Reflections On The Sixth and Seventh Sorrows of Our Lady

I remember back when I saw Mel Gibson’s “The Passion” when it was released.  Like all of you who saw this production, I was moved with sorrow and grief at seeing the visual portrayal of the brutal treatment of Our Lord.  Mel Gibson was able, it seems to me, to vividly portray the sorrowful and cruel series of events depicting the Passion of Our Lord.  In this sense, this movie presentation helped to portray some of the sorrows that Our Lady was forced to endure in regards to her Son.

Just as throughout His life, Our Lady followed the cruel events leading up to His death.  One of the titles that Our Lady has been given is “Our Lady of Sorrows,” or “Sancta Mater Dolorosa.”  One of the devotions in regards to Our Lady of Sorrows has to do with the “Seven Sorrows of Our Lady.”  These, of course, refer to the Seven Sorrows Our Lady endured in regards to her Son.  The final two sorrows in this devotion, the Sixth and Seventh Sorrows, we will deal with in this short essay:  “Our Lord’s Descent from the Cross;” and the “Burial of Our Lord.”

Our Lord’s Descent from the Cross

After His Crucifixion, we hear in St. Matthew’s Gospel, the taking down from the Cross:

“When the even was come, there came a rich man of Arimathaea, named Joseph, who also himself was Jesus’ disciple: He went to Pilate, and begged the body of Jesus.  Then Pilate commanded the body to be delivered.  And when Joseph had taken the body, he wrapped it in a clean linen cloth.”  (St. Matthew 27:57-59)

As mentioned earlier, how can any of us ever imagine the intense pain that Our Lady felt for her Son during the events of His Passion?  After everything that she had seen . . .  after all the paid that she had endured . . . . what emotions must she have felt as she saw her Son taken down from the Cross?  Pain. Sorrow. Grief. Agony.  And, yes, most certainly even Relief.  Relief that Her Son’s torture was finished.  Relief that His pain was over. Our Lady now wanted most to see her Son taken down from the Cross, taken down from the instrument of His Death.   Surely, she did not want to see her Son left up on the Cross to continue the shame and agony He was forced to endure from those who hated Him.  As with all mothers who love their children so dearly, she did not want to see her child treated with such contempt and hatred. 

What lesson can we learn that Our Lady has taught us?  As Christians, we learn to have compassion for Our Lord in this world.  You see, Our Lady had no power over the forces that caused her Son’s death.  She could not stop the tragic series of events that led to her Son hanging on that Cross.  And yet she could do the one thing that she did His entire life:  try to comfort Him as best as she could.  Mothers tend to do that, don’t they?  So often, our mothers are there to comfort us when we are hurting the most.  And so often they do not know what to do to relieve us of our pain other than they do the one thing that they do best:  they embrace us and hold us while we are grieving.  They hold us to let us know that we have someone with us when we hurt.  They embrace us to let us know that we have someone who loves us. This is what Our Lady did when her Son was brought down from the Cross.  She did the thing that came naturally to her and to all mothers . . . . she embraced her Son even in His death.   We too should learn to comfort Our Lord when He is offended.  Like Mary, so often we will not have the power to stop those in the world from offending Our Blessed Saviour.  But like Mary we can do what comes natural:  show love and devotion to Our Blessed Saviour.  When we hear of Our Lord being mocked and hated in this world, embrace Our Lord and show Him your love.  This is what Our Lady did at the foot of the Cross:  she supported her Son when all others had left.  Thus, when we see Our Lord so cruelly treated by those around us in the world, embrace Our Lord and hold on to Him.  Support Him by showing Him how much you love Him.

The Burial of Christ

From St. John’s Gospel, we hear:  “Then took they the body of Jesus, and wound it in linen clothes with the spices, as the manner of the Jews is to bury.  Now in the place where He was crucified there was a garden: and in the garden a new sepulcher, wherein was never man yet laid.  There laid they Jesus therefore because of the Jew’s preparation day; for the sepulcher was nigh at hand.” (St. John 19:40-42)

Our Lady and the disciples of Our Lord buried Him with much care and compassion.  Keep in mind that surely each one of them that had gathered there must have been dealing with a whole host of emotions:  grief, agony, sorrow, confusion,  . . . .  And yet despite this whole host of emotions present in each one of them, they buried Our Lord with great compassion and love.  Despite the varied limitations that were in place, we know that the disciples of Our Blessed Lord prepared a burial place with much love, dignity and respect to their Blessed Saviour.  In their grief, they did their best to give Him a special resting place. 

As Christians committed to Our Blessed Saviour, we too are called to prepare a special place for Him.  In the book of Exodus we hear:  “The Lord is my strength and song, and He is become my salvation: He is my God, and I will prepare Him an habitation . .  .” (Exodus 15:2)  This is the lesson we can learn from the Seventh, and final, Sorrow of Mary:  to prepare a place for Our Saviour.  Even in the shadows of His Death, Mary and the Disciples prepared a special place for Our Blessed Saviour.  We can follow their example by preparing a special place for Him as well.  Where will this place be, you ask?  The one place He wishes to be:  in our hearts, of course.  If we each prepare a special place in our heart for Our Lord, imagine how pleased He will be.  Mary and the Disciples did their best to prepare a place for Him with as much care and devotion as they could possibly show.  They did this to show their respect and love.  We too much prepare a place in our heart out of respect and love for Our Blessed Lord.   

Please Join Us On Sunday, August 28th, 2016

Fourteenth Sunday after Trinity, August 28th, 2016

In the Seventeenth chapter of St. Luke's Gospel, we hear about the time in which Our Blessed Saviour encountered ten lepers.  We all are familiar with this passage, I am quite sure.  The bottom line is that Our Lord directed the ten lepers to go see the priest and as they went all ten were healed.  And yet this is not the point of the passage that St. Luke presents to us. As a result of being healed, only one out of the ten came back and expressed his thanks and gratitude to Our Blessed Saviour.  This action . . .  or should I say "inaction" of the other nine ..  . . caused Our Lord to voice the question to the one man that came back in front of Him:  ". . . but where are the nine?" (St. Luke 17:11 ff)  Although the event just described in St. Luke's Gospel happened some two-thousand years ago, I have no doubt whatsoever that Our Blessed Lord is still asking the very same question in our own day about us.  What do I mean?  How many people only approach God when they need something?  How many people do we know . . . . .  and in all fairness, this could describe us as well at times . . .  how many people do we know that when they get into trouble . . . when they get into a jam ..  . . . when they find themselves facing dire consequences .  . . these people go running to God.  These people pray like they've never prayed before.  They pray and pray and pray  . . .  and then they pray some more . .  . they pray that God will assist them in their time of need.  And then when their "dire emergency" passes by, these same people that prayed for God's help are nowhere to be found.  In other words, they don't seek God again until the next time they "need" Him.  When described this way, isn't that exactly what the "other" nine lepers did to Our Lord?  They cried for help in order to be healed.  But only one was able to ALSO voice thanksgiving!  How many times do we go to God only when we "need" Him?  How many times do we only go to God when we "need" His assistance?  The point I am making is that we should make an effort during our lifetime to approach God in ALL aspects of our life and not just when we "need" something.  Go to God in petition in times of trouble, yes!  But, please, do not go to God ONLY when you need something!  Pray for God's help but also pray to God in times of thanksgiving!  Go to God in prayer when you simply want to tell Him how wonderful He is.  Go to God and spend time with God every single day and not simply when you "need" Him.  

Please join St. Margaret Church on Sunday, August 28th, 2016 as we worship Our Heavenly Father as a family.  Join us as we listen to God's Word found in the King James Bible and the 1928 Book of Common Prayer.  Join us as Our Blessed Saviour nourishes us and strengthens us at Communion time as we receive the Most Precious Body and Blood!

St. Margaret Church worships at the beautiful chapel at Marquette Manor, located at 8140 N. Township Line Road on the Northwest side of Indianapolis.  Mass begins at 9:30 AM on Sunday mornings.

