Fourth Sunday in Lent, March 27th, 2022

 Fourth Sunday in Lent, March 27th, 2022

The Gospel for Laetare Sunday comes from the Sixth Chapter of St. John's Gospel.  As we begin this passage St. John tells us of the large crowds that have followed Our Blessed Saviour due to them hearing about the many people which He has cured.  Our Lord's fame has grown far and wide due to the many miracles that He has performed.   And many of those gathered want to not only to see Him but to hear what He has to say.  Now the first thing that should strike us when we hear the story of Our Lord feeding the multitude is that Our Lord is a compassionate Lord.  He knew that these people that gathered together to hear Him and to get just a glimpse of Him would be tired . . .  they would be hungry . . .  these people would need to be sustained and nourished.  And He called together the disciples and inquired what would need to be done.  Now, we all know what happened next.  Our Blessed Saviour multiplied the five loaves and the two fish into feeding the multitude.

What I would like to focus on is what Our Lord did after everyone was fed.  He called together the disciples and told them:  "Gather up the fragments that remain, that nothing be lost. ." (St. John 6:12)  Sometimes our lives feel like "fragments," in a sense.  We run here.  We run there.  We take care of our families.  We take care of our home. We go to our jobs.  We go shopping for what we need.  The list goes on and on.  As a result, we feel like we are running around from one place to the next, going from doing one thing into something completely different.  I know I feel this way very often.  And I talk to so many people that feel the same way.  Our lives are divided between this, that and the other.  But the important thing to remember is that God takes our "fragments" and makes them whole.  Just like Our Blessed Saviour fed and nourished the five-thousand, He feeds and nourishes us still today.  Just like He saw the vast multitude gathered around Him, He still sees us in need of His strength to carry on our daily lives.  And He is that strength.  He is the One Who nourishes us.  He is the One Who sustains us.  He is the One Who makes us whole.  He takes the fragments of our lives and makes our life complete.   There is no other person, thing, or feeling in the world that can make us complete.  There is only one person who can do this for us.  And that is God.  Give your heart to Him.  Let Him be your nourishment.  Let God be your sustaining force.  Let Our Blessed Saviour be the One you run to in order to be fed.

St. Margaret Church worships every Sunday morning at 10:30 AM at the Chapel at Marquette Manor, which is located at 8140 N. Township Line Road on the Northwest side of Indianapolis.

NOTE:  Keep in mind that we must enter in the main entrance of the lobby and sign in before we go to the chapel.  

Please Join us as we gather together as God's family to:  hear the Word of God; listen as God speaks to each one of us in our hearts; worship God in song and in word; listen to the King James Bible and the 1928 Book of Common Prayer; and, finally, receive Our Blessed Lord in Holy Communion so that we can be nourished for the journey we call life.  Take one hour out of your busy schedule to worship God, to honour God, to acknowledge the need for God in your life.

Third Sunday in Lent, March 20th, 2022

 Third Sunday in Lent, March 20th, 2022

Maybe it's just me, I don't know, but I am amazed at how often I "revert" back to doing something when I know I should not be doing it and then I turn around and do the same thing all over again.  For example, I type every day on the computer.  And sometimes . . . . I don't know the reason why .. . . I may type the wrong letter in a certain word and then I will go back and erase it and type the correct word but then the next time I get to type that same word I end up typing the same exact wrong letter again.  And then it gets to the point that it is laughable because then suddenly no matter how hard I try and how determined I am NOT to type that one wrong letter . . .  . I do it again.

Sin is like that as well.  We may keep doing the same wrong things all over again even though deep down inside we know that the sinful behaviour is no good for us but we keep going back and doing the same thing over and over again.  In the Fifth Chapter of St. Paul's Letter to the Ephesians, we hear the following:  "For ye were sometimes darkness, but now are ye light in the Lord."  (Ephesians 5:8)   Our Blessed Saviour redeemed us by His Own Precious Blood.  Our Saviour took our sins upon His shoulders and carried them to that hill at Calvary.  Our Saviour saved us from our sins by dying on the Cross for us.  With all of this in mind, it begs the question:  why do we do what we do . . . . especially when we supposedly know better?  How often do we do something really stupid and then we say out loud to ourselves:  "Why did I do that?"  St. Paul is saying to the Ephesians just like he is saying to us:  "You used to be ignorant of your sins but now you have knowledge in Christ . . . you are knowledgeable of Our Lord . . .  you know about Him . .    you know His ways . .  . you know Him . . . . now, act like Him and do not go back to your former, sinful ways."  This, in essence, is what St. Paul was saying to the church at Ephesus and what he is saying to us.

St. Margaret Church worships every Sunday morning at 10:30 AM at the Chapel at Marquette Manor, which is located at 8140 N. Township Line Road on the Northwest side of Indianapolis.

