Hang Around a Barber Shop Long Enough and You’re Gonna Get a Haircut
Father Peter Fitzgibbons
July 15 – 16, 2023
Gospel: Matthew 13:1-23
Our good Lord has given us the gift of life. With that gift of life, we are meant to serve Him in this world and reign with Him in the next. That is what the Catechism tells us. However, to reign with Him in the next life, we must take care of what we’ve been given – our souls. Our souls can become a beautiful garden of joy, peace, and tranquility. And if we take care of that garden, Christ will come dwell in it. But it is up to us to make sure that our garden is prepared for God and a place where the Word of God can get through.
Now, a garden takes a little work, because you first must prepare the soil by tilling and fertilizing it. After that, you need to get the soil ready for plants by removing all the rocks and weeds. It is not fun sometimes, especially in the North Carolina heat. As the Misfits will tell you, our gardens need constant weeding. One day everything can look great in the garden, and the next day it’s full of weeds. “Where the heck did those come from!” It is amazing how quickly Mother Nature will rebound, and those pesky weeds grow back. The bad stuff always seems to grow the quickest. It’s like good and bad habits. While good habits take longer to develop, bad habits develop quickly and, like weeds, are hard to get rid of.
We are called to tend to the garden of our souls so that when Christ comes, and we let Him in, He will find a place where He can grow into a thing of beauty which is Him. We must protect it by avoiding all provocations to sin, whether it is people, places, or things. Remember, if you hang around a barber shop long enough, you’re gonna get a haircut. Stay away from those provocations. You don’t have to go looking for satan; he will find you. We fertilize the garden of our soul with renunciation of self, prayer, penance, and mortification. Through prayer, sacrifice, and corporal and spiritual works of mercy, we prepare for God to come into and remain in our souls.
We must be ever vigilant so that when those sneaky, annoying weeds come back, we are ready for them. It is a never-ending task. No matter your vocation and no matter your age, it is a never-ending task. As Peter tells us, “The devil prowls about like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour” (1 Peter 5:8). And that’s true. So, do not tire of doing the daily activities which include prayer and mortification. A commander once told me, “Do the routine things routinely.” “But I’m not getting any benefit from it!” We are never good judges of ourselves. If you do the routine things, you will receive a benefit. You may not feel it, wherein lies the temptation. The last 60 years of spiritual “care” have people thinking more about their feelings. “I don’t feel. . .” and “I feel. . .” You all know my reaction to that – Shut up! I don’t care how you feel . . . I really don’t. I only care about what you do. Christ never asked that question in Scripture. Instead, He asked, “What do you think?” and the apostles got that wrong too. It has nothing to do with feelings and has everything to do with reality.
We must be vigilant and pay attention to our souls every day so that they remain in a state of grace. Do routine things routinely. Keep your garden nice, clean, and free of weeds. Water it with tears of penance for your sins and the sins of others. Fertilize it with acts of love. Do these things so that when our Lord comes and sows the seeds with His Word through the Sacraments, He will find a place where His love can take root and grow.
Father’s Afterthoughts . . .
As part of my continuing education, and so that I don’t forget the stuff learned in seminary, I do a lot of reading about theology, Christology, eschatology, and ecclesiology. With over 2,000 years of Church history, you can’t read or remember it all. So, I keep reading. And because of my work as a hospital chaplain, I read a lot of medical literature to keep up with what I might face in the hospital. I have been reading several articles lately, and I want to pass along what I have learned as a matter of perspective instead of waiting for the synod. The percentage of people who are afflicted with gender dysphoria or transgenderism is about 1.4% of the population. The percentage of people afflicted with same-sex attraction is about 2%. So, in total, we are talking about 4% of the population. Considered together, 40% of these people have additional psychological afflictions. That information comes straight from medical literature. None of those conditions are terminal in themselves. However, to put that into perspective, 10% of the population is afflicted with the disease of alcoholism which, if left untreated, is terminal. Untreated alcoholism is terminal not only for alcoholics, but also for the poor people who encounter them on the highway when they are driving drunk. The alcoholism death rate is astounding. I hope this provides some perspective on what is behind all the arguments.
How will you apply this message to your life? ________________________________________
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