Septuagesima, or the Third Sunday before Lent,
Sunday, January 24th, 2016
"Anything worth doing is worth doing well." That's an old saying that you will hear said every once in a while. But, let's face it, if the value is greater to us personally . . . . whether that "value" be in money, or time, or prestige, etc. . . . . we will put more effort into doing that particular thing, whatever it is. If you are a student, for example, and you have a quiz worth five percent of your grade or if you have your semester final worth forty percent of your grade: which one are you going to put more effort into studying for? Case in point. Recently the Powerball Lottery went to over One Billion dollars for the jackpot. Can you imagine winning ONE BILLION DOLLARS?!?!? And if you are like me, you saw people standing in line to buy lottery tickets for the chance to win the billion dollar lottery of a lifetime. But that's my point, people who never bought any lottery tickets; or people who rarely bought lottery tickets, suddenly found themselves standing in line to buy a chance to win a billion dollars. If the "reward" is greater to us, we will put more effort into something. If the "reward" doesn't mean that much, we won't spend as much time on it. That's just human nature, I'm afraid.
In St. Paul's Ninth Chapter of the First Epistle to the Corinthians, St. Paul writes the following: "Now they do it to obtain a corruptible crown; but we an incorruptible." He is referring to athletes training for sporting events who train as hard as they can to win a crown to signify that they are the best athlete. St. Paul, of course, compares an athlete's training to a Christian's "training." St. Paul compares and contrasts how hard an athlete trains to win a "crown" that will eventually fade away, i..e, the corruptible crown. But, for the firm, committed, dedicated Christian, we are training to win a crown that will never corrupt. We are training to obtain a crown that we will never lose. In other words, we are training to win eternal life with Our Blessed Saviour. In comparing/contrasting the two "crowns," St. Paul is asking the question to the Corinthians: which "crown" is more valuable? The crown won for winning the sporting event? Or the crown won for being a good and faithful servant of God? The answer is obvious for St. Paul. But is it so obvious for the rest of us? How much effort do we put into our jobs on a daily basis? How much effort do we put into fixing up our homes? How much effort do we put into our hobbies? How much effort do we put into watching our favorite television programs or sporting events? Now, again, don't get me wrong, there is nothing wrong with any of the things mentioned above. But, again, we put effort into things that are important to us. We put the most effort into things that have the most meaning to us. And this is the point that St. Paul is making: if God is important to us . . . if God means something to us . .. if God has real meaning and real value to each one of us . . . . then we should make a point to put effort into spending time with God on a daily basis: through prayer and meditation; through daily reading of Scripture; and dedicating our lives to God through having a personal relationship with Our Blessed Saviour. We run a race as well. For us, our "race" is called life. A "crown" awaits each one of us, if we choose it: the "crown" of eternal life. But we have to start training for it now.
Two opportunities to join us for Mass on Sunday, January 24th, 2016:
St. Margaret Church meets every Sunday morning at 9:30 AM. We meet at the beautiful chapel at Marquette Manor, located at 8140 N. Township Line Road on the Northwest side of Indianapolis
Holy Spirit Church worships every Sunday at 1:00 PM. We worship at the beautiful, historic First Presbyterian Church, located at 116 W. South Street (Corner of South and Pennsylvania Streets) in Greenfield, Indiana.
Join us as we listen to the Word of God found in the King James Version of the Bible and the 1928 Book of Common Prayer. Hear what God is speaking to you in Bible-based preaching. Take one hour out of your busy schedule for the week and dedicate that hour solely to God. Receive the Precious Body and Blood of Christ at Communion time. Give of yourself to God and realize that God is giving of Himself to you when you come to church.
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