NOTE:  Keep in mind that we must enter in the main entrance of the lobby and sign in before we go to the chapel.  

Please Join us as we gather together as God's family to:  hear the Word of God; listen as God speaks to each one of us in our hearts; worship God in song and in word; listen to the King James Bible and the 1928 Book of Common Prayer; and, finally, receive Our Blessed Lord in Holy Communion so that we can be nourished for the journey we call life.  Take one hour out of your busy schedule to worship God, to honour God, to acknowledge the need for God in your life. 

Second Sunday in Lent, March 13th, 2022

 Second Sunday in Lent, March 13th, 2022

In the Fifteenth Chapter of St. Matthew's Gospel, we hear the story of Our Blessed Saviour meeting the woman of Canaan who besought Our Lord seeking favour for her daughter.  Now keep in mind that this woman was not Jewish, and yet she said to Our Lord: "Thou Son of David: my daughter is grievously vexed with a devil." (St Matthew 15:22)  Right from the beginning, it is evident that this woman must have recognized the greatness of Our Lord or else she would not have referred to Him as "Thou Son of David."  Now, we have all heard this story because Our Lord at first  . .. .. it seems .  .  .. that He ignores her because He says not a word at her first request.  After that it is apparent that she then proceeds to bother the disciples for her request because St. Matthew informs us that they "besought Him, saying, Send her away: for she crieth after us." (v.23)  After this, Our Lord still ignores her request by basically saying, in essence, that He was sent for the children of Israel.  And despite all of this, this woman still persisted until finally Our Lord recognized her persistence and her faith when He said:  " O woman, great is thy faith: be it unto thee even as thou wilt." (v.28)

Now the point that we can all learn from this is to be determined and to have faith.  The woman of Canaan had both.  She recognized Our Lord to be the source of help and healing for her daughter.   But she was also determined.  In faith, we need to be determined.  But we need to be determined for the right reason.  In other words, sometimes we only get "religious" when we need God for something:  We want to get hired for a new job.  We need a favour of some sort.  We need guidance to get out of a jam.   Now there is nothing wrong with going to Our Heavenly Father when we need His assistance.  What is wrong, though, is when we ONLY go to Him when we need something and forget about Him the rest of the time.  A lot of people only go to God when they get into a jam or when they need something.  They suddenly get real "religious" when they are in need but the rest of the time they act as if there is no God.  Our Lord came to offer us Salvation.  He came to die on the Cross for us.  But He also spent some thirty-three years on this earth being a human being like you and I.  He knows what it is like to walk in your shoes.  He knows what it is like to laugh and to cry.  He knows what it is like to work and to rest. He knows what it is like to walk in your shoes as a human being.  As such, we can go to Him on a daily basis and we should go to Him on a daily basis.  Do not just go to God when you are in need of something.  Go to God every day with your concerns, your joys, your sorrows, your everything.

St. Margaret Church worships every Sunday morning at 10:30 AM at the Chapel at Marquette Manor, which is located at 8140 N. Township Line Road on the Northwest side of Indianapolis.

NOTE:  Keep in mind that we must enter in the main entrance of the lobby and sign in before we go to the chapel.  

Please Join us as we gather together as God's family to:  hear the Word of God; listen as God speaks to each one of us in our hearts; worship God in song and in word; listen to the King James Bible and the 1928 Book of Common Prayer; and, finally, receive Our Blessed Lord in Holy Communion so that we can be nourished for the journey we call life.  Take one hour out of your busy schedule to worship God, to honour God, to acknowledge the need for God in your life.

First Sunday of Lent, March 6th, 2022

 First Sunday of Lent, March 6th, 2022

The Gospel passage which we will hear on the First Sunday of Lent comes to us from the Fourth Chapter of St. Matthew.  Here, St. Matthew describes Our Lord's Forty Days in the Wilderness.  As we all know, the devil likes to take every opportunity he can to take advantage.  This is no exception.  He tries three separate times to take advantage and tempt Our Blessed Saviour while He is fasting.  Finally, the Lord  admonishes the devil by telling him:  "Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve." (v.10)   After this, we are told, the devil left Him and "angels came and ministered unto Him." (v. 11) There are two major points that we can take away from this:

First, Our Lord was fasting for forty days and forty nights and during this time, the devil came to tempt Him.  How many of us have sat down to pray, or sat down to read the Bible, or tried to concentrate while we were in church and every thought comes into our head:  we start thinking about what we're going to eat for lunch; we start thinking about something we should have done at home;  we start thinking about a movie or a TV show; etc.  I am sure this has happened to all of us at one point or another.  The point is this:  if the devil is bold enough to tempt Our Blessed Saviour, he is certainly bold enough to tempt you and me.  Some people let these distractions over-power them and keep them from prayer completely.  They take these "distractions" as some sort of a "sign" that they weren't meant to pray or that they can't pray.  If this happens, the devil has won.  Don't give the devil the victory.  Remember always that the devil will stop at nothing in order to keep you from growing closer to God.  If the devil can tempt Our Blessed Saviour, he will certainly tempt you as well.  Don't let the temptation stop you in your tracks.  Tell the devil who is in charge of your life and then move on!

