First Sunday after Easter, April 28th, 2019

First Sunday after Easter, April 28th, 2019

If you will recall last week we heard St. John relate for us how St. Mary Magdalene discovered the empty tomb and Our Blessed Lord appeared to her.   This week as we continue on this Twentieth Chapter of the Gospel of St. John, we hear how Our Blessed Saviour now appears to the disciples who were gathered together behind closed doors.  As we put ourselves in their place . . . . keep in mind that they had discovered  just hours earlier that same day that Our Blessed Lord had risen from the dead.  Without a doubt, they were still shocked at the series of events of the past few days and the roller-coaster of emotions which accompanied these events.   And as they were gathered there Our Lord appeared to them in their midst.  St. John writes that Our Lord "stood in the midst, and saith unto them, Peace be unto you. And when He had so said, He shewed unto them His hands and His side. "  (St. John 20:19-20)   Keep in mind that first Our Blessed Saviour first bid the disciples "Peace" and next He showed them His scars from the nails and the spear.  He did this of course to prove to them that He was real!   These scars meant something.  These scars were the proof of the lengths which Our Lord was willing to go to save us from sin . . . to save us from death . . .  to save us from destruction.  Our Lord was showing the disciples His scars to prove to them that it was really Him in their presence.  But, in reality, He was showing the disciples the length and the depth of His love for us.  We read in the First Epistle of St. Peter:  "Who His own self bare our sins in His own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by Whose stripes ye were healed." (I St. Peter 2:24)  Our Blessed Saviour paid the price that we should have paid.  He was nailed to the Cross for our transgressions.  How grateful we should be that Our Lord took our place on that Cross.  How grateful we should be that Christ willingly and freely chose to die in our place.  And yet so often we are too caught up with the worries and the concerns of this world to even remember what pains Christ has endured on our behalf.  

"Blessed Saviour, I love You!  It was my sins which caused You to carry the Cross to Calvary.   It was my sins which caused You to be fastened to the Cross.  It was my sins which were responsible for Your death on that Cross.  It should have been me hanging on the Cross and yet You willingly and freely took my place because of Your love for me.  Blessed Saviour, You endured the pain and the agony so that I could be spared.  I thank Thee, Blessed Saviour, for loving me so much that You were willing to take my place on the Cross.  You died on the Cross to atone for my sins.  The scars and the wounds which You received were meant for me.  Oh, Blessed Wounds of Christ which serve as a reminder of the love You have for us, Blessed Saviour!   I love you, Lord Jesus!"

St. Margaret Church meets each and every Sunday morning 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.  We use the King James Bible and the 1928 Book of Common Prayer.  Come join us as we listen to God speak to us through His Word.  At Communion time, we receive the Precious Body and Blood of Christ to nourish us and give us strength for our journey called life.

Easter Sunday, April 21st, 2019

Easter Sunday, April 21st, 2019

In the days in which Our Blessed Saviour walked the earth, it was the custom that loved ones should visit the tomb of someone laid to rest for three days following the burial.  This was done because it was believed that the spirit of the deceased stayed around for those first three days.  Thus, on that first day of the week, St. John tells us in the Twentieth Chapter of his Gospel, Mary Magdalene came to the tomb where they had laid Our Blessed Lord and she found it empty.  Now we have to remind ourselves that this "first day" of the week was Sunday for Saturday is considered the Sabbath and no Jew faithful to the Law would have come on the Sabbath.  Thus, St. Mary Magdalene waited until Sunday to come to the tomb.  Even then St. John informs us that it was very early when she went "while it was still dark." (v. 1)   She could not wait, in other words, to come and pay her respects and be with the One who made such a difference in her life.  She wanted to spend time with Jesus even in His death because Jesus had shown her compassion.  Jesus had forgiven her.  This Man Jesus showed her that she was loved by God.  And so she went to the tomb early on that first day of the week.  We can only imagine her shock . . . her disbelief . . .  her pain when she arrived at the tomb and found it empty and the stone rolled away.  Her first reaction was to run and find St. Peter.   St. Mary said to the disciples when she found them:  "They have taken away the Lord out of the sepulchre, and we know not where they have laid him" (v. 2)  Even her words betray her true belief that someone had simply stolen away the body of Our Lord from the tomb.  Then St. Peter and St. John ran to the tomb to see for themselves what Mary was talking about.   And when St. Peter and St. John had investigated the empty tomb themselves and went back home, St. Mary stayed behind.   And it is a good thing that she did.  Because by staying behind, she was rewarded with the sight of her Blessed Lord.  He appeared to her.  And this would not have happened if she did not continue her search.  She was rewarded for her persistence, wasn't she?  And even when Our Lord appeared to her, even then she did not recognize Him at first.  When Our Lord spoke her name, "Mary."  When Our Lord said her name it was at this point that she knew it was Him.  (v. 16)  In this age in which we live we want everything "five minutes ago."  We want everything given to us now.  And if we do not want it badly enough, we don't even make the attempt.  St. Mary Magdalene, St. Peter, and St. John looked for Our Lord.  They waited for Our Lord.  If we want something we have to go find it.  So many of us want happiness but we never seem to truly find it.  We keep searching and searching thinking we find it but then after a while we begin our search again.  We need to search for God.  We need to make a point to search for Jesus.  The ironic thing is that similar to St. Mary Magdalene, Jesus is speaking to us throughout our life and we may never even realize it.  Our Lord spoke to her and she at first thought that He was the gardener.  How many times has God spoken to us and we did not pay any heed?  Let us pay attention and listen lest we do not hear what God is saying to us.  Let us search for Our Blessed Saviour and be faithful to Him.  

