Many of us think about money in terms of scarcity: the fear of losing it, of not having enough, and therefore the need to hold on to it tightly. Behind the veil of scarcity, though, there are more gracious ways to engage with money. What if we understood money as a form of energy that is meant to flow through our lives and through the world, rather than be hoarded and so become stagnant? To see money this way, to be willing to let it flow, requires letting go of fear and trusting instead that there is and will be enough for us and for others. Sufficiency—enoughness—is the middle way between scarcity and exploitative wealth. As Gandhi put it, the world has enough for everyone’s need, but not enough for everyone’s greed. Sufficiency is the way the birds of the air live, and the lilies of the field.
Pope Saint Hilary (5th c.) was Bishop of Rome from 461 to 468. Not much is known of his early life other than that he was from Sardinia. He rose to prominence in the Church when he became archdeacon under Pope St. Leo the Great, working closely with him as a trusted aid. St. Leo sent Hilary as one of the papal legates to the Council of Ephesus in 449. There St. Hilary fought bravely against the monophysite heresy, for which his life was threatened. He was forced into hiding and fled back to Rome for safety. He was so highly esteemed that after Pope Leo’s death he was elected to the papacy. As pope, St. Hilary fought for the rights of the papacy in spiritual matters against the Roman Emperor, and increased organization and discipline between the bishops and the Holy See. He also did much work in building, remodeling, and decorating Roman churches and other public places. Pope St. Hilary’s feast day is February 28.
I was tidying up some stuff as I’m prone to do from time to time, and I found some military/Army papers. Oh, this could be important, but not likely since it’s going on nine years since I retired. I don’t think they miss me, and I don’t miss them either. They tried to kill me. It wasn’t personal…just business. So, I looked at the document and it was orders for REFRAD or Release From Active Duty. I read through the document, and it was a stroll down memory lane. For my education, “high school or the equivalent” was listed. Well, that’s pretty close. I told you I was the village idiot, and the military knew. Except that I could not have been an officer without a college education, and I could not have been a chaplain without a master’s degree. Welcome to the Army. Anyway, I thought it was hilarious. I’m not the brightest bulb in the circuit, but I did study and pass tests because I have initials after my name.
Some days I went to class, and I remember a discussion about sin. By the way, the Church is still against sin. A lot of people use as an excuse for having no morality that we cannot be judgmental. I have heard people in Confession say, “Bless me Father for I have sinned.” Okay. “I have judgmentalism.” So, I have a degree in Philosophy. I have a degree in Divinity. I have a minor in Military Science and one in Western Civilization. But I have no idea what you are talking about. I have absolutely no clue. There is no such thing. If you look in the two books on Moral Theology, it’s not there. There is the sin of rash judgement but not judgmentalism. We are called to judge. In my house I have to judge a lot. I open the refrigerator and if I see bushy green stuff, I have to make a judgement. Is that stuff supposed to be green? It’s always a question in my mind. So, we make judgements all the time because we are supposed to. Physicians and healthcare workers make judgements. Our Lord said you will know them by their fruits. You are supposed to judge actions. Actions are objectively evil or good. Very few actions by a moral agent are neutral. We are all moral agents. So, all of our actions are good or evil. They can be objectively wrong. This one bozo passed a State Trooper going 55 mph in a 35 mph zone. Hey dude, you are about to meet a new friend! He was wrong, and he was stupid. But we are not to judge beyond God’s mercy.
We are all called to make judgements. Sometimes in my former line of work, before I was here with you folks, I had to make instantaneous judgements. Otherwise, I would have lost my breathing privileges. In some fields, it’s the same. We are called to make judgements. We cannot judge anyone beyond God’s mercy. We don’t know the crosses they carry. We judge and treat them according to their actions. That’s the moral law.
I’m trying to get away from here for a little while because my cousin has cancer. We are hoping for a miracle although it doesn’t look promising. But, what the heck. Never asked, never granted. My cousin is a very gifted woman. She’s an artist. She can sing. She’s a nurse. She’s a beautiful woman. All women are beautiful, and my cousin is exceptionally so. My family has good looks and no money. Damn. Her father – my godfather – had his problems. He was a gambling addict and an alcoholic. He was a great engineer and absolutely brilliant. Some of that is genetic. Although 30+ missions as a waist gunner in a B-17 over Nazi Germany during WW II probably didn’t help much. My cousin grew up in a home like that. Her father tried. I can tell you that he struggled with his crosses because when he was near death, he asked me to hear his confession. That was faith. People who judged him would say that he was a worthless drunk and everything else. No. God did not forget him, and he did not forget God. It’s just that his crosses were so heavy that he fell a lot. Other so-called Christian religions believe they know who is in Heaven and who isn’t. That’s not true. We don’t know. We just work like heck and hope we get there.
We have to practice judgementalism on ourselves. We judge ourselves guilty of sin. Why don’t people go to confession? Some say, “Well, I don’t really have any sins.” Then you shouldn’t come to Communion. Huh? Communion is not a door prize for just showing up. Who do you receive in Holy Communion? You receive the Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity of our Lord Jesus Christ. Who is Jesus Christ? He is our Savior. Okay. Two for two. What does He save us from? Sin. So, if you have no sin, you do not need Jesus. Let me know if you do. We judge ourselves guilty in order to receive Him. We cannot judge who is in Heaven. Remember, the good thief stole Heaven at the last minute. A man who thought he was smarter than the average bear was playing games with Bishop Sheen. He wanted to know if Jonah was really swallowed by the whale. Bishop Sheen said “I don’t know. When I get to Heaven, I’ll ask him.” The man said, “What if he’s not in Heaven?” Bishop Sheen said, “Then you ask him.” Do you know what the three biggest surprises in Heaven will be? Who is in Heaven. Who is not in Heaven. And, that we are there.
