earthly standards alone, then He probably would have had an army to support Him.  But He did not want to limit Himself to an "earthly kingdom," as such.  In fact, we know this is the case if we look at St. John's Gospel.  When so many people had witnessed Our Blessed Lord and the miracles that He performed they were ready to force Him to be their king . . . "When Jesus perceived that they would come and take Him by force to make Him a king, He departed again into a mountain Himself alone." (St. John 6:15)  Jesus did not want to conform to their vision of what a king was to be.

Now, when Our Lord responds to Pilate by saying "My kingdom is not of this world . . ." we are correct to assume that He is referring to His Kingdom as being that of Heaven.  But I would contend to you that we should not even limit it to that.  I would suggest to you today that Our Lord is stating that He wants to be the King of your heart.  He wants to be the ruler of your heart.  He wants you to choose Him to be the king of your heart.

"Neither shall they say, see here! or, see there! for behold, the kingdom of God is within you!" (St. Luke 17:21)  Yes, our Lord desires to be a king, but not in the earthly definition of what a king is.  He wants to go beyond outward appearances.  He desires something much more personal.  He wants to rule your heart.  He wants to sit upon His throne right there in your heart.  " . . . and Samuel spake unto all the house of Israel, saying, If ye do return unto the Lord with all your hearts . . .  prepare your hearts unto the Lord and serve Him only." (I Samuel 7:3)  We are called as Christians to prepare our hearts for Him alone.  He is my saviour and my king!  He alone rules my heart!  So when we hear Him say that His kingdom is not of this world, we find comfort in the fact that He desires to place His throne right there in our hearts so that He will always be close to us!  Allow the Lord to reign as the true King of your heart!  Make your heart ready for Him and prepare a place for Him there.

Signs and Wonders

Twenty-First Sunday after Trinity, Sunday, October 20th, 2013

Fr. Todd Bragg

St. Margaret Anglican Church

Indianapolis, Indiana

"Except ye see signs and wonders, ye will not believe."  (St. John 4:46ff)

Now, in today's Gospel passage coming to us from St. John we hear Our Blessed Lord being approached by the Nobleman who was seeking a cure for his son.  St. John reminds us that the Nobleman was aware of Our Blessed Saviour and was certainly aware of the miracles that Our Lord had performed because St. John states that the Nobleman "besought Him that He would come down and heal his son." (St. John 4:47)   Our Lord responded to his request in what seems to be a very sharp tone:  "Except ye see signs and wonders, ye will not believe." (v. 48)  Despite this response, the Nobleman again requested that Our Blessed Saviour heal his son, to which Our Lord responded to his request by healing his son.

Now, obviously, Our Blessed Saviour was not opposed to healing this man's son.  There are numerous examples of healing throughout each of the Gospels.   Thus, we can only perceive that Our Lord was not irritated by the request to heal the Nobleman's son, but rather He was trying to make the point that we should have faith in God and not to depend on "signs and wonders."    If only we have faith in God, we will be filled with all that we need.

"Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not see."  (Hebrews 11:1)  And further on, we read:  "But without faith it is impossible to please Him: for he that cometh to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of them that dilligently seek Him. (Hebrews 11:6)  God will reward our faithfulness in Him.  Faith comes not from seeing with our eyes, but rather faith comes from believing through our heart.  Our mind tells us one thing, but our heart tells us another.  This is why Our Lord was such a mystery to the Jews of His day, because they could not understand what they were seeing with their eyes and hearing with their ears.

"For the Jews require a sign, and the Greeks seek after wisdom.  But we preach Christ crucified, to the Jews a stumbling block and to the Greeks foolishness."  (I Corinthians 1:22)  This is why even up to the end of Christ's time here on earth, even as He was hanging from the Cross, the Jews demanded a sign from Him in order for them to believe:  "Likewise the chief priests mocking him:  Come down from the Cross and we will believe Him."  (St. Matthew 27:41)  The Chief Priests, along with all of those who were witness to Jesus, had plenty of opportunity to see for themselves the signs and wonders that He performed.  But for all that they were witness to, they still chose not to believe in Him.

But there were examples of people, whose faithfulness impressed Our Lord:

1)  The Nobleman in today's Gospel.  He sought our Lord's healing for his son and as soon as he heard the word, he turned and went home, sure of Our Lord's promise that his son would be well again.

