Sixteenth Sunday after Trinity, October 1st, 2017

Sixteenth Sunday after Trinity, October 1st, 2017

" For this cause I bow my knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ" (Ephesians 3:13)

I avoid watching the news on TV as much as possible.  But it has been virtually impossible to avoid seeing and hearing about the so-called "Anthem" protests that have sprung up around the NFL and other sports as well.  It is everywhere you look . . . .  the news on TV . . . . newspaper articles . . .  . Sports Illustrated cover stories . . . . social media outlets such as Facebook, Twitter, etc.   Everybody, and I do mean everybody, has an opinion about what is going on with specific players and/or teams kneeling down while the National Anthem is playing.  Now, in essence there is no need to re-hash all the details because we all know what is happening.  It does seem to me to be a good time to focus on the Third Chapter of St. Paul's Epistle to the Ephesians.  In this chapter, St. Paul is attempting to help the Ephesians understand . . . . or should I say, "appreciate"  . . . . . what God has done, the miracles He has performed, the graces that He has given and bestowed, the mysteries that He has revealed.  St. Paul is writing to show that the gift of salvation that was first offered to the people of Israel is now extended to us Gentiles as well.  And as such, St. Paul writes in verse 14:  "For this cause I bow my knees unto the Father of Our Lord Jesus Christ . . . "  To me, St. Paul is correct.  In my opinion, this is what every Christian should focus on at this time.  It is God Who deserves our humble adoration.  It is Our Blessed Saviour to Whom we should "take a knee."  Elsewhere, we read:  "For it is written, As I live, saith the Lord, every knee shall bow to Me, and every tongue shall confess to God." (Romans 14:11).   Our Heavenly Father is the One to Whom we owe everything.  He is the One that we should kneel down in adoration before.

  Philippians 2:10-11 says it perfectly:  "That at the Name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father."  It seems to me that there are a whole host of ways to protest things you don't agree with:   marching peacefully, .  . . . signing a petition, . . . . voting and/or running for political office yourself . . . . boycotting specific businesses or not buying certain products . . . .  etc, etc, etc.  One of the beautiful things about our nation is that we are free to make statements.  All of us have an opinion.  My opinion may not match up with your opinion but that doesn't mean my opinion is better than yours.  We are free to disagree.  We are free to stand up and let our voice be heard.  You and I have a right to peacefully protest what we do not agree with.  That much is a given.  But that being said, "taking a knee" during the National Anthem is not a proper way to protest, in my very humble opinion.  If we "take a knee," it should be for the right reason.  As a Christian, if we "take a knee," it should be done to glorify and acknowledge the glory and majesty of Our Blessed Saviour.  If we "take a knee," it should be in honor of Our Heavenly Father, Who created Heaven and earth.  If we "take a knee," it should be done in humble adoration and thanksgiving at the foot of the Cross on which the Saviour of the world laid down His life to pay our debt . . .  not His, but ours.  And, finally, if we "take a knee," we should bow down in humble adoration and pray for ourselves and pray for our country.  Pray for forgiveness in the ways we have failed, for the ways in which we have made mistakes.  But also pray in thanksgiving that God has blessed us so abundantly as a nation.  To me, these are the reasons we should "take a knee" . . . .  to honor God and to pray to Our Heavenly Father, Who has blessed us and continues to bless us despite our failings.

Mass is celebrated in the Chapel of Marquette Manor, which is located at 8140 N. Township Line Road on the northwest side of Indianapolis.  Join us as we hear the Word of God preached from the King James Version of the Bible.  Listen to the Word of God speaking to you.   Spend time as God's family in solemn worship of God, taking time out of the busy schedule of life and devoting one hour to God.  And receive Our Blessed Lord in His Precious Body and Blood to help sustain us and nourish us for the journey called life.

