Trinity Sunday, May 30th, 2021

 Trinity Sunday, May 30th, 2021

 The Gospel appointed for Trinity Sunday comes to us from the Third Chapter of the Gospel of St. Matthew.  In this chapter we find ourselves witness to the discussion between Nicodemus and Our Blessed Saviour.  In this conversation, Our Lord is telling Nicodemus that he must be born again.  Nicodemus is confused by this expression and asks how can someone be born again.  Our Lord explains:  "That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. "  Of course, Our Lord was differentiating between physical birth and spiritual birth.  One can not be physically born a second time.  It only happens the one time and cannot be repeated.  But in a spiritual sense, yes, we can certainly be born again when we give our lives over to God and dedicate our lives to him.

Of course, when Our Lord stated that "flesh is flesh" and "Spirit is spirit," He was referring to the example of being born again.  But this does point out something very important for us Christians to consider.  Very often in our lives, we can differentiate between the various sections of our lives.  For example,  we differentiate between the time spent where we work and the time spent at home.  When I am at work, I focus on my job responsibilities but when I am at home I focus on things I do there, such as chores or projects or even relaxation.  We dedicate certain portions of our time to volunteer activities, home activities, family activities, church activities,  etc.  We can divide our time and we can wear "different hats" to signify who we are at the time:  worker; home owner; parent; child; spouse; neighbor; volunteer; etc.  The list goes on and on.  As we live life on a daily basis we play different "roles" based on what we are doing at that particular moment.

But when it comes to being a Christian, our life can not be "chopped up into sections," so to speak.  In other words, we can not say that we are a Christian when we go to church but not a Christian when we are at home.  It doesn't work that way.  A true, committed Christian needs to be just that . . .   a true, committed Christian 24 hours a day, whether he/she is at church . . . or at home . . .  or at work . . . or at the grocery . . . or even driving in traffic.  You see, there are so many people who actually do act one way while in church and another way when they leave church.  They act very Christian when they go to church.  They dress up.  And they sing loudly when the hymns are sung.  And they say "Amen" even louder when the preacher gives his sermon.  But then as soon as church is over, they take off their "Christian hat" and put it away until next Sunday and they live completely different lives.  Being a Christian means being a Christian 24 hours a day . . . 7 days a week ..  ..  365 days a year.  This proves to be very difficult sometimes.  But when we come to the realization that God walks with us 24 hours a day . . .  7 days a week .. .  365 days a year . . .  when we realize that, it should make it easier for us to join Him in that walk.  As Our Lord said to Nicodemus, you must be born again . . .

PLEASE NOTE:  St. Margaret Church will NOT meet on Sunday, May 30th, 2021 but mark your calendars because we will meet NEXT SUNDAY, June 6th, 2021 at 10:30 am!!!

Second Sunday in Advent, December 6, 2020

 

Second Sunday in Advent, December 6, 2020

"Now the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that ye may abound in hope, through the power of the Holy Ghost."  (Romans 15)

Did you ever order something or send away for something and the item finally arrived and you open it with great anticipation.  And when you open the package and see what you ordered, the item that arrived does not match up with what you thought it would be.  You were "under-whelmed," so to speak.  "This is it?!?"   "This is what I've been waiting for?!?"   As we have spoken in the past, the faithful Jews were indeed praying for a Messiah to save them.  They were anticipating the arrival of the Messiah.  They knew that God would save them and they were waiting.  But they had a preconceived notion of what the Messiah would look like, I would imagine.  They expected the Messiah to arrive as a great warrior riding in on a powerful horse, surrounded by a mighty army in support with flags waving and banners raised.  They expected this messiah and his army to wipe out their foes and save them from their misery.    And yet we know that, yes, the Messiah did indeed arrive as promised but Our Saviour arrived as an innocent little baby, born to a common family, born in a lowly manger on a cold winter night  because nobody would take them in otherwise.  In fact, the actual arrival itself was so "low-key" that hardly anyone knew about it at all except for the angels and a few shepherds.  I mean let's be honest here.  In regards to anticipating the arrival of the Messiah, I am sure that none of us would picture the Saviour of the world arriving as a small baby, born to an impoverished family, with nowhere else to stay other than in a place for animals.  But, then again, if we look at a dying man hanging on a cross, if we didn't know any better, we wouldn't picture that as "victory," either.  It would seem more like "defeat" than "victory."  And yet we know through our faith that hope was born in that little manger at Bethlehem and we know that victory truly was earned on that Cross at Calvary.  Sometimes, hope is deceiving to our physical eyes.  The important thing for us to always remember as people of faith that we have to look at hope through the eyes of faith if we really want to see how God is working in our lives.  So, use this holy Season of Advent to look at things in a brand new way, the way of faith.

