Sixteenth Sunday after Trinity, September 27th, 2020

Sixteenth Sunday after Trinity, September 27th, 2020

In  St. Paul's Epistle to the Ephesians, we read the words of a man desperate to reach out to his spiritual children.  We read in the pages of this epistle St. Paul's earnest plea to the Christians at Ephesus to know of his desire that they do not take the love of Christ for granted.   For you see, St. Paul was writing these words from prison.  He found himself not only to be a man literally bound in chains but also bound by his desire to reach out to his spiritual children.  As such, he poured out his heart and his soul into the words he wrote to the Ephesians to implore them to take seriously not only the love that Our Dear Saviour has for each of us  . . . . for you and for me . . . but also to truly appreciate what Christ has done out of love for us.   He writes:  ". . . that ye, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height; and to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God. "  (Ephesians 3:17-19)  He is urging the members of the young church to do their best to understand, or as St. Paul says, to comprehend exactly what Our Blessed Saviour's love means for each one of us.  How do any of us comprehend truly the love of Christ?  How can we truly appreciate what this means for any of us?  But St. Paul answers that question as best as he can.  He says in verse nineteen that we should be filled with "all the fulness of God."  In other words, St. Paul is urging the Ephesians, just as he is urging us some two-thousand years later, to fill ourselves up with God .  . . . to fill ourselves to the brim with the things of God.  So often we fill ourselves up with the things of the world instead of the things of God.  We fill our time by binge watching TV shows or movies.  We fill our life with material possessions or the quest for those material possessions.  We fill our time searching the internet or social media.  We fill our soul even dwelling on our hatred or our anger at someone who has wronged us.  We can all come up with our own examples but the point that St. Paul is making is that we are called to be filled with fulness of God.  This is because, quite frankly, it is in God that we are complete.  For we hear elsewhere:  "And ye are complete in Him, which is the head of all principality and power." (Colossians 2:10)   We only find ourselves to be complete when we have a relationship with Our Blessed Saviour.  Let us never forget that fact and let us follow St. Paul's recommendation that we "might be filled with all the fulness of God. "

Fifteenth Sunday after Tinity, September 20th, 2020

Fifteenth Sunday after Trinity, Sunday, September 20th, 2020

In the Sixth Chapter of St. Matthew's Gospel, we find ourselves listening to Our Blessed Lord preaching what has come to be known as His "Sermon on the Mount."  If you want to read it for yourself, please begin with Chapter Five of this Gospel and continue through Chapter Seven.  In other words, the "Sermon on the Mount" takes up three whole chapters in St. Matthew's Gospel.  As you can imagine, Our Blessed Lord speaks concerning a whole array of subjects.  But in the particular passage which we are covering today (Beginning in Chapter 6, Verse 24) we hear Our Lord state that we cannot have "two masters."   He says specifically:  "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."  (St. Matthew 6:24)  Now, of course the word "mammon" is an Aramaic word meaning "riches."  Thus, Our Lord is warning us not to be so enthralled with the riches the world has to offer that we end up ignoring God.   How true this is, sadly.   How many of us seek the pleasures and the riches of the world while we abandon God and any thought of Him?  We take our relationship with Him for granted.  Our Lord tells us to not to worry about what we will eat or what we will wear and yet this is certainly difficult in the generation in which we live.  I say that because most of us worry about bills.  I know I do.  Most of us worry about paying our rent or our mortgage.  Especially in this year of 2020 with so much uncertainty with businesses being shut down and people being without work, I would say that there are many opportunities to worry about a multitude of things.  But Our Lord assures us that Our Heavenly Father "knoweth that ye have need of all these things." (St. Matthew 6:32)   

But what Our Blessed Lord says in verse 33 is very important because the majority of the world totally misses this point altogether.  He says:  "But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and His righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you."  (St. Matthew 6:33)  You see, friends, most of the world seeks worldly riches first and foremost.  They do not seek the Kingdom of God first.  Most folks seek after worldly riches and pleasures first before anything else.  These folks do not care anything about searching after the Kingdom of God.  In fact, we search for man's approval in our life before we seek God's approval.  Many of us go searching for God only when we need Him.  We cry for God only when we are in desperate need of Him.  We search for Him when all else has failed and we need a miracle.  But Our Lord tells us to first seek the Kingdom of God.  If we just could get in the habit of seeking out God first instead of seeking out the world, the world itself would be a much better place.  "Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth." (Colossians 3:2)  Set your affection on God and put Him first in your life.  

