Seventeenth Sunday after Trinity, September 27th, 2026

 

Seventeenth Sunday after Trinity, September 27th, 2026

In the Epistle to the Ephesians, beginning in the fourth chapter, we hear the following:  " . . . .  one Lord, one faith, one baptism . . . . "  Now, in my opinion, it seems so often in the society in which we live that we focus on what makes us different.  We are African-Americans; Hispanic-Americans; Asian-Americans; etc.  I also notice a lot of articles or new-stories focusing on the differences between men and women.  Men do things a certain way and women do things a completely different way.  Men think a certain way.  Women think a certain way.  And even in religion, we are constantly reminded on the differences between the various churches, the various denominations, the various liturgical styles, and so on.  If you look around, it's plain enough to find out about what separates us, what makes us different from one another.  But St. Paul is focusing on what unifies us as Christians:  " . . .  one Lord, one faith, one baptism. . . . . "   In this sense, St. Paul is focusing on what unifies us and not on what makes us different.  This unity is what defines us.  And this unity comes to us through being the children of Our Heavenly Father:  "One God and Father of all, Who is above all, and through all, and in you all." (Chapter 4: 6)   Obviously, we are all different in one way or another:  I like certain types of food and you prefer other types of food.  I like to go to bed early and get up early.  Someone else is a "night-owl" and likes to sleep in.  I like certain singers and certain types of music, and so on.  The list goes on and on in regard to what makes us different.  But by focusing on what we each have in common:  " .. . .  one Lord, one faith, one baptism . . . ."  Focusing on what unifies us helps us to focus on the source of our unity:  Our Heavenly Father.   And when we focus all of our attention on Him, the things that separate us become less important.  They become secondary.

Please join us as we gather together at the beautiful Chapel at Marquette Manor, located at 8140 N. Township Line Road on the Northwest side of Indianapolis.  Mass begins at 10:30 am.  Please join us this day and hear the Word of God and give praise and honor to Our Risen Saviour!

Sixteenth Sunday after Trinity, September 20th, 2026

 

Sixteenth Sunday after Trinity, September 20th, 2026

St. Luke tells us about the time in which Our Blessed Lord and many of His disciples went through a city called Nain.  And it was here, St. Luke tells us, that as Our Lord passed by there was a funeral procession taking place.  And this funeral was being held for the only son of a widowed woman.  Now read this specific verse from St. Luke:  "And when the Lord saw her, He had compassion on her,and said unter her, Weep not." (St. Luke 7:13)   Our Lord had compassion on this poor widow who had just lost her only son.  You know, Our Lord has compassion on all of us.  That is the precise reason He came to earth as a human being.  He had compassion on fallen humanity.  This is why when you read the Gospels you will see time and time and time again where Our Lord had compassion on those suffering some sort of affliction.  Whether they were bilind . . .  or deaf . . . or lame . . . or a whole host of other ailments Our Lord had compassion on those He saw in pain.  In regards to the poor widow from Nain whom the Lord had great compassion on, what did He do for her?  He brought the woman's son back to life.  He raised the woman's dead to new life right then and there.  God has compassion on all of us.  And we should follow the example of Our Blessed Lord; we should show mercy.  We should show compassion to those around us as well.  "And shew mercy and compassion every many to his brother."  (Zechariah 7:9)

Please join us as we gather together at the beautiful Chapel at Marquette Manor, located at 8140 N. Township Line Road on the Northwest side of Indianapolis.  Mass begins at 10:30 am.  Please join us this day and hear the Word of God and give praise and honor to Our Risen Saviour!

Fifteenth Sunday after Trinity, September 13th, 2026

 

Fifteenth Sunday after Trinity, September 13th, 2026

In the Epistle for today's Mass, we are listening to a section of St. Paul's sixth chapter of the Epistle to the Galatians.  In this section, St. Paul is trying to warn the young church at Galatia not to be swayed by false teachers, some of which were preaching and teaching and vying for followers.  St. Paul writes:  "But God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ." (Galatians, Chapter 6:14).  As is usually the case, when we read statements in Holy Scripture, normally it is said/written for a reason.  St. Paul's words cited above are no different.  The reason why St. Paul said what he said was because there were certain false teachers only wanting to compel their followers to follow Jewish laws and customs.  In this case, they wanted the men to be circumcised in order to be "more Christian."  These false teachers were more interested in satisfying themselves than they were in serving Our Blessed Lord.  See verses 12 and 13 of this chapter:  " . . .  they constrain you to be circumcised; only lest they should suffer persecution for the Cross of Christ.  For neither they themselves who are circumcised keep the law; but desire to have you circumcised, that they may glory in your flesh."

St. Paul's point in this:  there is only one thing ultimately that has made a difference in the world . . . . a lasting difference, a permanent difference, if you will . . . and that is the fact that Our Lord was willing to give up His own life for you and for me. He paid the price for OUR sins.  And this is the only thing that will ultimately save us:  His Death on the Cross.  It is this one saving event in the history of the world that has made a permanent, lasting effect for all people: Christ died on the Cross to save you and me from our sins.  Nothing else we can do will save us from our sins, including circumcision, is the point that St. Paul is making.  St. Paul was not condemning the practice of circumcision.  In fact, just the opposite, he says further on this chapter:   ".  . .  .peace be on them, and mercy, and upon the Israel of God." (verse 16)  He is just making the point that signs and symbols and good works and good thoughts . . . .  all of these are fine but none of these will save us.  Only the Cross of Christ has the saving effect for all eternity.  Only Our Lord's Sacrifice on the Cross is the permanent solution to our sinful ways and lifestyle.  He died on the Cross to atone for OUR sins . . .not His! . . .  OUR sins and then He rose again on the third day so that we will have the opportunity to share eternal life with Our Heavenly Father.  We need to keep this thought in our minds each and every day.

So many times we place all of our hopes in things, or actions or events and we are positive that these things will make everything better for us . . . . "Oh, if I can only make it to the weekend, everything will be fine.  Let me make it through this week"  "If I could only get this upgraded computer, everything will go much better, and I could do more things, and it would run faster . . . ."  "If I could only get all of my chores done at the house, then I could  .. . . ."  You see, as human beings, we pin all of our hopes and obtaining certain things or reaching certain goals . . . . whether they be obtaining new jobs, or new homes, or the latest gadgets . . .  and we are sure that everything will be just fine if we only get this certain item.  And this seems to appease us only briefly until we get fixated on getting the next "must-have" item or the next earth-shattering event in our life.  But ultimately, none of these things matter in the course of eternity.  There is only one thing and one thing only that matters for us:  the fact that Christ was willing to die on the Cross to atone for your sins and mine.  That is the single solitary event in the history of the world whose effects are ever-lasting.  Everything else is just temporary.

Please join us as we gather together at the beautiful Chapel at Marquette Manor, located at 8140 N. Township Line Road on the Northwest side of Indianapolis.  Mass begins at 10:30 am.  Please join us this day and hear the Word of God and give praise and honor to Our Risen Saviour!

Fourteenth Sunday after Trinity, September 6th, 2026

 

Fourteenth Sunday after Trinity, September 6th, 2026

As Our Lord travelled to Jerusalem, He encountered ten men whom St. Luke tells us that happened to be lepers.  St. Luke tells us that these men were standing some distance from Our Lord.  And these lepers raised their voices to gain the attention of Jesus.  Our Lord did hear their cry and He did heal them.  Well, to make a long story short . . . .  and getting to the point of the story . . . . only one out of the ten men came back to give thanks and show his gratefulness for being healed.  Our Lord asked the question:  "Were there not ten cleansed?  But where are the nine?" (St. Luke 17:17)   I wonder if Our Blessed Lord ever asks that question of us?  Do we thank God when we sit down to enjoy a meal?  Do we thank God when we start a new day?  Do we remember to thank God when we receive a blessing from Him?  So often we run to God when we need something, but we are quick to forget Him when things are running fine.  The ten lepers were quick to call out to Jesus when they needed Him but nine out of the ten left and never turned back to say "thanks."  Let us not be like the nine who did not thank Our Lord.  Let us always remember to thank God on a daily basis.  Let us show thanksgiving to Our Blessed Saviour for all the blessings He shows us.

Please join us as we gather together at the beautiful Chapel at Marquette Manor, located at 8140 N. Township Line Road on the Northwest side of Indianapolis.  Mass begins at 10:30 am.  Please join us this day and hear the Word of God and give praise and honor to Our Risen Saviour!