The Lineage of Christ

I try to emphasize in my sermons and other talks the importance of reading Holy Scripture.  Simply put, not enough of us read the Good Book as often as we should.  One of the excuses that people often cite for not reading the Bible is it is difficult to read.  Especially in regards to the Old Testament, with the names of people or the names of places, it is understandable because many of the names are in fact difficult to read.  The other reason I have heard people cite in not reading the Bible  . . . .  although people do not often like to admit it out loud . . . . is that to them reading the Bible is boring.  Again, it is understandable that people might feel this way especially in regards to the Old Testament because so much of the Old Testament is filled with lists of people whose names are hard to pronounce.  And yet this is pretty much how St. Matthew chose to begin the Gospel attributed to him.  He began his Gospel by relating the lineage of Our Blessed Saviour.  Why would St. Matthew do this to begin with?, we ask ourselves.  In all fairness, St. Luke also includes the genealogy of Our Lord.  But at least in the example of St. Luke's Gospel, at least St. Luke put his lineage in the third chapter.  In other words, he doesn't start out with it like St. Matthew does at the very beginning.  And so the question remains:  why was including this lineage so important to St. Matthew?

When we think about other examples, oftentimes we also place great importance on lineage.  Have you ever watched a dog show, for example.  The owners of these championship caliber dogs take great pride in listing the "pedigree" of the dogs they show.  And with us human beings as well, there are many people interested in genealogy.  Just look at websites such as "Ancestry.com," where people go there to look up where they came from in regards to their relatives.  Even in regards to cars, you can look up their history to see who owned a car before you or property . . . . who owned a house or a piece of property before you.  So, you see, we are interested in lineage as well.  In part, this tells us  where we came from.  To the Jews, though, they were very interested in genealogies.  Getting back to the subject at hand, the very first verse of the Gospel of St. Matthew begins:  "The book of the generation of Jesus Christ, the Son of David, the Son of Abraham." (St. Matthew 1:1)

As mentioned earlier, knowing where people came from was very important to the Jewish people.  If we look at the Old Testament, especially the Book of Genesis, we will see multiple lists of generations for famous people in the Bible.  In part, the Jews wanted to keep accurate records to know who was "pure" and who was "not pure."

Why is any of this important for our consideration?  Well, it shows the importance of why something was written  . . . or why something was highlighted for its' importance.  But beyond that, this still has great meaning for us.  All of us have our roots . . . . where we come from.  It may be that we only know our parents and/or our grandparents but so often family history or stories of our family members get passed down from generation to generation.  So often we hear amusing stories about great-uncles or great-grandparents, for example, as we gather together at Christmas dinners or other family gatherings.    It's not just "amusing stories" that get passed on from generation to generation.  We learn from our parents and those who came before us.  We learn both good things and bad things, quite frankly.  Human beings learn much better by example or by experience, I am afraid.  A mother can tell a young child over and over and over not to touch a hot stove but until the child actually touches the hot stove and gets burned, the child will listen to "experience of getting burned" better than listening to the mother.  I know as I have grown older, I have discovered that I do the things that my parents did.   In other words, I find myself saying the things that my mother would say.  Or I find myself doing the things that my father does.

In a spiritual sense, we have a "spiritual heritage" as well.  Going all the way back to the very first chapter of the Book of Genesis:  "Let us make man in Our image, after Our likeness." (Genesis 1:26)  "God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him." (Genesis 1:27).  Our heritage is of God.  We were created by Our Heavenly Father.    But as is often the case, it did not take very long for everything to fall apart real fast.  Adam and Eve proved they would rather serve themselves than to serve God.  They were not content to be in the Garden under the guidance of God.  They preferred to guide themselves.  This unfortunately has not changed since then.  Man still desires to guide himself.  Or should I say more accurately that  Man is guided by his desires.   We want things our own way.  We want to do things how we want them and when we want them.   We do not like anyone telling us what to do . . . .  even God Himself.

