Join us for the Feast of Christ the King, 2015

Reign of Christ the King, Sunday, October 25th, 2015

There are a lot of different kinds of rulers in the world.  In our own country, we have at the national level, we have a president, and we also have senators and representatives.  At the state level, we have a governor for each state plus each state has their own state senators and representatives.  Plus, there are mayors, and city council members, board of education, etc.  The list goes on and on.  In our country, we seem to have a whole lot of people who rule over our lives to one degree or another but we don't have a king in this country.  We have politicians who think they are the king . . . .  but that is a different sermon.  

On the last Sunday in October, the Church celebrates the Solemn Feast of the Reign of Christ the King.  This is an important feast for Christians to ponder because it raises an important question:  Who is your king?  We all have bosses of one sort or another.  If it is at work, our boss may be a manager or a supervisor.  If it is at home, our boss may even be our spouse.  For a priest, the boss is the bishop . . . . and the vestry . . .  and the altar guild . . . and the music committee . .  . . and the people in the pews!  You see, priests have a LOT of bosses!  Well, all of us have a lot of bosses: whether it be politicians or supervisors or bishops or spouses.  But to a certain degree, quite frankly, our bosses are the ones we choose to be bosses.  In other words, if push comes to shove we can always quit and find another job if we truly do not like our supervisor.  In the case of politicians, if you don't like the job they are doing, vote them out of office.  You get the idea.  To a large part, we pick those who are in charge of us.  

Keeping this in mind, we also choose who is our king in the spiritual sense.  We know what God has done for us but it is always good to be reminded:  "He has delivered us from the dominion of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son"  (Colossians 1:12 ff)  God has sent His Only Begotten Son into the world to save us from our sins.  God has redeemed us by the Sacrifice on the Cross.  God deserves to be our King.  And yet only we can make Him our king.  Our Blessed Saviour is, first and foremost, a gentleman.  He never forces Himself on anyone.  He waits for us to approach Him.  It is up to us to make Him the King of our life.  It is up to us to make the decision.  It is up to us to live in His Kingdom.  In St. John's 18th Chapter, we hear the dialog between Pilate and Our Blessed Lord:  "Pilate therefore said unto him, Art thou a king then?"  " Jesus answered, Thou sayest that I am a king"  (St. John 18:33 ff)  We too are called to say that Jesus is our King.  After careful consideration, each one of us should address Our Blessed Saviour as He truly deserves to be addressed:  Christ Our King!  Each one of us has the power to choose who our leader is.  As faithful Christians, we should always make the point to acknowledge Christ as the King of our life!

Two opportunities for Mass on Sunday, October 25th, 2015:

St. Margaret Church celebrates Mass each and every Sunday at 9:30 AM.  Mass is celebrated at the beautiful chapel at Marquette Manor, located as 8140 N. Township Line Road on the Northwest side of Indianapolis.

The Church of the Holy Spirit meets every Sunday afternoon at 1:00 PM.  We worship at the beautiful and historic First Presbyterian Church near downtown Greenfield, Indiana, located at the corner of South and Pennsylvania Streets in Greenfield.

Join us for Mass as we listen to the Word of God found in the King James Bible and the 1928 Book of Common Prayer.  Join us as we hear God speaking to us in His Word.  Our Lord also offers to each one of us His Most Precious Body and Blood at Communion time.  Receive the Precious Body and Blood to strengthen and nourish you for your daily journey.  And afterward, please join us for our Coffee Hour to have some delicious goodies and good fellowship.

Sermon from Seventeenth Sunday after Trinity, 2015

The sermon of Fr. Todd given on Sunday, September 27th, 2015, the Seventeenth Sunday after Trinity.  Please click on the following link to hear Fr. Todd's sermon:

Join us for the Nineteenth Sunday after Trinity, October 11th, 2015

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 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?

Two opportunities to join us for Mass on Sunday, October 11th, 2015:

St. Margaret Church meets every Sunday morning at 9:30 AM at the beautiful chapel at Marquette Manor, located at 8140 N. Township Line Road on the Northwest side of Indianapolis.

The Church of the Holy Spirit meets every Sunday afternoon at 1:00 PM. We worship at the beautiful and historic First Presbyterian Church near downtown Greenfield, Indiana, located at the corner of South and Pennsylvania Streets in Greenfield.

Join us as we listen to Holy Scripture, hear the Word of God preached, and receive Our Precious Lord in Holy Communion. A Coffee Hour follows Mass.

I Am The Bread of Life . . . . .

From all media reports, it seems that the first visit of Pope Francis to the United States seems to have been a huge success.  Everywhere you looked, Pope Francis was on television or in the newspapers or on social media.  People were talking about what the pope did and what he said and where he visited.  Now, full disclosure here:  I have seen Pope John Paul II multiple times, not only here in the United States but also at the Vatican.  In fact, I was blessed when I was a young seminarian in my first year of seminary . . . back in 1988, I believe .. . .  to actually attend Mass in the pope's private chapel in the Vatican with Pope John Paul II celebrating the Mass.  After Mass, all those attending had the opportunity to meet the pope.  So, that being said, I know very well the excitement of seeing the pope in person.  It is indeed very exciting and for most people throughout the world they will never get to experience the excitement first hand.  And, truth be known, probably most people who do get the chance to see the pope, for them it is a once in a lifetime experience.  So, I understand fully the excitement when you get the opportunity to see the pope in person and even up-close and personal.

