Sunday Next before Advent, November 26th, 2023

 Sunday Next before Advent, November 26th, 2023

"BEHOLD, the days come, saith the LORD .  . . " (Jeremiah 23:5)

  Our society is obsessed with upcoming events.  For example, this time every year, we get constant reminders about how close we are to Christmas, courtesy of all the department stores, retail stores, online book stores, etc.  Behold, the big sale is about to happen . . . . Behold, this sale won't last long . . .  Behold, come and spend your hard-earned money here so that your loved ones will be happy at Christmas time.  But these "reminders," in all fairness go on all year around, quite honestly.  We are reminded on the nightly news about the upcoming summits, or upcoming sessions of Congress, or when a bill is about to be voted on.  Even in our personal life, we have to deal with upcoming reports at our jobs being due, and upcoming doctor's appointments, and things to do around the house:  whether they be preparing the house for winter or getting ready for an upcoming dinner.  So, you see, we are constantly reminded of upcoming events and the days ahead . . .

But this is not what Jeremiah wants us to think about.   In the "reminders" that I mentioned above, they are concerned with earthly, material things.  And nothing is necessarily wrong with with the things that I mentioned:  it's good to give gifts as a token of affection to loved ones;  it's good to prepare your home for the winter; it's good for politicians to do their job, etc.  But we have to keep everything in perspective of what is important.  Jeremiah continues:  "BEHOLD, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will raise unto David a righteous Branch, and a King shall reign and prosper, and shall execute judgment and justice in the earth"    We need to be concerned with the coming of the Lord as Christians.  We need to concern ourselves with making a place ready for Him when He comes.  And, quite frankly, we can make that happen now!  Yes, we can prepare our hearts for Him and prepare a place in our heart for Our Blessed Lord.  You see, all of the daily routines in life have their place: the daily chores, preparation of meals, going to work, paying bills, etc.  But there is one more daily "chore," and it should not even be called a "chore,"  it would be better described as a "daily necessity,"   . . . . and this "daily necessity" is time spent with Our Lord and preparing  a place for Him in our hearts!  As we come upon the liturgical season of Advent, the Church prepares for the coming of the Lord as a small innocent Infant.  Let us also prepare our hearts for the coming of that small Divine Infant by making a place for Him to dwell.  Get to know Jesus.  Give Him your heart because He has already given His Sacred Heart to you!

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. 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.

Twenty-Fourth Sunday after Trinity, November 19th, 2023

Twenty-Fourth Sunday after Trinity, November 19th, 2023

When you go shopping are there just certain brand-names that you trust?  When you see a certain company's name on a product, does it automatically register "quality" in your mind?  Or on the other hand, when you see a certain product name, do you avoid it at all costs?  Very often this trust . . .  or dis-trust, for that matter .. .  comes from experience, doesn't it?  When we get a specific brand of laundry detergent and we use it a few times and our clothes look bright and appear brand new after a wash.  Or they smell fresh like spring.  Well, if this experience continues to be the case for us each time we buy that product, for us that brand is a "winner."  On the other hand, if we buy  a product at the store and it turns out to be lousy or does not meet our expectations, our faith in that product will be lacking and we likely won't buy that brand any time soon.  Again, in either case, whether we like a product or whether we do not like a product, more than likely both are based on experience.  The same can be true of going to a restaurant.  If we had a good experience  . . . . the food was good . . . the service was excellent . .  . the price was not over-whelming . . .  then, by all means, our opinion of that establishment will be high.  Conversely, our  opinion of that same establishment will be lacking if the food was lousy or the service was poor, for example.  So, very often our faith in a product, or lack of faith in a product, is based on experience.   