But this is why the lineage of Our Blessed Saviour is so wonderful.   It not only tells the roots of Our Blessed Saviour but it also points to the reason for Our Blessed Lord's birth.

If you read through Scripture, very often Our Blessed Saviour is referred to by people as the Son of David.  Multiple examples throughout all the Gospels list people calling Our Saviour  by this title.  The reason this point is so \important is because it points out that Our Lord is royal.  The fact that Our Lord's lineage was traceable back to David reminded the Jews of the great promise of David through His kingship.  It reminds us today that Christ is Our King and that we owe Him our obedience as faithful servants.  So often we place our trust in everything but God.  But the faithful, devout Christian will continue to serve the King of the Universe, Our Blessed Saviour.

St. Matthew, in short, began his Gospel with the genealogy of Christ to show not only where He came from but to also point to what His purpose was in this world.  For our part also, we must never forget where we came from.  "God created man . .  . "  Our roots are found in God.  We need to daily remind ourselves that we belong to God.  We need to remind ourselves that our roots lie in the Almighty.  Despite the fact that we were created by God, so often our desires lead us far from Him.  But our God loves us so much that He not only created us but He also went looking for us . . . . to save us from ourselves . . .  to save us from our own wicked desires.  He sent His only Son into the world to save us from our sins . . .  to save us from something that we could not save ourselves from.

Join us for the 25th Sunday after Trinity, November 13, 2016

Twenty-Fifth Sunday after Trinity, 

(Second Sunday before Advent), 

Sunday, November 13th, 2016

If you are anything like me, you avoid watching the news if at all possible.  The "local" news is filled with nothing but reports of crime, deaths and murders.  The "national" news is filled with . . .well,  .  . .  crime, deaths and murders.  But, nonetheless, it is hard to miss the news coming out this week.  Of course at the beginning of this past week everyone was talking about the election and who would win.   But once the election was over, soon the attention of the media turned to "protests" against who won the election.   I put the word "protests" in quotation marks because, in my humble opinion, they aren't "protests" as much as they are "riots."  But I'll get to that more in a bit.  It's interesting that I saw a meme on Facebook in the past few days and the meme is a picture of "protesters" amid smoke and fires and litter and broken glass scattered all around them and the message goes something like this:  "Claims Trump will destroy America . . . .  as they go about destroying America."  To me, what we have seen in the past few days on TV, as I stated earlier, are not so much protests as they are riots.  Oh, I know the media labels these events as protests but, honestly, they resemble riots more than they resemble protests, if you ask me.  

Come to think about it, if you were to ask me my opinion, these events that we have come to witness in various cities are really closer to a big, collective "Temper Tantrum."   Temper Tantrums, if you recall, are something that two year old and three year old children throw when they do not get their way.  They yell and they scream and they cry.  They throw things and maybe even break things.  They do all this in hopes of getting their way.  Most people, though, quite frankly grow out of this stage.  They grow and mature physically but, more importantly, they grow and mature mentally and emotionally.  Generally speaking, if I am allowed to generalize here, there are a lot of people today who have never matured emotionally.  They are stuck in the stage where if they don't get what they want, they throw a fit.  Life is not about getting what we want when we want it, if you want to know the truth.  Life is about working for what you want.  Sometimes, to be honest with you, even when you work your tail off you will find that sometimes things don't go your way.  Usually, I find this to be the case when I work and work and work to pay off bills and then when I've got a major bill paid off . . .  it never fails . . . .  something breaks or needs to be replaced.  And then I have to jump on the bill-paying merry go round all over again.  Again, life is not about getting what you want when you want it.  Life is not about treating others with contempt who have a different opinion than you do.  Life is not about going to "safe spaces" so that you will not have to listen to other "big, scary people" and their "big, scary words."  Life is difficult.  Life is hard.  But, as Bishop Sheen reminded us, Life is certainly worth living.

We are reminded in the third chapter of the Epistle to the Colossians:  "Put on therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, a heart of compassion, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, long-suffering: forbearing one another, if any man have a quarrel against any: even as Christ forgave you, so also do ye."  (Colossians 3:12 ff)  You see, we are called to be kind .. . . and humble . . .  and meek  . . . and understanding of others.  And why is this?  Because Our Blessed Saviour was all of these things.  That's why we are called to be these things.  Being a Christian is not easy.  This whole "turning the other cheek" business is difficult to say the least.  And yet this is what Our Blessed Saviour did while he was on the earth dealing with difficult people.  . ..  dealing with people that hated Him . . . .  dealing with people that wanted Him dead.  How did He react to these folks?  Well, ultimately, He stated while hanging from the Cross, nonetheless:  "Father, forgive them for they know not what they do."  We are called both by word and also by the example of Our Lord to treat others with love and charity  . . . . even to those with whom we disagree.  This is where we show our Christianity.  Our Lord said:  "For if ye love them which love you, what thank have ye?  for sinners also love those that love them . . .  but love your enemines, and do good, and lend, hoping for nothing again: and your reward shall be great, and your reward shall be great, and ye shall be the children of the Highest: for He is kind unto the unthankful and to the evil."   And then Our Lord finishes up with:  "Be ye therefore merciful as your Father also is merciful."  (St Luke 6:32-36)  Strong words.  Difficult words and concepts to follow, to say the least.  And yet Our Lord practiced what He preached.  

Join us on Sunday morning at St. Margaret Church as we come together as God's family to worship Him.  We gather together each and every Sunday morning at 9:30 AM.  We worship at the beautiful chapel at Marquette Manor, which is located at 8140 N. Township Line Road on the Northwest side of Indianapolis.  We use the King James Version of the Bible and the 1928 Book of Common Prayer.  Join us as we worship Our Heavenly Father and receive the Precious Body and Blood of Our Blessed Saviour at Communion time.  

The Importance of All Saints Day

“All Saints Day” is a feast traditionally celebrated on November 1^st of every year in our Western Church.  Keep in mind that the development of the actual universal Solemnity of All Saints may be somewhat confusing and hard to trace.  Why do we suggest this?  Because, keep in mind that various local churches celebrated their own “local” versions of All Saints Day from the earliest centuries.  One of the earliest origins of what has come to be known as All Saints Day dates all the way back to around the year 609 when Pope Boniface IV consecrated the Pantheon in Rome to the Blessed Mother and all the Martyrs of the Church.  This feast of All Saints was celebrated on May 13^th, though.  But even prior to this, we can see Church Fathers such as St. John Chystostom, for example, who assigned a date to commemorate a day in honor of All Saints.  His date was not set as November 1^st as we know it, though.  It was celebrated on the First Sunday after Pentecost, where it is still celebrated in Eastern Churches to this day.   It was about the time of Pope Gregory III where the celebration of All Saints was commemorated  on November 1^st.  Prior to this, as mentioned earlier, various churches in various countries around the world celebrated their own All Saints day at various dates throughout the year.   The point that we need to focus on in pointing out this brief history of sorts for All Saints Day is that Christians throughout the world were interested in celebrating and commemorating those Christians who had gone before them.  Again, this is not a new feast, in other words.  It is an ancient practice dating back to the earliest centuries of the church.   Many need to bear in mind that not only Roman Catholics and Orthodox but also Anglicans as well as even Lutherans and Methodists also celebrate All Saints Day.  Which now leads us into the importance and the underlying meaning of the Feast of All Saints to the Church in general and us as individuals.

Perhaps, first, we can make an analogy which may help to explain the underlying meaning behind the feast.  In America, for example, we will soon be commemorating “Veterans Day.”  In a similar vein, the idea is closely aligned with the general purpose and meaning of All Saints Day, when you think about it.  Veterans Day simply sets aside a day where we as a nation remember, honor, and commemorate those who have served our country to help insure the freedoms that we enjoy.  Again, to point out another secular example, we also commemorate “Presidents Day” to remember all the presidents who have helped to guide our country.  “All Saints Day,” then for the Church, is a day where we remember all those (both known and unknown) who are members of the “Communion of Saints,” in other words, the thousands who are recognized as canonized saints.  

