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!

Thirteenth Sunday after Trinity, August 30th, 2026

 

Thirteenth Sunday after Trinity, August 30th, 2026

For years now I have made a point to listen to the radio each morning as I get ready to start my day.  And I do this for multiple reasons, quite frankly.   I want to hear what's going on in the news.  I want to hear the baseball scores.  Additionally, I want to hear what the weather is going to be.  And I also want to hear the traffic report so I will know if I need to avoid any accidents or back-ups.  I have basically done this most of my adult life, it would seem.  Anyhow, here locally, this week it was reported that the man who does the traffic reports which I listened to for years died suddenly last weekend.  It's funny how something like this can affect you when you hear the news of a person passing away.  The man who did the traffic reports was Matt Bair and he gave the reports for years on the station that I listen to on a daily basis.  I had never met him in person.  He did not know me.  I had never communicated with him in any way, form or fashion.  And yet this man whom I had never met was a part of my life (albeit through the radio) for many years.  We never know how we affect others, do we?  We may think that we are simply "insignificant cogs in the wheel" but we matter and what we do in life matters.  Our actions and what we do affects not only us but those around us either directly or indirectly.  I had never met Matt Bair in person, but I looked forward to hearing him on the radio each day.   Each one of us has the potential of either being a positive or negative influence in another person's life.  We affect others by the actions which we take or do not take, as the case may be.  Certainly, as Christians we are called to be a positive influence on others.  We are called to be God's ambassadors in the world.  We are called to be His instrument in the world in which we live.  Be the person God wants you to be.  Live for others as you live for Him. 

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!  

Twelfth Sunday after Trinity, August 23rd, 2026

 

Twelfth Sunday after Trinity, August 23rd, 2026

In the Seventh Chapter of St. Mark's Gospel, we read the encounter between Our Lord and someone who could neither hear nor speak.  "And they bring unto Him one that was deaf, and had an impediment in his speech."  (St. Mark 7:31)  St. Mark tells us that Our Lord healed the man so that he could hear and speak.  Our prayer should be that we are cured from our deafness.  What?  Deaf?  "I'm not deaf," you might be saying to yourself.  Keep in mind that I am referring to a spiritual "deafness."  I am referring to being "hard of hearing" when to comes to listening to God   When I was in the seminary, I lived in a church not far from the elevated train.  And every few minutes or so the trains would pass by.  And as you can imagine, the trains were very loud.  Factor into this the other "sounds" coming from the neighborhood:  car alarms going off constantly . . . . traffic going by . . . . sirens wailing.  At first, with all this noise it was hard to concentrate.  But over time I became accustomed to the racket and the noise and it didn't bother me.  I would dare say, spiritually speaking, we get used to the "noises of the world."  These "noises" drown out our listening to God.  These "noises" keep us from listening to what God is telling us.  These "noises" keep us from paying attention to what we need to focus on.  The problem is that we get used to these "distractions."  We get used to these "noises."  We get used to these "hindrances" which keep us from God.  Thus, in a spiritual sense we become "deaf" or at least "hard of hearing" when it comes to hearing what God is trying to tell us.  Let us pray that our spiritual hearing will be healed so that we can listen fully to what God is saying to 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!

 

Tenth Sunday after Trinity, August 9th, 2026

St. Luke describes to us Our Lord's triumphal entry into Jerusalem in the Nineteenth chapter of his gospel.  Now, keep in mind that all four of the evangelists talk about this event in their respective gospels but in St. Luke's Gospel, we hear something that is not found in the other three.  ". . . he beheld the city, and wept over it " (St. Luke 19:41)  In other words, St. Luke is describing the fact that as Our Lord beheld the great city of Jerusalem, as He saw it, He began to weep, . . .  . He began to cry.  Now we cry for a multitude of reasons, don't we?  We can cry out of sadness.  We can cry out when we get frustrated.  When we are at our wit's end we may start crying.  We even cry sometimes when we are happy . . .  they are called "tears of joy."  Perhaps Our Lord could have been crying for all of the above reasons.  He was crying because He was sad.  Sad at the fact that the people wasted so much time and energy on useless pursuits instead of pursuing a relationship with God.  He cried too out of frustration because He knew that despite all of the best efforts of the prophets, despite the best efforts of St. John the Baptist and all the holy men and women of God throughout the ages to let the people know of the love of God.  And now, despite the best efforts of the Son of God Himself, despite all these efforts and energies, people still turned their back on God!  And, finally, Our Lord was crying with some joy in His heart because He knew that there is hope for all those that He saw.  Our Lord is the hope of the world!  Our Blessed Saviour is the remedy for all the illnesses of the world.  He is the Way, the Truth and the Life!  

As parents, we want the absolute best for our children.  In particular, we want them to have the best "future" that they possibly can with the best job, with the best home, with the best spouse, etc.  We want them to be happy but we don't want them to settle for the "second best."  But, as parents, we still need to let our children live their own life when they grow up.  As babies, as children, their parents have to make decisions on their behalf but when they grow up, they have to live their own life.  And, sometimes, as parents, we are disappointed in the choices that our children make.  It grieves us and frustrates us as parents because we don't want our children to settle for "second best."  This is why Our Lord was crying for the children of Jerusalem because He knew that they could have so much more by following God but instead they settled for "second best."  And Our Lord certainly knew that despite the fact that He died on the Cross many souls would still choose to turn their back on God.  Let us never turn our back on God.  Let us never settle for "second best."  Let us always choose the "best" way of life . .  . and that is a personal relationship with Our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ!

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!

Ninth Sunday after Trinity, August 2nd, 2026

 

Ninth Sunday after Trinity, August 2nd, 2026

As it has come to be known, the story of the "Prodigal Son" is certainly one of the most famous stories in all of Holy Scripture, if not the most famous.   There are so many aspects of this story that it is hard to pin it down to just one thing.  Of course the story revolves around the son who decides that he would rather have the inheritance "now" rather than "later."  And as a result he spends his inheritance on lavish living and then finds himself afterwards broke, and living in squalor.  And ultimately he comes back home with the intent of begging forgiveness from his father.  In my opinion, the most wonderful part of the whole story comes at about the midway point of the story:  "But when (the son) was yet a great way off, his father saw him, and had compassion, and ran, and fell on his neck, and kissed him."  (St. Luke 15:20)  If you notice, Our Lord tells us that the son was still a great way off when the father saw his son.  This implies to me that the father was on the "look-out" for his son.  And then when the father did finally see his son, he ran to him.  The father did not wait for the son to come to him.  He not only went to the son.  He went running to meet his son.  

This story of the Prodigal Son is really the story of humanity.  Humanity is the "prodigal son."  We have been given the gift of life.  We have been given the gift of salvation.  But not content with these two gifts we spend our "inheritance" also on riotous living as well.  We want to live life our own way and rarely bring God into our day to day living.  And just like the prodigal son in the story, we only think about God when we need Him or when we find ourselves in desperation.  And it is  then that we go to Him for help.  Like the loving father in the story, though, Our Heavenly Father also waits for us.  Our Heavenly Father comes running to us.  But He came running to sinful mankind in the form of His Son.  He sent His Son to rescue fallen mankind from their sinfulness and pride.  God is always on the lookout for us.  He not only waits for us . . . . . He looks for us to return to Him.  He is always ready to forgive, ready to bring us back, ready to love us and embrace 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!

Eighth Sunday after Trinity, July 26, 2026

 

Eighth Sunday after Trinity, July 26th, 2026

In the Eighth Chapter of the Letter to the Romans, we hear the following:  "The Spirit himself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God: and if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together."  This passage is a powerful reminder that the Holy Ghost Himself is our Witness that we are the children of God.  And, as children, we are "joint-heirs with Christ."  But we should point out that we are joint-heirs in the glory but also the suffering.  We must always remember that we are not exempt from suffering simply because we are a child of God.  Our Blessed Lord was not exempt from suffering . . .  His Blessed Mother was not exempt from suffering . . .  the saints in Heaven were not exempt from suffering while they were here on earth.  None of us is exempt from suffering.  What we are called to do, just like Our Blessed Lord did, is to embrace our Cross and to endure the suffering.  Sort of like riding out the storm together with Our Blessed Saviour.  The point is that as Christians we are called to offer up our victories and also to offer up our sorrows as well.  Whether we are in the valley or up on the mountain-top, the key is to always keep close to Our Blessed Lord.  Make Him a part of every day of your life.  Some people only run to God when they are in trouble.  These people see God as their "last resort."  Please do not run to God only in times or trouble or only when all other avenues are exhausted!  Run to Him on a daily basis . . . in both good times and bad  . . .  . keep close to Him and He will keep close to you!

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!