First Sunday in Lent, February 18th, 2024

 First Sunday in Lent, February 18th, 2024

The holy and penitential season of  Lent officially begins with Ash Wednesday and continues a forty day journey towards Easter.  On this First Sunday in Lent, we read about Our Lord's forty days in the wilderness in St. Matthew's Gospel:  "And when He had fasted forty days and forty nights, He was afterward an hungred." (St. Matthew 4:1ff)  Now, it certainly stands to reason that Our Lord was hungry after not eating for forty days and nights.  To be honest, I get hungry after not eating for forty minutes, let alone forty days and forty nights.  As human beings, we do become hungry if we do not eat for any extended period of time.  And if you are like me, if it has been a while since you have eaten . . .  once you do get something to eat, the food tastes so good, doesn't it?    But this is not only true physically in regards to feeding ourselves.   Human beings also hunger spiritually.   Just as we \need to nourish ourselves physically with food, we also need to nourish ourselves with spiritual things.  We know on a physical level that if we do not eat for any extended period of time, our body is affected physically.  But the same is true spiritually speaking as well.  If we go for long periods of time without receiving spiritual nourishment, we will be affected as well:  we may become distraught . . . sad .  . . angry . . . our consciences may fail us, for example, we don't acknowledge right from wrong or totally ignore right from wrong . . . etc.  Make no doubt about it, just as the body needs to be nourished with food, so too does our spirit need to be nourished.  And how do we receive spiritual nourishment?  We get spiritual nourishment by spending time in prayer .  .  . reading the Word of God . . . . attending church on a regular basis (not just when we feel like it!) . . .  availing ourselves of the Sacraments such as receiving Holy Communion, going to Mass, making our confession, etc.  Focus on Heavenly things instead of focusing on earthly things.  Try to focus more on the things above instead of only focusing on the things below.  If we focus on the "spiritual" and put emphasis on the "spiritual" during the next forty days, we will be better prepared for a good and holy Easter.  We will be better prepared spiritually to celebrate the Glorious Resurrection of Our Blessed Saviour as we celebrate Easter!  

St. Margaret of Scotland Anglican Church is a traditional Anglican parish, which uses the Anglican Missal and the 1928 Book of Common Prayer.  We also use the King James Version of the Bible.  We believe strongly in Our Lord's words . . .  "this is My Body and this is My Blood" . . . and believe that Our Blessed Saviour is truly present in the Most Holy Sacrament of the Altar and we receive Him at Communion time.  Come join us every Sunday morning at 10:30 AM as we gather together as God's family to worship Our Blessed Lord.  We celebrate Mass in the Chapel at Marquette Manor, which is located at 8140 N. Township Line Road on the Northwest side of Indianapolis.