Why is the Solemnity of All Saints important?   The Church commemorates various feast days or Saint days throughout the year (e.g., the feast of St. Andrew, St. Francis, St. Patrick, etc.) But on All Saints Day, the Church makes a point to remember all those saints who have gone before us and are now enjoying their reward in Heaven.    This includes those “known” and even “unknown” saints.  Again, why should we even care about remembering . .  . let alone set aside a day in honor of . . . . canonized saints?  The bottom line is that the Church honors those holy men and women as saints who have proven to be worthy of imitation.   In other words, they have each done their part, and in their own way, to  lead others to God.  Were the saints perfect during their lifetime?  Is this what we are celebrating when we celebrate All Saints Day?!?  Certainly not!  If we look at the Calendar of Saints, we will find all sorts of people from all walks of life . . .  priests, religious .   . . . . husbands, wives . . .  . teachers .  . . .  soldiers . .  .. farmers .   . . . . kings and queens .   . .  you name it!  No matter what their station in life, these wonderful men and women provide for each one of us an example of leading a holy life dedicated to God.  This is something we should all strive for:  to follow God and to live for God each and every day of our life.  The Solemnity of All Saints Day then should inspire each one of us to be a saint.   The Baltimore Catechism says:  “The faithful on earth, through the communion of saints, should honor the blessed in heaven and pray to them, because they are worthy of honor and as friends of God will help the faithful on earth.” (Lesson 13 from the Baltimore Catechism)  Yes, they are friends of God and they should be our friends as well.  They each have shown what it means to love God and to be faithful to God.  As such, they are valuable reminders of dedicating one’s life to God.  On the Solemnity of All Saints, the Church remembers those good and faithful servants who have gone before us as such good role models.  “Let us now praise men of renown, and our fathers in their generation. (Ecclesiasticus 44:1)”

 

Come Join Us On Sunday, October 16th, 2016

Twenty-First Sunday after Trinity, Sunday, October 16th, 2016

From the Sixth Chapter of St. Paul's Epistle to the Ephesians, we hear:  "MY brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might."  (Ephesians 6:10)  Have you ever been strong for someone else?  Or, for that matter, has anyone ever been strong for you?   Each one of us face struggles and hardships and difficulties throughout our life.  Now, it may not be every single day but sometimes we just get overwhelmed with the "hard-balls" that life throws at us.  It is at those times that it is indeed easy to feel overwhelmed.   Maybe we are facing severe financial difficulties where we do not know where we can get the money to cover the bills . . . the mortgage . .  the rent.  Maybe it might be the loss of a job and nobody is calling you for an interview.  Maybe it might be a time where you are facing health difficulties like you have never faced before.   Whatever example you can come up with, it is probably easy to come up with a few different times where you felt overwhelmed, stressed out, and totally dejected.  If you are anything like me, at those times when it seemed like I hit rock-bottom, there was someone there who gave me the strength to carry on, to move forward.  There have been many people like that in my life:  my parents; dear friends; priests and / or clergy; teachers; etc.  These people have given me strength through motivating me, encouraging me, giving me advice, counseling me.  They were there to urge me on when I did not want to go on . . .  they were there for me when I had given up the battle  . . .  they were there when I had given up on myself.  I am sure that you can think of someone in your life that has filled that role for you.  They give you strength that you never knew that you had.  This is how it is with God.  God gives us strength when we need it the most.  He does this by encouraging us and motivating us to move forward.  He also does this by example.  Our Blessed Lord faced everything that we face:  He faced hardship . . .  He faced trials . . .  He faced persecution .  .. . He faced hatred, ridicule, envy, jealousy.  You name it, Our Blessed Lord faced it.  And yet He kept moving forward while keeping His eye on doing the will of His Heavenly Father.  We are called to do the very same thing.  And we need to be strong, as St. Paul writes, "strong in the Lord."  Our Lord promised to never leave us.  He is always there for us, no matter the circumstances.  

