St. Michael and All Angels

St. Michael and All Angels, September 29th, 2019

September 29th the Church celebrates the Feast of St. Michael and All Angels.  In the Epistle appointed for today's Mass, the Twelfth Chapter of the Book of Revelation, we hear about a war in Heaven where St. Michael and the Angels of God defeated Satan and his angels.  "And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him."  All you have to do is look around the world to see all the evil and you know this is true.  Just turn on the nightly news and you hear about murders and robberies and accidents and killings and you will know this is true.  Just listen to the way in which folks treat one another in  person and on the internet for that matter and you will see this is true.  "Woe to the inhabiters of the earth and of the sea! for the devil is come down unto you, having great wrath, because he knoweth that he hath but a short time."  We know that Satan and his angels do their best  to get our minds away from God.  But that is not what I want to focus on  because we know all about evil and hatred, envy and jealousy.  We know all about killings and violence and people dying in the streets for no reason.  As I said, just turn on the nightly news and you will soon find out about all of these things and more.

What I want to talk about is St.Michael and his legion of angels who fought again Satan and his army.  And yes, St. Michael is pictured as being very mighty.  Typically artists depict St. Michael with either a sword or a great spear ready to do battle.  I would imagine that, yes, St. Michael, and St. Gabriel, and St. Raphael and all the angels of God are indeed very brave and very majestic.  They do the work of God.  They are His servants.  They are His messengers.  But that being said, listen to what Revelation says about Satan and his army being defeated:  "And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, Now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ: for the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them before our God day and night. And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony;"  No matter how strong the angels of God are.  No matter how fierce and how mighty they truly are, did you hear how they defeated Satan?  " . . . they overcame him by the Blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony."   The angels of God put their trust in the Blood of Christ!  They placed their trust in Christ Himself!   How often in this world do we place our trust in ourselves or upon things of this world.  And what happens?  We end up being disappointed.  We end up failing.  We end up losing.  And yet when we place our hope in Our Blessed Saviour we can never go wrong.  Even when things look the worst, when the night is the darkest, it is then that Christ wins the battle.  They thought they had defeated Christ at Calvary and they were so amazed three days later when they found the stone rolled away from the tomb!  They thought that they had defeated Christ but God will never be defeated.

The sin of Satan and the other angels who followed him was the sin of pride, pure and simple.  It was the sin of focusing on what they wanted instead of focusing on what God wants.  We should do our best not to follow Satan's lead.  We should do our best not to get so focused on ourselves that we do not focus on God.  We should always do our best to focus on what God wants instead of solely focusing on what we want.  This was the sin of Satan.  Focus on God.  Focus on doing God's will.  Focus on being a servant of the Almighty.

Mass is celebrated each and every Sunday 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 listen to the Word of God found in the King James Bible and the 1928 Book of Common Prayer.

Fourteenth Sunday after Trinity, September 22nd, 2019

Fourteenth Sunday after Trinity, September 22nd, 2019

When I go to the store to get one thing I usually end up leaving the store with all kinds of items.  Everything, that is, except what I went to the store to get in the first place.  Normally when I go to the store to get that one item I end up getting a whole bunch of items that I had not planned on getting.  In fact, this just happened to me the other day.  So by the time I got up to the cash register the woman there saw me with all the items I had grabbed and she stated that I should have gotten a cart.  To which I replied:  I would have but I only came in for one item.   But this isn't the only example.  Does anyone else have this problem:  You go into the kitchen to get something or do something and by the time you get there, you get totally sidetracked by something else and you end up not even getting what you went to the kitchen to begin with.  It could be that you get forgetful as you get older, but I think it's actually more the case that our minds are too occupied.   We get sidetracked too easily.  We forget to do things that we should do because we become fixated on doing other things.  