St. Paul writes in his Epistle to the Colossians:  ". . . . since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus " (Colossians 1:3 ff)  In this sense, where does "faith" in God come from?  Very often we learn about God from other people: our parents; our grandparents; etc.  As children, our parents perhaps take us to church or we go to Sunday School or we might go to Vacation Bible School in the summer months.  As we grow, we still are influenced by what we hear and see about God coming from others around us, but as we grow spiritually, we need to experience our own "faith" in God.  You see, our faith life is very much like a journey that we travel on.  Sometimes the road is very easy.  Other times it might be rough or rocky.  Sometimes there are a twists and turns that we were not expecting.  Often, our journey does not match up with our expectations or what we were planning on.  Faith in God is  something completely different.  We know that we can depend on God.  We know that He will never leave us.   But faith comes mainly from experience but first we have to "experience" God ourselves.  So many people give up on God because their experience of Him is lacking.  They have no faith because they have not seen Him.  But it could be that they have not seen Him because they were not really looking to begin with.   Let us tell people about God by the way in which we live our life.  Let us tell people about God by the way in which we treat others around us with love and compassion.  Let people see the "faith" in us by always staying constant, by always being sure no matter what befalls us.  Let people know about your faith in God by letting them see the life you lead and the attitude you have.

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. 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.

Twenty-Third Sunday after Trinity, November 12th, 2023

 Twenty-Third Sunday after Trinity, November 12th, 2023

In the Twenty-Second Chapter of St. Matthew's Gospel, we hear Our Lord say:  "Render therefore unto Caesar the things which are Caesar's; and unto God the things that are God's"  Needless to say, this quote is one of the most remembered quotes found in Scripture.  Certainly, in this response, Our Lord is being very direct in what He says.    There is no need to remind any of us that we all lead busy lives.  Most every person I know seems to lead a busy life.  And as such, we wear many different hats.  Think of all the different "hats" you might have worn in your life-time:  Child; Parent; Student; Teacher; Employee; Boss; Husband; Wife; Neighbor; Home-Owner; Volunteer; etc. etc.  And the list can go on and on.  In each of these roles that I have described above, and countless others, we all have a different role that we play.  The role of a parent is far different from the role we played as a child.  The role that a boss plays is different than that of an employee.  So in each of these positions, we are called to play a different role, depending on the situation.  But throughout each of these "roles" that we play, we are called to put our Christianity into it as much as possible.  We need to find a way to perform our "roles" and do what we are called to do but at the same time never forget that ultimately we are Christians first and foremost.  Today's Gospel passage reminds us that Christians are citizens of two worlds:  the Heavenly world and the earthly world.   We are "dual-citizens," in that respect.  And it will not always be easy to "coexist" between the two.  But that is what we are called to do:  live as a human being but do it in a Christian manner.

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. 

Twenty-Second Sunday after Trinity, November 5th, 2023

 Twenty-Second Sunday after Trinity, November 5th, 2023

"I THANK my God upon every remembrance of you, always in every prayer of mine for you all making request with joy," (Philippians 1:3)

I do my best to always show my gratefulness.  I do this when someone takes the time to hold the door open for me.  I do this when a waiter or waitress brings me the food I ordered.  I do this when someone hands me something that I need.  In these situations, and so many more I am in the habit of saying "Thank you."  Yes, without a doubt, this is indeed a habit.  It is a habit that has been with me an entire lifetime.  And I owe the development of this "good habit" to my dear parents who so long ago cultivated this important habit and showed me the importance of being grateful and showing thanks.   It is important to show thanks.  It is important to show our gratefulness and our thanksgiving to those around us.  

I would dare say that the importance of saying "Thank you" and being grateful extends to God as well, wouldn't you agree?  And yet how often do we take the time to thank Our Heavenly Father?  How many times do we make a point to thank Him for all the blessings He has bestowed on us?  Or do we only go to God when we need something?  We're good when it comes to running to God when we need Him.  We're good at going to God when we are in trouble and need His help but how often do we make a point to simply thank Him, to show our gratefulness for all He has done for us?   Being grateful is a mindset and showing gratefulness is a habit.  When we come to God, we need to have the mindset of being grateful for all the blessings He has bestowed upon us.  And showing our gratefulness to God is a habit we need to develop.  So many people only seem to call upon God when they need something and they don't speak to Him again until the next time they need something.  We need to thank God each and every day of our lives for all the blessings He bestows upon us.  Thank God daily.  Thank Him for your life.  Thank Him for the blessings in your life.  Bless Him for the salvation He freely offers.  Thank Him for all you possess.