Please join us for Mass.  Take time out of your busy schedules to worship God.  Listen to the Word of God through the King James Version of the Bible and the 1928 Book of Common Prayer.  And receive the Precious Body and Blood of Our Blessed Saviour at Communion time.

Two opportunities for Mass on Sunday, October 16th.  

Mass begins at 9:30 AM at St. Margaret Church in Indianapolis.  We celebrate Mass at the beautiful Chapel at Marquette Manor, located at 8140 N. Township Line Road on the Northwest side of Indianapolis.

Mass is also offered at 1:00 PM at Holy Spirit Church in Greenfield, Indiana.  We celebrate Mass at the beautiful, historic First Presbyterian Church, located at 116 W. South Street near downtown Greenfield.

Joyful Mysteries of the Rosary

One of the things I appreciate about the Rosary is that it covers the various events in the life of Our Blessed Saviour and also His Blessed Mother.  And in so doing we find that their lives mirror our lives in a certain sense.  No, not that our lives are extraordinary in that sense.  But what I mean is that when we pray the mysteries of the Rosary, they cover a wide range of emotions and events (i.e., the Joyful; Sorrowful; and Glorious Mysteries)  And this is why I say there are similarities in that sense because in our life we exhibit a wide range of emotions over a wide range of events.  Our Lord and His Blessed Mother were not any different.  Each of the mysteries is a mediation on the events of the life of Our Blessed Saviour.  These events range all the way from the Annunciation all the way to His Ascension into Heaven.  Let us focus for now on the Joyful Mysteries and focus on the various lessons that we can learn from each mystery.

First Joyful Mystery is the Annunciation

"The angel said unto her, Fear not, Mary: for thou hast found favour with God.  And, behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call His Name Jesus." (St. Luke 1:30-31)  Our Lady is truly one of the greatest human beings to ever live throughout the history of the world.  Her influence is still being felt today as it was some two-thousand years ago.  And why is her influence so great throughout human history?  Her is influence came from one simple word:  "yes."  When Our Lady gave her fiat it set in motion events that would be far-reaching.  Through her simple "yes," God found a vehicle to send His Son into the world.  So, too, with us we can follow the example of Our Lady and give our "fiat" to God as well.  We need to say "yes" to God when it comes to dedicating our life to Him.  We need to say "yes" to God when it comes to working on His behalf throughout the world.  We need to say "yes" to God to make Him the ruler of our life and of our heart.  Our Lady was not sure why God had chosen her.  Our Lady did not know the magnitude of the events that were to unfold.  Our Lady was not even sure why these events were happening and what her role was to be.  But despite all of this, she gave her fiat to God.  Very often we may not know why God has chosen us.  We may not know what part we will play or what influence we will have.  But as long as we give our "fiat,"  as long as we say "yes" to doing God's will in our life, we will be in good company.  We will be in the company of Our Blessed Mother, who first said "yes" to doing God's will in her life.

Second Joyful Mystery is the Visitation of Our Lady to Saint Elizabeth

When Our Lady went to visit St. Elizabeth, the unborn babe leaped for joy in the womb of St. Elizabeth:  "And it came to pass, that when Elizabeth heard the salutation of Mary, the babe leaped in her womb; and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Ghost: And she spake out with a loud voice, and said, Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb." (St. Luke 1:41-42)  When we pray this second mystery, we can focus on the fact that Christ is with us when we visit others around us.  Without a doubt, Our Blessed Saviour founded His Church so that we could carry on the work here on earth that He began.  We are called to preach the Good News .  .  .  to spread the Gospel throughout all the world!  When Our Lady was carrying the Christ Child in her womb it caused the yet unborn St. John the Baptist to leap for joy in the womb of St. Elizabeth.  When we carry Christ in our hearts, we will radiate Him through our actions, through the way in which we live our life, through the love that we show others.   When we make a point to carry Christ in our hearts, people will perceive the Blessed Saviour at work in us.  Carry Christ with you at all times as you go throughout your daily lives.  Let Him influence you in your actions and interactions with others.