2)  The Centurion in St. Matthew 8:8-9:  "For I am a man under authority, having soldiers under me . . . Lord, I am not worthy that Thou shouldest come under my roof: but speak the word only, and my servant shall be healed."

3) And also the example of the Canaanite woman who desired that Our Lord would heal her daughter in St. Matthew 15:22-28.  Despite the fact that Our Lord at first "answered her not a word;" next, He stated that He was "not sent but unto the Lost Sheep of the House of Israel;" and then stated to her that "it is not meet to take the children's bread and cast it to the dogs."  Despite all of these objections, the woman was still persistent in her faithfulness and Our Lord, obviously impressed with her responded:  "O Woman, great is thy faith; be it unto thee even as thou wilt."

For us, we have to remember that faith consists of:  trust, persistence and stead-fastness.  We need to trust in God; we need to be persistent in our trust in Him; and we need to be steadfast, sure that God will be with us no matter what, sure of the knowledge that God will supply us with what we need, but not necessarily what we want.

Be Filled With The Spirit

Twentieth Sunday after Trinity, Sunday, October 13th, 2013

Fr. Todd Bragg

St. Margaret Anglican Church

Indianapolis, Indiana

" . . . but be filled with the Spirit."  (Ephesians 5:15ff)

Remember that we are once again visiting the young Church of Ephesus along with St. Paul in today's Epistle.  Keep in mind that last week we spoke of the Ephesians and their young church, albeit in the previous chapter.  And, again, we mentioned last week that the Ephesians were a young church filled with converts in a major city of the Roman Empire, which was filled with people going and coming from all regions traveling through Ephesus.  The young members of this church were converts from paganism of the time.  In other words, in their former life before they embraced Christianity, they were focused on pleasing themselves and taking care of their own needs and desires and to this, St. Paul writes:  "And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit."  (v. 18)

Now, we know from reading Scripture, namely the Gospels, that drinking wine was not the issue.  Keep in mind that Our Blessed Saviour made delicious wine.  Remember the Wedding at Cana?  So, I don't think Our Blessed Saviour is so much opposed to drinking wine but drinking in excess with the point of getting drunk.  From the Old Testament, we hear the following:  "Neither let drunkenness go with thee in thy journey: drink not wine to make thee drunken." (Tobit 4:15)

If we look at the various prophets and holy men and women of Scripture, we will see examples of people purposely not drinking wine or drinking alcohol.  Why?  Simply because they do not want to be accused of being drunk when they prophesy or speak of the holy things of God.  In the first chapter of the Gospel of St. Luke, we hear the angel speaking to Zacharias concerning the coming birth of his son, St. John the Baptist:  "For he shall be great in the sight of the Lord, and he shall drink neither wine nor strong drink; and he shall be filled with the Holy Ghost, even from his mother's womb." (St. Luke 1:15)

Think back to the very first Pentecost when the disciples and apostles were gathered together, praying for the coming of the Holy Ghost and the Holy Ghost did come.  And He made His Presence known in them in such a powerful way that they were even amazed themselves.  Listen:

"But Peter standing up with the eleven, lifted up his voice, and said unto them, Ye men of Judaea, and all ye that dwell at Jerusalem, be this known unto you, and hearken unto my words:  For these are not drunken, as ye suppose, seeing it is but the third hour of the day.
But this is that which was spoken by the Prophet Joel:  'And it shall come to pass in the last days, saith God, I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and daughters shall prophesy and your young men shall see visions and your old men shall dream dreams.  And on my servants and handmaidens I will pour out in those days of My Spirit.' "  (Acts 2:14-18)

Even in this passage, St. Peter is making a point to those who are listening that those gathered together were not drunk but wanted to emphasize that the amazing things that they were witnessing came of God's power and Spirit.

Again, St. Paul is pointing out to the young Ephesian converts at Ephesus to be filled with the Spirit and not spirits, so to speak.  Listen, it is just common sense.  Look at this cruet filled with water.  Now as long as it is filled up with water, how can I fill it with anything else?  I can not pour in any additional water if it is already filled to the brim to begin with.  Think of any container or space that is filled with anything you can think of.  If it is full of something already, we have to empty it out before we can put anything else in there.  This is the point that St. Paul is making:  if you are filled with the spirit of strong drink, and this is what you are focused on, remove that spirit and replace it with the spirit of holiness.  But it is not just strong drink that we can think of.  We can take it a step further and talk about, for example, anger or bitterness.  If your heart is full of anger or hatred or bitterness, how can there be room in that same heart for love?  If your heart is already filled with jealousy or envy, there is no room for love.  Remove the anger from your heart and replace it with love.  Take away the lust for power or material possessions from your heart and replace it with love for God.  Take away the hatred and anger and hurt from your heart and replace it with things of God.  Be filled with the Spirit, as St. Paul would say to us.