Fifteenth Sunday after Trinity, September 24, 2017

Fifteenth Sunday after Trinity, September 24, 2017

"Ye cannot serve God and mammon." (St. Matthew 6:24)

In the Sixth Chapter of St. Matthew's Gospel, we hear Our Blessed Saviour giving what has come to be known as His "Sermon on the Mount."  Now, bear in mind that this sermon begins back at the beginning of Chapter Five in St. Matthew's Gospel and it finishes up at the end of Chapter Seven.  So the passage that we are dealing with is somewhere near the middle, give or take.  If you look through chapters Five through Seven in this Gospel, you will be able to see for yourself a wide arrange of subjects/topics that Our Blessed Saviour talks about.  But in the passage that we are covering today deals with a very important topic.  I say "very important" because it is one that certainly still has bearing to our generation some two-thousand years later.

In Verse 24 of this Sixth Chapter, Our Lord states:  "No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other.  Ye cannot serve God and mammon."

As devout Christians, we are called to place God first and foremost in our life.  I am sure that every single one of you that is reading this would agree with that statement.  God should hold the utmost place in our life.  Period.  And yet as human beings we know that we are ruled very often by, how shall I put it, "base desires of the flesh," if you will.  In other words, people want to satisfy their desires at THAT particular moment.  For example, if I am hungry my stomach will rule my actions until I fill that hunger.  If I get focused on buying a new pair of shoes, for example, I will plan out when I can go to the mall and look for that particular pair of shoes that I want to buy.  If the shoes are expensive, I may have to wait until I save up the money . . . . work overtime . . .  until I get enough to buy the shoes.   How about the alcoholic man or woman that "lives for the next drink?"  And yet so many of us . . . myself included . . . . "live" for the next gadget or doo-dad or meal or pair of sneakers, etc, etc, etc.  We can all come up with our own examples of "what we live for."

We focus our efforts, . . . we focus our time . . . . we focus our energies into obtaining things of the world.  Again, in this same "Sermon on the Mount," Our Lord states:  "Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal:" (St. Matthew 6:20)

Our Lord states the obvious.  How many "treasures" do we own . . . how many "treasures" have we placed so much of our time and effort into acquiring? . . . . how many of these "treasures" are now "out of style," "out of date," "broken," "last years model," "rusted away"     Whether it be clothing that has gone "out of style" or technology that has been "outdated."  So much of our time and effort and energy is spent on things of this world that does not last.

Our Lord continues in Verse Twenty-One:  "For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also."  (St. Matthew 6:21)  So many of us in the world have our "treasure" here below.  As Christians, our true "treasure" should be up above and not down below.   God calls us to a mansion up above where we will spend eternity.  We should spend our time preparing for that mansion that we are called to.   Let us spend our time focusing our attentions on "things above" and less time focusing on "things below."  Our Blessed Saviour assures us that we will always be taken care of by Our Heavenly Father.  Let us do our part, yes . . . let us work as we are called to do . . . .but let us focus on living for God and placing our trust in Him.  And let us always remember where our true treasure is . . . .up above and not below.

St. Margaret Church gathers together every Sunday morning for Mass 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.  Please join us as we gather together to worship Our Heavenly Father.  We use the 1928 Book of Common Prayer and the King James Version of the Bible.

Remembering God in Times of Trouble

The Old Testament Book of Job deals mainly with the eternal question, "Why do bad things happen to good people?"  Practically since the beginning of time people have asked this very question:  Why do bad things happen?  I've even heard people ask "Why does God allow bad things to happen?"  Well, again, people have been asking this question for countless generations.  Thus, we are no alone.  We are in good company.

Let us look at the beginning of the Fourth Chapter of the Book of Job (Job Chapter Four, Verses 1-5) , as we read about Jobs' friends that are beginning to counsel Job:

1

"Then Eliphaz the Temanite answered and said,

2If we assay to commune with thee, wilt thou be grieved? but who can withhold himself from speaking?

3Behold, thou hast instructed many, and thou hast strengthened the weak hands.

4Thy words have upholden him that was falling, and thou hast strengthened the feeble knees.