The Third Joyful Mystery is the Birth of the Child Jesus

"And so it was, that, while they were there, the days were accomplished that she should be delivered.  And she brought forth her firstborn Son . . ." (St. Luke 2:6-7)  At Christmas we focus on the birth of Jesus . . . or at least we should, but that is a different reflection  altogether .  .  . and as such here in the Third Joyful Mystery we also focus on the birth of the Child Jesus.  In the history of the world, has there ever been such a joyful event as the birth of the Messiah of mankind?  And yet we know that the birth of the Child Jesus was for the most part unnoticed by the world.  There were some that took note, of course, such as the local shepherds and the angels, of course.  But the rest of the world was not aware of the miraculous event taking place that would change the course of the world forever.  So, too, we pray in our own life that Christ will be born once again in our heart!  We pray that Our Blessed Saviour will have a special place in our heart where He will abide there with us.  When Christ does come to abide in our heart, the world will not notice.  The world will be concerned with their own worldly affairs just as they were two-thousand years ago.  Let Christ abide in your heart.  Let Him dwell there all your days on earth so that He will always be with you:  to encourage you and to love you; to teach you and to guide you.

The Fourth Joyful Mystery is the Presentation of the Child Jesus in the Temple

In St. Luke 2:22, we hear:  "And when the days of her purification according to the law of Moses were accomplished, they brought Him to Jerusalem, to present Him  to the Lord."  In this verse we hear of the dedication of Our Lady and St. Joseph in fulfilling the law of Moses in presenting the Child Jesus in the Temple.  In this sense, we can focus not only on the obedience of the Holy Family but also their sacrifice.  We too for our part need to be obedient to God in our life and sometimes this will entail sacrifice on our part.  In the world which we live it is easy to be a Christian "in name only."   What I mean is that anyone can say they are a Christian.  And many people do just that, they say they are Christian but they do not live a very Christian life.  They follow the ways of the world much more than they follow God.  For the dedicated, committed Christian, we are called to be obedient to God and doing His will here in this life.  As I say, sometimes this will require sacrifice and dedication on our part.

The Fifth Joyful Mystery is the Finding of the Child Jesus

Those of you who are parents have probably had the experience of "losing" your children a time or two.  Perhaps it was in a department store or a mall.  One minute your child is with you and the next minute the child is gone.  And perhaps for a brief moment or two panic sets in because you don't know what has happened to your child.  And then when your child shows up, how happy you feel because you know your child is safe.  Let us place ourselves in the shoes of the Holy Family in that regard.  We can only imagine what it was like for Our Lady and St. Joseph once they discovered that the Child Jesus was not in their company.  We know of their frantic search and backtracking of their steps to see if they could find Him.  In this mystery, we focus of the joy of finding Jesus.  For Mary and St. Joseph, they found the Child Jesus in the Temple.  For us, we can focus on the joy of finding Our Blessed Lord in the Tabernacle.  Joyful that Our Lord is there waiting for us.  He is always ready to listen to us . . . to love us . . . .  to guide us . . . .  to sustain us.  Like Mary and St. Joseph, though, we must search for Him.  We must go in search of Our Blessed Lord.  Not that He is far away.  Rather, we must make our way through the "maze" of worldly cares and concerns that block and hinder our way of finding Our Blessed Saviour.