In the Seventeenth Chapter of St. Luke's Gospel, we hear about the time in which there were ten lepers calling out for healing.   They needed to be healed and desired Our Lord to heal them from being lepers.  In fact St. Luke tells us that they must have made quite a scene because even though the lepers were some distance off they still caught Our Lord's attention and He came over and healed all ten of them.  Out of the ten lepers which were healed, only one out of the ten came back to give thanks to Our Lord.  Even Our Lord took notice of this because He stated:  "Were there not ten cleansed? but where are the nine? There are not found that returned to give glory to God, save this stranger." (St. Luke 17:18)  What happened to the other nine lepers?  Did they simply forget to thank Our Lord?  Were they too caught up in being cured that they did not have time to thank Him?  How often are we like the nine ungrateful lepers?  So often it seems we do our best to get out of a jam but when we get to the end of our rope and realize we can't do it, we run to God in prayer.  We humble ourselves.  We beg God for help.  We acknowledge to God what we have done wrong and promise to do better.  And then when God blesses us and takes care of our problem, we don't take time to thank God.  It's almost as if we don't have time for God once our problem is taken care of.   Why is this?  We should thank God every day.  We should thank God for the many blessings He bestows upon us.  We should not be ungrateful children and only run to Him when we need something and then forget Him when everything is running smoothly.  Thank God every day.  Praise God for simply being wonderful.  Intercede not only for your own needs but intercede on behalf of others.  And ask God to forgive the times in which we were not perfect and made mistakes.  

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. 

Thirteenth Sunday after Trinity, September 15th, 2019

Thirteenth Sunday after Trinity, September 15th, 2019

In the Tenth Chapter of his Gospel, St. Luke tells us about the time when Our Blessed Lord was answering questions.  St. Luke tells us that a certain lawyer asked Our Lord what must we do to inherit eternal life.  Now Our Lord wanted to see what the man would say so He asked the lawyer what does it say in the Law?  To this question the lawyer responded:  "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." (St. Luke 10:27)  Our Lord was impressed with this answer which the man gave and told him if he does this he will indeed live.  But the lawyer asked a follow-up question.  He asked Our Lord:  "And who is my neighbor?" (St. Luke 10:29)  Now we must understand why the man asked this question because it was actually a very good question for him to ask.  This is because to the Jews a "neighbor" was a fellow Jew.  In other words, a non-Jew would not be considered a neighbor.  This led Our Lord to tell the Parable of the Good Samaritan.  We all know this parable.  This is the parable which tells the story of the man who fell victim to thieves and nobody would help the man.  That is nobody would help him until a Samaritan found the man and helped him.  The Samaritan, Our Lord tells us, had compassion on this poor soul.  He took the man to an inn where the man could receive care and the Samaritan even paid out of his own pocket for the care this man received. 

Our Blessed Saviour told this parable with two ends in mind, in my humble opinion.  First, He wanted to show that a person's neighbor is not based on religion.  In other words, those who were listening to Him based their definition of a neighbor being a Jew.  Our Lord pointed out that it was the Samaritan, a non-Jew, who was the one who truly took mercy and helped his neighbor.  In other words, as faithful, devout, committed Christians should not base our compassion on "externals," whether they be religion . . . . or race . . .  or gender .. .  We could go on and on but the point is that we are called to follow Our Blessed Lord's example.  Our Lord did not limit His compassion.  He spent time with people in all conditions of life.  

The second thing I would dare say which Our Lord was pointing out was that we need to back up our words with actions.  Have you ever met someone who talked a good game but that is basically all they did:  talk?   Actions speak louder than words.  As Christians, it is not enough just to get dressed up and go to church on Sunday.  Yes, we need to go to church on Sunday but we need to live out our beliefs the rest of the week in the way we treat others.  When Our Lord founded the Church, he intended for us to be an active participant.  In other words, we are His instruments in the world.  God uses us as His hands .  .. . . His feet.  Honestly, the vast majority of the people we meet with, interact with and encounter, during the week probably won't be active church members.  The majority of people we come into contact with probably don't go to church . . . . don't read the Bible . . . don't pray . . . . the majority of these people probably don't have time for God.  And it is to these people that you will be the "face of God."  It is through those encounters that you will have the opportunity to tell them about God.  And this you will do not only through your words but also through your actions.  

The neighbors we will encounter will come in all shapes and sizes.  Some will go to church and others won't care about going to church.  God is calling us to be His instrument in the world.  It will be up to us to decide what we will be and who we will be.

St. Margaret Church gathers together every Sunday morning and we would love for you to join us in our weekly worship of Our Heavenly Father.  Mass begins at 9:30 AM.  We celebrate Mass in the Chapel of Marquette Manor, which is located at 8140 N. Township Line Road in Indianapolis, Indiana.  Please choose to take some time out of your busy schedule to spend some quality time with God.

More Than We Either Desire or Deserve . . .