5

But now it is come upon thee, and thou faintest; it toucheth thee, and thou art troubled."

In the above passage, one of Jobs' friends, Eliphaz the Temanite, is basically saying to Job:  "Look, Job, you have spoken to so many of us when we were troubled.  You counseled us . . . you gave us advice . . .  you gave us strength when we needed it."  In other words, Eliphaz is praising Job for being so strong and inspiring to so many when bad things happened to them.  But then Eliphaz continues and questions Job:

 "Job, now, that the shoe is on the other foot, in other words, now that bad times have fallen on you, why are you suddenly troubled all of a sudden?  Job, how come your faith in the Almighty was so strong when things were good and now you are questioning when things seem to hit rock-bottom?"

Eliphaz is correct.  How many of us seem to be so strong when things are going great.  How many of us is our faith life just wonderful when life is dandy . . . . when there are no problems . . .  when life is without care or concern?  But then as soon as we hit a road-block, all the sudden we begin to moan and cry and complain about how life is so difficult and hard?  Has this ever happened to you?  It sure has to me.  When something bad happens . . . . whether it be the sudden loss of a job . . . . a bad medical report from the doctor . .. . it could be the loss of a loved one . . . . when we get in a jam over something stupid we have done . . . . whatever the reason, don't we start to lament, and cry and feel sorry for ourself?  Well, that is certainly what Job did.  And this is why Eliphaz said what he did.  Because Eliphaz was not only speaking to Job, he was speaking to each one of us.  Listen, I don't have any answers as to why bad things happen to good people.  I don't even know why bad things happen to begin with.  But I have lived long enough to realize that life is not just about happiness and sunshine.  Life is a whole mixture of things:  good . . . bad . . . happiness . . .  sorrow . . .  sickness . . .  prosperity . . . . joy  . . . . weariness . . .  We could go on and on but you get the picture.  Life is filled with good and bad.  We are never guaranteed a perfect life.  In a certain sense, life is what we make it.  But in order to guarantee that we have a good life, a fulfilling life, a rewarding life is to spend our life close to God.  Some people only go to God when they get in trouble.  And when things run smoothly, they forget about God.  As people of faith, we know that sometime the road will be rocky for us.  But if we stay close to God and always keep Him close to us, those rocks will seem smoother.  None of us is guaranteed an easy life.  None of us is promised a perfect life without cares or troubles.  But for the faithful Christian who stays close to Christ, we are promised an easier life when life hits us the hardest.

Fourteenth Sunday after Trinity, September 17th, 2017

Fourteenth Sunday after Trinity, September 17th, 2017

I believe that I am a calm, laid-back person . . . .  for the most part, that is.  There really is not too much that "gets under my skin," I have to admit.  But one of the things that really "pushes my buttons," I have to admit, is rude people.  Is it me or are there less and less manners being put into practice by people?  I enjoy going to a store that sells used cd's and movies.  Well, they used to sell cd's.  I don't think they even sell those anymore.  Well, I enjoy going to this store to see if they have any movies that I would enjoy watching.  Since the aisles are rather narrow, you have to pass in front of people in order to go down the aisle.  Now, this is not the problem.  Since the aisles are narrow, this is understandable.  What is not understandable, though, are the complete lack of manners and total disrespect exhibited by a good percentage of people today.  People will walk right in front of you and never say "Excuse me" or "Sorry" or "Pardon me."    Hold a door open for someone today and see if you get a "Thank you" in return for your efforts.  My parents taught me manners while I was growing up.  They taught me to always say "Yes, Ma'am" or "Yes, Sir" when addressing others.  They taught me to say "Please" and "Thank You."  They taught me the art of something we used to call "common courtesy."  You see, common courtesy is something that  . . . . .  no matter your station in life . . . .  whether you are a president of a company or a cook or a janitor . . . .  whoever you are, whatever you are . . .   being respectful and courteous is something that everyone is capable of if they would just put the effort into it.   I am so grateful that my parents taught me to be courteous and respectful.  It is a skill that I have tried to put into practice my whole life.  Sadly, judging from others around me, it seems that this is a "dying art."  Is it a matter that people were never "taught" manners or is it that they were taught, yes, but they just choose not to be respectful?  It's hard to say.  

In the Seventeenth Chapter of the Gospel of St. Luke, we hear about Our Blessed Saviour passing through Samaria and Galilee as He went to Jerusalem.   And as He went, St. Luke tells us, He met ten lepers who begged for healing.  They yelled, "Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!"  Our Lord heard their request and gave them the direction to go show themselves to the priest.  As they went, they were miraculously healed .  . . . all ten of them.  The curious thing of this is that out of all of the ten that were cured . . . . only one of the lepers turned back to thank Our Blessed Saviour.  Only one man who was cured returned to give praise and thanksgiving.  Only one man came back to acknowledge the amazing thing that Our Lord just did for him.  Now in this story it is easy to find fault with the other "nine" who were not courteous enough to turn around and show thanksgiving to Our Blessed Saviour.  But how often do we show thanks to God for all the blessings He shows to us on a daily basis?   Do we thank God for blessing us?  Do we go to God daily in prayer to thank Him for the life He has given us?  The blessings He has bestowed on us?  How often do we thank God for the wonderful things He does for us?  Our Blessed Saviour was impressed with the Samaritan who turned around and gave thanks to Him for the healing he had received.  Let us pray that Our Blessed Saviour will be impressed with us as well when we thank Him for all the blessings He has bestowed on us.

St. Margaret Church gathers together every Sunday morning to listen to the Word of God, found in the King James Bible and the 1928 Book of Common Prayer.  Join us as we listen to God speak to each one of us.  Set aside one hour of your busy week and dedicate this time to God.  Receive the Precious Body and Blood of Christ at Communion time to strengthen and nourish you.  

We worship 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.  Come join us and use this time to thank God for the many blessings He has shown you.

Thirteenth Sunday after Trinity, September 10th, 2017

Thirteenth Sunday after Trinity, September 10th, 2017

The section of the Gospel appointed for today's Mass comes to us from the Tenth Chapter of the Gospel of St. Luke and this section actually begins in the 23rd Verse.  There is so much to ponder in these last verses of this tenth chapter:  First, a lawyer questions Our Lord on how to inherit eternal life.  Our Lord, instead of answering the question directly, asks the lawyer a question first:  "What is written in the law? how readest thou?"  It is then that the man quotes Scripture by answering:  "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind; and thy neighbour as thyself." (V. 27)  Here, the man is certainly quoting what is known as the "Shema" or the Jewish call to worship, if you will.  You can find this in Deuteronomy 6:4-5:  "Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God is one Lord: And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might."  But when the lawyer has finished, he asks Our Lord the question pertaining to who exactly is his neighbor?  In other words, he wanted to know who he was supposed to love and who he could get away with not loving, so to speak, I suppose.  This leads Our Lord into telling the story of the what has come to be known as "The Good Samaritan."  In this story, Our Lord points out that while a man was travelling from Jerusalem to Jericho, he was ambushed by thieves who left the man half dead.  While he was laying there, not only did a priest pass him by but also a Levite.  Neither one of these men, Our Lord points out, lifted a finger to help the man in distress.  Only the Samaritan was willing to help the man left for dead along the way.  In fact, the Samaritan certainly went out of his way by doing what he could to heal the wounds; bringing him to an inn so that the man could rest; and paying for the man to be taken care of.  