Reflections On The Sixth and Seventh Sorrows of Our Lady

I remember back when I saw Mel Gibson’s “The Passion” when it was released.  Like all of you who saw this production, I was moved with sorrow and grief at seeing the visual portrayal of the brutal treatment of Our Lord.  Mel Gibson was able, it seems to me, to vividly portray the sorrowful and cruel series of events depicting the Passion of Our Lord.  In this sense, this movie presentation helped to portray some of the sorrows that Our Lady was forced to endure in regards to her Son.

Just as throughout His life, Our Lady followed the cruel events leading up to His death.  One of the titles that Our Lady has been given is “Our Lady of Sorrows,” or “Sancta Mater Dolorosa.”  One of the devotions in regards to Our Lady of Sorrows has to do with the “Seven Sorrows of Our Lady.”  These, of course, refer to the Seven Sorrows Our Lady endured in regards to her Son.  The final two sorrows in this devotion, the Sixth and Seventh Sorrows, we will deal with in this short essay:  “Our Lord’s Descent from the Cross;” and the “Burial of Our Lord.”

Our Lord’s Descent from the Cross

After His Crucifixion, we hear in St. Matthew’s Gospel, the taking down from the Cross:

“When the even was come, there came a rich man of Arimathaea, named Joseph, who also himself was Jesus’ disciple: He went to Pilate, and begged the body of Jesus.  Then Pilate commanded the body to be delivered.  And when Joseph had taken the body, he wrapped it in a clean linen cloth.”  (St. Matthew 27:57-59)

As mentioned earlier, how can any of us ever imagine the intense pain that Our Lady felt for her Son during the events of His Passion?  After everything that she had seen . . .  after all the paid that she had endured . . . . what emotions must she have felt as she saw her Son taken down from the Cross?  Pain. Sorrow. Grief. Agony.  And, yes, most certainly even Relief.  Relief that Her Son’s torture was finished.  Relief that His pain was over. Our Lady now wanted most to see her Son taken down from the Cross, taken down from the instrument of His Death.   Surely, she did not want to see her Son left up on the Cross to continue the shame and agony He was forced to endure from those who hated Him.  As with all mothers who love their children so dearly, she did not want to see her child treated with such contempt and hatred. 

What lesson can we learn that Our Lady has taught us?  As Christians, we learn to have compassion for Our Lord in this world.  You see, Our Lady had no power over the forces that caused her Son’s death.  She could not stop the tragic series of events that led to her Son hanging on that Cross.  And yet she could do the one thing that she did His entire life:  try to comfort Him as best as she could.  Mothers tend to do that, don’t they?  So often, our mothers are there to comfort us when we are hurting the most.  And so often they do not know what to do to relieve us of our pain other than they do the one thing that they do best:  they embrace us and hold us while we are grieving.  They hold us to let us know that we have someone with us when we hurt.  They embrace us to let us know that we have someone who loves us. This is what Our Lady did when her Son was brought down from the Cross.  She did the thing that came naturally to her and to all mothers . . . . she embraced her Son even in His death.   We too should learn to comfort Our Lord when He is offended.  Like Mary, so often we will not have the power to stop those in the world from offending Our Blessed Saviour.  But like Mary we can do what comes natural:  show love and devotion to Our Blessed Saviour.  When we hear of Our Lord being mocked and hated in this world, embrace Our Lord and show Him your love.  This is what Our Lady did at the foot of the Cross:  she supported her Son when all others had left.  Thus, when we see Our Lord so cruelly treated by those around us in the world, embrace Our Lord and hold on to Him.  Support Him by showing Him how much you love Him.

The Burial of Christ

From St. John’s Gospel, we hear:  “Then took they the body of Jesus, and wound it in linen clothes with the spices, as the manner of the Jews is to bury.  Now in the place where He was crucified there was a garden: and in the garden a new sepulcher, wherein was never man yet laid.  There laid they Jesus therefore because of the Jew’s preparation day; for the sepulcher was nigh at hand.” (St. John 19:40-42)

Our Lady and the disciples of Our Lord buried Him with much care and compassion.  Keep in mind that surely each one of them that had gathered there must have been dealing with a whole host of emotions:  grief, agony, sorrow, confusion,  . . . .  And yet despite this whole host of emotions present in each one of them, they buried Our Lord with great compassion and love.  Despite the varied limitations that were in place, we know that the disciples of Our Blessed Lord prepared a burial place with much love, dignity and respect to their Blessed Saviour.  In their grief, they did their best to give Him a special resting place. 

