First Sunday in Advent, November 27th, 2022

 First Sunday in Advent, November 27th, 2022

We typically associate "New Year's Day" with January 1st.  But for the Church, "New Year's Day" is actually the First Sunday of Advent.  On this day we begin a brand new Church year.  The "New Year" represents new beginnings.  In many ways, the "New Year" symbolizes a fresh start.  The "New Year" represents a "clean slate" where everything starts over and begins anew.  This can be true for the new Church year as well, it seems to me.  Thus, I suggest that we dedicate this coming year to God.  If you have not already done so, dedicate your life to God.  Give your heart to God.  Make Him the top priority in your life.  So often we dedicate our life and everything we doin life  to our careers, to finding joy and happiness, to getting rich, etc.  The list goes on and on and it is different for every person.  But so often we are disappointed in life, despite our best actions.  But when you have a relationship with God you will never be disappointed.  When you have a relationship with Our Blessed Saviour you will never be alone.  When you have a relationship with Him, you will find a true feeling of fulfillment that the world cannot offer.  What the world has to offer is fading.  Beauty fades away.  Riches are lost.  Fame is fleeting.  And yet it is the love of God which lasts forever.  It is the love of God which never fades.   Give your heart to God.  Make Him the true King of your life.   

St. Margaret Church worships every Sunday morning at 10:30 AM at the Chapel at Marquette Manor, which is located at 8140 N. Township Line Road on the Northwest side of Indianapolis.

NOTE:  Keep in mind that we must enter in the main entrance of the lobby and sign in before we go to the chapel.  

Please 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.

Sunday Next before Advent, November 20th, 2022

 Sunday Next before Advent, November 20th, 2022

In the Sixth Chapter of the Gospel of St. John, we hear the story of the multiplication of the loaves and fishes to feed the multitude.  "WHEN Jesus then lifted up his eyes, and saw a great company come unto him, he saith unto Philip, Whence shall we buy bread, that these may eat?"   (St. John 6:5)  Here in this verse we hear Our Blessed Lord ask a very important question.  Where shall we find bread that all of these people may eat?  It is at this time of year that we focus on buying many things.  Right before Thanksgiving we think about what we will serve at the big meal.   Buying a turkey.  Buying a ham.  What we will serve along with it:  mashed potatoes; green-beans; etc.  And also at this time of year we are also getting geared up for Christmas.  As such, I am sure you have noticed all the Christmas-related commercials already airing on television trying to entice you into buying the most expensive gifts imaginable.  But these are things that the world offers.  As nice as these items are they will never truly satisfy us.   After the meal is over on Thanksgiving, we will get hungry again.  After all the gifts are opened on Christmas, our minds will soon wander to other things we would like to have.  As Christians we should focus on the Bread of Life and not on the bread which the world offers.  Our Lord wants us to focus on the Bread of Heaven.  This is why especially at this time of year we need to do our best to focus on God and the things of Heaven.  The holy season of Advent provides us with an opportunity to prepare for the Coming of the Christ-Child.  Advent gives us a time for preparation, a time to prepare our hearts.  Let us take this opportunity of the upcoming weeks before Christmas to dedicate ourselves to God.  Let us use this time wisely so that we can prepare for God.  Let us use this season to focus on the things above and not the things below.  

St. Margaret Church worships every Sunday morning at 10:30 AM at the Chapel at Marquette Manor, which is located at 8140 N. Township Line Road on the Northwest side of Indianapolis.

NOTE:  Keep in mind that we must enter in the main entrance of the lobby and sign in before we go to the chapel.  

Please 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.

