Please Join Us On Sunday, August 28th, 2016

Fourteenth Sunday after Trinity, August 28th, 2016

In the Seventeenth chapter of St. Luke's Gospel, we hear about the time in which Our Blessed Saviour encountered ten lepers.  We all are familiar with this passage, I am quite sure.  The bottom line is that Our Lord directed the ten lepers to go see the priest and as they went all ten were healed.  And yet this is not the point of the passage that St. Luke presents to us. As a result of being healed, only one out of the ten came back and expressed his thanks and gratitude to Our Blessed Saviour.  This action . . .  or should I say "inaction" of the other nine ..  . . caused Our Lord to voice the question to the one man that came back in front of Him:  ". . . but where are the nine?" (St. Luke 17:11 ff)  Although the event just described in St. Luke's Gospel happened some two-thousand years ago, I have no doubt whatsoever that Our Blessed Lord is still asking the very same question in our own day about us.  What do I mean?  How many people only approach God when they need something?  How many people do we know . . . . .  and in all fairness, this could describe us as well at times . . .  how many people do we know that when they get into trouble . . . when they get into a jam ..  . . . when they find themselves facing dire consequences .  . . these people go running to God.  These people pray like they've never prayed before.  They pray and pray and pray  . . .  and then they pray some more . .  . they pray that God will assist them in their time of need.  And then when their "dire emergency" passes by, these same people that prayed for God's help are nowhere to be found.  In other words, they don't seek God again until the next time they "need" Him.  When described this way, isn't that exactly what the "other" nine lepers did to Our Lord?  They cried for help in order to be healed.  But only one was able to ALSO voice thanksgiving!  How many times do we go to God only when we "need" Him?  How many times do we only go to God when we "need" His assistance?  The point I am making is that we should make an effort during our lifetime to approach God in ALL aspects of our life and not just when we "need" something.  Go to God in petition in times of trouble, yes!  But, please, do not go to God ONLY when you need something!  Pray for God's help but also pray to God in times of thanksgiving!  Go to God in prayer when you simply want to tell Him how wonderful He is.  Go to God and spend time with God every single day and not simply when you "need" Him.  

Please join St. Margaret Church on Sunday, August 28th, 2016 as we worship Our Heavenly Father as a family.  Join us as we listen to God's Word found in the King James Bible and the 1928 Book of Common Prayer.  Join us as Our Blessed Saviour nourishes us and strengthens us at Communion time as we receive the Most Precious Body and Blood!

St. Margaret Church worships at the beautiful chapel at Marquette Manor, located at 8140 N. Township Line Road on the Northwest side of Indianapolis.  Mass begins at 9:30 AM on Sunday mornings.

Join us for the Thirteenth Sunday after Trinity, August 21, 2016

Thirteenth Sunday after Trinity, August 21st, 2016

I remember one particular television show which I have not seen in a long time, "Hogan's Heroes."  And in this particular sitcom from the 1960's, one of the main characters is "Sgt. Schultz."  The catch-phrase, I would dare say for Sgt. Schultz would be:  "I know nothing."  He would say this when he caught Hogan and his men doing something that they should not be doing.  And the point being that Sgt. Schultz did not want to know about those things that he saw with his own eyes.  In our own lives, we see lots of things with our own eyes.  Like Sgt. Schultz, sometimes we see things we would rather not see.  But other times we see things that are wonderful to our eyes.  In the tenth chapter of the Gospel of St. Luke, Our Blessed Lord is speaking to His disciples and He says to them:  "BLESSED are the eyes which see the things that ye see" (v. 23)  In this verse, of course, Our Saviour is speaking to the disciples but, quite frankly, each one of us has seen the Lord at work in our lives.  Each one of us has seen Our Blessed Lord touch our life in one way or another.  Therefore, blessed are our eyes which have seen the Lord at work in our very life as well.  As human beings, similar to Sgt. Schultz, we see what we want to see and ignore what we want to ignore.  As Christians, though, we need to make a point to look for the things of God.  We need to take note of the ways in which God is working in our life.  You see, God is with us every single day of our life.  But often times we are too busy to even notice.  God gives blessings to every single one of us on a daily basis.  Unfortunately, we usually are more interested in the things of the world to even take notice.  Have you ever had the experience where you were looking for something that you needed, like a pair of eyeglasses, for example,  and you searched and you looked around and you could not find it and then it turned out to be right near you and you never saw it?  It was in plain view all along but you never saw it even though it was right by you all the time.  That's how it is with God very often.  God is with us each and every day.  God blesses us each and every day.  And yet despite this fact, so often we do not take the time to notice.  So often we do not even realize that God is at work in our life.  This is why we need to make the point to search for God on a daily basis.  And once we do, I think many of us will be surprised to see how close He was all along.

Please make the effort to join us on Sunday, August 21st, 2016 as we welcome Bishop Stephen Strawn to our church.  Bishop Strawn will celebrate Mass and preach.  He will let us know the powerful way that God is at work in our diocese and throughout God's church.  We are always so happy to see Bishop Strawn when he visits us and hope that you will attend to give him a warm welcome.

Mass begins at 9:30 AM on Sunday, August 21st, 2016.  Mass is celebrated in the beautiful chapel located at Marquette Manor, which is at 8140 N. Township Line Road on the Northwest side of Indianapolis.  Please join us as we welcome our bishop and then stay after Mass for some delicious goodies and refreshments at the coffee hour.