"And to know the love of Christ which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fullness of God." (Ephesians 3:19)

Harden Not Your Hearts

Nineteenth Sunday after Trinity, Sunday, October 6th, 2013

Fr. Todd Bragg

St. Margaret Anglican Church

Indianapolis, Indiana

"And be renewed in the spirit of your mind; and that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness."  (Ephesians 4:17ff)

In today's Epistle from the 4th Chapter of the Letter to the Ephesians, St. Paul is writing to the young church at Ephesus.  Now, keep in mind that Ephesus was a major, thriving city in the Roman Empire.  In fact Ephesus was not only the Roman capital of the Province of Asia, it was also a thriving commercial center.  Thus, not only did you find many important people in regards to the Roman empire but also people coming in and out of Ephesus due to business purposes.  

Now, the Epistle written to the Ephesians is somewhat short, it is only five chapters long, but what is contained within those five chapters are very important.  You see, St. Paul is writing to the Ephesians to remind them of who they were now as Christians.  Keep in mind that these were converts to Christianity that St. Paul is writing to and that they were converted from being Gentiles.  In reality, though, Gentiles is a polite term because people found in that region were in essence pagans who were only interested in one thing:  to please themselves and their desires.  

So St. Paul is writing to them to remind them that what they are now is completely different from what they were in their former life as Gentiles.  St. Paul basically saw three things wrong with the culture at large there in Ephesus and this is what he is trying to warn them against:

1) He saw hearts that were petrified to the reality of sin.  In other words, as pagans, they would have been unaware that sin even existed. 

2)  He saw men where shame was lost and where decency was forgotten.

3)  He saw that men there were so much in the chains of their lusts and desires that they could care less what they did or who they did terrible things to as long as they got what they were lusting after.

If you look at verse 18 of the passage we just heard, you will hear:  "Having the understanding darkened, because of the blindness of their hearts."  Now, here the KJV translation uses the word "blindness" and using this word the context or meaning is there, but if you look at the original language you will see that the word that is actually used comes from "Porosis" which comes from the Greek word "Poros" which actually means "stone that is harder than marble."  In other words, St. Paul is telling them that their hearts are like stone harder than marble.  St. Paul is warning them that as Christians their hearts should not be hardened but should be open to the will of God.

"For this people's heart is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes they have closed:  lest at any time they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and should understand with their heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them."  (St. Matthew 13:15)

St. Paul is urging the young church at Ephesus to ever keep in mind that they are now Christians and no longer pagans and to use Christ as their guide.  

"As ye therefore received Christ Jesus the lord, so walk ye in Him: Rooted and built up in Him, and stablished in the faith, as ye have been taught, abounding therein with thanksgiving." (Colossians 2:6)  If you have ever done any sort of yard work at your house, I am sure that there have been times where you came upon a stubborn weed or plant or even tree for that matter and were shocked to discover how deep the roots were embedded in the ground.  St. Paul is stating that we should be well rooted in Christ so that when the "gods of this world" try to sway us, our roots will be so deep that we could not possibly be swayed.

"Today, if ye will hear His voice, harden not your hearts." (Hebrews 4:7)

All Thy Heart, All Thy Soul, All Thy Mind

Eighteenth Sunday after Trinity, Sunday, September 29, 2013

Fr. Todd Bragg

St. Margaret Anglican Church

Indianapolis, Indiana

"Thou shalt love the Lord Thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind."  (St. Matthew 22:37)

In today's Gospel passage from St. Matthew, we hear that the Pharisees had heard that Our Lord had put the Sadducee's to silence and they saw this as their opportunity to put Our Lord in His place.  Now, they probably should have known better but they took their chances and sent out a lawyer which, St. Matthew reminds us was "tempting Him" and asked:  "Master, which is the great commandment in the Law?"  Now, this lawyer might not have been the sharpest knife in the bunch because it seems if he was trying to trip up Our Blessed Saviour, it seems like he would have picked a tougher question than this.  You see, any devout Jew would have known the answer to this question, let alone a learned Rabbi such as Our Lord.  And, so Our Lord responds very easily:  "Thou shalt love the Lord Thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all they mind." (St. Matthew 22:37.

