Saturday, March 26, 2016

Join us for Easter, March 27, 2016

Easter Sunday, March 27th, 2016

A very happy and blessed Easter to each one of you!  It is interesting to contrast and compare the various events in the Gospels.  For example, if we look at St. John's Gospel, he only has Mary Magadalene going to the tomb by herself after Our Lord had been laid to rest following His death on the Cross.  In St. Mark's Gospel account, though, we hear "WHEN the sabbath was past, Mary Magdalene, and Mary the Mother of James, and Salome, had bought sweet spices, that they might come and anoint Him."    When I read this particular verse from St. Mark, I can't help but think of when people say something to the effect of "Don't bring me flowers when I'm dead, bring them to me while I'm alive."  Have you ever heard something along these lines or perhaps maybe you have made a similar statement yourself?  In all fairness, this is a valid point when you think about it.  If you had your choice, would you prefer for someone to show their love to you while you are alive or after you are dead?  I think it is safe to say we would all prefer to be shown the love now while we are still "here," so to speak.  In that same respect, we also should be paying attention to Our Blessed Saviour here and now, right now, while we still have the opportunity.  So often we only go to God when we need something from Him.  We only go to God when we need His assistance.  We only go to God when we are in trouble.  But other than that, we don't have time for God.  We need to make time for God on a daily basis.  We need to find time to pray on a daily basis.  We need to tell God on a daily basis that we love Him.  And, quite frankly, we need to act like Christians on a daily basis  . . . .  and not just when we are in church!  We should never miss an opportunity to show love to those whom we love while they are still with us.  I know in my own life I wish that I could say to my own mother, or my grandparents, for example, how much I love them and just enjoy being in their presence one last time.  But we can do this with God.  Spend time with God.  Go to Him on a daily basis.  Bring your cares to Him.  Bring your worries to Him.  Bring your joys to Him.  Just spend time in His presence.  

On Sunday, March 27th, 2016, St. Margaret and Holy Spirit Churches will celebrate Easter.  There will be one combined Mass on Easter Sunday.  Mass will be celebrated at Marquette Manor, located at 8140 N. Township Line Road on the Northwest side of Indianapolis.  Please note that we celebrate Mass as we do each Easter up on the Fourth Floor in the "Upper Room."  Mass begins at 9:30 AM.  Come spend some quality time with God on Easter Sunday.  Thank Jesus for the wonderful gifts He has given you:  namely, forgiveness of your sins and also the gift of eternal life He freely offers to each one of us.  

Saturday, March 12, 2016

Join us for Passion Sunday, March 13th, 2016

Fifth Sunday in Lent, Commonly Called Passion Sunday, 
March 13th, 2016

Similar to everyone else, I like to save money where I can.  I suppose one of the ways I "save" money is buying the cheap brands for products when possible.  In other words, why should I pay four or five dollars for a brand-name item when the cheap dollar-store variety works just as well?  I suppose it depends on the product, obviously.  Sometimes this strategy works great and saves you money to begin with.  Other times it may end up costing you money in the long run.  Case in point.  A clogged up sink.  I proposed saving money by buying the "cheap" generic versions of the drain cleaner.  I insisted on buying the "generic" drain cleaners because I could not fathom paying six or seven dollars for a brand-name when I could just spend a buck-fifty and be done with it.  The problem is that the generic version for a "buck-fifty" didn't work so well and I had to repeat the process another two times, still with no success and then ultimately ended up spending the six dollars for the "heavy-duty," "brand-name" drain cleaner and, voila!, drain is cleaned in a snap!  Just like that!  My efforts, though, at the beginning were in vain especially considering I spent money on products that really did not work to begin with, not to mention multiple trips to the store.  Now, my purpose in writing this is not to get people to only buy name-brand products as opposed to cheaper, less-known products.  No, I am just using this as an example of times where we have tried and tried and tried, without success, and then, boom!, we finally succeed with amazing results.  I just used the drain-cleaning example because it came to mind but I know each one of us can come up with our own example of doing something repeatedly without much success and then we end up with amazing results!

In the Ninth Chapter of the Letter to the Hebrews, we are reminded of the sacrifice of bulls and goats made by the high priest in the Temple.  We are reminded in this chapter that if the blood of goats, and bulls and heifers helps to sanctify the "unclean," "how much more shall the blood of Christ" (v. 14) sanctify the unclean?  You see, for countless generations, the high priests would make sacrifices behind the second veil, as we are reminded in this chapter, to atone for the sins of God's people.  As we are reminded, the high priest went in alone to offer up sins for God's people once a year.  But it is the Blood of Christ which turned out to be the ultimate sacrifice.  We can try and try and try to fix things ourselves, but it is only Our Blessed Saviour Who can save us from our sins.  Perhaps you have had the experience of being in a jam and you tried and tried and tried to get things right and it just seemed to get worse and worse and worse.  And then you placed the situation in God's hands and within a short time, you noticed everything got better.   If our efforts are good . . . . Christ's are better.  If the blood of sacrificed goats and bulls is good . . . Christ's Blood is better.  Never fail to put your life in God's hands.  Do your part, yes, but always look to Christ for inspiration.  Always look to God for how to live your life better.  Always look towards the Holy Ghost for inspiration.  Give your life to God and live your life as His servant.    Living life our way may be good but living life God's way is better.

