First Sunday in Lent, March 9th, 2025

 First Sunday in Lent, March 9th, 2025

Have you ever worked on a project and after you put all that time and effort into it, everything fell apart anyway.  And you throw your hands up in the air and say, "That was a total waste of time."  Or perhaps you put a lot of time and effort and expense into buying something for a child or a loved one and you discover that the item goes unused just sitting on a shelf or in a closet.  Again, don't you feel like your efforts and money you spent were totally wasted?  Why did I spend all that money, you ask yourself.  Why did I go through all that?   We get frustrated when we feel that our efforts are in vain or go to waste.

In II Corinthians 6:1 we hear:  "WE then, as workers together with him, beseech you also that ye receive not the grace of God in vain"  In other words, St. Paul is reminding each one of us that we should not let Our Lord's efforts for be nothing.  God sent His Son into the world to save us from our sins and despite His efforts so many throughout the world still ignore Him.  So many souls throughout time would rather follow the world than to follow Our Lord.  St. Paul is reminding all of us not to let Christ's saving actions to be in vain.  Christ died on the Cross to save you from your sins.  Give your heart to Him.  Follow Him.  Don't let His efforts go for naught.  Our Lord spilled His Precious Blood for you in the hopes that you would spend eternity with Him.  Don't let the spilling of His Blood be for nothing.  The world has nothing to offer you other than pain and sorrow.  The joys of this world are fleeting at best.  But what God offers to His children lasts for eternity.  Give your heart to God.  Spend these upcoming weeks before Easter dedicating your life to Him.  Give your life to Him Who gave His life for you.

(NOTE:  Remember to set your clocks ahead one hour tonight due to Daylight Savings Time)

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!

Quinquagesima, March 3rd, 2025

 Quinquagesima, or the Sunday Next before Lent, March 2nd, 2025

Like so many of you, I scan social media.  Most of the time I just scroll through and move on.  Every once in a while I read something that causes me to step back and reflect on what it says.  Recently, I had one of those very moments.  The post read:  "You are killing yourself for a job that would replace you within a week if you dropped dead.  Take care of yourself."  Reading these words truly did cause to think about its' meaning.  I would agree.  Those of us who work.  Those of us who have careers.  Those of us who take our jobs seriously.  I would imagine most of us have been in this position at one point or another.  We run around like the proverbial "chicken with its' head cut off" trying to accomplish everything that we need to do.  We try to jam Twenty hours worth of work into an Eight hour work day.  We prioritize all the things that needed to be done "five minutes ago."  All the while we try to "put out the fires" that spring up without notice.  We try to cover all the bases.   And it's just not the job where this is the case.  We try to do the best at our career; take care of our home; take care of our family; take care of ourselves; raise children; go shopping; find time to relax; etc.  The list goes on and on.  And the sad thing is that we are not only killing ourselves for our jobs.  Sometimes we are killing ourselves for people that are only using us.  Sometimes we are killing ourselves to maintain an image.   Sometimes we are killing ourselves to "fit in" with a crowd that is not really worth our time.   Again, the point of the meme referenced above is to "Take care of yourself."  In other words, we need to prioritize what is really important in life.  Yes, we need to work.  Yes, we need to take care of our home.  Yes, we need to spend time with our family.  We need to do all of these things.  But that being said we also have to put priorities in life.  That is part of the problem as well.  Sometimes our priorities are all messed up.  We place our careers ahead of our family.  We place popularity ahead of being true to ourselves.  We place greater value on attaining wealth than doing what's right.  And through all of this we need to remember God.  We need to have God in our lives.  We need to make time for God.  We make "time" for everything that is important to us.   If we really want to see a movie, we will make time to watch it.  If we really want to exercise, we will find time to do it.  But how much time do we spend with God each day?  How much time do we dedicate to reading the Bible each day?  How about Sundays?  Are we too busy on Sunday to get up and go to church?  Maybe we're too exhausted from  all our activities the other six days of the week to go to church on Sunday.  If it is important to you, you will find time for it.  Lent is a good time to step back and reflect on what we have done in life.  Lent provides us with time to focus on what is important.  Lent allows us to reflect on what we have done wrong . ..  where we have missed the mark . . . and where we have fallen short.  But more importantly, Lent allows us the opportunity to focus on what is ahead of us:  Easter.  Lent gives us the opportunity to look ahead.  Thus, Lent is truly a season of hopefulness.  Let us spend the next forty days to "take care of ourselves" by focusing on God.  Spend the next forty days spending time with God.  Make God a priority in your life.