Now, what really drove this home for me was the Mass in Philadelphia at the Basilica of SS. Peter and Paul when the pope celebrated Mass there.  I have been there many times myself and it is a beautiful, beautiful church.  What caused a little bit of commotion, so to speak, at this particular Mass, was a picture that was circulating on social media.  The picture showed Pope Francis at the altar, during the Mass, and on the other side where priests vested in their albs and chasubles concelebrating the Mass (in the Sanctuary) taking pictures of Pope Francis at the altar.  I will hesitate to criticize the priests who were taking the pictures while they were in the sanctuary during Mass.  Quite frankly, would I have done the same thing?  Honestly, I don't think that I would have but who knows?   Personally, I don't think snapping pictures on cameras or cell phones  was appropriate while they were in the sanctuary during the Mass but it is understandable, given the circumstances.

Now as stated above it is exciting to see or even meet someone famous such as the pope.  People go crazy over meeting all kinds of celebrities from movie stars to sports figures to important people.  I understand the feeling and I am sure it is part of our human condition.  But where all of this led me to thinking about something even more important.  If those priests . . . the ones pictured in the sanctuary . . . during Mass . ..  fully vested and concelebrating . . . if they found themselves so excited to be in the presence of Pope Francis as the main celebrant . . . . how must these same priests feel each time they celebrate Mass and are in the Presence of Our Blessed Saviour?  I mean, when you think about it, if we truly believe the words Our Lord stated:  "This is My Body . . . This is My Blood"  . . .  then we must always remember that we are in the Presence of Our Blessed Saviour each time we attend Mass.  Again, if you look at it that way, should we not all get excited to be the in Presence of Our Blessed Saviour each and every time we attend Mass?

Again, I am not condemning the priests mentioned above taking pictures . . . . unfortunately, it is a by-product of the age in which we live where everybody takes pictures of everything . . . . including "selfies."  But that being said, while it is exciting to be in the presence of a pope, isn't it exciting to be in the Presence of Our Blessed Saviour?  We are in His Presence every time we attend Mass.  We are in His Presence every time we pray to Him.  We are in His Presence every time we read Holy Scripture.  It seems to me we should put everything in perspective and realize that we are indeed in His Presence each time we do of the things mentioned above.  And if we do realize that we are in the Presence of God, it should cause us to be in awe and wonder that Our Blessed Saviour would be in our presence.  We have such a loving God that He comes to meet us but also waits for us to call on Him.  Let us get excited over our relationship with God and to praise His Holy Name for the gift of salvation He offers freely to each one of us.

16th Sunday after Trinity, 2015

Listen to Fr. Todd's sermon for the 16th Sunday after Trinity given September 20th, 2015.

To hear the sermon, click on the following link:

Join us for the 16th Sunday after Trinity, 2015

Sixteenth Sunday after Trinity, Sunday, September 20th, 2015

I am sure that each one of us has had the occasion in our lifetime where we were overjoyed that someone dear to us made the point to visit us.  Perhaps out of the blue, someone quite dear to us made a unexpected visit to our home.  Maybe it was a family member who lives far away or an old classmate from school.  Maybe it was someone who you had know years and years ago but through time, unfortunately, you had lost contact.  I personally have had the good fortune of being contacted  and surprised via email by friends that were so dear to me but through time we had lost contact.  It was so wonderful to hear from them and to catch up on old times.  Of course, as a result it brings back many wonderful memories perhaps long forgotten.  So whether it is in person, via telephone or via email, when someone dear to us makes a point to visit us, it helps us to reflect on how special that person is that visited us but also how much we mean to that person as well.  Obviously, the person that contacted us would not have made the extra effort to contact us if they did not want to.  It makes us feel appreciated and loved, when someone makes a point to visit us or contact us.

In St. Luke's Seventh Chapter, the people from the city of Nain must have felt in awe of the visit that Our Blessed Saviour made to their city.  Upon entering the city, Our Lord witnessed the funeral procession of a young man being buried by a widow.   As St. Luke reminds us, Our Lord was moved with compassion and brought the young man back to life.  The people who witnessed this were certainly astounded, as we would all be, to witness such a miracle.  "And there came a fear on all:  . . . .  That God hath visited his people" (St. Luke 7:16)  The people of Nain . . . certainly the young man which was brought back to life and his mother, first of all . . .  were astounded as the miraculous sights they saw that day.  They were wise enough to realize that God had indeed visited their town that very day.  Similar to the people of Nain, we need to be able to recognize the miracles that God has done in our life.  We need to recognize the miracles that God has done for each one of us as well.   And once we recognize the fact that God has touched our lives in a whole host of ways, I am sure that we will be similarly astounded that "God hath visited His people."  God has visited us.  He has blessed us in ways that we never even imagined.  But it is the time to realize the many wonderful things that God has done in our life.  It is the time to realize that God has blessed us and to acknowledge the blessings and to acknowledge that God has visited His people and continues to visit His people.

St. Margaret Church celebrates Mass each and every Sunday at 9:30 AM.  Mass is celebrated at the beautiful chapel at Marquette Manor, located as 8140 N. Township Line Road on the Northwest side of Indianapolis.

Join us for Mass as we listen to the Word of God found in the King James Bible and the 1928 Book of Common Prayer.  Join us as we hear God speaking to us in His Word.  Our Lord also offers to each one of us His Most Precious Body and Blood at Communion time.  Receive the Precious Body and Blood to strengthen and nourish you for your daily journey.  And afterward, please join us for our Coffee Hour to have some delicious goodies and good fellowship.

Sermon from 15th Sunday after Trinity, 2015

The sermon of Fr. Todd given on Sunday, September 13, 2015, the 15th Sunday after Trinity.  Click on the following link to hear Fr. Todd's sermon: