Third Sunday before Lent, January 31st, 2021

 Septuagesima, or the Third Sunday before Lent, 

January 31st, 2021

Today the Church begins celebrating the "Gesima" Sundays.  These are the three Sundays leading up to the holy season of Lent.  On this first "gesima" Sunday, referred to as "Septuagesima," we hear a passage from St. Paul's First Epistle to the Corinthians.  In this passage St Paul describes those who run in a race to win the First Place prize.   "KNOW ye not that they which run in a race run all, but one receiveth the prize?"  (I Corinthians 9:24ff)  St. Paul describes those who put in time and effort to win a crown which he says will fall apart.  He urges the Corinthians to work towards obtaining an incorruptible crown.    All of us work towards something.  All of us work towards getting something.  It just depends on what the "prize" is.  When we are younger, some young people work towards earning a degree.  While others work towards buying a car, for instance.  Some young people work, yes, but all their money goes towards purchasing video games and buying pizza.  As we get older, typically our values change.  Those who are older may save up for a home . . .  paying for college for their children . . . . save up for their retirement.   The bottom line is whether we are saving up for a video game or saving up for our retirement, all of are working towards something.  St. Paul acknowledges that but he emphasizes that we should put our energy into working towards obtaining an "incorruptible" prize.  St Paul uses the example of the "crown" for the winning athlete.  And he points out that athletes train very had to win this crown which will eventually just crumble away.  And he's correct.  Most of us do work hard to get what we want.  But the bottom line is that whatever we work hard to purchase:  a car; clothing; a computer; a home; etc, etc, etc.  Eventually all of these things will either fall apart . . .  or go out of fashion . . .  or wear out . . . or rust away . .  . or break.  But St. Paul urges us to put our effort into winning an "incorruptible" prize, a prize that will never wear out or rust away or break.  Of course, this prize is our salvation offered freely by God.  How many of us put hours and hours and hours into working towards getting what we want but we don't think anything about God.    God offers this gift of salvation freely to each and every one of us.  And yet we have to make a choice to accept this gift.  We need to put energy into becoming the men and women that God desires us to be.  We need to place time and effort into becoming good Christians and good representatives of Christ here on earth.  God deserves our best efforts and not our second-best.  As humans, we put our best efforts into things that we desire.   As Christians, we should put our best efforts into pleasing God and growing closer to God. 

PLEASE NOTE:  St. Margaret Church will NOT meet on Sunday, January 31st, 2021.

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!

Third Sunday after Epiphany, January 24th, 2021

 Third Sunday after Epiphany, January 24th, 2021

My mother was a quiet, reserved woman but when she asked me to do something . ..  . I did it.  And sometimes . . . . but very rarely . . .   I would ask her why I would have to do something and her response was "Because I said so."   Married men, I would dare say, do what their wives tell them to do because as the old saying goes:  "Happy wife, Happy life."  But think about all the things we do on a daily basis because someone asks us to do it.  We go to work and our boss or supervisor tells us to do a job or a task that needs to be done right away.  What do we do?  Well, if we want to keep our job we drop what we are doing and do what the boss says.  If someone we know is in trouble or needs assistance and they ask for our help, what do we do?  Again, if we are in the position to help, by all means we drop what we are doing and assist them in their need.  Our children ask us for something, we help them.  Our neighbor asks for our help, we help them.  When you think about it, we even do what the television tells us to do.  In other words, a commercial comes on TV telling us to go get this product or that product.  And what do we do?  We go out and buy it.  The bottom line is that throughout our life we have the experience of people telling us what to do and we do it.   

In the Second Chapter of the Gospel of St. John we read about when Our Blessed Saviour went to the wedding feast at Cana.  And we know how this plays out, don't we?  Our Blessed Lord along with His mother  and the disciples went to the wedding feast at Cana and the couple ran out of wine.  Now, this would be very embarrassing for anyone hosting a party to run out of something.  But back then it would have been very devastating for the young couple to run out of wine at their wedding feast.  As a result, St. Mary sprang into action, so to speak.  She took the best course of action that she could think of.  She took the problem to her Son and asked Him for His help.   At first Our Blessed Lord questioned what running out of wine has to do with Him.  But Our Lady did not hesitate.  St John tells us:  "His mother saith unto the servants, Whatsoever he saith unto you, do it."  (St John 2:5)   Let these words sink in because the importance of these words is beyond measure.    These words of our Blessed Mother are the greatest advice we could ever receive:  "Whatever He tells you, do it."  We do all kinds of things that the world tells us to do.  We do all kinds of things that our friends tell us to do.  We do all kinds of things that the media tells us to do.  But how often do we do what God tells us to do?  Part of the problem is that we don't hear what God is telling us to do.  That is usually because we are not listening to God as we are too busy listening to the world.  "Do whatever He tells you."  If a sports celebrity, or a famous entertainer, or a politician tells us to do something, how many of us would fall over each other trying to do it.  But when God tells us to do something, do we rush to get it done?  Our Lady knew to take this problem to her Son because she was so sure He was the perfect person to help.  She knew this because she had faith in her heart and confidence in her Son.  We also need to have faith in our heart and confidence in Our Blessed Saivour.  We need to make a point to listen to Him and tune out the world so that we can hear Him better.  It is at that point when we are listening to Him . . . . and hearing what He has to say to each one of us . . . . . . it is then that we can "do whatever He tells us."

