Sermon Notes
“You Talking to Me?”
Father Peter Fitzgibbons
February 5 – 6, 2022
Gospel: Luke 5:1-11
You may recognize this passage in the Gospel of Luke as one of the greatest examples of sarcasm in scripture. “Master, we have worked hard all night and have caught nothing, but at your command I will lower the nets.” When Christ tells them to cast out into deeper water for a catch, Peter was probably thinking that this is a holy man and we might get some good karma if we do it. Even so, Peter was dripping with sarcasm when he said, “Yes, Master at Your command” and put out the nets. But think about it. Here is a carpenter telling a professional fisherman how to fish. Really? Are you kidding me? That’s like me telling Bob how to fix things. He doesn’t even let me use power tools. That would be like me telling Phyllis how to practice medicine.
You could tell who was a fisherman by their complexions and hands, etc. Jesus was a carpenter. He didn’t speak with the same accent because he was from Nazareth. It’s like being in the South; you know who is a Yankee and who isn’t. Remember the show “Cheers”? I could tell what part of Boston they were from just by the accent. People from different parts of Boston have their own accents. I know because I lived in Boston. So, Christ wasn’t from Galilee, and He didn’t look like a fisherman. His face wasn’t sunburned and He had the hands of a carpenter. But, Peter being the nice guy that he was said “Alright, I’ll do it Lord.” I’m sure he wasn’t having happy thoughts about this Jesus character. But Peter did as the Lord said and put out into deeper water. After catching so much fish that his boat almost sank, Peter came back and fell at the Lord’s knees and said, ““Depart from me, Lord, for I am a sinful man.” In Hebrew, the word “Lord” is meant to refer only to the Almighty. You don’t get that from scripture unless you are taught it. You read it and move on. But it is a word used only when referring to God. We see the amazing change in Peter when he recognized Jesus as Lord.
The takeaway from today’s gospel is that if you do what our Lord asks you to do, you’ll get what He promises far and beyond all our needs, hopes, and expectations. Even if it may seem stupid to us, look at the benefits it produces. Peter and the other fisherman had to work for it. They were hauling in nets full of fish. That’s not easy…it’s pure bull work. First, you have to work for it, but you also have to be obedient. We also have to be obedient and work for His promises of rewards beyond all measure. Not that we will receive a bunch of fish … I hate fish. That’s why God made Ketchup and Ranch dressing. I may not like it, but I have to eat it. Twice a week, I do great penance by eating fish. What’s the greatest reward beyond all Earthly expectations? If we do what our Lord asks us to do, what do we get? We get Him forever.
Too often because of our pride and our hubris, we think we’ve had a visit from the good idea fairy. The good idea fairy says, “Oh, no, no. We have good ideas. This is great!” This is not just a modern distraction, it goes back to when Saint Paul went to Athens. He tried something totally different and he got two converts. After that, he decided to preach only about Christ crucified. And then what happened? He began to evangelize the Gentiles. He did what His good Lord asked him to do. And that’s what we should do. This is how we attract people to Him. For them to see us get up with our cross to follow Him and do what He asks. We give to those who we don’t think deserve it. We give to those people who hate us. We pray for those who persecute us. We do what He tells us to do and we get what He promised although maybe not as immediately as the apostles.
I have proven that 90% of being successful is just showing up. Ask any of my brother priests and they will tell you in all honesty, even the Bishop will in a candid moment, that I’m not the sharpest knife in the priestly drawer. I’m not that bright. I’m not that learned. I’m not that talented. But I show up. One day I was in the field and one of the gunship pilots came up to me. He’s not a Catholic and I really doubt that he’s a church-going guy. I was going around saying hello to everybody, checking on all my soldiers, and touring my parish when this pilot came up to me and said, “Chaplain, when we go to war, will you come with us?” I said, “Yes. Where you, go I go.” All those days in the field in the rain, snow, and cold…gosh, I miss those days! Someday I knew I was going laugh about all of it but not that day.
When I was a very young priest, I was Catholic chaplain for Charlotte Memorial, Presbyterian, and Novant. Scott Lindsey was the chaplain at Presbyterian and his secretary told him that they had an emergency call needing a priest. She asked Scott if she should find out the name of the pastor. Scott said, “No. Call Father Fitzgibbons. He always comes.” It’s just showing up. That’s the best tool for evangelization…trying to live a holy life. Do what Christ asks us to do, and we will get the reward He promises us. Too often we settle for smaller rewards. The reward He promises and the one we should all be working for is Himself. You are because you are here. This is just a reminder because we are easily distracted – look, squirrel!!.
Do what He tells you to do. You are just like the disciples when He sent them out two-by-two to go prepare the wedding room. They came back and said, “Lord, even the demons suffer for your name. He said, “Yeah, I told you they would.”
How will you apply this message to your life?
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