As Christians committed to Our Blessed Saviour, we too are called to prepare a special place for Him.  In the book of Exodus we hear:  “The Lord is my strength and song, and He is become my salvation: He is my God, and I will prepare Him an habitation . .  .” (Exodus 15:2)  This is the lesson we can learn from the Seventh, and final, Sorrow of Mary:  to prepare a place for Our Saviour.  Even in the shadows of His Death, Mary and the Disciples prepared a special place for Our Blessed Saviour.  We can follow their example by preparing a special place for Him as well.  Where will this place be, you ask?  The one place He wishes to be:  in our hearts, of course.  If we each prepare a special place in our heart for Our Lord, imagine how pleased He will be.  Mary and the Disciples did their best to prepare a place for Him with as much care and devotion as they could possibly show.  They did this to show their respect and love.  We too much prepare a place in our heart out of respect and love for Our Blessed Lord.   

Please Join Us On Sunday, August 28th, 2016

Fourteenth Sunday after Trinity, August 28th, 2016

In the Seventeenth chapter of St. Luke's Gospel, we hear about the time in which Our Blessed Saviour encountered ten lepers.  We all are familiar with this passage, I am quite sure.  The bottom line is that Our Lord directed the ten lepers to go see the priest and as they went all ten were healed.  And yet this is not the point of the passage that St. Luke presents to us. As a result of being healed, only one out of the ten came back and expressed his thanks and gratitude to Our Blessed Saviour.  This action . . .  or should I say "inaction" of the other nine ..  . . caused Our Lord to voice the question to the one man that came back in front of Him:  ". . . but where are the nine?" (St. Luke 17:11 ff)  Although the event just described in St. Luke's Gospel happened some two-thousand years ago, I have no doubt whatsoever that Our Blessed Lord is still asking the very same question in our own day about us.  What do I mean?  How many people only approach God when they need something?  How many people do we know . . . . .  and in all fairness, this could describe us as well at times . . .  how many people do we know that when they get into trouble . . . when they get into a jam ..  . . . when they find themselves facing dire consequences .  . . these people go running to God.  These people pray like they've never prayed before.  They pray and pray and pray  . . .  and then they pray some more . .  . they pray that God will assist them in their time of need.  And then when their "dire emergency" passes by, these same people that prayed for God's help are nowhere to be found.  In other words, they don't seek God again until the next time they "need" Him.  When described this way, isn't that exactly what the "other" nine lepers did to Our Lord?  They cried for help in order to be healed.  But only one was able to ALSO voice thanksgiving!  How many times do we go to God only when we "need" Him?  How many times do we only go to God when we "need" His assistance?  The point I am making is that we should make an effort during our lifetime to approach God in ALL aspects of our life and not just when we "need" something.  Go to God in petition in times of trouble, yes!  But, please, do not go to God ONLY when you need something!  Pray for God's help but also pray to God in times of thanksgiving!  Go to God in prayer when you simply want to tell Him how wonderful He is.  Go to God and spend time with God every single day and not simply when you "need" Him.  

Please join St. Margaret Church on Sunday, August 28th, 2016 as we worship Our Heavenly Father as a family.  Join us as we listen to God's Word found in the King James Bible and the 1928 Book of Common Prayer.  Join us as Our Blessed Saviour nourishes us and strengthens us at Communion time as we receive the Most Precious Body and Blood!

St. Margaret Church worships at the beautiful chapel at Marquette Manor, located at 8140 N. Township Line Road on the Northwest side of Indianapolis.  Mass begins at 9:30 AM on Sunday mornings.