Saturday, October 15, 2016

Come Join Us On Sunday, October 16th, 2016

Twenty-First Sunday after Trinity, Sunday, October 16th, 2016

From the Sixth Chapter of St. Paul's Epistle to the Ephesians, we hear:  "MY brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might."  (Ephesians 6:10)  Have you ever been strong for someone else?  Or, for that matter, has anyone ever been strong for you?   Each one of us face struggles and hardships and difficulties throughout our life.  Now, it may not be every single day but sometimes we just get overwhelmed with the "hard-balls" that life throws at us.  It is at those times that it is indeed easy to feel overwhelmed.   Maybe we are facing severe financial difficulties where we do not know where we can get the money to cover the bills . . . the mortgage . .  the rent.  Maybe it might be the loss of a job and nobody is calling you for an interview.  Maybe it might be a time where you are facing health difficulties like you have never faced before.   Whatever example you can come up with, it is probably easy to come up with a few different times where you felt overwhelmed, stressed out, and totally dejected.  If you are anything like me, at those times when it seemed like I hit rock-bottom, there was someone there who gave me the strength to carry on, to move forward.  There have been many people like that in my life:  my parents; dear friends; priests and / or clergy; teachers; etc.  These people have given me strength through motivating me, encouraging me, giving me advice, counseling me.  They were there to urge me on when I did not want to go on . . .  they were there for me when I had given up the battle  . . .  they were there when I had given up on myself.  I am sure that you can think of someone in your life that has filled that role for you.  They give you strength that you never knew that you had.  This is how it is with God.  God gives us strength when we need it the most.  He does this by encouraging us and motivating us to move forward.  He also does this by example.  Our Blessed Lord faced everything that we face:  He faced hardship . . .  He faced trials . . .  He faced persecution .  .. . He faced hatred, ridicule, envy, jealousy.  You name it, Our Blessed Lord faced it.  And yet He kept moving forward while keeping His eye on doing the will of His Heavenly Father.  We are called to do the very same thing.  And we need to be strong, as St. Paul writes, "strong in the Lord."  Our Lord promised to never leave us.  He is always there for us, no matter the circumstances.  

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.

Two opportunities for Mass on Sunday, October 16th.  

Mass begins at 9:30 AM at St. Margaret Church in Indianapolis.  We celebrate Mass at the beautiful Chapel at Marquette Manor, located at 8140 N. Township Line Road on the Northwest side of Indianapolis.

Mass is also offered at 1:00 PM at Holy Spirit Church in Greenfield, Indiana.  We celebrate Mass at the beautiful, historic First Presbyterian Church, located at 116 W. South Street near downtown Greenfield.

Friday, October 7, 2016

Joyful Mysteries of the Rosary

One of the things I appreciate about the Rosary is that it covers the various events in the life of Our Blessed Saviour and also His Blessed Mother.  And in so doing we find that their lives mirror our lives in a certain sense.  No, not that our lives are extraordinary in that sense.  But what I mean is that when we pray the mysteries of the Rosary, they cover a wide range of emotions and events (i.e., the Joyful; Sorrowful; and Glorious Mysteries)  And this is why I say there are similarities in that sense because in our life we exhibit a wide range of emotions over a wide range of events.  Our Lord and His Blessed Mother were not any different.  Each of the mysteries is a mediation on the events of the life of Our Blessed Saviour.  These events range all the way from the Annunciation all the way to His Ascension into Heaven.  Let us focus for now on the Joyful Mysteries and focus on the various lessons that we can learn from each mystery.

First Joyful Mystery is the Annunciation

"The angel said unto her, Fear not, Mary: for thou hast found favour with God.  And, behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call His Name Jesus." (St. Luke 1:30-31)  Our Lady is truly one of the greatest human beings to ever live throughout the history of the world.  Her influence is still being felt today as it was some two-thousand years ago.  And why is her influence so great throughout human history?  Her is influence came from one simple word:  "yes."  When Our Lady gave her fiat it set in motion events that would be far-reaching.  Through her simple "yes," God found a vehicle to send His Son into the world.  So, too, with us we can follow the example of Our Lady and give our "fiat" to God as well.  We need to say "yes" to God when it comes to dedicating our life to Him.  We need to say "yes" to God when it comes to working on His behalf throughout the world.  We need to say "yes" to God to make Him the ruler of our life and of our heart.  Our Lady was not sure why God had chosen her.  Our Lady did not know the magnitude of the events that were to unfold.  Our Lady was not even sure why these events were happening and what her role was to be.  But despite all of this, she gave her fiat to God.  Very often we may not know why God has chosen us.  We may not know what part we will play or what influence we will have.  But as long as we give our "fiat,"  as long as we say "yes" to doing God's will in our life, we will be in good company.  We will be in the company of Our Blessed Mother, who first said "yes" to doing God's will in her life.