Now for us listening today to these words, they can be a bit overwhelming, can't they?  I mean when we hear the words:  .  . . . with all thy heart, with all thy soul and with all thy mind . . . . especially if we emphasize the "all" . . . it can be a bit overwhelming especially to those of us who lead busy lives.  If you are anything like me, you are constantly doing things and going from one place to the next.  So, your day, your week, your month is broken up into "pieces."  In other words a piece of your day goes to work; another piece goes to doing things at home; another piece goes to relaxation; another piece goes to shopping; another piece goes to running errands; etc.  And in between running errands and relaxation and going to work, etc., if you have some spare time in between you give this "piece" to God.

Now, there is no way getting around being busy.  All of the things I just mentioned are very important in their own right and need to be done, but the key is to somehow involve God in each one of our tasks, whether it be going to work, or doing chores, or fixing up the house, or going shopping, etc.  If we find a way to involve God in each one of our tasks on a daily basis, it is at that point that we can truly say that we love God "with all of our heart, all of our mind, and with all of our soul."

Now, interestingly enough, even though today we celebrate the 18th Sunday after Trinity, September 29th is also the Feast of St. Michael and All Angels or as called in our Anglican heritage, Michaelmas.  Now, you know what St. Michael the Archangel was known for, don't you?  He was the Prince of the Heavenly Host and he had a fierce battle with Satan and kicked Satan out of Heaven:

"And there was a war in Heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels.  And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him." (Revelation 12:7-9)

Now the reason why there was a battle resulting in Satan and his angels being thrown out of Heaven is because, quite frankly,  Satan got a little bit too big for his britches.  In other words, even though he was an angel, and was supposed to be in service of Almighty God, he decided that he didn't want to be in service of God any longer.  He wanted to do things his way and not God's way.

"How art thou fallen from Heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning!  How art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations!  For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into Heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God:  I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the Most High." (Isaiah 14:12-15)

As you can see, the problem with the old serpent Lucifer was that he got to be too good for God.  In other words, he was too big for God and did not need God any longer.  He thought he was so good and so mighty and so powerful that he did not need God any longer.  He was in Heaven but Heaven was not enough for him, he wanted more than Heaven.

In a strange sort of way, this story reminds me of another episode also heard about in the Old Testament.  Go back to the Book of Genesis.  We hear the following conversation between that old serpent and Eve in the Garden of Eden:

"For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.  And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took fo the fruit thereof and did eat."  (Genesis 3:5-6)

Now, we know the rest of the story:  Eve got her husband Adam to eat of the apple as well . . . . because we know that all husbands do exactly as they are told . . .  and they both did something that they should not have done.  They knew that they should not have done it because God told them not to.  But despite the fact that they were in Paradise, paradise was not good enough for them.  They wanted more than paradise.  They wanted it all.  They wanted paradise plus more just like Heaven wasn't good enough for Satan.  He wanted Heaven plus more.

As Christians, we are called to acknowledge the fact that we are in need of God.  As Christians, we are called to acknowledge the fact that we are not perfect, that we are fallen, that we are in need of the Messiah.  Lucifer, and also Adam and Eve, decided that they did not need God.  They could do things on their own, and in their minds, better than God since they didn't need to rely on God.  We, on the other hand, acknowledge that everything we have is a gift from God.

"For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ Our Lord." (Romans 6:23).  God gives the gift of Christ to us on a daily basis.  God gives of Himself to us especially in the Blessed Sacrament so that He can nourish us, fortify us, and strengthen us for the journey of life.

"Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us, and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins."  (1 St. John 4:10)  God loved us before we were even born.  God has loved us every day that we have been alive.  Whether we are 30 or 70 or 90 years old, no matter what our age, God has thought about us every single day our entire life.  Can we say the same thing about God, though?  Have we thought about Him every day?   God has given the gift of His Son to you.  Give God the gift of your love and devotion to Him.

