Fifth Sunday after Easter, Rogation Sunday, May 1st, 2016
If we think back on our life, every single person reading this will be able to remember a time or two where they got themselves into a real jam and needed some assistance or a helping hand. On the other hand, every single person reading this will remember a time or two when YOU were that person lending a helping hand to a person in need. I've been the person that needed help; I've been the person that did the helping. So I have been on both ends of the stick, so to speak. But the bottom line is this, we have all known people that talked a good game but when it came down to it, their words did not quite equal their actions. I am sure that all of us can think of a good example of one or two people who talked a lot but when you needed that person, they were nowhere to be found. Like the old saying goes: "Actions speak louder than words." I point all this out to show that it just makes sense to expect people to back up their words with action. Even St. James knew this and this is why he wrote in the first chapter of his epistle: "BE ye doers of the word, and not hearers only . . . ." (St. James 1:22) In the everyday world, if we went to work and had a coworker who bragged and boasted of everything he or she was capable of doing and then did not actually do anything when it came down to it, what would we think of that coworker? What if you had a friend that you would see every now and then and each time you saw that friend, the friend said "Oh, I got you a nice jacket but I don't have it with me but I'll give it to you the next time I see you." But, as you can guess, the next time you see the friend: no jacket. But then the same friend says, "Oh, I got you a really nice book but I don't have it with me . . . I will give it to you next time I see you." Again, you guessed it, no book to be found the next time you met this friend of yours. After a while, if this pattern continues, what will the word of this friend mean? Nothing. As human beings, we expect people to live up to their word. If they do not, their word means nothing. St. James points out that we put our Christianity into practice by what we do for others, especially the less fortunate. We don't earn our way into Heaven by what we do. But on the other hand, the more we do for others . . . in the Name of Christ . . . . we show what our Christianity means to us. And it also shows how much we have learned from the teachings of Our Blessed Saviour.
Two opportunities for Mass on Sunday, May 1st, 2016:
St. Margaret of Scotland Church meets every Sunday morning at 9:30 AM. We meet at the beautiful chapel at Marquette Manor, located at at 8140 N. Township Line Road on the Northwest side of Indianapolis.
Holy Spirit Church meets every Sunday at 1:00 PM. We meet at the beautiful, historic First Presbyterian Church, located at 116 W. South Street in Greenfield, Indiana.
Join us as we gather to hear God's Word. Join us as we gather together as God's family to worship Our Heavenly Father and to listen to Him speak to us. Join us as we gather to receive the Precious Body and Blood of Our Blessed Saviour at Communion time in order to strengthen and nourish us. We use the King James Bible and the 1928 Book of Common Prayer.
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