I love to go to Mass.  And as a priest I certainly love to say Mass.  To me the Mass is beautiful.  I wouldn't miss it.  Sundays are not Sundays if I do not begin the day by going to church; hearing the Word of God; and receiving Our Lord's Precious Body and Blood at Communion time.  There is just so much in the Mass to pay attention to because it is just chock-full of meaning.  In other words, every action by the priest has a purpose.  Every prayer whether uttered aloud or said silently means something.  And because there is so much richness of meaning in every single Mass, it is understandable that sometimes we miss out on something very meaningful.  For example, I would imagine that very few people pay attention to the "Collect" near the beginning of Mass.  What is the Collect?   The Collect could be described as the gathering prayer by the priest right before the readings begin.  The Collect directs our intentions for that particular Mass and addresses it to God.

Most people probably focus on the readings appointed for Mass that day.  And this is understandable.  Whether it be one of the Epistles from St. Paul, for example, or the Gospel of the day telling us a story about the life of Our Blessed Lord.  But as I say the other prayers in the Missal are not only beautiful they are very rich in meaning if we would only pay attention to what they say.  A very good example of a Collect rich with meaning would be as follows:

 "ALMIGHTY and everlasting God, who art always more ready to hear than we to pray, and art wont to give more than either we desire or deserve; Pour down upon us the abundance of thy mercy; forgiving us those things whereof our conscience is afraid, and giving us those good things which we are not worthy to ask, but through the merits and mediation of Jesus Christ, thy Son, our Lord. Amen "  (Collect for the Twelfth Sunday after Trinity)

This Collect really knocked me for a loop, so to speak, when I read it.  In particular, the first part really struck home for me.  "Almighty and everlasting God, Who art always more ready to hear than we to pray, and art wont to give more than either we desire or deserve . . . . "  It would be so easy to gloss over this if you heard it being said at Mass.  But, in my opinion,  we could spend the rest of our life focusing on the reality and truth of what was just said:  God is more ready to listen than we are even to pray in the first place.  And that He is ready to give us even better things than we have ever imagined or dreamed of.  And the fact that He is ready and willing to give to His children when we do not even deserve to be rewarded to begin with.   As I stated, this Collect is so rich with meaning we could spend the rest of our lives pondering these words.  These words speak to the wonderfulness of Our Heavenly Father.  "The Lord is gracious, and full of compassion . . .  " (Psalm 145:8)

Everything that we have, everything that we possess comes from Our Heavenly Father.  Whether it be the life we have been given . . . the air we breathe . .  . the roof over our head  . .  . the food we partake . . . the talents and abilities each of us possess . . .  everything we have has been given to us by Our Heavenly Father.  St. Paul recognized this fact and it was a common theme he presented throughout the Epistles he wrote to the various churches.  For example, in the Fifteenth Chapter of his First Epistle to the Corinthians, St. Paul writes:  "For I am the least of the apostles, that am not meet to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. But by the grace of God I am what I am: and his grace which was bestowed upon me was not in vain; but I laboured more abundantly than they all: yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me. Therefore whether it were I or they, so we preach, and so ye believed" (I Corinthians 15:9-11)   Yes, it is true that St. Paul, in this passage, states "I am what I am" but it is so important to remember that he preceded this statement with "But by the grace of God . . . ."  Thus:  "But by the grace of God I am what I am."  (I Corinthians 15:10)  All of us could make this our motto in life.  Who are we if not for God?  What would we have if not for the goodness of Our Heavenly Father?  Who would I be if not for God?  St. Paul is the first to acknowledge all the things he done in life.  For example, he goes on to say " . . . .  but I laboured more abundantly than they all . . .  "  This would sound almost like a boast coming from St. Paul, wouldn't it?  And yet St. Paul always puts his "boasting" into proper context when he continues:  " . . . yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me." (I Cor. 15:10)  Again, St. Paul emphasizes that any strength that he possesses or any skill or ability which he can boast of, is due to the grace of God being with him.  As I like to say, each one of us has skills and abilities which only we possess.  And each one of us should use our specific skills and abilities for the glory of God.  But we should imitate St. Paul in acknowledging where these gifts and abilities come from.  "But by the grace of God I am what I am."  (I Cor. 15:10).  We are who we are, yes, but we are who we are by the grace of God.   He has created us.  He has given us life.  He nourishes us and sustains us.  And He loves us.

Again, St. Paul continues on this train of thought when he writes his Second Epistle to the Corinthians.  We hear in the Third Chapter of this Epistle:  ". . .  not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think any thing as of ourselves; but our sufficiency is of God . . ." (II Corinthians 3:5)   God is the One Who provides.  He is the One Who sustains us.  But we must do our part as well.  We need to be open to God's holy will.  We need to also recognize that God is the One to Whom we owe everything.