Join us for the Thirteenth Sunday after Trinity, August 21, 2016

Thirteenth Sunday after Trinity, August 21st, 2016

I remember one particular television show which I have not seen in a long time, "Hogan's Heroes."  And in this particular sitcom from the 1960's, one of the main characters is "Sgt. Schultz."  The catch-phrase, I would dare say for Sgt. Schultz would be:  "I know nothing."  He would say this when he caught Hogan and his men doing something that they should not be doing.  And the point being that Sgt. Schultz did not want to know about those things that he saw with his own eyes.  In our own lives, we see lots of things with our own eyes.  Like Sgt. Schultz, sometimes we see things we would rather not see.  But other times we see things that are wonderful to our eyes.  In the tenth chapter of the Gospel of St. Luke, Our Blessed Lord is speaking to His disciples and He says to them:  "BLESSED are the eyes which see the things that ye see" (v. 23)  In this verse, of course, Our Saviour is speaking to the disciples but, quite frankly, each one of us has seen the Lord at work in our lives.  Each one of us has seen Our Blessed Lord touch our life in one way or another.  Therefore, blessed are our eyes which have seen the Lord at work in our very life as well.  As human beings, similar to Sgt. Schultz, we see what we want to see and ignore what we want to ignore.  As Christians, though, we need to make a point to look for the things of God.  We need to take note of the ways in which God is working in our life.  You see, God is with us every single day of our life.  But often times we are too busy to even notice.  God gives blessings to every single one of us on a daily basis.  Unfortunately, we usually are more interested in the things of the world to even take notice.  Have you ever had the experience where you were looking for something that you needed, like a pair of eyeglasses, for example,  and you searched and you looked around and you could not find it and then it turned out to be right near you and you never saw it?  It was in plain view all along but you never saw it even though it was right by you all the time.  That's how it is with God very often.  God is with us each and every day.  God blesses us each and every day.  And yet despite this fact, so often we do not take the time to notice.  So often we do not even realize that God is at work in our life.  This is why we need to make the point to search for God on a daily basis.  And once we do, I think many of us will be surprised to see how close He was all along.

Please make the effort to join us on Sunday, August 21st, 2016 as we welcome Bishop Stephen Strawn to our church.  Bishop Strawn will celebrate Mass and preach.  He will let us know the powerful way that God is at work in our diocese and throughout God's church.  We are always so happy to see Bishop Strawn when he visits us and hope that you will attend to give him a warm welcome.

Mass begins at 9:30 AM on Sunday, August 21st, 2016.  Mass is celebrated in the beautiful chapel located at Marquette Manor, which is at 8140 N. Township Line Road on the Northwest side of Indianapolis.  Please join us as we welcome our bishop and then stay after Mass for some delicious goodies and refreshments at the coffee hour.

Immaculate Conception

It would be benefical to all of us to have a correct understanding of the Immaculate Conception.  You see, this term "Immaculate Conception" confuses people, quite frankly.  Many people have a misconception of what this term truly means.  For these people, they think that the Immaculate Conception of Our Lady puts her on a par with God.  They feel as though the Immaculate Conception of Our Lady makes her equal with God.  They feel that the Immaculate Conception makes Our Lady some sort of a "goddess," herself and as such is in no need of God's saving grace.  Nothing could be further from the truth.

If you will, let me tell you a story.  I remember when I was a young boy growing up.  I remember a time or two when my mother would come into my room at home and she would take a look at the terrible condition of my room  . . . . with books everywhere . . .  clothes everywhere . . .  bed unmade . . .  toys out of place . . . . my dear mother would look at this mess and she would tell me:  "You better start cleaning up this room and when I come back it had better be IMMACULATE!!!!"   In other words, she wanted my room to be as clean as possible with nothing out of place or out of order.

Or fast-forward to adulthood.  In your business life, I am sure all of us have had the occasion when our boss was coming through on an official visit . . . or the owner of the company . . . or a big regional manager was coming to visit.  And the word always goes out to clean up your desk . . .  clean up your cubicle . . . clean up your area  . . . and make sure everything is IMMACULATE!!!!!