Join us on Sunday, September 29, 2013

Eighteenth Sunday after Trinity, Sunday, September 29th, 2013

 In the 22nd Chapter of St. Matthew's Gospel, we hear Our Blessed Saviour posing the question, "what is the greatest commandment?" The response is certainly easy for us to respond back because we hear these words spoken each and every time we hear Mass: "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself." The key here, and I think what actually makes putting this into practice so difficult, is the emphasis on "all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind." The main emphasis being on the word "all." This is indeed the tricky part. Now, we have to ask the question, do we give God our "all" in life or do we simply give Him a "piece" of our life every now and then? Now, I suppose it all boils down to how we define the word "all" but honestly do we always give God our "all" in life or is our life segmented into pieces? One piece goes to work. One piece goes to home. One piece goes to chores at home. One piece goes to running errands. One piece goes to church. One piece goes to relaxation.  One piece (on Sundays) goes to God. etc. etc. etc. All of us lead very busy lives and it is extremely easy . . . . entirely too easy, sadly . . . for us to be diverted in a thousand different directions with everything that we have to accomplish. Unfortunately, there is not a way around that. But there is a way that we can involve God in every aspect of our busy lives and in this way, He will become the center of our life. If we always make a point to involve God in our daily routine, our daily living, the important and the not-so-important aspects of our life, then ultimately we will love God "with all our heart, all our soul, all our mind." Go to your loving Saviour on a daily basis. Make Him a part of your life like never before. He has made you a part of His life since before you were born. You have been on His mind everyday of your life. Isn't about time that you have Him on your mind every day of your life?

 St. Margaret of Scotland Anglican Church celebrates Mass each and every Sunday at 9:30 AM. We join together to celebrate Mass in the Chapel at Marquette Manor, which is located at 8140 N. Township Line Road on the Northwest side of Indianapolis. Join us for Mass as we join together as God's Family listening to the Word of God found in the King James Bible and the 1928 Book of Common Prayer. Join us as we worship Our Blessed Saviour and then receive Him in Holy Communion so that He can nourish us physically and spiritually for the upcoming week. Afterwards, join us for treats at our Coffee Hour. Any questions about our church or where you can find us every Sunday morning, please visit our webpage at:

St. Margaret Webpage

Mass in Greenfield, Indiana on September 28, 2013

Church of the Holy Spirit in Greenfield, Indiana September 28, 2013 Fr. Todd Bragg will celebrate Mass for the Anglican Church of the Holy Spirit on Saturday evening at 5:00 PM. Mass will be celebrated in the Chapel in the Park which is located in Riley Park in Greenfield at the Corner of 40 and N. Apple Street. Mass will begin at 5:00 PM. If you live in or near Greenfield, please consider yourself invited to Mass on Saturday, September 28th, 2013. Please join Fr. Bragg and the members of the Church of the Holy Spirit parish was we hear the Word of God and receive Our Blessed Lord in Communion. Come join the Church of the Holy Spirit for Mass and refreshments will be offered after Mass. Please forward this announcement to others that you know that may be interested in attending Mass on Saturday evening, September 28th, 2013.

Talk the Talk and Walk the Walk

Seventeenth Sunday after Trinity, Sunday, September 22, 2013

Fr. Todd Bragg

St. Margaret Anglican Church

Indianapolis, Indiana

"For whosoever exalteth himself shall be abased and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted."  (St. Luke 14:1 ff)

If you look at both the Epistle and the Gospel today, the emphasis seems to be focused on "humility" and "meekness."  In St. Paul's Letter to the Ephesians (Ephesians 4:1-6) we hear St. Paul encourage the Ephesians to walk "with all lowliness and meekness, with longsuffering, forbearing one another in love."  In today's Gospel we hear this passage broken down into two parts, if you will.   The first half of the Gospel passage deals with Our Blessed Saviour being invited to the home of one of the Chief Pharisee's.  While there, Our Lord encountered a man with the Dropsy.  Now, Our Lord must have seen their faces and knew their hearts because He immediately asked the question who would leave an ox or an ass fallen into a pit and just leave them there.  He asks if it would be lawful for them to do this on a Sabbath or would it would better just to leave the beasts there to suffer.  St. Luke reminds us that nobody answered a word to this question.  Now, Our Lord was learned in Scripture and the reason He asked this question was because this very question was posed in both Exodus and Deuteronomy.  And the answer was that it would be permissible to rescue the ox or ass on the Sabbath.  Thus, Our Lord asked if it permissible to rescue animals in trouble on the Sabbath, then why is it not permissible to bring healing to a man who is suffering even if this healing is performed on the Sabbath.  And Our Lord promptly cured the man with the Dropsy.