Twenty-Second Sunday after Trinity, November 13th, 2022

 Twenty-Second Sunday after Trinity, November 13th, 2022

In the Eighteenth Chapter of the Gospel of St. Matthew, we hear a conversation between St. Peter and Our Blessed Lord concerning the subject of forgiveness.  St. Peter being St. Peter tried to impress Our Lord with his answer when he asked if we should forgive those who do wrong to us seven times.  Our Lord responded that we should forgive our enemies not only seven times but seventy times seven times.  To prove the point, Our Blessed Saviour told the parable of the king who was merciful and forgave the man who owed him "10,000 talents."  But this same man who was shown such mercy and forgiveness by the king refused himself to show mercy to someone who owed him a mere "hundred pence."  And when the king heard about this episode he was very angry and had the man thrown into prison until he made good on the ten-thousand talents he owed.   And then Our Lord states:  "So likewise shall my heavenly Father do also unto you, if ye from your hearts forgive not every one his brother their trespasses"  (St. Matthew 18)  Two observations here:  Number one, forgiving those who trespass against us is probably one of the most difficult things we will ever have to do in this life.  Next, that being said everyone of us should heed the words of Our Blessed Saviour.  In the parable which Our Lord spoke, He pointed out that the king was irate that the man who had just been shown such compassion would not show the same compassion to someone else.  Are we like that?  Do we beg God for forgiveness for the wrongs we have done and yet refuse to forgive those who have done wrong to us?  Forgiveness is hard.  It is difficult.  But we must learn to forgive others if we want God to forgive us.   

St. Margaret Church worships every Sunday morning at 10:30 AM at the Chapel at Marquette Manor, which is located at 8140 N. Township Line Road on the Northwest side of Indianapolis.

NOTE:  Keep in mind that we must enter in the main entrance of the lobby and sign in before we go to the chapel.  

Please 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. 

Twenty-First Sunday after Trinity, November 6th, 2022

 Twenty-First Sunday after Trinity, November 6th, 2022

This past week the weather has been beautiful here.  The temperature has been around 75 degrees most of the week.  But it is now November and even if we don't want to think about it, Winter will be here before we know it.  And as the temps go down, we need to protect ourselves from the elements.    We try to protect ourselves from head to foot when it gets so brutally cold in the winter, don't we?  And rightfully so because it doesn't make any sense to go outside in 0 degree weather not protected from the elements.  When the temperature is 10 below Zero, you want to protect yourself as much as possible from the elements so you don't get cold and you don't get frostbite.  We protect ourselves.  

In a spiritual sense, St. Paul gives the same exact advice when he writes:  "Put on the whole armour of God!"   (Ephesians 6:10)  St. Paul gives sound advice for protecting ourselves from the devil.  In this sixth chapter, St. Paul uses the analogy of a soldier dressed for war.  He goes on to describe all the different items that a soldier either wears or uses to protect himself from the enemy.  And then St. Paul makes the point that we should be fully protected as well in the spiritual sense so that we are protected from attacks from the devil.  If we are going outside in the dead of winter and it is 10 below Zero, we wouldn't go outside just wearing a tee-shirt, shorts and flip-flops.  It we are going into battle, it would not be wise to be dressed in simply a tee-shirt, shorts and flip-flops on our feet.  If we are going to a job interview at a fancy corporation, again, would it really be wise to go there wearing a tee-shirt, shorts and flip-flops?   We need to be dressed appropriately for whatever task faces us.  Most of us know this.   It is just common sense to dress appropriately for the elements or based on the situation.  But that being said, in a spiritual sense, how many of us are caught severely lacking?  

According to St. Paul we need the following items if we are going to be fully prepared:  " . . . . your loins girt about with truth, . . .  the breastplate of righteousness; . .  . feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace;  . . . the shield of faith,  .  . .  the helmet of salvation,  . . .  and the sword of the Spirit,"  (Ephesians 6:14-17)  Are we fully prepared?  I'm speaking about in a spiritual sense.  Are we fully prepared to face the world and the traps we might find in our way?  St. Peter tells us that the devil is like a lion seeking to devour us:  "Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour."  (I St. Peter 5:8)   Surely, we wouldn't go on an African safari unprotected, would we?  And yet we go about the world unprotected and unprepared for the attacks of the devil against us.  Always have God close to you.  Pray often.  Read the Scriptures often.  Go to church on Sundays if you are able.  Do this for your own edification and in order to help edify your fellow brothers and sisters in the Lord.  Always be aware of traps along the way . . .  traps that will take us away from God, lure us away from being faithful to God. 

St. Margaret Church worships every Sunday morning at 10:30 AM at the Chapel at Marquette Manor, which is located at 8140 N. Township Line Road on the Northwest side of Indianapolis.

NOTE:  Keep in mind that we must enter in the main entrance of the lobby and sign in before we go to the chapel.  

Please 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.