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. 

Twentieth Sunday after Trinity, October 22nd, 2023

 Twentieth Sunday after Trinity, October 22nd, 2023

"So those servants went out into the highways, and gathered together all as many as they found, both bad and good:"  (St. Matthew 22:1 ff)

In the Twenty-Second Chapter of the Gospel of St. Matthew, Our Blessed Saviour is telling the story of the king who made a marriage-feast for his son.  Now, as the story goes, Our Lord says that the invited guests "made light" of the invitation and decided not to show up for a variety of reasons:   . . . . . "one to his farm, another to his merchandise . . . ."  Now the fact that none of the invited guests showed up once the feast was ready upset the king greatly.  As a result the king instructed his servants to bring guests to the feast, no matter who they were.  Our Lord continues the story as He relates the instructions of the king to his servants:  "Go ye therefore into the highways, and as many as ye shall find, bid to the marriage. So those servants went out into the highways, and gathered together all as many as they found, both bad and good: and the wedding was furnished with guests."  Now, there are a number of things we could say about this story but I would like to point out two important considerations:

1)  The first thing I would like to point out in this story is that the servants invited as many as they could  . . . . and Our Lord continues . . . . "both bad and good."  Why would Our Lord make the statement "both bad and good?"  Remember the main reason why Our Lord is telling this story to begin with is that He is comparing it to the Kingdom of God.  So, we should always remember that God has love for both the "bad and good."  Our Lord died on the Cross for both the "bad and good."  And Our Heavenly Father invites both the "bad and good" to be with Him in Heaven.   How often though do we not show love to those whom we deem to be "bad?"  How often in our life do we not reach out to certain people because we think of ourselves as "good" and them "bad?"  Our Lord came to this earth to tell everyone  . . . . both bad and good . . . about the Kingdom of God.  He came to instruct everyone in regards to His Heavenly Father.  He did not come to just save the "good."   He came for the "bad" as well.   If Our Blessed Saviour did not differentiate between who was "good" and who was "bad,"  why should we?

2)  The second consideration we should make point to remember is that the original invited guests did not show up because they were more concerned with other things.  Our Lord states that the original invited guests "made light of it, and went their ways, one to his farm, another to his merchandise . . .  "  How many of us in the world "make light" of God's invitation because we are too concerned with "things of the world."  How many of us are too distracted by things in the world to even pay attention to what God is calling us to?  The world offers so many distractions that catch our attention and divert us away from God.  We need to be always vigilant to stay focused on God and not on the things of the world.  This story should help remind us of the importance of this fact that we should stay focused on "things of above" and not on "things below."

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. 

 Nineteenth Sunday after Trinity, October 15th, 2023

In the epistle designated for the Nineteenth Sunday after Trinity, we hear from St. Paul's fourth chapter of his Letter to the Ephesians.  In the beginning of this chapter, St.  Paul writes:  "I therefore . . .  beseech you that ye walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called." (Ephesians 4:1)  Those who are called to be Christians are called to be something truly noble.  That may sound very lofty but it is true. This is because we are called to imitate "light" in a world of "darkness."   This is not very easy at times.  In fact, it's a pretty tall order if you ask me.  But that being said, St. Paul goes on to give some pretty sound advice in this fourth chapter of Ephesians.  In verse 31 of this chapter he writes:  "Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice." (Ephesians 4:31)  Probably, I would dare say, this is the best advice of the whole chapter for us to keep in mind.  I say this because we live in a fast paced world.  I would say this is true for all of us.  Whether we are working or retired; whether we live in cities or in small towns; whether we are young or old.  Just about everybody I know . . . . myself included . . .  is constantly busy at doing this or doing that.  Going to work.  Going to doctor's appointments.  Going shopping.  Cleaning the house.  Fixing the house.  Doing yardwork.  Picking up the kids.  Going to games.  The list goes on and on.  And, unfortunately, for many of us . . . .  again, myself included . . . . busy schedules oftentimes lead to stressful living.  And stressful living can lead to short tempers and lack of patience with those around us.  We get angry with the idiots that cut us off in traffic and almost cause a wreck.  We get irritated with the people in front of us at the store who are holding up the checkout line by trying to use coupons that have been expired for five months.  We get mad at people who may have a different opinion than we do.  The list goes on and on.  And while these things may seem insignificant in and of themselves, added all together these things have the potential to make our lives very stressful.  

