First Sunday in Advent, December 1st, 2024

 First Sunday in Advent, December 1st, 2024

"OWE no man any thing, but to love one another" (Romans 13:8)

If you have ever applied for a loan from a bank, you will soon find out how many "hoops" you have to jump through in order to borrow the money you need.  You have to provide documentation of every sort:  copies of your ID; copies of bills that you currently have; copies of mortgage statements; copies of your latest paychecks.  You have to go though background checks and they need to verify who you are.  This is certainly understandable considering that banks can not go around handing out buckets of cash to anyone and everyone that walks in off the street.  But after a while, it becomes frustrating because you get the feeling that you are jumping through endless hoops.  The same process happens when you purchase a car, a house, apply for a credit card, etc.  That being said, it would be easy for me as a preacher to use the words of St. Paul in Romans 13:8--"OWE no man any thing, but to love one another" and say how simple and easy it is to love one another compared to getting a loan as described above.  But is it really that simple to go out and "love" someone?  How about showing love to our enemies?  How about loving those whom we are not fond of?  Is it ever easy to show love to those who have done wrong to us?  How about family members or even spouses that irritate us from time to time?  Is it that easy to show them love and to love them?  Yes, it's easy to show love to those that are lovable but it is definitely a challenge to love those who are not easy to love.  Now what does all this have to do with the season of Advent?  It is in the season of Advent that we prepare for the coming of the Divine Child born in Bethlehem.  Advent is a time that we prepare for the birth of the Messiah, the personification of pure love.  It was at Bethlehem that He was born to begin His earthly journey towards the hill at Calvary.  He died on the Cross for all . . .. not just for those who liked Him . . .  not just for those who loved Him.  He died on the Cross even for those despised Him . ..  who hated Him.  Our Blessed Saviour came to save all from their sins; a feat we could never achieve by ourselves.  So Advent is a time to prepare our hearts for Our Saviour.   No, it is not always easy to love but it is something as Christians that we are commanded to do.  So, this Advent season, let us prepare our hearts and do our best to show love to all . .. .  even to those that it is not easy to do.  This is something that Our Lord did and it is something that He wants us to do.  Showing love is not always easy but it is necessary if we want to call ourselves Christian.

Join us at 10:30 AM on Sundays at St. Margaret church.  We worship at the beautiful chapel at Marquette Manor, located at 8140 N. Township Line Road on the Northwest side of Indianapolis. 

Please consider joining us for Mass.  Come hear the Word of God found in the King James Version of the Bible and the 1928 Book of Common Prayer.  Consider setting aside an hour of your week where you can dedicate that time solely to God.  Come hear the Word of God.  Listen to God speaking to you directly and hear what He has to say for YOU!  Receive the Precious Body and Blood at Communion time to be strengthened and nourished for your journey!

Sunday Next Before Advent, November 24, 2024

 Sunday Next Before Advent, November 24th, 2024

At the very beginning of the epistle from Mass for the Sunday Next before Advent we hear to following:  "BEHOLD, the days come, saith the LORD .  . . " (Jeremiah 23:5)  Our society is obsessed with upcoming events.  For example, this time every year, we get constant reminders about how close we are to Christmas, courtesy of all the department stores, retail stores, online book stores, etc.  Behold, the big sale is about to happen . . . . Behold, this sale won't last long . . .  Behold, come and spend your hard-earned money here so that your loved ones will be happy at Christmas time.  But these "reminders," in all fairness go on all year around, quite honestly.  We are reminded on the nightly news about the upcoming summits, or upcoming sessions of Congress, or when a bill is about to be voted on.  Even in our personal life, we have to deal with upcoming reports at our jobs being due, and upcoming doctor's appointments, and things to do around the house:  whether they be preparing the house for winter or getting ready for an upcoming dinner.  So, you see, we are constantly reminded of upcoming events and the days ahead . . .

But this is not what Jeremiah wants us to think about.   In the "reminders" that I mentioned above, they are concerned with earthly, material things.  And nothing is necessarily wrong with with the things that I mentioned:  it's good to give gifts as a token of affection to loved ones;  it's good to prepare your home for the winter; it's good for politicians to do their job, etc.  But we have to keep everything in perspective of what is important.  Jeremiah continues:  "BEHOLD, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will raise unto David a righteous Branch, and a King shall reign and prosper, and shall execute judgment and justice in the earth"    We need to be concerned with the coming of the Lord as Christians.  We need to concern ourselves with making a place ready for Him when He comes.  And, quite frankly, we can make that happen now!  Yes, we can prepare our hearts for Him and prepare a place in our heart for Our Blessed Lord.  You see, all of the daily routines in life have their place: the daily chores, preparation of meals, going to work, paying bills, etc.  But there is one more daily "chore," and it should not even be called a "chore,"  it would be better described as a "daily necessity,"   . . . . and this "daily necessity" is time spent with Our Lord and preparing  a place for Him in our hearts!  As we come upon the liturgical season of Advent, the Church prepares for the coming of the Lord as a small innocent Infant.  Let us also prepare our hearts for the coming of that small Divine Infant by making a place for Him to dwell.  Get to know Jesus.  Give Him your heart because He has already given His Sacred Heart to you!

Join us at 10:30 AM on Sundays at St. Margaret church.  We worship at the beautiful chapel at Marquette Manor, located at 8140 N. Township Line Road on the Northwest side of Indianapolis. 

Please consider joining us for Mass.  Come hear the Word of God found in the King James Version of the Bible and the 1928 Book of Common Prayer.  Consider setting aside an hour of your week where you can dedicate that time solely to God.  Come hear the Word of God.  Listen to God speaking to you directly and hear what He has to say for YOU!  Receive the Precious Body and Blood at Communion time to be strengthened and nourished for your journey!

Twenty-Fifth Sunday after Trinity, November 17th, 2024

 Twenty-Fifth Sunday after Trinity, November 17th, 2024

In today's Epistle (I St. John 3:1), we hear the following:  "BEHOLD, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God"  It is good to reflect on the fact that God has chosen us above all other creatures to be His chosen ones.  For elsewhere we hear in Scripture:  "Being made so much better than the angels, as he has by inheritance obtained a more excellent name than they.  For to which of the angels said he at any time, You are my Son, this day have I begotten you?"  (Hebrews 1:5-6)  In other words, It was the intention that Our Blessed Saviour was born as a human being and not as an angel.  God proves the love that He has for us by sending His Son to humanity.  We should take time to reflect on the fact that we are each chosen to be called the sons and daughters of God.  The God that has created the entire universe has chosen us as His sons and daughters.  He has sent His Son to be a human being in order to redeem fallen humanity from its' sins.  This fact should boggle the mind when you think about "what manner of love" the Father has for each one of us.

Join us at 10:30 AM on Sundays at St. Margaret church.  We worship at the beautiful chapel at Marquette Manor, located at 8140 N. Township Line Road on the Northwest side of Indianapolis. 

Please consider joining us for Mass.  Come hear the Word of God found in the King James Version of the Bible and the 1928 Book of Common Prayer.  Consider setting aside an hour of your week where you can dedicate that time solely to God.  Come hear the Word of God.  Listen to God speaking to you directly and hear what He has to say for YOU!  Receive the Precious Body and Blood at Communion time to be strengthened and nourished for your journey!

Twenty-Fourth Sunday after Trinity, November 10th, 2024

 Twenty-Fourth Sunday after Trinity, November 10th, 2024

In the Ninth Chapter of St. Matthew's Gospel, Our Divine Saviour is coming to the house of the ruler, whose daughter had been very sick for a long time and had died.  And her father implored Our Saviour to come to his home and lay hands on his daughter so that she would live again:  "And when Jesus came into the ruler's house, and saw the minstrels and the people making a noise, he said unto them, Give place: for the maid is not dead, but sleepeth. And they laughed him to scorn."  Now, in all fairness to those who laughed, we need to ask if we found ourselves under the same circumstances, and some stranger came in and announced that our friend was not dead, I am sure that we would be just as shocked and more than likely our reaction would be the same.  But Our Lord paid no attention to the laughing or the scorn of the people.  He came to the house for the sake of the girl and her father.  In other words, He ignored the laughing and the ridicule and went straight to work.  And the results were astounding.  Sometimes, we are also laughed at and ridiculed for standing firm in our faith in today's society.  But we must always keep in mind that holding fast to the faith requires determination on our part as well, no matter what.   People will sometimes mock us and "laugh us to scorn" for standing firm in our Christian faith but as St. Matthew so kindly pointed out to us, people laughed at Our Blessed Saviour as well.  The key is to stand firm with God.  It is never easy to be the target of scorn  but we have to realize that if we choose to stand for what's right, we will automatically become the target of those who choose to do wrong.  Stand with God and you know that you are always in good company.

Join us at 10:30 AM on Sundays at St. Margaret church.  We worship at the beautiful chapel at Marquette Manor, located at 8140 N. Township Line Road on the Northwest side of Indianapolis. 

Please consider joining us for Mass.  Come hear the Word of God found in the King James Version of the Bible and the 1928 Book of Common Prayer.  Consider setting aside an hour of your week where you can dedicate that time solely to God.  Come hear the Word of God.  Listen to God speaking to you directly and hear what He has to say for YOU!  Receive the Precious Body and Blood at Communion time to be strengthened and nourished for your journey! 

Twenty-Third Sunday after Trinity, November 3rd, 2024

 Twenty-Third Sunday after Trinity, November 3rd, 2024

In the Third Chapter of the Epistle to the Philippians, St. Paul reminds us that our true citizenship is not here on earth:  "For our citizenship is in heaven" (3:17 ff)  For the Christian, we should especially focus on these words at this time.  I say this because here in America we will have a national election in two days.  And leading up to the election we see countless political commercials on television.  We hear political ads on the radio.  We open up our mailbox and we get political mailers each and every day.  And you cannot turn on the evening news without hearing the latest diatribes from the local, state, and national political candidates.  Throughout social media you see endless videos on candidates who spend their time running down their opponent.  It is very easy to get caught up in all of this.  It is easy to get caught up in the endless debates and the controversies which the media shoves down our throats on a daily basis.  And the vast multitude of these political candidates do not care about you or your family.  The vast majority of those in political office, I am convinced, only care about what their party is telling them to care about.  The vast majority of political office holders tell you the voter anything and everything to win your vote but once they get into office they do not listen to you, they listen to the people that fund their campaigns and tell them exactly what to do.  But we should concern ourselves with the words of St. Paul:  "For our citizenship is in heaven"  Our existence here on earth is only temporary.  Our time here on earth is fleeting.  It is our citizenship in Heaven which matters.  It is our citizenship inn Heaven which should truly concern us.  Do not be fooled by what the world promises you.  Do not be tricked into thinking that politicians truly care for you and your family.  Concentrate on God and have a relationship with Him.  

 Join us at 10:30 AM on Sundays at St. Margaret church.  We worship at the beautiful chapel at Marquette Manor, located at 8140 N. Township Line Road on the Northwest side of Indianapolis. 

Please consider joining us for Mass.  Come hear the Word of God found in the King James Version of the Bible and the 1928 Book of Common Prayer.  Consider setting aside an hour of your week where you can dedicate that time solely to God.  Come hear the Word of God.  Listen to God speaking to you directly and hear what He has to say for YOU!  Receive the Precious Body and Blood at Communion time to be strengthened and nourished for your journey!