PLEASE NOTE:  St. Margaret Church will NOT meet on Sunday, January 24th, 2021.

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!

Kayfabe, Then and Now

Kayfabe, Then and Now . . . .  

When I was a kid growing up in the 1960's and  1970's, I remember loving to watch Professional Wrestling on television.  Each and every Saturday I was able to see my favorite heroes.  Men such as Dick the Bruiser, the "World's Toughest Wrestler!," . . . . The Crusher . .  .  Bobo Brazil  . . .  Pepper Gomez . . .  Wilbur Snyder . . .  Cowboy Bob Ellis . . . . etc.   Now, of course these were just the "good guys."  There were ring villains as well, men you just loved to hate:  Baron Von Rashke . . . .  "Big Cat" Ernie Ladd . . .  The Sheik . . .  The Valliant Brothers . . . . etc.   And your heroes would face off against their foes each and every week providing no end of excitement.  As I got older I remember going to the Convention Center once a month to actually see the matches in person.  How exciting to not only see your heroes in person but to cheer them on as they battled their hated foes!  Now, back in the good old days, keep in mind, people took their wrestling very seriously.  You loved and supported the "good guys" and hated and despised the "bad guys."  And the wrestlers . . .  good or bad . . .  played their role to perfection.  In other words, whether you saw the televised interviews of the various wrestlers or would see their actual matches at the local arena, you would believe that they hated each other with a passion.  You believed that they were truly trying to pound each other into submission.  This "keeping in character," if you will, is known as "kayfabe:"  

"In professional wrestling, kayfabe is the portrayal of staged events within the industry as "real" or "true", specifically the portrayal of competition, rivalries, and relationships between participants as being genuine and not staged. The term kayfabe has evolved to also become a code word of sorts for maintaining this "reality" within the direct or indirect presence of the general public"  (Definition from Wikipedia)

In other words, "Good guys" would still appear to be good and wonderful while in the public and "Bad guys" would do their best to appear at mean and hateful when they were in public.  And while they were at the arena, the general public would never see the two groups mingling one with the other.  But in reality it turned out that the matches were staged . . .  the rivalries were rigged . . .  and the outcomes were already planned.  

Now why am I going on and on and on about this, you might be asking yourself . . . .  if you have kept reading this far, that is.  Well, it boils down to this.  A lot of people might look back at those fans and look down their noses at the fans for believing in such nonsense.  "Why would you believe that?" they would say.  "You knew it was fake."  "They would believe anything!"  Perhaps but what I want to point out is that we still have "kayfabe" today.  Oh, not in professional wrestling.  Today wrestling is simply acknowledged as "entertainment sports."   

Today, in my humble opinion, "kayfabe" exists more in the world of  politics.  In politics people pick out a side they prefer.  Their party, in their eyes, are the "good guys."  And the other party are the "bad guys."  People today believe all the hype of the media . . .  or "social media"  . . .  or what they hear or read.  They believe that the political opponents really hate each other . .  . distrust each other . . . . They believe that there are clear differences between the political parties.  They believe that the political parties and the politicians really have it out for each other.  They get on TV and give interviews criticizing the "other side."  They get their base all worked up into a frenzy and hurl insults at whoever disagrees with them.  And in turn their supporters do the same thing to anyone who disagrees with them.  

The sad thing is that these politicians really end up working for themselves.  They work for their benefit.  They work to promote their political party instead of what is good for their country.   Sadly,  the end result is that these politicians do not work for the American people.  They pretend that they do.  They say that they do.  But actions speak louder than words.  They work for themselves and not for the people.  But they do put on a good show for the cameras.  They give good speeches and make great promises when speaking in front of the cameras.  They are "kayfabe" to the end when the cameras are on . . . when they are giving speeches . . . when they are in front of their constituents.   But in the end they work out deals and make compromises over drinks and dinner with their political "rivals."  

You wonder how people could be so naive concerning professional wrestling in days gone by?  Ask yourself how people could be so naive concerning modern day politics today.  In my opinion there are many similarities when you think about.  