God does not mean for our lives to be filled with stress and anger and irritation.  Quite frankly, when we get irritated with someone or something . . . . even if we are correct to be irritated . . .  this irritation does not harm the other person;  it harms us.  The other person probably doesn't even know of our irritation and probably wouldn't care anyway even if they would know.  The irritation and the anger and the bitterness is what builds up inside of us and harms us. Period.  St. Paul is warning the church at Ephesus just like he is warning us two-thousand years later:  be filled with things of God instead of things of the world.  Fill yourself with the love of God so that you will not be filled with the anger and bitterness offered by the world.  In a certain sense, we are similar to a pitcher or a glass or a box.  If the container is filled with whatever objects we can think of and the contained is filled to the brim, we can not fit anything else in.  Thus, remove the items from the container so that we can fill the other items in there.  Thus, in that sense, how can we expect to fill ourselves with the love of God if we are already filled with anger and bitterness and hate?  Conversely, how can anger and bitterness and hate fill us if we are already filled with the love of God?

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. 

Eighteenth Sunday after Trinity, October 8th, 2023

 Eighteenth Sunday after Trinity, October 8th, 2023

The beginning of today's Epistle states:  "I thank my God always on your behalf . . . "  (I Corinthians 1:4 ff)  Here, St. Paul is making the point that he thanks God for the witness of faith found in the Church at Corinth.   It is amazing how many times in a day that we say "Thank you."  Have you ever tried to count the number of times that you said these two simple little words in the course of a day?  Probably not but I bet you say it a lot.  If you go to the store and you buy something, the odds are probably good that you say "Thank you" to the cashier after making your purchase.  If someone holds the door for you on the way out, again, the odds are probably good that you once again say "Thank you" to the person showing the courtesy of holding the door for you.  If the waiter takes your order . . .  if the server brings you your drink  . . . . if someone says "God bless you" after you sneeze . . .  I would be willing to bet that you probably said "Thank you" at  each one of these scenarios I just described.   If you have ever worked in the customer service field like I have, you get in the habit of saying "Thank you" a lot!

But how often do we say "Thank you" to God?  As demonstrated above, the odds are that we thank an awful lot of people in the course of a day, week, or month.  But how often have we thanked God during the last 24 hours . . . or week . . .  or month?  Have we thanked Him at all?  We are awfully quick to speak to God when we need something from Him but is that the only time we ever take the time to speak to Him?  When we need a favour?   If we had a friend that only spoke to us when he/she needed something from us, over time, I doubt if we would think very highly of that so-called friend.  And yet that is what we do to God at certain times during our life.  We get busy with the "busy-ness" of everyday living and we do not take time out for God:  to spend time with Him  . . .  . to talk with Him ... . to thank Him.  And then when we get in trouble over one thing or another, then we run to Him and ask Him to help us.  The bottom line is this:  God wants us to run to Him when we are in need.  He wants to help us.  And yet I am willing to bet that He would also like to hear from us for no other reason than to simply say "Hi" or to say "Thank you for the blessings you have given me this day."   Make a point to thank God for what He has given you.

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.