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!