Pentecost, commonly called Whitsunday, June 9th, 2019

Pentecost, commonly called Whitsunday, Sunday, June 9th, 2019

One of my duties working with youth includes leading a weekly Substance Abuse group.  In this group we discuss reasons and causes for Substance Abuse in our society.   We discuss why people choose to abuse drugs in our society.  So often it would seem that the root cause in partaking of illegal substances comes from wanting something . . . .  seeking something . . .  searching for something.  Some youth take drugs because they want to fit in with a certain crowd.  Their friends are doing it, so they do it too in order to fit in.  Some youth do it for the image, quite frankly.  They don't want to appear weak .. .  or scared . . .  they don't want to appear like "nerds."   Others we know are simply seeking for relief.  They need something that will help the pains of life go away.   Whether it be the death of a loved one or dear friend.  Whether it be the pain of dealing with tragedy.   Perhaps it is the pain of feeling different and the feeling as though they are the only ones going through their struggle in life.  For whatever reason, if we dig deeper into the life of each person we find that people who use drugs are looking for relief, . . . they are looking for comfort.  Quite frankly, I would dare say that people in general are looking for relief and comfort in any number of ways.  Eating . . .  Drinking . . .  Buying expensive things for ourselves . . .  Buying the latest fashions and name-brands so that we can "fit in."  Aren't all of these examples of seeking comfort?  Aren't all of these ways in which we perhaps look to relieve the stress of daily living?  As such, all of us are searching for ways to be comforted in our own way.  

In the Fourteenth Chapter of St. John's Gospel, we hear Our Blessed Lord make the following promise:  "I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you. "  (St John 14:18)   Time and time again, we mistakenly seek the comforts of what the world has to offer.  Time and time again, we try to find comfort and relief and healing in material things . .  . . .  whether they be drugs, drink, money, material possessions.   And time and time again we find ourselves relieved for a brief time . . .  .  only to find the return of our pain, our sorrow, our hurt.   It is an endless cycle that we sometimes get caught in when we run to these material things, hoping that they will give us relief from whatever we are seeking relief from, only to find that these things never do heal our pains and sorrows.  Rather, they just hide them.   They just mask them.  They divert our minds away from whatever grieves us, whatever hurts us, for only a brief time.   But Our Blessed Lord stated that He will give us comfort.  Not only will He come to us, He also stated that He will send the Holy Ghost to be with us.  Oh, if we would but run to Our Blessed Saviour in times of trouble instead of running to the local pusher.  Oh, if we would seek for the Holy Ghost like we seek for the bottle.   We seek for our troubled hearts to be contented.  We seek for peace in our troubled lives.   But as we stated above, any "peace," any "comfort" given by worldly things is, at best, temporary.   Our Lord is the One Who gives true peace.  Our Lord is the One who gives lasting relief from our pain:  "Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid." (St. John 14:27)  Seek Him Who promises to never leave us.  Seek Him Who promises to give us the true comfort we desire.  Seek Him Who can give true peace to our troubled hearts.  

Join us 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 join together as God's family and worship Our Heavenly Father.  Join us as we come to the altar to be fed the Precious Body and Blood at Communion time.  And, finally, please stay after Mass for some fellowship at our coffee hour.

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.  Mass begins at 9:30 AM.