 "Blessed be the God and Father of Our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to His abundant mercy hath begotten us again into a lively hope by the Resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.  To an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in Heaven for you."  (I St. Peter 1:3-4)

God, through His abundant mercy, St Peter tells us, not only has begotten us but has given us hope of everlasting salvation through the efforts of Our Blessed Saviour.  It was through the efforts of Our Blessed Lord taking our place on the Cross at Calvary.  But He not only carried our sins on His shoulders He also rose again on the third day in order to defeat death and afford us with the opportunity to enjoy eternal life with Him.

Our Lord stated plainly:  "I go to prepare a place for you."  (St. John 14:2)  It is there where we will be in the Presence of Our Heavenly Father.  The riches and the glory of this world pale in comparison to the glory of Our Heavenly Father.  Our Lord promises us that He goes to prepare a place for us.  He is doing this because of the love He has for us.  God willing we will all end up there and if we do, please God, it will not because we were deserving to be there.  It will be because Our God is a merciful God.  He is a forgiving God.  He is a loving God.  God loves us so much that He gave His Only Begotten Son to die on the Cross.  Not for His sake,  . . . . He died for our sake.  He died for you and for me.  God gives us more than we could ever dream of . .  . ever imagine.

Twelfth Sunday after Trinity, September 8th, 2019

Twelfth Sunday after Trinity, September 8th, 2019

Have you ever watched the Oscars?  I have not watched the Oscars in years.  Well, it would probably be more accurate to say I have not watched the Oscars in decades but  I digress.   But my reason for bringing this example up is that whenever someone gets up to accept an award they have just won they spend the next ten minutes thanking all the people who made it possible for them to win their award.  They thank the director of the film.  They thank the producer of the film.  They thank the writers and the co-stars and the film crew.  They thank the Academy for voting for them in order to get this award.  In essence, without all these people, they would not have achieved what they have achieved.  This is true for all of us, isn't it?  Whether it be loving parents who have scraped and sacrificed for us.  It might be teachers who helped to mold us and motivate us to do great things.  It might be a supervisor at our job who encourages us and works alongside us to be the best we can be.  All of us can find someone whom we can thank . . . . somebody to acknowledge that person has done incredible things for us and has helped shape us into who we are today.

In the Third Chapter of St. Paul's Second Epistle to the Corinthians, St. Paul is doing his best to get the Corinthians  . . . . and us too some two-thousand years later . . .. to understand that God is the source for all the blessings in our life.  We read in this chapter:  ". . . . not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think any thing as of ourselves; but our sufficiency is of God;" (II Corinthians 3:5)   To a degree this is part of what St. Paul also discussed in his First Epistle to the Corinthians.  In that letter he emphasizes the fact that all the amazing things he did; all the incredible things he accomplished were first made possible by God:    " . . .  yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me." (I Corinthians 15:10).  As Christians we should give credit where credit is due.  Without a doubt this is God.   He is our sufficiency, as St. Paul would say.  He is the One Who sustains us.   He provides for us.  He gives us the knowledge and the know-how to do what we do.  Without Him, what could we do?  Without Him, what could we achieve?  It is through the grace of God that I am saved and have my sins washed away.  It was due to the efforts of Our Blessed Saviour dying on the Cross which achieved this incredible accomplishment.  We should thank God each and every day for all the wonderful blessings in our life.  We should thank Him for loving us.  We should thank Him for making us who we are.  So many of us dwell so much on the negative things in our life that we miss out on the many wonderful blessings we have.  As Christians we should get in the habit of counting our blessings every day.  And once we have acknowledged our blessings we should then get in the habit of thanking God for the many blessings which we enjoy.  

Join us as we gather together as God's family to:  hear the Word of God; listen as God speaks to each one of us in our hearts; worship God in song and in word; listen to the King James Bible and the 1928 Book of Common Prayer; and, finally, receive Our Blessed Lord in Holy Communion so that we can be nourished for the journey we call life.  Take one hour out of your busy schedule to worship God, to honour God, to acknowledge the need for God in your life.

St. Margaret of Scotland Anglican Church worships every Sunday morning at 9:30 AM at the Chapel at Marquette Manor, which is located at 8140 N. Township Line Road on the Northwest side of Indianapolis.