Month: July 2022

“Do Whatever He Tells You”

Father Peter Fitzgibbons

 July 2 – 3, 2022

Gospel: Luke 10:1-12, 17-20

I was talking to a gentleman in the Hospice unit, and he said he had a question for me.   Are you Catholic?  I said, “Yes.”   I want to ask you about prayer.  Isn’t praying to Mary and the Saints a prayer that belongs only to God?  I said, “Yes it does, but look at the definition of ‘pray.’”  Now I’ve had the benefit of a Catholic education in English – not diction – English.  Pray means “to ask.”   Pray can mean “worship” and “adoration,” but it can also mean “to ask.”  So, we ask the Blessed Mother for her intercession.  Who got the first miracle?  Mary.  Then who better than God’s mother to ask?   I told the man that it’s not what you know, it’s who you know.  I know a lady. . . I can get things done.  He said that made a lot of sense and he was happy with my answer.  I almost said, “When you see Mary, put a good word in for me.”  But I left that thought for later. 

In the Gospel of John, there is a recounting of the wedding in Cana of Galilee.  Mary gave advice for us all which will make our lives a lot easier and our faith more fruitful.  What did she say?  “Do whatever He tells you.”   Now the disciples and apostles were jubilant when they returned from the wedding.  Who knew that Jesus, being the son of God, would tell them what to do and it would all work out?   If you go through the Gospels, you see that every time a miracle happened the apostles were surprised.  You think they would have gotten used to it!  During the three years they were with Him, He raised at least three people from the dead.  They saw Jesus as God.  He fed the 5,000.  When a storm arose which frightened the apostles, He stilled the waters.  And they were still surprised when He performed a miracle?  Did the apostles have short term memory problems? 

We are called to do what we are told because of the One who told us.  Do what you are told, and you will be surprised.  Do what you are told, and God will get results.   We are here to fallow spiritual orders.  Will it all work out?  Yes.  Will we see it?  Maybe not.  We don’t always see the results of our hard labors, sufferings, and prayers.  But God sees out of time.  Jesus said, “One sows and another reaps.”   If we do what He tells us to do, we will get what He has promised.  Act like He acted.  Become like Him.  Follow in His footsteps.   

Going back to my wonderful sermon last week, we shouldn’t try to change Jesus’ words as if He doesn’t understand what’s going on in the 21^st century.   “Do You know what’s going on here?”   “You obviously aren’t getting newspapers, watching CNN, or on Facebook.”    “Come on!  You gotta change this stuff.  People are upset!”  They are always upset.  When they crucified the Savior, you think they were upset?  Yeah!  Just do what you are told.  And the great thing is, like in the military and in married life, we don’t have to like it, nor do we have to understand it.  Who has been known to whine to God?   There is a heresy and a popular one that people have spent quite a lot of money on.  It’s the catchphrase, “What would Jesus do?”  How the heck would you know?  It’s a heresy to make yourself equal to God.   Just do as you are told.  Don’t worry about it.  God is up all night, so there’s nothing to worry about.  He’s got it.  

The hardest thing to do is the submission of self.  I took three vows:  poverty, chastity, and obedience.  Which of those is the most difficult?  Obedience is the most difficult because some of us are educated beyond our abilities and always have in the back of our minds, “Yeah, but… You don’t know anything, you with the pointy hat and stick.”  We think we know the solutions.  We think we know what must be done.  But that’s not always true.  We think we know what’s good for people.  That, too, is not always true.   We judge people even though we don’t know the crosses they carry.  When my brother passed away, he was buried in his fireman’s uniform, and he had all these badges.  My sister-in-law never knew what they were.  So, I asked the fire captain what they meant.  He said that they were for a couple of lives he saved and for this and that.  He did all this stuff, and no one ever knew.  I saw a picture of my sister-in-law’s brother in his Army green uniform, and he had all these medals and ribbons.  Not bad!   I asked my sister-in-law if her brother had ever told her what they meant.  She said “no.”  I didn’t expect him to since he was a Vietnam veteran and a retired colonel.   So, I said, “You see that one there?  That’s the Distinguished Flying Cross, downgraded from the Medal of Honor.  You need to ask him about that one.”   I knew he probably would not tell her the truth, but the family needed to know this stuff.  Later on, I asked my sister-ion-law if he had told her about his medals, and she said “yes.”   I wondered if he told her the truth, because he had done some work on the dark side, and some of that information is classified.  But he told me. 

You never know the crosses people are carrying, so we don’t make judgements about them.  We just do what Jesus asks us to do.  That’s all.  In the Book of Acts, the apostles were thrown into prison, and prisons back then were a little rougher than those we have now, but what did they do?  They rejoiced because they were found worthy to suffer for His name.  They did what God wanted them to do, and that’s what He wants us to do.  When we stand before Him, He will ask, “Did you do what I asked you to do?”

How will you apply this message to your life?

Father’s Reflections. . .

• This morning during my meditation, I remembered something from 31 years ago.  That’s not bad…at least I’m not in the Alzheimer’s unit yet.  But I remember this. . .Our unit moved back from Iraq and redeployed to Fort Bragg where I ran into General Schwarzkopf’s chaplain.  General Schwarzkopf was Commander of the Armed Forces in Iraq during Desert Shield and Desert Storm. The chaplain and I were chatting, and he told me something that General Schwarzkopf had said to him right before Desert Storm.  The General was going into a meeting with his subordinate commanders or what we would call combatant commanders.  The General said, “Chaplain will you pray for me?  Tonight, I am about to send many young men and women to their deaths.”  That night he gave the order, and we went into Iraq.
  
• I was doing my rounds in the Hospice unit and I saw the Hospice nurses, all female, and they were having lunch of fruit, salad, and other healthy stuff.  I went back to the office and saw Chaplain Metcalf who I’ve known for 33 years since my days in the Army.  He was also having lunch except he was eating the Sausage Lover’s pizza and drinking a big glass of Cheerwine.  He said, “Don’t tell my wife about the Cheerwine.”  And you wonder why women live longer!  

Read all of Father Fitzgibbons’ sermons by going to annunciationcatholicalbemarle.com and clicking on “Blog” then “Categories” then “Sermon Notes.”  Cell phone: click on “Blog” then “Menu” and then “Categories”

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