(PLEASE NOTE: EASTER MASS AT ST. MARGARET BEGINS AT 12:00 NOON IN THE CHAPEL.  PLEASE NOTE THE TIME CHANGE FOR EASTER SUNDAY ONLY.  MASS WILL BE CELEBRATED IN THE CHAPEL AT 12:00 NOON)

St. Margaret Anglican Church worships at the beautiful Chapel at Marquette Manor, which is located at 8140 N. Township Line Road on the Northwest side of Indianapolis.

Palm Sunday, April 14th, 2019

Palm Sunday, April 14th, 2019

Without a doubt, in my humble opinion,  I would dare say that Judas is certainly one of the most negative figures though-out all of human history.  It is understandable given the fact that he betrayed Our Blessed Lord.  And yet when we begin to read the Gospel appointed for Palm Sunday, coming to us from St. Matthew's Gospel (Chapter 27) we read the following verse:  "Then Judas, which had betrayed him, when he saw that he was condemned, repented himself, and brought again the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and elders, saying, I have sinned in that I have betrayed the innocent blood . . ." (St. Matthew 27:3-4)  It is at that point that the priests and elders whom Judas sought turned down his proposal completely by saying:  "What is that to us?" (v. 4)  And Judas then threw down the blood money, the thirty pieces of silver he was given, the price for betraying Our Blessed Saviour.  St. Matthew tells us that after this Judas went and "hanged himself." (v. 5)  Very often we find ourselves in the same position as Judas.  What I mean is that we find ourselves committing a wrong and then regretting it deeply.  And like Judas we wish that could undo the wrong we have done.  And, again, similar to Judas we find that undoing a wrong that we have committed is not such a simple thing.  It is obvious that Judas regretted what he had done.  Why would he have approached the elders and the chief priests to return the thirty pieces of silver if he did not have regret?  As we read previously, St Matthew himself writes that when Judas saw Our Lord was condemned he "repented himself." (v. 3)  And yet the deed was already done.  Judas' act of betrayal could not be undone . .  . no matter how much remorse he had at that point.  So, too, with us.  When we come to the realization that we have done a great wrong . . .  to others . . .  to ourselves . . .  to God Himself . . . it is too late to "undo" the act or correct the wrong we have committed.  In this regard Judas does serve to teach all of us a valuable lesson:  Let us do our best not betray God in the first place.  Do we not betray God when we wrong others out of selfishness and greed?  Judas was willing to betray Our Saviour for thirty pieces of silver.  Do we not betray God when we only think of only ourselves and ignore others around us and how they feel?  Judas was thinking of himself when he made plans to betray Our Lord, wasn't he?  And like Judas, do we sometimes regret what we have done when we come to our senses only to realize that it is too late to take back our words . .  . too late to undo our actions . . . just too late?  How about the times that we do not even care enough to regret the sins we have committed.  Rather, we seek to justify and explain away the wrongs we have done.   Our Heavenly Father realizes that we are imperfect.  He realizes that we sin when we ought to know better.  He knows that we frequently turn our backs on Him.  This is the reason why God sent His Only Begotten Son into the world to save us from our sins.  God knew that we could never achieve this end by ourselves.  Our Blessed Lord freely chose to carry His Cross to Calvary so that we can be forgiven.  In addition to the Cross, Our Lord carried our transgressions to that hill at Calvary.  In that sense, we should always make a point to remember that it was our sins which Our Blessed Lord carried to to Cross.  It was our sins which caused Our Saviour to be nailed to that Cross.  It was our sins which caused Our Blessed Saviour to die on that Cross.  Let us think of these things before we sin again.

St. Margaret Church celebrates Mass each and every Sunday at 9:30 AM.  Mass is celebrated at the beautiful chapel at Marquette Manor, located as 8140 N. Township Line Road on the Northwest side of Indianapolis.