Or how about when we are expecting important company to our home . . .  whether it be dear friends that we have not seen in a while . . .  or beloved relatives . . . .  or neighbors . . . .  when we invite people over to our home, we want the best impression given.  We clean up.  We put things in order.  We tidy up.  We place things where they are supposed to be.  We vacuum.  We clean.  We do all of this in order for the house to be IMMACULATE!!!!

Even when I know that the bishop is coming to visit our parish on his annual visitation, what do I do?  I put everything in order.  I clean the sacristy.  I clean the church.  I polish up the altar.  I dust everything. In short, I want the church to be IMMACULATE because somebody important is coming to visit!!!

In each of the examples that I gave above, we are cleaning things up, we are putting things in order.  Whether it be our room; our house; or our work-space.  And why is this so important?  Why do we clean things up or put things in order?  We are getting our area in good condition because someone important is coming to visit.  When you think about it in those terms, God wanted the Blessed Mother to be Immaculate because a very important visitor was coming to visit us:  His Son.

Pope Pius IX wrote in 1854 in regards to the Immaculate Conception:  "The most Blessed Virgin Mary, in the first instant of her conception, by a singular grace and privilege granted by almighty God, in view of the merits of Jesus Christ, the saviour of the human race, was preserved from all stain of original sin." (IIneffabilis Deus, the Apostolic Constitution f Pope Pius IX on the Immaculate Conception (December 8, 1854).

As stated above, this statement scares a lot of people because they don't truly understand what it means.  Quite frankly, a lot of people who call themselves "Catholic" do not even understand truly what the term "Immaculate Conception" means.  Please note in the quotation referenced above two important points made by Pope Pius IX :  1)  The Immaculate Conception of Our Lady was a "singular grace and privilege granted by Almighty God."  In other words, it was not anything Our Lady did herself to make this possible: God made the Immaculate Conception possible for her;  2)  God permitted the Immaculate Conception "in view of the merits of Jesus Christ . . . "  In other words, the Immaculate Conception was permitted not for the benefit of Mary herself, but the Immaculate Conception was for the benefit of the Divine Infant she carried in her womb.  God wanted a proper place, free of all sin, as the proper place for His Son to dwell.  Again, this was allowed by God.  Mary did not make herself Immaculate . . .  God made her Immaculate for His Son's benefit!

We know that the Blessed Virgin Mary was the "vehicle" that brought Our Saviour into the world.  As such, God made her "immaculate" so that she could be a pure vehicle to bring the Saviour of the World to us.  We hear in St. Luke 1:42:  " . . . and she exclaimed with a loud cry, "Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb!"  Indeed!  Our Lady was in fact blessed.  She was blessed because she was made so by God.  She was blessed because she said "Yes!" to God.  She was blessed because she was open to doing the will of God in her life.  "And Mary said; Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word."  (St. Luke 1:38)

If we have ever gone to pick up someone in our own vehicle . .  . whether it be a important visitor . . .  an important guest . . . . a boss .. .  a beloved relative . . . . if we are given the task of picking that person up and driving them somewhere, don't we make a point to try to clean up our vehicle?  Don't we try to put it in order as much as possible?  Don't we try to make it IMMACULATE as possible?

For my part, this is how I view the Immaculate Conception of Mary:  it's not so much about HER as it is about WHOM she was carrying inside of her.  In the Immaculate Conception, God was preparing a vehicle worthy of carrying His Son into the world.  A vehicle without spot, without sin, without stain.  When we clean our rooms . . . when we clean our work areas . . . when we clean our homes . . .  we are actually showing the importance of those who are coming to visit.  In this case, it was the most important visitor ever:  the Saviour of the World.  And God chose Our Lady to bring that Saviour into the world:  "Hail, full of Grace; the Lord is with you!"  (St. Luke 1:28)  . . . . the Lord is with you! . . . .  This is the reason God gave Our Lady the gift of the Immaculate Conception because the Lord was with her.

And here lies the importance of the whole notion of the Immaculate Conception:  the Immaculate Conception was not for the benefit of the Blessed Virgin Mary . . . . the Immaculate Conception was for the benefit of the Divine Infant she was carrying within her.  She was not "Immaculate" for HER benefit . .  .. She was "Immaculate" for HIS benefit.  She was made immaculate because she was carrying the Saviour of the World.

Are You In Debt???

I am confident that every single person reading my words right now knows a thing or two about being in debt.  We can all come up with our own examples . . . in fact, I am again confident that each of us can come up with NUMEROUS examples of debt.  Whether it be debt via credit cards . ..  or debt in regards to a house mortgage or a car payment . . .  or debt for other loans  . . . .  such as student loans for college; etc.  All of us can think of debts that we have had over the years.  While some debts are unavoidable . .  . other debts we should avoid getting into at all costs possible.  For example, trying as hard as we can not to be in debt to credit card companies.  I even looked up how much "debt" the United States debt is and the source at least that I found stated it was somewhere around $19.26 Trillion dollars!!!  All of us are in debt to someone in one way or fashion, it would seem.

Even in St. Paul's Epistle to the Romans, we hear:  "Brethren, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live after the flesh." (Romans 8:12)  As stated above, all of us have been debtors at one point or another.  Very often . . .  if not every single time, come to think of it . . .  we do not want to be in debt.  Nobody wnats to be in debt, do they?  Whether we just got done paying off a credit card, only to find ourselves having to use that credit card all over again.  Or just when we get done paying off the car . . .  something goes terribly wrong.   Just last year, I remember, I had just finished paying off my car  . . . . which, of course, is a wonderful feeling, wouldn't you agree?  And then within a month or two, the car that I had just finished paying off was hit by another driver and it was destroyed.  Thus, get a replacement vehicle and get back on that monthly car payment "merry-go-round" all over again.  None of us wants to be in debt is the bottom line but sometimes we end up being in debt whether we want to or not.  This is the point that St. Paul is making to the Romans.  Some of us are in debt to our bodily urges . . . . whether it be the urges for:  food; or drink; or drugs; or sex; or urges even for what we wear or what we own.  Sometimes we become so caught up in these things that before we know it we get fixated, if you will, focused on our material needs such as food; drink; etc.  This is the point that St. Paul is making.  Let us not get so caught up with the desires of the flesh that we become a prisoner to our own desires.  Isn't that was an alcoholic is, for example, a prisoner to his or her need for a drink?  But there are so many examples that we can use.  Don't become a debtor to things of the flesh.  We are human, yes, but we are more than simply humans . . . . we are spirit as well.  Focus your energy . . .  Focus your desires . . .  Focus your attention  . . . .  to things of God instead of things of earth.  Don't become a debtor to things of this world because they are passing away.  Our true treasure awaits us:  to spend eternity with Our Heavenly Father.  

Join St. Margaret Church on Sunday, July 17th, 2016 at 9:30 AM as we celebrate the Eighth Sunday after Trinity.  Join us as we listen to the Word of God found in both the King James Bible and the 1928 Book of Common Prayer.  Listen as God speaks to you through His Word.  Join together with your Brothers and Sisters in Christ as we worship Our Heavenly Father as His Family.  And also receive the Most Precious Body and Blood of Christ at Communion time.

St. Margaret worships at the beautiful chapel at Marquette Manor, located at 8140 N. Township Line Road on the Northwest side of Indianapolis.

How Good is Your Memory?

Do you ever have a problem remembering something?  I know I do.  It's strange that I can remember something from forty years ago and yet I can't remember what I went into the kitchen to get just now.  Some things stick in our mind and other things not so well.  It seems like some things that I would like to remember, I have trouble remembering.  Other things that I would actually like to forget, I hang on to those things.  If you have problems remembering, you are not alone.  It seems like the disciples had problems remembering as well.

In the sixth chapter of the Gospel of St. Mark, we begin this chapter by listening to St. Mark recount how Our Blessed Saviour fed the four thousand.  Now, remember that back in the end of Chapter Six of this very same Gospel, we hear about the feeding of the Five thousand.  In my humble opinion, the most wonderful thing about this incredible miracle is actually not the miracle itself . . .  although feeding four thousand people with a few fish and a few pieces of bread is simply amazing.  No, what I always like to point out is what leads to this miracle.  After seeing the vast crowd gathered around Him, Our Lord says:  "I have compassion on the multitude."  In order to have compassion, you first have to take notice of someone's need.  In other words, we have a God Who is not distant.  We have a God Who is not far away.  We have a God Who takes the time to notice how we feel.  We have a God Who actually cares about His people.  Our Blessed Saviour was concerned that those who traveled from a distance would be in need of food.  

I know that all of us can think of someone in our life who cares for us . . .  whether it is a relative, or a neighbor, or a close friend, or a coworker.  We all have someone in our life that takes the time to notice when we are down.  Or that one person in our life who does simple things to show how much they care.  Perhaps they call you for no other reason just to see how you are doing.  Or they are the person you can always depend on in time of need . . . . when everybody else has given every excuse under the sun for not being there for you.  For those people that are always there for you, don't you feel like you would also like to be there for them as well?  That's how it should be for God.  God is always there for us.  Even when everyone else turns their back on us, God is always there waiting for our return to Him.  God is always faithful to us . . . . despite the fact that we are not always so faithful to Him all the time.  We should always remember the wonderful things that God has done for us.  In this, though, sometimes we are forgetful.  We forget everything that God has done for us because we get so fixated on the things of the world that grab our attention.  

Make a point to improve your memory, at least, in regards to the wonderful things that God has done for you in your life.  Never forget the faithfulness of God.  Yes, God is faithful to you when it is us that should be faithful to Him.  Never forget that.

Join us for the Sixth Sunday after Trinity, 2016

Sixth Sunday after Trinity, July 3rd, 2016

When I was growing up I remember clearly our city had a local TV host who showed old "monster movies" every Friday night such as the werewolf  .. .. . or the mummy ... . or Count Dracula.  These would be the old movies from the 1940's or 1950's, keep in mind so they wouldn't be gory like horror movies are today.  Anyway, I remember watching "Frankenstein" when I was a young boy.  And, of course, the premise is that Dr. Frankenstein brings a man back from the dead and raises him to life again.  I am sure we are all familiar with the story line either through reading the original book or watching countless movie versions.  Now the reason this example comes to mind, I suppose, is that sin seems to be a lot like Frankenstein's monster because it keeps coming back to life again in our lives.  In the sixth chapter of the Epistle to the Romans, we hear:  "For he that is dead is freed from sin."  Now, this seems to be pretty clear-cut.  But for human beings sin seems to be like a weed that keeps coming back and back and back again.  We spray weed killer and the weeds are gone for a while but then they come back again somewhere else.   Sin is that weed in our life that keeps coming back and back and back again.  The only way we can get rid of sin in our lives completely is to focus our life on Christ . ..  to center our life on Christ . . .  Further on in Chapter Six of the Epistle to the Romans, we hear:  "Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord."  If we imagine the example of a drinking glass or a pitcher or any sort of container, we know that as long as the container is filled up, you can not fit anything else in.  Thus, if our life is filled up with sinful behaviors:  hatred . . . anger . ..  lust . . .  envy ...  . whatever sin that plagues us on a regular basis . .  . replace those sins with thoughts of Christ.  Replace those sinful thoughts with thoughts of God.  Fill up your heart with the love of God.  If your heart is filled with God-centered thoughts, there will be no room for thoughts of hatred, envy, anger, etc.  If your heart is focused on God and on things of God, it will not have any opportunity to be focused on anything else.

Join St. Margaret of Scotland  Church on Sunday, July 3rd, 2016 as we gather together to worship Our Heavenly Father.  Join us as we listen to God's Word found in the King James Bible and the 1928 Book of Common Prayer.  Join us as we receive the Most Precious Body and Blood of Our Blessed Saviour at Communion time to nourish us and sustain us in our Christian journey.

St. Margaret worships at the beautiful chapel at Marquette Manor, which is located at 8140 N. Township line Road on the Northwest side of Indianapolis.  Mass begins at 9:30 AM.