Immaculate Conception

It would be benefical to all of us to have a correct understanding of the Immaculate Conception.  You see, this term "Immaculate Conception" confuses people, quite frankly.  Many people have a misconception of what this term truly means.  For these people, they think that the Immaculate Conception of Our Lady puts her on a par with God.  They feel as though the Immaculate Conception of Our Lady makes her equal with God.  They feel that the Immaculate Conception makes Our Lady some sort of a "goddess," herself and as such is in no need of God's saving grace.  Nothing could be further from the truth.

If you will, let me tell you a story.  I remember when I was a young boy growing up.  I remember a time or two when my mother would come into my room at home and she would take a look at the terrible condition of my room  . . . . with books everywhere . . .  clothes everywhere . . .  bed unmade . . .  toys out of place . . . . my dear mother would look at this mess and she would tell me:  "You better start cleaning up this room and when I come back it had better be IMMACULATE!!!!"   In other words, she wanted my room to be as clean as possible with nothing out of place or out of order.

Or fast-forward to adulthood.  In your business life, I am sure all of us have had the occasion when our boss was coming through on an official visit . . . or the owner of the company . . . or a big regional manager was coming to visit.  And the word always goes out to clean up your desk . . .  clean up your cubicle . . . clean up your area  . . . and make sure everything is IMMACULATE!!!!!

Or how about when we are expecting important company to our home . . .  whether it be dear friends that we have not seen in a while . . .  or beloved relatives . . . .  or neighbors . . . .  when we invite people over to our home, we want the best impression given.  We clean up.  We put things in order.  We tidy up.  We place things where they are supposed to be.  We vacuum.  We clean.  We do all of this in order for the house to be IMMACULATE!!!!

Even when I know that the bishop is coming to visit our parish on his annual visitation, what do I do?  I put everything in order.  I clean the sacristy.  I clean the church.  I polish up the altar.  I dust everything. In short, I want the church to be IMMACULATE because somebody important is coming to visit!!!

In each of the examples that I gave above, we are cleaning things up, we are putting things in order.  Whether it be our room; our house; or our work-space.  And why is this so important?  Why do we clean things up or put things in order?  We are getting our area in good condition because someone important is coming to visit.  When you think about it in those terms, God wanted the Blessed Mother to be Immaculate because a very important visitor was coming to visit us:  His Son.

Pope Pius IX wrote in 1854 in regards to the Immaculate Conception:  "The most Blessed Virgin Mary, in the first instant of her conception, by a singular grace and privilege granted by almighty God, in view of the merits of Jesus Christ, the saviour of the human race, was preserved from all stain of original sin." (IIneffabilis Deus, the Apostolic Constitution f Pope Pius IX on the Immaculate Conception (December 8, 1854).

As stated above, this statement scares a lot of people because they don't truly understand what it means.  Quite frankly, a lot of people who call themselves "Catholic" do not even understand truly what the term "Immaculate Conception" means.  Please note in the quotation referenced above two important points made by Pope Pius IX :  1)  The Immaculate Conception of Our Lady was a "singular grace and privilege granted by Almighty God."  In other words, it was not anything Our Lady did herself to make this possible: God made the Immaculate Conception possible for her;  2)  God permitted the Immaculate Conception "in view of the merits of Jesus Christ . . . "  In other words, the Immaculate Conception was permitted not for the benefit of Mary herself, but the Immaculate Conception was for the benefit of the Divine Infant she carried in her womb.  God wanted a proper place, free of all sin, as the proper place for His Son to dwell.  Again, this was allowed by God.  Mary did not make herself Immaculate . . .  God made her Immaculate for His Son's benefit!

We know that the Blessed Virgin Mary was the "vehicle" that brought Our Saviour into the world.  As such, God made her "immaculate" so that she could be a pure vehicle to bring the Saviour of the World to us.  We hear in St. Luke 1:42:  " . . . and she exclaimed with a loud cry, "Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb!"  Indeed!  Our Lady was in fact blessed.  She was blessed because she was made so by God.  She was blessed because she said "Yes!" to God.  She was blessed because she was open to doing the will of God in her life.  "And Mary said; Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word."  (St. Luke 1:38)

If we have ever gone to pick up someone in our own vehicle . .  . whether it be a important visitor . . .  an important guest . . . . a boss .. .  a beloved relative . . . . if we are given the task of picking that person up and driving them somewhere, don't we make a point to try to clean up our vehicle?  Don't we try to put it in order as much as possible?  Don't we try to make it IMMACULATE as possible?

For my part, this is how I view the Immaculate Conception of Mary:  it's not so much about HER as it is about WHOM she was carrying inside of her.  In the Immaculate Conception, God was preparing a vehicle worthy of carrying His Son into the world.  A vehicle without spot, without sin, without stain.  When we clean our rooms . . . when we clean our work areas . . . when we clean our homes . . .  we are actually showing the importance of those who are coming to visit.  In this case, it was the most important visitor ever:  the Saviour of the World.  And God chose Our Lady to bring that Saviour into the world:  "Hail, full of Grace; the Lord is with you!"  (St. Luke 1:28)  . . . . the Lord is with you! . . . .  This is the reason God gave Our Lady the gift of the Immaculate Conception because the Lord was with her.

And here lies the importance of the whole notion of the Immaculate Conception:  the Immaculate Conception was not for the benefit of the Blessed Virgin Mary . . . . the Immaculate Conception was for the benefit of the Divine Infant she was carrying within her.  She was not "Immaculate" for HER benefit . .  .. She was "Immaculate" for HIS benefit.  She was made immaculate because she was carrying the Saviour of the World.