Now the second half of this Gospel passage deals with priority and placement of importance.  Now, keep in mind we are certainly not different from other cultures in this regard.  If you go to a dinner at the White House, you will see the President has a certain place where he sits, the First Lady has a certain seat, the Vice-President, Guests of honour and so on.  Everybody has a certain place where they are seated and this place shows the importance of the guest.  Same way two thousand years ago.  People of importance had certain places where they would be seated.  Now Our Lord witnessed this and perhaps He saw people arguing over who was to sit where but for whatever reason He tells a story about a man who goes to a wedding feast and takes it upon himself to sit in the very highest seat of honour only to place himself in a very embarrassing situation when the host told him to move to a much lower seat.  Thus, Our Lord states:  " . . . sit not down in the highest place, lest a more honourable man than thou be bidden." (St. Luke 14:1 ff)  In other words, sit in the lowest place and then if it is meant that you are to go up higher to a more honourable seat, then you will not embarrass yourself.

Now, we know that Our Lord was a wonderful teacher and preacher.  We know this because of the various Gospel passages which showed that vast multitudes were drawn to hear Him speak.  One of the other reasons why Our Blessed Saviour was such a good speaker was that He would use parables and examples that would be easy for everyone to understand.  In other words, He would use parables that everyone would understand.  The other thing that made Our Lord such a wonderful preacher was the fact that He "talked the talk and walked the walk."  In other words, He did not stand up and preach one thing and then go out and do the opposite.  What you see is what you get.  So, when Our Lord spoke about humility and being humble, you know that He was first and foremost humble.

Look at when Our Lord wanted to teach the example of being humble to the Apostles.  He told them to gather around and He proceeded to wash their feet.  Now, keep in mind that washing the feet was the lowest, most menial job in that society.  In other words, the very lowest-ranked servant would have to do that job.  Thus, when Our Lord washed the feet of the Apostles, He was doing the lowest job imaginable in that society.  And when He was finished, we hear the following:  "When He had washed their feet and taken His garments, and resumed His place, He said to them: 'Do you know what I have done to you?  You call Me Teacher and Lord, and you are right, for so I am.  If I then, your Lord and Teacher have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another's feet.  For I have given you an example, that you also should do as I have done to you."  (St. John 13:1 ff)

Our Lord, Who is the Teacher, the Lord, the Rabbi, the Master, the Saviour . . . . is also the Servant through His actions.  He came not to be served but rather to serve.  He backed up His words with actions, in other words.  He talked the talk and walked the walk.

Elsewhere, we hear Our Lord state that "whosoever will be chief among you, let him be your servant.  Even as the Son of Man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give His Life as a ransom for many."  (St. Matthew 20:27-28)   Our Lord had no need to do any of the things that He did here on earth.  He could have just stayed up in Heaven and leave it at that but He chose to become a human in order to know what it was like to walk in your shoes.  The other reason He wanted to become a human was so that He could redeem our humanity.  In other words, as a human being, Our Lord suffered death but in so doing, He was able to rise again to new life on the third day and allow fallen humanity to share in that Redemption!  Our Lord humbled Himself to take the place of a criminal up on that Blessed Cross.  In other words, He humbled Himself by taken our place on that Cross.

In response to hearing the Apostles arguing about who was the greatest, Our Blessed Saviour responded:  " . . . . but he that is greatest among you, let him be as the younger; and he that is chief, as he that doth serve.  For which is greater, he that sitteth at meat or him that serveth?  But I am among you that serveth."  (St. Luke 22:26-27)  Our Lord taught by not only the words He spoke but also the way in which He lived His life.  And as Christians we are called to do likewise: to serve and to love in humility.

Mass at Holy Spirit in Greenfield

Holy Spirit Anglican Church

Greenfield, Indiana

Fr. Bragg is very pleased to announce that on Saturday, 9/21/2103,  he has the honour of saying Mass for the Holy Spirit Anglican Parish in Greenfield, Indiana.  Mass will be held at the Chapel in the Park, which is located in Greenfield near the corner of Apple Street and 40 / Main Street.  Mass will begin at 5:00 PM and all members of Holy Spirit are invited to attend along with any interested persons living in the Greenfield area.  Fr. Bragg will celebrate the vigil of the 17th Sunday after Trinity.  So, please feel free to join us for Mass as we gather together as God's Family as brothers and sisters and worship Our Heavenly Father; listen to the Word of God; and receive Our Precious Lord in His Body and Blood at Communion time.