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!

Septuagesima, February 16th, 2025

 Septuagesima, or the third Sunday before Lent, February 16th, 2025

Beginning today the Church celebrates what I refer to as the "Gesima Sundays."  The first is Septuagesima.  The second is Sexagesima.  And the third is Quinuqagesima.  These three Sundays comprise "Pre-Lent," or the three Sundays leading up to the holy season of Lent.  Lent itself is penitential season which leads up to Easter.  In other words, this time which I just described leads us and prepares us for Easter.  It is little wonder then that the Church chooses to quote the Ninth Chapter of St. Paul's First Epistle to the Corinthians where he talks about preparing for a race or preparing for a competition.  St Paul first writes:  "KNOW ye not that they which run in a race run all, but one receiveth the prize? So run, that ye may obtain."  (I Corinthians 9:24)  St. Paul compares all the work and the preparation which an athlete goes through in order to win a crown which ultimately will fade away.  On the other hand, St. Paul points out that we Christians are vying for a crown as well but this crown will never fade away.  The crown that the athletes are training for is an earthly crown.  The crown which Christians are training for is an everlasting crown.   St. Paul writes:  "Now they do it to obtain a corruptible crown; but we an incorruptible." (I Corinthians 9:25)  This incorruptible crown is offered to us by Our Blessed Saviour.  He earned it on our behalf and gives it freely to us.  He did this by dying on the Cross to save us from our sins and next by being raised from the dead and offering us eternal life in His Presence.  And yet despite the fact that this crown is offered freely to us, we still must do our part.  We still must resist evil.  We still must do what God would have us do.  We still must stay close to the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus and remain ever by His side.  So many people do not want to do these things.  So many people in our society and throughout the world want to abide by their own rules.  They are attracted by what the world has to offer.  They go after worldly riches and seek to satisfy their worldly desires.  These are the ones St. Paul is describing who are seeking a corruptible crown.  The desires, riches and wealth of this world will all eventually fade away but the love of Christ never fades away.  God loved us so much that He sent His Only Begotten Son into the world to save us from our sins.  Let us use these upcoming weeks to remember the sacrifice which Our Blessed Saviour made on our behalf.  Let us remember that we need to train like athletes to run this race.  We need to remain focused and concentrate on finishing the race.  We cannot be sidetracked by the desires of the world.

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!

Fifth Sunday after Epiphany, February 9th, 2025

 Fifth Sinday after Epiphany, February 9th, 2025

In the Letter to the Colossians, St. Paul is writing on how exactly a Christian should act and their attitudes towards one another.  We hear the following from the beginning of the Epistle for today's Mass:  "Put on therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, a heart of compassion, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, long-suffering; forbearing one another, and forgiving one another."  (Colossians 3:12)  He goes on to speak about forgiveness and "forgiving one another as Christ has forgiven you."  If we were to look at things logically and simply the logical argument would go something along these lines:  Humans are not perfect; therefore, humans make mistakes;  End of story.  But it is not quite as simple as that.  We have to throw into the equation that human beings have emotions and therefore, on rare occasion, get their feelings hurt . . . . rightly or wrongly . . . . and this is probably where the difficult part comes into play.  As Christians, we always have to look toward the example of Our Blessed Saviour, pure and simple, as difficult as that may be because let's face it, He is a "tough act to follow" when it comes to living a perfect life.    But just because  something is difficult to do, we are still called to give the effort 100 percent effort as Christians.  You see, that is what Christ gave us . . . . He gave 100 percent.  Even when it came to forgiveness, He forgave 100 percent.   So often when we "forgive," do we really do it 100 percent?  Isn't it true that often times when we say we forgive someone, yes, we do forgive that person for the wrong they have done, but often don't we keep it in the back of our mind what they did to us and keep it in our "memory file."  We say we forgive but we don't forget.  Thus, that forgiveness is only 90 percent . .  or 80 percent  . . . or maybe 75 percent.  Christ give 100 percent from the Cross when He died for our sins.  That's how we know He gave His all because He gave all of His life in sacrifice hanging from the Cross to free you and I from our sins.  So next time you are called to forgive someone, remember Our Blessed Saviour's Sacrifice . . .  He did not just give 70 or 80 or 99 percent . . . ,. No, He gave 100 percent and that is what we are called to do . . . . give 100 percent of our love and forgiveness as Christians even though that may be very difficult at times.  Do you think it was any easier dying on the Cross?

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!

Presentation of Christ in the Temple, February 2nd, 2025

 Presentation of Christ in the Temple, February 2nd, 2025

In the Second Chapter of St. Luke's Gospel we hear the story of St. Joseph and Our Lady presenting the Child Jesus in the Temple.  Simeon prophesied the greatness of this Child when he spoke these words to the Blessed Mother:  "Behold, this child is set for the fall and rising again of many in Israel; and for a sign which shall be spoken against; (yea, a sword shall pierce through thy own soul also,)" (St. Luke 2:22ff)  To say the least, these words, along with all the words that Simeon prophesied that day, must have shocked St. Joseph and St. Mary, or at the very least caused them to wonder what all of these things meant not only for them but for their Child.  " . ..  and a sword shall pierce through thy own soul also . . . "  As we know, Our Lady's life was filled with much joy.  What joy Our Lady must have felt being in the presence of the Son of God.  How much joy knowing that she was doing the will of God.  What joy knowing that she was in the very presence of the long-awaited Messiah of the world!   When we think about it, in the entire history of mankind, who was more blessed than anyone else if it was not Our Lady?  She had the distinct honour of being chosen not only to give birth to the Saviour of the world but to spend over thirty years in His presence.  She was with Him throughout His entire life.  But despite these joys and honours, we know that she also had sadness and sorrow as well.  To see her Son hanging from the Cross and then ultimately die a cruel death, knowing He was totally innocent.  How horrible that would be for any mother, any parent, quite frankly, but how much more so for her?  And yet we know from the words of Simeon and from the example of Our Lady that there will indeed be sorrow in our life in addition to the joy.  We were never promised that our life would be perfect or that all sorrows or setbacks  . . .  minor or major . . . would be taken away once we became a Christian.  No, there will still be sorrows, and frustrations, and setbacks for the committed Christian.  But for those who are dedicated to God, we are assured that Christ will always be with us  . . .  in the good times and the bad.

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!

