Fourth Sunday after Trinity, July 5th, 2020

Fourth Sunday after Trinity, July 5th, 2020

It is interesting to look back and reflect on your memories as a child.  One of things I remember growing up is thinking to myself how things were going to be when I became an adult.  For you see, in my juvenile way of thinking, I was sure that when I became an adult I could do anything I wanted to do . . . . buy anything I wanted to buy . . . . live anywhere I wanted to live  . . . . and nobody would ever tell me what to do ever again.  As I became an adult I discovered that "being an adult" came with a lot of responsibility.  I also discovered over time that a lot of this new-found "responsibility of being an adult" was not enjoyable in the least:  getting a job; working everyday; paying bills; doing chores around the house; etc.  Another thing I think I discovered was that I never truly was totally independent as I got older.  Yes, as I got older I took on more of my own responsibilities for various aspects of my life but I still maintained a relationship with my parents.  My parents would help with advice when I needed it.  My parents would help guide me in "uncharted waters of adulthood."  They might even help in times of need when I might need help repairing something around the house, etc.  But my parents never forced their support on me.  In other words, they waited for me to ask for help.  They allowed me to be independent but they were always very supportive of me in time of need.  Sometimes we need to experience failure or hardship in life, quite frankly.  I say that because over the course of my life I have learned the best lessons from failing and re-trying again.    

Certainly this is how it is with God, it would seem to me.  God loved us.  We are literally His creation.  But at the same time He did not make us some sort of "robotic creatures" who only do as we are told or programmed to do.  Our Blessed Creator did not fashion us as beings with no choice whatsoever.  Just the opposite: He gave us choice.  Human beings have free will to do what we choose to do.  And yet just as I discovered growing up, being an adult is never truly as "free" as we would like it to be.  There are responsibilities that go along with being an adult.  Likewise, even though we have been given the gift of free will by Our Creator we can not ever truly turn our back on Him Who created us.  Bishop Fulton Sheen writes:  "How can we continue to be free unless we keep the traditions, the grounds, and roots upon which freedom is founded?"  In other words, our freedom as human beings would never be possible without God granting us these freedoms in the first place.  We owe everything we have to Our Gracious Creator, Our Heavenly Father.  We owe our skills to Him Who created us.  We owe any health which we enjoy to the Creator.  The food on our tables and the roof over our head is made possible by Our Heavenly Father.  We may enjoy our freedoms, our independence, if you will, but we should never forget our dependence on God, Our Heavenly Father.  It is He Who gives us every good gift.  We can never be truly independent from Him.

PLEASE NOTE:  St. Margaret Church will NOT meet on Sunday, July 5th, 2020.

St. Margaret Church is still being affected, as is the whole world, by the Coronavirus outbreak.  Specifically, our church is not allowed to meet as we would like due to CDC and State recommendations.  But despite these recommendations, our members still continue to pray to Our Heavenly Father.  Our members still continue to reach out to their neighbors and loved ones.  Our members still continue to be the face and hands and instruments of the Lord throughout these troubling times.  Additionally, Fr. Todd also continues to post his sermons and reflections online.  So, please continue to pray for St. Margaret Church and all the Christian Churches throughout the world that we may continue to stay close to the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus.    

And please remember that you can still show support to St. Margaret Church by sharing these posts on social media . . . sharing the sermons and reflections of Fr. Todd on social media as well.  In this way, despite any sort of "lock-down," you will help St. Margaret Church continue to spread the Gospel and continue to tell the world about our love for Our Blessed Saviour!

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