 

Second Sunday after Epiphany, Sunday, January 17, 2021

The Gospel for the Mass from the Second Sunday after Epiphany comes to us from the very beginning of St. Mark's Gospel.  And it makes sense that St. Mark writes here at the beginning of his Gospel by speaking about St. John the Baptist.  We hear:  "Behold, I send my messenger before thy face, which shall prepare thy way before thee." (St. Mark 1:1)   St. Mark is quoting this verse from the Old Testament book of Malachi  to describe St. John the Baptist:  "Behold, I will send my messenger, and he shall prepare the way before me . . . ." (Malachi 3:1)  It is entirely appropriate that St. Mark would use this Scripture verse in reference to St. John the Baptist.  St. John did in fact prepare the way by preaching and speaking and telling about the Messiah Who was to come after him.  Very often, in our own life, it is through the introduction of other people that we get introduced to our friends.  Perhaps it is through a friend of a friend; or a cousin of a coworker; or a business acquaintance; etc.  The point being that we end up having a friendship with someone through being introduced to him or her by someone else.  And, if not for this introduction, we would most certainly have never met that person.  St. John the Baptist did just this:  he introduced countless souls to Our Blessed Saviour.  He did, in fact, prepare the way of the Lord through his preparation of preaching and baptizing and preaching.  Each of  us should follow the example of St. John the Baptist by preparing the way for the Lord.  We do this by introducing others around us to Jesus.  How do we introduce others to Our Blessed Saviour?  We do this in various ways:  speaking about our relationship with God; talking about what we read in Scripture; inviting others to come to church with us; acting with love towards others; and even praying for others that God will bless them.  There are many wonderful ways to prepare the way before Our Lord.  This reminds me of one of my all-time favorite quotations.  St. Francis said:  "Preach at all times, and sometimes even use words!"

PLEASE NOTE:  St. Margaret Church will NOT meet on Sunday, January 17th, 2021.

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!

First Sunday after the Epiphany, January 10th, 2021

 

First Sunday after the Epiphany, January 10th, 2021

In the Twelfth Chapter of the Epistle to the Romans, we hear the following:  "For as we have many members in one body, and all members have not the same office: so we, being many, are one body in Christ, and every one members one of another . . . " (Romans 12:4-5)   These are excellent words for every single one of us to ponder.  In other words, we are all different.  Or should I say, we are all unique.  Each one of has our own skills and talents.  Each one of us have our own jobs that we perform.  And even though we are unique, we all play our own role.  We are one body in Christ as we read.  Today these words are more important than ever.  Today when division seems to be around every corner.  It is now when we need to remind ourselves that we belong to God.  We are His children.  We were chosen by Him to be His adopted sons and daughters.   Our identity as humans beings is not based on what political party we belong to.  It is not based on who we voted for in an election.  It is not based on how much salary we get from our jobs.  It is not based on our titles  . . . . or what neighborhood we live in . . . or what brand clothing we wear.  No, our unity is based on the fact that God loves us . . . God has chosen us . . .  and Our Blessed Saviour died on the Cross to save us from our sins.  God created each and everyone of us.  We are all unique in our own way.   And God's love for each one of us is unique and special.   Our Blessed Saviour died for each and everyone of us.  He did His part . . . . which He did not have to do, quite frankly.  He chose freely to save us from our sins . . . . Now it is up to us to do our part.  How will we respond?  Will we say yes?

PLEASE NOTE:  St. Margaret Church will NOT meet on Sunday, January 10th, 2021.

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!

Second Sunday after Christmas, January 3, 2021

Second Sunday after Christmas, January 3rd, 2021

"The Spirit of the Lord is upon me . . . . "  So begins the epistle appointed for the Second Sunday after Christmas.  The Prophet Isaiah has it exactly right.  The Spirit of the Lord is indeed upon me and He is upon you as well.  So many people throughout the world have been looking forward to a "New Year."  To most of us, 2020 was pretty bad.  2020 was horrible, to say the least.  Small businesses shut down.  People losing their jobs.  People getting sick.  Family members dying.  Those in the nursing homes forced to stay away from their loved ones and friends for months and months at a time.  Churches being shut down.  The list goes on and on and on and on.  I think everyone has been affected one way or another.  Some have been affected more while others have been affected less.  And some people are already saying that the year 2021 will present us with another rollercoaster ride even worse than 2020.  Well, if that is the case then all the more reason to remember the words of the Prophet Isaiah:  "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me!"  Stay close to God in the year 2021 like never before.  Remember that Our Blessed Saviour quoted these words as well:  "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because He hath anointed Me to preach the gospel to the poor; He hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, to preach the acceptable year of the Lord." (St. Luke 4:18-19) Did 2020 make you poor?  The Lord is here for you.  Have you been left brokenhearted over the deaths of loved ones this year?  Christ is here for you.   Have you been held captive and lost some of your freedoms in 2020?  Christ wants to set you free  As bad as the year 2020 was, it was good in one respect, in my opinion.  2020 helped to set true priorities in place.  2020 helped us to see who and what is truly important in our life.  Our Blessed Saviour wants us to have good priorities as well.  He wants us to set God first in our life.  Put God as our top priority and everything else will fall into place.  Does that mean we will not have problems?  Does that mean we won't have obstacles along the way?  Does that mean all of our troubles will somehow magically disappear?   Of course not.  But God will be with us.  God is there for us.  Let the words of the Prophet Isaiah be our words as well in the year 2021:  "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me!"   

PLEASE NOTE:  St. Margaret Church will NOT meet on Sunday, January 3rd, 2021.

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!