Third Sunday after Epiphany, January 26th, 2025

 Third Sunday after Epiphany, January 26th, 2025

In the Second Chapter of St. John's Gospel, we hear about the very first miracle that Our Lord performed.   Of course, this took place at the marriage feast at Cana where Our Blessed Lord turned water into wine.  There are so many aspects of this passage that we could touch upon.  In the story when the servants had filled the "six water-pots of stone" with water as Our Lord had directed, the water was turned into wine.  Now keep in mind that the whole reason for the water to be turned into wine to begin with was that they had run out of wine at the feast.  This would have been a source of grave embarrassment for the newly married couple.  And when the governor of the feast tasted the "new wine" . . .  . and not knowing where it had come from, quite frankly . . . . he tasted it and commented, "Every man at the beginning doth set forth good wine; and when men have well drunk, then that which is worse." (St. John 2:10)   In other words, he is telling the bridegroom:  "Look, you brought out the quality stuff last but normally you are supposed to bring out the quality stuff first."  And then he goes on to say, "But thou hast kept the good wine until now." (v.10)   The water turned into wine that Our Lord produced was extraordinary, to say the least.  But then again Our Lord turns our "ordinary" into "extraordinary" whether we realize it or not.  This is the beauty of this miracle, quite frankly.  Now a miracle is a miracle.  Of course this is true.  But what is the importance of this miracle compared to other miracles that Our Lord performed?  Curing the lame . . . . Healing the blind . . . Raising the dead?  On the scale of "miracles," turning water into wine does not compare to raising someone from the dead, you might say.  And yet this miracle at Cana shows that God is indeed concerned with the "ordinary aspects" of our daily lives.  In other words, we can find God at work in our lives each and every day and not only at the major points in our life.  This is important to remember because it shows that God is concerned with every aspect of our life.  He is there for us day in and day out.  Can the same be said for us?  Are we there for God day in and day out?  Or do we only look for God when we need Him?  God cares for us.  He loves us.  Indeed, He loves us so much that He sent His Son into the world to be with us . . . to live among us.  He worked like you and I work.  He laughed.  He ate.  He got tired at the end of a busy day.  He felt worn out.  He felt every emotion that you and I feel.  God loved us so much that He sent His Son into the world to save us from our own sins.  As faithful, devout Christians we are called to live a Christian life.  In other words, we are called to dedicate our lives to Christ Who dedicated His life to us.  He did not come to this world to die on the Cross for Himself.  He died on the Cross for you and for me.  As such, let us never abandon Our Blessed Saviour.  Let us never turn aside from Him.  So often we get preoccupied with the business of the world . . .  or should I say the "busy-ness" of the world.  We don't have time for God because we are busy . . . . busy working . . .  busy cleaning . . .  busy shopping . . . busy running errands . . .  busy living life.  And yet the miracle at Cana shows that Our Blessed Saviour is indeed interested in every aspect of our lives.  He wants to be involved in our lives.  He wants to be a part of our lives.  Stay faithful to God.  Lead your life centered around God.  Turn your "ordinary" into the "extraordinary" as only Our Lord can do.

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!

Second Sunday after Epiphany, January 19th, 2025

 Second Sunday after Epiphany, January 19th, 2025

Very often when I read a Scripture passage, I try to reflect on what I have read by visualizing in my mind what I have just read.  For example, I visualize the crowds around Our Lord who are there listening to Him teach.  I try to visualize Our Lord's interaction with His Apostles.  I visualize myself being present and imagine Our Lord speaking the words directly to me.  In the very First Chapter of St. Mark's Gospel, we hear the following:  "Behold, I send my messenger before thy face, which shall prepare thy way before thee. The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord"  (St. Mark 1:2-3)  We know that Our Lord was speaking of St. John the Baptist but what if I imagine that it was me who was called to prepare the way of the Lord?  How about you?   What if it was you whom the Lord called?  How would you prepare the way of the Lord?  What exactly would you do to prepare the way of the Lord?  Would you tell people about Christ and all the things He said and did?  Would you announce His coming and tell people to get ready?  What exactly would "preparing the way of the Lord" look like today, for example?  Would you print up signs and place them throughout the city?  Would you start putting the word out through social media?  How exactly would YOU prepare the way of the Lord?  All of us are called to do our part and every single one of us can announce His coming in any number of ways.  Each of us can indeed be the messenger of God, if we so choose.  Each one of us announces His coming, if we decide to take part.  It doesn't just have to be St. John the Baptist who is the messenger announcing the coming of the Lord.  In our own way, every single one of us does our part to announce His coming.  Every single one of us does what we can to prepare His coming.  Each one of us is called to so our part.   But the important part is for us to respond, to say yes to the Lord.  God calls all of us but shamefully, so few responds to this calling.  Some are too busy to hear the calling.  Some could care less about being called.  There are some who do not feel worthy, so they do not even try.  The list goes on and on.  Each of us is called but we must do our part by responding faithfully.  What have you done to prepare the way of the Lord today?