PLEASE NOTE:  St. Margaret Church will NOT meet on Sunday, December 6th, 2020.

St. Margaret Church is still being affected, as is the whole world, by the Coronavirus outbreak.  Specifically, our church is not allowed to meet as we would like due to CDC and State recommendations.  But despite these recommendations, our members still continue to pray to Our Heavenly Father.  Our members still continue to reach out to their neighbors and loved ones.  Our members still continue to be the face and hands and instruments of the Lord throughout these troubling times.  Additionally, Fr. Todd also continues to post his sermons and reflections online.  So, please continue to pray for St. Margaret Church and all the Christian Churches throughout the world that we may continue to stay close to the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus.   

And please remember that you can still show support to St. Margaret Church by sharing these posts on social media . . . sharing the sermons and reflections of Fr. Todd on social media as well.  In this way, despite any sort of "lock-down," you will help St. Margaret Church continue to spread the Gospel and continue to tell the world about our love for Our Blessed Saviour!

Trinity Sunday, June 16th, 2019

Today the Church celebrates Trinity Sunday, the liturgical day in which we celebrate God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Ghost.  God in Three Persons.  Surely this is a concept that none of us will be able to fully understand or to fully grasp with our "tiny" human minds.  I cannot help but think about St. Augustine of Hippo.  You see, St. Augustine . . .  one of the greatest Doctors of the Church . . . .  even had difficulty with this subject.  One of his greatest books, "About the Holy Trinity," took him thirty years to write.  Imagine that.  Such a brilliant mind and even with that it took him thirty years to write his book concerning the Holy Trinity.   The story comes up that while St. Augustine was writing this volume, he took a walk along the sea shore.  And as he walked along the beach he saw a young boy running back and forth from the ocean to a small hole in the sand.  And he was carrying the water in a sea shell.  As St. Augustine watched, he saw the boy fill up the sea shell with water and then he would run over to the hole in the beach and pour the water in the hole.  After St. Augustine watched the boy repeat this action over and over again, he could not resist asking the boy exactly what he was doing.  The boy responded to St. Augustine that he was putting all the water of the ocean in to this hole on the beach.  St. Augustine stated to the boy, "That is impossible, child.  You can not put an entire ocean into that tiny hole.  The ocean is so great and immense that it will not fit into this hole."  To this, the child responded:  "It is no more impossible than what you are trying to do - trying to comprehend the concept of the Holy Trinity with your small intellect."  With that the child vanished from his sight.  It has been said that this vision which St. Augustine had an angel had appeared to him or even the Christ Child Himself had appeared to St. Augustine.  In either event, the point is the same.  How can we ponder something so great with our human intellect?  

In regards to spiritual things or matters of faith, we can certainly do our best to explain things, to understand things.  This is what theologians do.  The great Doctors of the Church . . .  such as St. Augustine . . .  they ponder the great mysteries of faith.  But for the rest of us, our faith is best understood in our heart.  Our faith is best lived in our daily lives.   For as St. Paul writes that "we walk by faith and not by sight." (II Corinthians 5:7)   As long as we are trying to "comprehend" and "understand" mysteries about God, here's another question which is certainly unsolvable:  why does God love me?   And an even greater mystery:  The same God who knows everything about me . . .  my sins . . . my faults . . .  my failures . . .  still loved me enough to send His only begotten Son into the world to save me from my sins.  Why would God do this?  Why would God love me that much to send His only begotten Son into the world to save me from my sins?  And yet I know He did.  I know through faith that Our Blessed Saviour carried His Cross to that Hill at Calvary to save me from my sins.  With my human intellect I most certainly will never be able to fully comprehend how there are Three Persons but One God.  And I will never be able to fully comprehend why God chose to send His Son into the world to save me from my sins.  But I know these things to be true in my heart through faith.  

St. Margaret Church meets each and every Sunday at 9:30 AM at the beautiful chapel at Marquette Manor, located at 8140 N. Township Line Road on the Northwest side of Indianapolis.  Join us as we hear the Word of God found in the 1928 Book of Common Prayer and the King James Bible.  Come dedicate one hour of your week to God.  Step away from the busy-ness of the world for just one hour and focus totally on God.  Come and worship Him.  Let Him feed you spiritually.   Receive the Precious Body and Blood at Communion time.