The second point is that the devil will try to tempt us with things that are attractive to us, that are appealing to us.  He will tempt us with things that we would want and desire to begin with.  The devil will use any tool necessary to tempt you and me.  He will use food and drink; he will use power and money; he will use position and title.  Any of these things mentioned are not necessarily bad in and of themselves, but if they keep us away from God or if they stand as a barrier between us and God, then this is what makes them bad.  Also, many of these things that the devil tempts us with, we end up "worshiping" those things instead of God.  For example, how many people end up focusing on drink instead of God.  How many people focus all of their energies on gaining more and more power or more and more money?  In that example, that person worships money or power and never thinks about God.  Again, the devil does not want you to have a relationship with God.  He will use anything and everything to keep you from having a relationship with Our Blessed Saviour.

We need to counter these temptations by keeping our eyes fixed on Christ.  Always go towards Him and do not let any temptation . . . .  no matter how wonderful it seems . . . . prohibit you from having a good relationship with God.  Give God your heart.  Let Him be the ruler of your life.  Don't let "things" rule your life:  whether they be food, drink, power, riches, etc.  God should be the ruler of our hearts.

St. Margaret Church worships every Sunday morning at 10:30 AM at the Chapel at Marquette Manor, which is located at 8140 N. Township Line Road on the Northwest side of Indianapolis.

NOTE:  Keep in mind that we must enter in the main entrance of the lobby and sign in before we go to the chapel.  

Please Join us as we gather together as God's family to:  hear the Word of God; listen as God speaks to each one of us in our hearts; worship God in song and in word; listen to the King James Bible and the 1928 Book of Common Prayer; and, finally, receive Our Blessed Lord in Holy Communion so that we can be nourished for the journey we call life.  Take one hour out of your busy schedule to worship God, to honour God, to acknowledge the need for God in your life.

Quinquagesima, or the Sunday next before Lent, February 27th, 2022

 Quinquagesima, or the Sunday next before Lent, 

February 27th, 2022

I don't know much about construction or building projects, but it seems pretty self-evident that a building is in need of a strong foundation if it is going to remain standing.  Without a proper foundation, no matter how nice the rest of the building looks it will ultimately collapse.  In the Thirteenth Chapter of his First Epistle written to the Corinthians, St. Paul emphasizes what should be the foundation of our Christian Faith:  Love.  St. Paul writes:  " . . . and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, and have not love, I am nothing" (I Corinthians 13:2)  Going back to the example of our building, the foundation is what gives it support.  It doesn't ultimatley matter how pretty the building looks, without a good foundation it will ultimatley fall apart, won't it?  This is the point St. Paul is making to the Corinthians . . .  and to us reading his words two-thousand years later . . . . that no matter what we do in life we also need a "base," if you will.  And this base is "love."  As Christians, St. Paul is reminding us that we need to have love as the "foundation" for everything we do: whether it be speaking to others, preaching, giving to charity, reacting to those around us, etc.  All of these have to have a "foundation of love" or else the acts which we do will be nothing.  They will mean nothing.   Our Blessed Lord did everything with love as His foundation.  "For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son . . . " (St. John 3:16)   The problem is that it is very difficult for us to love at times.  It is difficult to show love to those people who are not lovable, so to speak.  And yet we know this is exactly what Our Lord did on a daily basis.  To be loving will not always be easy.  To show love will not always be easy.  To remember to be loving will be difficult at times.  But, as Christians, we are called to make the effort.  We are called to do our utmost.  We are called to keep trying as best as we can.  During this upcoming season of Lent, let us focus on showing love to God.  In so doing, I am sure that we will soon see that the love we show to God will spill over to showing love to those around us.  And in the world in which we live today, it could definitely use some more love and less hate. 

St. Margaret Church worships every Sunday morning at 10:30 AM at the Chapel at Marquette Manor, which is located at 8140 N. Township Line Road on the Northwest side of Indianapolis.

NOTE:  Keep in mind that we must enter in the main entrance of the lobby and sign in before we go to the chapel.  

Please Join us as we gather together as God's family to:  hear the Word of God; listen as God speaks to each one of us in our hearts; worship God in song and in word; listen to the King James Bible and the 1928 Book of Common Prayer; and, finally, receive Our Blessed Lord in Holy Communion so that we can be nourished for the journey we call life.  Take one hour out of your busy schedule to worship God, to honour God, to acknowledge the need for God in your life. 

Sexagesima, or the Second Sunday before Lent, February 20th, 2022

 Sexagesima, or the Second Sunday before Lent, 

February 20th, 2022

In the eighth chapter of St. Luke's Gospel, we hear Our Blessed Saviour tell the Parable of the Sower.  And in this parable, Our Lord tells the story of the sower who goes out to sow the seed:  some seed fell along the way; some seed fell on rocky soil; some seed fell on good soil; etc.  Our Lord, when He is finished telling the parable, describes what the parable means to the disciples.  In the parable there are different types of people represented:  those that hear the Word; those that do not hear the Word; those who pay attention for a time and then fall away; etc.  This reminds me of the many types of people we will encounter in our lifetime.  Some people we encounter are just that:  people we encounter.  Nothing more, nothing less.   While others become friends due to common interests or similarities.  Out of these, some friends become life-long friends, and others (through moving away; or getting another job; or going to another school; etc.) move on and we lose contact with.  

There are a variety of people in our life, and many of these people, I am convinced that God has placed them in our life to inspire us, to strengthen us, to encourage us, to be with us.  Obviously, many of these people placed in our life are related to us by blood:  our parents; our grandparents; aunts; uncles; cousins; etc.  Other people such as a spouse or  good friends, for example, God may have placed them in our lives to give us support along the way.  Each one of us can point out special people in our lives who have supported us or inspired us along the way.  I, for my part, can certainly point toward my parents; my grandparents; wonderful, inspiring priests who have blessed me with the Sacraments; I can point to wonderful friends who have been there for me.  Each one of these people, I am convinced that God has placed those special people in my life to encourage me along the way.  These people have touched my life.  They have played a part in forming the person I have become.  Certainly, as a priest, I can point towards many wonderful members of churches I have served who have been a wonderful inspiration to me.  God places special people in our life to assist us and to inspire us.  Let us always remember the fact that for others around us, we may be the one that inspires those around us.  You may be the special person that God has placed in that person's life to inspire him or her.  Let us always remember to inspire others to greatness.  Let us always remember that for the dedicated, committed Christian, we have the potential to be the "Face of Christ" in the world.  Let us never forget that God uses us as His instruments in this world to let others know about Him.

St. Margaret Church worships every Sunday morning at 10:30 AM at the Chapel at Marquette Manor, which is located at 8140 N. Township Line Road on the Northwest side of Indianapolis.

NOTE:  Keep in mind that we must enter in the main entrance of the lobby and sign in before we go to the chapel.  

Please Join us as we gather together as God's family to:  hear the Word of God; listen as God speaks to each one of us in our hearts; worship God in song and in word; listen to the King James Bible and the 1928 Book of Common Prayer; and, finally, receive Our Blessed Lord in Holy Communion so that we can be nourished for the journey we call life.  Take one hour out of your busy schedule to worship God, to honour God, to acknowledge the need for God in your life.

Septuagesima, or the Third Sunday before Lent, February 13th, 2022

 Septuagesima, or the Third Sunday before Lent, 

February 13th, 2022

Have you ever had the experience of buying a product and before you knew it, the thing you bought proved to be no good.  Maybe it broke down.  Maybe it stopped working.  Maybe it wore out.  And you were disappointed because you spent your hard-earned money on such a piece of garbage.  Some things last longer than others but the bottom line is that everything we buy either breaks, or wears out, or goes out of style, or loses its' usefulness, etc.  In St. Paul's first Epistle written to the Corinthians, St. Paul emphasizes that Christians need to place their emphasis on obtaining a Heavenly crown which will never wear out, . . .  will never break,  . . . will never expire.  So often in life as human beings we get so wound up, so fixated on obtaining worldly things which ultimately will not last.   "Now they do it to obtain a corruptible crown; but we an incorruptible" (I Corinthians 9:25)  St. Paul is encouraging us to remember that we should put our efforts into obtaining the Heavenly Crown of eternal life offered to us by God.  And we do this by saying "Yes" to God.  We do this by doing God's will in our life.  We do this by living for God and not for the world.  

St. Margaret of Scotland Anglican Church worships every Sunday morning at 10:30 AM at the Chapel at Marquette Manor, which is located at 8140 N. Township Line Road on the Northwest side of Indianapolis.

NOTE:  Keep in mind that we must enter in the main entrance of the lobby and sign in before we go to the chapel.  

Please Join us as we gather together as God's family to:  hear the Word of God; listen as God speaks to each one of us in our hearts; worship God in song and in word; listen to the King James Bible and the 1928 Book of Common Prayer; and, finally, receive Our Blessed Lord in Holy Communion so that we can be nourished for the journey we call life.  Take one hour out of your busy schedule to worship God, to honour God, to acknowledge the need for God in your life.