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!

First Sunday after Epiphany, January 12th, 2025

 First Sunday after Epiphany, January 12th, 2025

As we celebrate the First Sunday after Epiphany, we turn to St. Luke's Gospel (St. Luke 2:42 ff) to hear the story of the finding of the Child Jesus in the Temple:  ". . . . they turned back again to Jerusalem, seeking him."  You see, the Holy Family was traveling to Jerusalem for the Feast of the Passover.  And when they had stayed there the days that were required, as St. Luke reminds us, they left to go back home.  While they were traveling, they discovered that the Child Jesus was not with them.  I am sure that just about all parents have experienced some anxiety when they find out that their child is not where he or she is supposed to be.  Whether it is during a trip to the mall or the local grocery store, etc., we turn around and little Johnnie or Susie is not behind us.  And we panic just long enough to discover our child over in the candy aisle.  We can imagine the panic that came over Our Lady and St. Joseph when they discovered, much to their horror that the Child Jesus was not in their company.

Truth be known, we normally do not begin to look for something until we discover that the item is missing.  For example, when we are trying to leave the house to go to work or to an appointment and then suddenly we discover that the car keys are not where we thought we left them.  And then we panic because we don't want to be late and we need to find the car keys.  Any item that you can think of . . . . the remote control,  .   . . . the shirt that you wanted to wear . . ..  even the "missing" mate to a sock that you have just taken out of the dryer . . . . where, oh, where did it go?!?!?  Obviously, we don't search for things or items until we know that we are in need of them and suddenly realize that we don't know where the item is.  e.g., the lost car keys.  And only then do we make a point to go search for them.  I would contend that this is how it is in regards to our search for Jesus.  So many people do NOT search Him out because they do not know that they are missing Him.  This is because their minds are caught up in the things of the world:  their material possessions; their money; their pleasures; their food; their drink; etc.  They are too busy concerning themselves with the cares of the world that they don't have time to "search out" Jesus.  We do not make a point to search for something until we realize it is missing or realize that we need it.  Let each of us make the point to realize our need for Jesus and then search for Him until we find Him and never let Him go.

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!

Second Sunday after Christmas, January 5th, 2025

 Second Sunday after Christmas, January 5th, 2025

If you will recall, last Sunday's Gospel passage spoke about angel of the Lord appearing to St. Joseph in a dream:  "fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife: for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost" (St. Matthew 1).  This week's Gospel passage again recounts when an angel appeared to St. Joseph in a dream telling him:  "Arise, and take the young child and his mother, and go into the land of Israel: for they are dead which sought the young child's life" (St. Matthew 2)  In these two examples, the Lord spoke to St. Joseph in a dream.  When God wanted to get the attention of St. Paul a bright light fell upon St. Paul and we read that St. Paul "fell to the earth."  And, of course, we remember that God spoke to Moses in a burning bush "and behold, the bush burned with fire, and the bush was not consumed." (Exodus 3)   The point is that God can and does speak to us in any multitude of ways.  The only question then is are we willing to listen to God?  Do we want to hear what God is saying to us?  If that is the case we must make a point to listen to what He is saying to us.  We need to make sure we can hear what God is wanting us to hear.  Sometimes this is difficult because we have to "silence" all the other noise going on around us in order to hear what God is saying.  God can and does speak to us.  But we have to do our part by listening to Him.  We need to hear what God is speaking.  In this new year, make it a point to listen to what God is speaking. Take time out of your busy day to read Scripture . . .  to pray  . . .  . to spend time with God.  When we make a point to listen to God we will be in a better position to hear Him speaking to 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!