It seems to me that the Good Lord wants us to help people as best as we can.  Right now, there is so much suffering going on in the world.  And if you have a heart, it's hard NOT to be moved when you see images of people losing their homes and you see images of people taking their pets and a few possessions . . .  basically a few things that they can carry.  With Hurricane Harvey a few weeks back down in Texas and Louisiana.  And now Hurricane Irma winding its' way through the Caribbean and into Florida.  When you hear about the wild fires in parts of California, and Oregon, and even in Canada.  And this week there was also an earthquake in Mexico.  When you see and hear about all of these events, it is easy to get overwhelmed.  There seems to be so much devastation all over.  Again, most people care.  Most people want to help.  Most people are moved with compassion.  It's just that you don't know where to begin, what to do,  . . . you don't know the best course of action, so to speak.  Well, first and foremost, we need to pray.  I mean seriously pray.  We, as a country, need to set aside our wants . . . set aside our desires . . . set aside our normal routine of daily living  . . . .and use that time solely for God.  As a nation, we need to get on our knees and pray for God's guidance and His strength and His knowledge.  We need to ask God to bless our nation and that we will turn back to Him.  Most people run to God when they are in trouble.  But we need to have God number one in our lives not just when we need Him.  Not just when we need something.  You see, this ties back in with what we heard earlier . . . the prayer that the lawyer quoted from Deuteronomy . . . . " And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might"   The key word here is "all."  Most folks seem to love God, yes, but they only seem to have time for God when they need Him . . .  when they are in trouble . . . .  when they've run out of options.  It is then that people go running towards God imploring Him for His help.  We need to love God ALL of the time and not just SOME of the time (i.e., just when we need His help).  The second thing to remember is that even though we can't solve all the problems of the world by ourselves.   We can at least do what is in our power.  The "Good Samaritan" took action.  He did what he could to help the man he saw along the roadway.  Do what you can to help others.  And then ask the Good Lord to guide you where He wants you to be.  God will open doors for us if we only pay attention.  The problem is that so often even when the Good Lord opens a door, we are so busy with other things, we are too busy to notice.  That is why I say, take time to pray . . .  take time to listen to God .  . . . take time to ponder what God would have us do.  God will lead us, yes, but we have to be willing to follow.

St. Margaret meets every Sunday morning at 9:30 AM at the beautiful chapel at Marquette Manor, located at 8140 N. Township Line Road on the Northwest side of Indianapolis.  Join us for Mass as we listen to God speaking to us and worship Him and give Him our thanks for the many blessings He has bestowed upon us.

Exultation of the Holy Cross

Exultation of the Holy Cross

The Feast of the "Exultation of the Holy Cross" falls on September 14th.  This feast actually is a very ancient one, for it was observed in Rome back as far as the seventh century.  In essence, these feast commemorates the recovery of the Holy Cross.  The Cross, which had fallen into the possession of the King of the Persians, Chosroas, was recovered and then returned to Jerusalem in the year 629.

If we take ourselves back in time.  Back even further than the seventh century.  If we take ourselves back in time  . . . .  all the way back to the time of Our Lord .   . . . .  if, at least in our minds eye, we can imagine what it would be like to be one of the disciples of Our Blessed Saviour.  We imagine ourselves traveling with Him; eating with Him.  We can imagine our watching Him interacting with the people;  seeing Him speak to great multitudes but also speaking to small crowds.  We can imagine watching Him teach and preach and heal and laugh and cry.  We imagine seeing Him telling people about the Kingdom of God and imploring people to turn from their sins and turn back to God.  We imagine this Man that we have grown to love and admire, He surely must be the greatest teacher ever.  Surely, He must be sent from God, we tell ourselves.  We hear the words which He speaks.  We see the miracles He performs.  We are in awe of this Man of God.

Keep imagining, though, when this same Man  . . . . our wonderful Rabbi . . . . our learned Teacher . . . our Friend . . . . Our Lord . . .  imagine our horror when He was taken into custody by the authorities.  Imagine how you would feel if you then saw Him taken away in bonds and made to carry a cross.  Imagine how grief-stricken you would feel if you saw your Blessed Saviour hanging on that same Cross on the hill at Calvary . . . .hanging between two petty criminals.   Needless to say, I am sure that there was much confusion on that hill at Calvary that dreadful day.  I am sure that emotions from every corner would come crashing together all at once:  sadness . . .  fear . . . . anger .. . . torment . . .  confusion.   I am quite sure that the sight of that Wonderful Rabbi . . .  that Man of God . . . . our Teacher . . .  our Friend . . . . the image of Him hanging there on that Cross was most certainly seen as defeat by almost everyone present that day.  Who can blame them?  The same Blessed Saviour Who had come into Jerusalem amid cries of exultation . . . cries of Hosanna!   . . . . Who was acclaimed by all as He entered the city.  The tables had now turned, you tell yourself, and Our Blessed Saviour had been utterly defeated.  Or so our eyes tell us.