Where is your heart?

Sixteenth Sunday after Trinity, Sunday, September 15, 2013

Fr. Todd Bragg

St. Margaret Anglican Church

Indianapolis, Indiana

". . . according to the power that worketh in us . . ." (Ephesians 3:13ff)

Did you ever have the experience of finding something that did not know that you had or at the very least you found something that you had forgotten about?  It's like finding a treasure.  Well, I had that experience this week.  I finally watched a movie that I had for a long time but I had never watched it until this week.

This movie that I finally got around to watching this week was called "Cinderella Man" which was based on the true story of a man by the name of James J. Braddock, who was a boxer back in the 1920's and 1930's.  The movie begins by seeing Braddock shortly before the beginning of the Depression where he did have numerous fights but his career was really not going anywhere.  In fact, just the opposite.  The beginning of the movie shows a fight where Braddock is fighting with a broken hand and as a result he is not really boxing as well as he should have.   Shortly after this fight the boxing commission takes away his boxing license, which of course, is the way he makes a living for his wife and his three small children.

Just as his boxing career is bottoming out, so is the country as it enters into the Depression Era.  The movie moves forward to where the Braddock family is now shown living in a very poor basement apartment barely making ends meet.   And to be honest, they were not making ends meet at all because both the electricity and heat were turned off in the middle of winter.

It turned out that Braddock became the replacement for a boxer that could not fight one night.  And Braddock jumped at the chance to box because it meant money for his family to survive on.  One fight led into another fight and so on and even led ultimately to his getting an opportunity to fight the heavyweight champion of the world at that time, Max Baer.  Now, in every one of these bouts, his main focus and his main motivation for winning fights was not furthering his career or even winning the title, his main motivation became his family's survival.  Every time he became injured and felt that he could not go on, he thought about his family and the struggles that they had.  So, for James J. Braddock, the "power that worketh" in him was his family and their survival.   He was fighting for them.

We hear in St. Luke's Gospel, "For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also." (St. Luke 12:34)  For James J. Braddock, his treasure was his family and that is why he put his heart into every round of every boxing match that he was in.  He put his heart into keeping his family afloat.

The reason I bring all of this up is because, certainly, in a similar way Our Blessed Lord's motivation for everything that He did was His love for the fallen human race.  He became a human out of love.  He performed His miracles out of love.  He died on the Cross out of love.  His motivation was love for us, the fallen human race.  We were in His heart.  We were His motivation for everything that He did.

"Forasmuch as ye are manifestly declared to be the epistle of Christ, ministered by us, written not with ink, but with the Spirit of the Living God, not in tables of stone, but in fleshy tables of the heart."  (II Corinthians 3:3)   What St. Paul is saying here is that faith is not something that we read off of a paper or off of a script or from some book.  Rather, our love of God, our faith in the living God, is something that is written down in our heart.  It is something internal that is deep down inside of us.  And as a result of our faith taking root internally, this faith springs outward and shows itself externally in the way in which we show love to one another and care for one another and minister unto one another.   In this way, we are imitating Our Blessed Saviour because the love He has for humanity is not written down in stone or on tablets or in a book but is written in His Heart.

And to the young man who was questioning Our Lord and asking Him about what the greatest commandment was, Our Lord responded:  "Thou shalt love the Lord Thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul and with all thy mind."  (St. Matthew 22:36-37)  When we give ourselves over to God, we give ourselves wholeheartedly.  We give of ourselves to God with our whole being:  our heart, our soul and our mind.  And we do this because it was God Who first gave of Himself  to us.  Our Lord did not just give us a part of Himself and then kept the other part from us.  No, He gave everything to us.  He gave fallen man His life and even His death!  He gave us everything and in return He asks the same from us.  He does not ask more from us than He is willing to do Himself to begin with.  We are His motivation.  We are the reason that He lived as a human being and even the reason why He died.  Thus, we can certainly offer our heart to the One who first offered His Heart to us!