St Margaret Church gathers every Sunday at 9:30 AM.  We worship at the beautiful chapel at Marquette Manor, located at 8140 N. Township Line Road on the Northwest side of Indianapolis.

Holy Spirit Church gathers together every Sunday at 1:00 PM.  We worship at the beautiful, historic First Presbyterian Church, located at 116 W. South Street in Greenfield, Indiana.  

Join us for Mass as we gather to hear God's word.  Join us as we gather as God's family to worship Him.  Join with your brothers and sisters as we all take one hour out of our busy schedules and dedicate that hour to the worship of Our Blessed Saviour!  And then receive the Precious Body and Blood of Christ, the Good Shepherd Who laid down His life for His sheep!

March 12th, 2016 Birthday of St. Gemma Galgani

March 12th is the Birthday of St. Gemma Galgani



March 12th is the birthday of our dear St. Gemma. St. Gemma, so humble of heart, you never fail to lead souls to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. Help us better appreciate the Passion of Our Blessed Saviour. Help us to gain better understanding through our suffering the suffering that Our Lord endured on our behalf. Help us to always offer up our suffering in remembrance of the Passion of Our Blessed Saviour and the suffering he endured out of His love for us! St. Gemma, I love you! Jesus, Mary, Joseph! Save souls!




Saturday, March 5, 2016

Join us for Laetare Sunday, March 6th, 2016

Fourth Sunday in Lent, or Laetare Sunday, March 6th, 2016

In the Sixth Chapter of St. John's Gospel, we hear the story of the feeding of the Five-Thousand by Our Blessed Saviour.  But at the beginning of this chapter St. John tells us that there were many people that were following Our Saviour because they saw the miracles that He did.  And then St. John tells us that Our Lord went aside with His disciples away from the multitude:  " . . . . and there he sat with his disciples"  Have you ever had people "latch on" to you.  I'm talking about people that had never shown an interest in you previously and then all of the sudden, you become "popular."  And it suddenly dawns on you that your sudden "popularity" is nothing more than curiosity in something you had done or perhaps you had won something.  You hear this, for example, in people that have won the lottery and all of the sudden these same people become mysteriously "popular" all of the sudden.  Wow, imagine that, huh?  It doesn't necessarily have to be winning the lottery,  You see the same sort of thing when it comes to people in authority or in fame:  such as a boss; or a celebrity; a movie star: a sports star; etc.   When someone is famous or at the top of their game, so to speak, they have all kinds of people close to them, . . .  they have all kinds of "friends" at that point, . . .  they have all kinds of "admirers,"  . . . . . but wait around until something happens and knocks that person out of popularity and watch all of their "friends" suddenly disappear over time.  In essence, this is what St. John is pointing out in the sixth chapter of his Gospel.  He points out that the vast multitude were following Our Lord due to his fame, . . . they were following Him due to the miracles they heard He performed, . . . they were following Him to a large degree so that they could see what all of the fuss was about.  

Today, two-thousand years later, it really isn't that different, when you think about it.  For the most part, the world doesn't care much about Jesus . . . they don't think much about Him on a daily basis . . . they certainly don't make an effort to follow His teachings . . .  the world, in general, doesn't make a point to spend time with Jesus at all . . .  that is, until they need something.  Once someone gets into trouble, or they get into a jam, they run to Jesus and implore His help.  They go to Jesus and ask Him to help them out of their jam that they suddenly find themselves in.  Now, don't get me wrong, there's nothing wrong with going to Jesus when you are in need, when you have trouble, when you have difficulties.  There is no better person to run to at that point.  But my point is don't ONLY go to Our Blessed Saviour when you are in trouble like so many people.  They only go to Jesus when they need something, or need a miracle, or need help.  Spend time with Jesus every single day.  Spend time in the presence of Our Blessed Saviour on a daily basis.  Make Him the center of your life.  Be a disciple of Jesus and not just someone interested in "miracles." 

Two opportunities to join us for Mass on Sunday, March 6th, 2016:

St. Margaret Church worships every Sunday at 9:30 AM at the beautiful Chapel at Marquette Manor, which is located at 8140 N. Township Line Road on the Northwest side of Indianapolis.

Holy Spirit Church worships every Sunday at 1:00 PM at the beautiful, historic First Presbyterian Church, located at 116 W. South Street (the Corner of South and Pennsylvania Streets) in Greenfield, Indiana.

Please join us for Mass.  Take time out of your busy schedules to worship God.  Listen to the Word of God through the King James Version of the Bible and the 1928 Book of Common Prayer.  And receive the Precious Body and Blood of Our Blessed Saviour at Communion time.