It is hard for us to imagine what it was like for those who were there during those dramatic days just described above.  After all, we know the "end of the story," don't we?  We know how this drama plays out in the end.  But it is interesting to try and imagine how it was for those who were present that first Good Friday.  Personally, I imagine that there were many people present who thought that it was the end for this dynamic, young Rabbi from Nazareth.  Surely, this was the end for Him, they thought.  Little did they know that this was only the beginning.

Our Blessed Saviour used that Cross to be a vehicle for our salvation.  What rightly would have been a dreadful, painful death turned out to be a victory.  To the human eye, it seemed like a defeat ..  ..  a horrible defeat.  To the eyes of faith, it was something marvelous to behold:  Our Blessed Lord taking the sins of every single person and carrying them upon His blessed shoulders.  He achieved something you and I could never dream of accomplishing.  We could never hope to atone for our own sins, let alone the sins of humanity.  And yet Our Blessed Saviour never fails to surprise us.  Our Blessed Saviour is always ready to turn the ordinary into something extraordinary.   He used ordinary pieces of wood, fashioned into a place of execution for anyone else, and turned that "place of execution" into a "place of redeeming."  He performed on that hill at Calvary something truly extraordinary:  He redeemed the world by dying for us.  He became the true "Lamb of God" Who was sacrificed for our sins.  While Our Blessed Saviour amazed people who witnessed the miracles He performed.  He amazed people even in His death . . . . His death on the Cross.  He turned the ordinary into the extraordinary.  He turned defeat into triumph.  He experienced death so that you and I could ultimately experience life.

So often, you and I are willing to stop ourselves at the first sign of defeat.  So often in our struggles of daily living, we get frustrated . . . we get tired . ..  we get angry.  We try and try and try and things don't seem to go our way.  And so we just give up.  We stop trying.  It's not worth the effort, we tell ourselves.  Why should we continue?  This is crazy.   In a certain sense, as I say often during my sermons, we are our own worst enemies.  We limit ourselves by convincing ourselves that it won't be possible . . .  it can't be done . . . we shouldn't continue.  We convince ourselves that we just aren't worthy.  We tell ourselves that we will never be able to do it.  And to top it all off, we feel sorry for ourselves.  We turn our sorrows into a sort of a "pity party" and use that as an excuse not to continue.

"And he that taketh not his Cross, and followeth after me, is not worthy of Me."  (St. Matthew 10:38)

And elsewhere in St. Luke's Gospel, we read:

"And whosoever doth not bear his cross, and come after Me, cannot be my disciple." (St. Luke 14:27)

All of us have burdens to bear.  All of us have struggles in life.  Whether they be personal addictions what we struggle with on a daily basis.  Or the addictions of a son, a daughter,  a loved one.  Whether they be burdens of health, financial burdens, burdens of loneliness after the death of a spouse.  All of us can name our "cross" that we must bear.  But Our Blessed Lord never leaves us alone.  One of the beautiful things about Our Saviour is that He not only teaches by His words, He leads by His example.  Our Blessed Lord is telling us also to " . . .  come, take up the cross, and follow Me."  (St. Mark 10:21)

When all seemed lost on that hill at Calvary.  When death seemed to triumph in the end.  Ultimately, death was defeated.   When you seem defeated, when you seem as though you can not continue any further.  Place your trust in God.  Ask Him to turn your "defeat" into victory.