How will you apply this message to your life?
You can read all of Father Fitzgibbons’ sermons by going to http://AnnunciationCatholicAlbemarle.com/ and clicking on “Blog” then “Categories” and then “Sermon Notes.” Sermon notes can also be found on the church Facebook page by searching for “Facebook Our Lady of the Annunciation Albemarle”
Now man need not hide from God as Adam did; for He can be seen through Christ’s human nature. Christ did not gain one perfection more by becoming man, nor did He lose anything of what He possessed as God. There was the Almightiness of God in the movement of His arm, the infinite love of God in the beatings of His human heart and the Unmeasured Compassion of God to sinners in His eyes. God was now manifest in the flesh; this is what is called the Incarnation. The whole range of the Divine attributes of power and goodness, justice, love, beauty, were in Him. And when Our Divine Lord acted and spoke, God in His perfect nature became manifest to those who saw Him and heard Him and touched Him. As He told Philip later on: Anyone who has seen Me has seen the Father [John 14:9].” —Fulton J. Sheen, p. 21
St. Juliana of Nicomedia (c. 270 A.D.), also known as St. Juliana of Cumae, was the daughter of noble pagan parents, born in Nicomedia, a Greek city in ancient Turkey. Although her father was hostile to Christians, Juliana secretly accepted baptism. Her father arranged her marriage to a pagan nobleman and Roman senator. When the time for her wedding came, Juliana refused her consent to be married unless her betrothed converted to the Christian faith. Her father retaliated by mercilessly abusing her, but Juliana would not give in. Her betrothed then denounced her as a Christian before the tribunal under the persecutions of the Roman Emperor Diocletian. St. Juliana was unwavering in her faith, even after the devil himself appeared to tempt her during her sufferings. She was then publicly tortured by being burned, boiled in oil, and finally beheaded. Some accounts say she died together with St. Barbara. Many were converted to the Christian faith upon witnessing her fortitude in the face of her tortures. St. Juliana is the patron saint of sickness and bodily ills. Her feast day is February 16th
Blessed Bartholomew of Olmedo (1485-1524) was a Spanish Mercedarian priest, and the first priest to arrive on Mexican soil in 1516 at the age of 31. He was chaplain for the expedition of Spanish Conquistador Fernando Cortés, who began the Spanish colonization of the Americas and the downfall of the Aztec empire. Bartholomew was well-liked by the native people. He taught them the Christian faith and exhorted them to end their practice of human sacrifice. He also defended them against injustice and restrained Cortés from acting out in violence against them. Bartholomew taught the native Mexicans devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary under the title of Our Lady of Mercy, which they embraced. Blessed Bartholomew of Olmedo baptized more than 2500 people before he died in Mexico in 1524 at the age of 39. He was buried in Santiago de Tlatelolco. His feast day is February 11.
“Consider not only that God your benefactor is present but also that He acts continuously in all His creatures. And for whom is this continual action, this work of God in nature? For you. Thus, He lights you by the light of day; He nourishes you with the productions of the earth; in a word, He serves you by each one of the creatures that you use; so that it is true to say that at every moment the bounty, the wisdom and the power of God are at your service and are exercised in the world for your wants or pleasures. This conduct of God toward man should be the model of your conduct toward God. You see that the presence of God in His creatures is never idle; it acts incessantly, it preserves, it governs. Beware, then, of stopping at a sterile contemplation of God present in yourself. Add action to contemplation; to the sight of the Divine presence add the faithful accomplishment of the Divine will.” —St. Ignatius, p. 182
St. Catherine del Ricci (1522-1590) was born with the name Alessandra in Florence, Italy, to a respectable merchant family. Her mother died while she was very young, so that from her childhood Alessandra took the Blessed Virgin Mary as her mother. She was given to prayer and religious fervor, and at the age of fourteen decided to enter a strict Third Order Dominican convent, taking Catherine as her religious name. She developed into a great mystic with an intense devotion to the Passion of Christ. For many years Catherine would go into ecstasy from noon every Thursday through 4 p.m. on Friday, experiencing in a mystical manner the sufferings of Christ during his Passion. She was also given the spiritual gift of the stigmata; Christ’s wounds would appear on her body through the course of the ecstasy. After enduring much humiliation for years on account of these sufferings, she was eventually accepted as a holy woman and later became prioress. Her advice was widely sought on many spiritual and practical matters. Despite being cloistered, she kept up a loving correspondence with many relatives, friends, and her spiritual children. Among those in her correspondence were three future popes, Pope Marcellus II, Pope Clement VIII, and Pope Leo XI. Her feast day is February 13.
Yes, my heart’s dear one, Jesus, is here with His cross. Since you are one of His favorites, he wants to make you into His likeness; why be afraid that you will not have the strength to carry this cross without a struggle? On the way to Calvary, Jesus did indeed fall three times and you, poor little child, would like to be different from your spouse, would rather not fall a hundred times if necessary to prove your love to Him by getting back up with even more strength than before your fall!” —St. Therese of Lisieux, p. 87