Second Joyful Mystery is the Visitation of Our Lady to Saint Elizabeth

When Our Lady went to visit St. Elizabeth, the unborn babe leaped for joy in the womb of St. Elizabeth:  "And it came to pass, that when Elizabeth heard the salutation of Mary, the babe leaped in her womb; and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Ghost: And she spake out with a loud voice, and said, Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb." (St. Luke 1:41-42)  When we pray this second mystery, we can focus on the fact that Christ is with us when we visit others around us.  Without a doubt, Our Blessed Saviour founded His Church so that we could carry on the work here on earth that He began.  We are called to preach the Good News .  .  .  to spread the Gospel throughout all the world!  When Our Lady was carrying the Christ Child in her womb it caused the yet unborn St. John the Baptist to leap for joy in the womb of St. Elizabeth.  When we carry Christ in our hearts, we will radiate Him through our actions, through the way in which we live our life, through the love that we show others.   When we make a point to carry Christ in our hearts, people will perceive the Blessed Saviour at work in us.  Carry Christ with you at all times as you go throughout your daily lives.  Let Him influence you in your actions and interactions with others.

The Third Joyful Mystery is the Birth of the Child Jesus

"And so it was, that, while they were there, the days were accomplished that she should be delivered.  And she brought forth her firstborn Son . . ." (St. Luke 2:6-7)  At Christmas we focus on the birth of Jesus . . . or at least we should, but that is a different reflection  altogether .  .  . and as such here in the Third Joyful Mystery we also focus on the birth of the Child Jesus.  In the history of the world, has there ever been such a joyful event as the birth of the Messiah of mankind?  And yet we know that the birth of the Child Jesus was for the most part unnoticed by the world.  There were some that took note, of course, such as the local shepherds and the angels, of course.  But the rest of the world was not aware of the miraculous event taking place that would change the course of the world forever.  So, too, we pray in our own life that Christ will be born once again in our heart!  We pray that Our Blessed Saviour will have a special place in our heart where He will abide there with us.  When Christ does come to abide in our heart, the world will not notice.  The world will be concerned with their own worldly affairs just as they were two-thousand years ago.  Let Christ abide in your heart.  Let Him dwell there all your days on earth so that He will always be with you:  to encourage you and to love you; to teach you and to guide you.

The Fourth Joyful Mystery is the Presentation of the Child Jesus in the Temple

In St. Luke 2:22, we hear:  "And when the days of her purification according to the law of Moses were accomplished, they brought Him to Jerusalem, to present Him  to the Lord."  In this verse we hear of the dedication of Our Lady and St. Joseph in fulfilling the law of Moses in presenting the Child Jesus in the Temple.  In this sense, we can focus not only on the obedience of the Holy Family but also their sacrifice.  We too for our part need to be obedient to God in our life and sometimes this will entail sacrifice on our part.  In the world which we live it is easy to be a Christian "in name only."   What I mean is that anyone can say they are a Christian.  And many people do just that, they say they are Christian but they do not live a very Christian life.  They follow the ways of the world much more than they follow God.  For the dedicated, committed Christian, we are called to be obedient to God and doing His will here in this life.  As I say, sometimes this will require sacrifice and dedication on our part.

The Fifth Joyful Mystery is the Finding of the Child Jesus

Those of you who are parents have probably had the experience of "losing" your children a time or two.  Perhaps it was in a department store or a mall.  One minute your child is with you and the next minute the child is gone.  And perhaps for a brief moment or two panic sets in because you don't know what has happened to your child.  And then when your child shows up, how happy you feel because you know your child is safe.  Let us place ourselves in the shoes of the Holy Family in that regard.  We can only imagine what it was like for Our Lady and St. Joseph once they discovered that the Child Jesus was not in their company.  We know of their frantic search and backtracking of their steps to see if they could find Him.  In this mystery, we focus of the joy of finding Jesus.  For Mary and St. Joseph, they found the Child Jesus in the Temple.  For us, we can focus on the joy of finding Our Blessed Lord in the Tabernacle.  Joyful that Our Lord is there waiting for us.  He is always ready to listen to us . . . to love us . . . .  to guide us . . . .  to sustain us.  Like Mary and St. Joseph, though, we must search for Him.  We must go in search of Our Blessed Lord.  Not that He is far away.  Rather, we must make our way through the "maze" of worldly cares and concerns that block and hinder our way of finding Our Blessed Saviour.