On the Feast of the Exultation of the Holy Cross, we should use this feast as a reminder:

1)  Remember that Our Blessed Lord turned defeat into victory.  With God, all things are possible.  Let us always remember that God can turn our defeat into victory.  God can turn the ordinary into the extraordinary.

2) Remember that Christ died on the Cross to atone for OUR sins . . . . not His . . . . . but for OUR sins.  He used an instrument of death to bring life to us.  Let us always look upon the Cross and remember that Christ died for our sins and forgave us from the Cross:  "Father, forgive them for they know not what they do."

Twelfth Sunday after Trinity, September 3rd, 2017

Twelfth Sunday after Trinity, September 3rd, 2017

In my secular position working for the Department of Corrections, I am a counselor for a faith and character based unit in a maximum security juvenile facility.  Now, bear in mind that we do not call it a "prison."  We refer to it as a "facility."  But I ask the young men sometimes in my unit sometimes:  "What makes this a prison?" because it would lose something in the "translation" if I asked them: "What makes this a facility?"   Of course, I get the usual answers back in response:   Fences . . .  Gates . . .  Doors . . .  Locks . . .  Guards .  .  .  Barbed Wire . .  . .  All very good responses, to be sure.  But the reason I ask this particular question to my guys is not to state the obvious but, rather, to help them understand that we build our own prisons which do not need any of the above mentioned items.  In other words, we imprison ourselves.  We imprison ourselves, for example, by the poor choices we make in life.  We imprison ourselves by the poor choices we make for friends who influence us.  We imprison ourselves by the drugs and the alcohol and the riches of the world that we become addicted to.  We are imprisoned by the poisonous mind-set that we have been taught to look at certain people a certain way.  Who needs fences and barbed wire and locked doors when we keep our own selves down through fear of moving forward.  Through fear of the unknown.  Through fear of being mocked and discouraged by those around us.  As I often say to my guys:  "We are our own worst enemies."  We refuse to improve our lives because we still chained to our addictions that keep us down.  We refuse to move out of the prisons we have built for ourselves because we find them to be comfortable . . .  they're familiar  . . . .  they're ours  . . . . they belong to us.   We are too blind to see that we are imprisoned through bad choices, bad decisions, addictions and the consequences of our wrong ways of thinking.   Who needs gates and locks and fences when many of us carry our own "personal prisons" around with us wherever we go?

The answer is obvious.  The answer is obvious to those who believe.  The answer is right before our eyes if we would only open our eyes and make an effort to look for the answer.  So many of us, as we stated above, are content to be in our prisons.  So many of us, whether we realize it or not, want to remain in our prison.  We may say that we don't but we say otherwise by our actions.  But if we would make the effort to look for the way out of our prison, the answer would be closer than we ever imagined. The answer, of course, is Our Blessed Saviour.  In St. Mark 7:37, we hear the words of the deaf man cured by Our Blessed Saviour:  "He maketh both the deaf to hear, and the dumb to speak"  St. Mark tells us that this man's ears were opened and the string of his tongue was loosed.    Only God can heal our impediments.  Only God can cure what needs to be cured.  The sad thing is that so many in the world do not even realize they need a cure.  So many in the world do not realize that they are imprisoned through their addictions,  . . . their hatreds, . . .  their anger .  .  . , their worldly mindset.  But it is Our Blessed Saviour Who holds the key.  He is the One that can set us free.  He is our cure.  He is our salvation.  He is our everlasting hope.  Let us never depart from Him.  Let us always stay constant in our faithfulness to Him.

Please join us for Mass on Sunday, September 3rd, 2017 as we celebrate the Twelfth Sunday after Trinity.  Join St. Margaret Church this day as we pray for those affected by the hurricane in Texas and Louisiana.  As we pray for those affected by the storm we will listen to the Word of God and hear God speaking to us.  Holy Communion will be distributed so that we can be nourished and strengthened by the Body and Blood of Our Precious Saviour.

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