Join us for Mass as we listen to the Word of God found in the King James Bible and the 1928 Book of Common Prayer.  Join us as we hear God speaking to us in His Word.  Our Lord also offers to each one of us His Most Precious Body and Blood at Communion time.  Receive the Precious Body and Blood to strengthen and nourish you for your daily journey.  And afterward, please join us for our Coffee Hour to have some delicious goodies and good fellowship.

How Much More?

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.  "For if the blood of bulls and of goats, and the ashes of an heifer sprinkling the unclean, sanctifieth to the purifying of the flesh; how much more shall the blood of Christ, who, through the eternal Spirit, offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God? "  (Hebrews 9:13-14) 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.

"“In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace” (Ephesians 1:7)

"Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him. “ (Romans 5:9)

Prayer in Honor of The Most Precious Blood of Jesus

"O precious Blood of Jesus, infinite price paid for the redemption of sinful mankind. O Divine Blood, drink and laver of our souls, standing between us and the Father pleading mercy. 

With all my heart I adore You, sweet Lord, and offer reparation for the insults, outrages and ingratitude, which You continuously receive from human beings, especially those who dare blaspheme the Divine Blood You shed for us.

Bless this Blood of Infinite value. Bless the fire of Jesus’ Love who shed it to the last drop for us. Where would I be if not for this Divine Blood that redeemed me? Indeed, Lord, I have drawn if from You to the last drop. What love! Thank You for this saving balm!

May every heart, every tongue, now and forever, praise and thank this priceless balm, this saving Blood, this fountain of crimson Mercy welling up from the fountain of infinite Love. Amen."

Passion Sunday, April 7th, 2019

Fifth Sunday in Lent, commonly called Passion Sunday, 

April 7th, 2019

We have all known smart people.  We are impressed by their knowledge and how smart they are.  If you are like me you might even turn on the game show "Jeopardy" and ask yourself, "How do they know all these things?"   But in regards to the Bible, certainly Solomon comes to mind in regards to people who are wise.  We hear in the First Book of Kings 3:5 that "the Lord appeared to Solomon in a dream by night: and God said, Ask what I shall give thee."  Just imagine if God would come to you or me and would ask us this same question.  What would we ask for?  Would we ask for riches?  Would we ask to made powerful in the eyes of the world?  Would we ask for a great mansion with all the luxuries known to man?  What would we ask for?   Well, in Solomon's case, he asked for wisdom.  Solomon responded to God by saying:  "Give therefore thy servant an understanding heart to judge thy people, that I may discern between good and bad; for who is able to judge this thy so great a people."  (I Kings 3:9)  This answer pleased God that Solomon would ask for wisdom instead of riches or power or even comfort in life.  What does this have to do with Lent, you may ask.  What does this have to do with Passion Sunday or Lent, you may ask.  Solomon asked for wisdom because he was chosen to become king after David his father.  As such, he saw that there was great responsibility to look after God's chosen ones:  Solomon speaks to God, saying:  "And thy servant is in the midst of thy people which thou hast chosen, a great people, that cannot be numbered nor counted for multitude.  Give therefore thy servant an understanding heart to judge thy people, that I may discern between good and bad; for who is able to judge this thy so great a people." (I Kings 3:8-9)  So it was not only the case that Solomon asked for wisdom, we also have to look at the reason why Solomon asked for wisdom:  so that he could rule the people that God had chosen.   So, too, Our Blessed Lord did all that He did on behalf of God's chosen people.  This includes you and me.  Christ chose to become a human being so that He could spend time with us.  He became a human being so that He could teach us about Our Heavenly Father.  He chose to come to earth as a human being so that the "human" and the "Divine" could be fully united like never before.  Solomon chose wisdom to better serve God's chosen people.  Christ chose human nature to save God's chosen people.   In this sense, we too have choices to make.  We can choose to serve ourselves or we can choose to serve God.  We can be selfish in our choices or we can think of others.  God thought of us when He sent His Only Son into the world.  Christ thought of us when He chose to take on human form.  The Holy Ghost chooses to come into our hearts if we let Him.  But it is up to us.  We must make the choice.  

St. Margaret Church gathers every Sunday morning to hear the Word of God and to worship Our Heavenly Father.  We are a traditional church.  We use the King James Version of the Bible and the 1928 Book of Common Prayer.  Mass begins at 9:30 AM.  We celebrate at the beautiful chapel at Marquette Manor, located at 8140 N. Township Line Road on the Northwest side of Indianapolis.  Please join us and dedicate an hour of your week to God.  Return home to Him, the God Who waits patiently for your return.