PLEASE NOTE:  St. Margaret Church will NOT meet on Sunday, September 20th, 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!

indyanglican.blogger.com *******

Fourteenth Sunday after Trinity, September 13, 2020

For my part I do not let too many things annoy me.   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, are rude people.  Is it just me or are there less and less manners being put into practice by people in today's society?  For example, 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.  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 to me, 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 what your station in life is . . . .  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.

PLEASE NOTE:  St. Margaret Church will NOT meet on Sunday, September 13th, 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!

indyanglican.blogger.com

Christ is My Lord and Saviour . . . .

Christ is My Lord and Saviour and My Hope . . . .

I rarely watch television any longer.  One thing I refuse to watch, quite frankly, is the news.  Whether it is the local news or the network news, I have gotten out of the habit of watching the news for quite a while now.  Why is this, you might ask?  It is because I get depressed watching the news.  The local news is filled with shootings and crime and accidents and it is just depressing to see all of this negative stuff.  The network news is again filled with depressing things as stated above but the network news is even worse I have come to discover because it is agenda-driven and the media only shows you news items they want you to watch.  Or they slant stories a certain way in which they show the point they want you to see.  It is the same with the radio . . . . or the internet . . . or even with Facebook. 

Now, why do I point all of this out?  I do it because I think people do look at all of the negativity being thrown at them all the time and it does have an impact on people.  Look, I know just as well as anyone else how easy it is to be all caught up in negative stories and doom and gloom predictions that seem to come from every corner.  But the bottom line is that constantly reading all of this, . . .  constantly listening to all of this (either on the TV or on the radio),   . . . .  constantly looking at controversy after controversy on Facebook or other social media . . . . all of this barrage of negativity takes a toll on people eventually.  Everywhere you look, there is the potential to be flooded with negativity and negative stories.  It is depressing to watch non-stop coverage of deaths due to a virus . . .  riots . . .  looting . … shootings . . . . etc.  It is understandable that people get overwhelmed by seeing this day in and day out.

Death and war and crime and controversy have been with us basically as long as the world has been around.  And it will continue to exist in this old world of ours.  But for the dedicated, committed Christian, we are reminded that God is bigger than all the negativity that the world has to offer.  In the Old Testament Book of Deuteronomy, we hear the following:  "Be strong and of a good courage, fear not, nor be afraid of them: for the Lord Thy God, He it is that doth go with thee; He will not fail thee, nor forsake thee." (Deuteronomy 31:6)  And then two verses later:  "And the Lord, He it is that doth go before thee; He will be with thee, He will not fail thee, neither forsake thee: fear not, neither be dismayed." (Deuteronomy 31:8)  Now, more than ever, Christians should plant these words of Scripture in their hearts, in their minds, in their souls.  Christ will be victorious and His Kingdom will prevail.  Christians are called to be hopeful and their mission is to spread this hope throughout the world.  The Church does this by giving testimony of Christ.  We can all give our testimony on what Christ means to us.  Christ is my Lord and Saviour.  He is the One Who died for me on the Cross.  He continues to be with me in my everyday struggles . . . . to guide me . . . to strengthen me . . . to lead me.   I need to let those around me know this fact and I can let people know by the words that come out of my mouth, by the actions I take on a daily basis, and the love I show towards others around me.

It is so easy to look at everything that is happening today and get depressed by the senseless murder, the hatred, the anger, etc.  And yet Christ is bigger than any of these things.  Christ endured hardship during His time on earth.  Christ endured the hatred and envy of others while He walked among us.  Christ endured grief, sorrow, pain, and death.  As human beings, we will endure all of these things as well during our lifetime.  But Christ overcame all of these things and rose to a new life!  He overcame death.  He overcame the world.  He overcame the bitterness and hatred of those who sought to destroy Him.  And with Our Lord's help, through His dying on the Cross, we will overcome all of these things as well one day.  This is what we should be focusing on rather than focusing on the latest controversy or evil that the world has to offer.   Our Lord's words have more meaning for our present age than ever before: "Peace I leave with you, My peace I given unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you.  Let not your hear be troubled, neither let it be afraid." (St. John 14:27)  Let Christ be your guiding light.  Let Him rule your life.  Do not conform to the dictates of the world.  Follow Our Blessed Saviour and always look towards Him in hope