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Sermon Notes – June 12, 2022 – “All Are Welcome”

“All Are Welcome”

Father Peter Fitzgibbons

 June 11 – 12, 2022

Gospel: John 16:12-15

While I was up north on vacation, I did some touring and saw a lot of churches.  Rhode Island is a small state with only about 1,000 square miles in land mass.  Stanly County has 404, so Rhode Island is just a little larger than our parish.  So is Massachusetts.  It’s funny that even in little West Warwick there are two off-brand Catholic Churches.  “We are Catholic, but we are not part of the diocese in Providence.”  Well, that means you are not Catholic.  You are catholic with a small “c” and not a big “C.”   All the churches I saw had signs out front that said, “All people are welcome.”   We don’t have a sign like that here.  Have I ever thrown anyone out?  No.  Would I?   No… well maybe Doc, but that’s another matter.  So, these churches have signs welcoming everyone, and it reminds me of Genesis when God asked Adam and Eve: “Who told you that you were naked?”   Who told you that you were not welcome? 

Christ calls everybody without condition to Himself.  He came so that we might all share in His love and the fruits of His sacrifice so that we might live in Heaven with Him.  That’s why He created us…to love and serve Him in this world and to reign with Him in the next.  Remember your Catechism.  Our Good Lord called everyone to Himself, however, apparently there are qualifications . . . a response to that call of love.  That’s why I have never thrown anybody out.  Remember Tommy Morton who was a Baptist for 55 years?  Like Saint Dismas, he stole Heaven at the end.  I loved that guy.  Everyone is welcome here, but only practicing Catholics can receive Communion. 

When our Good Lord called everyone to Him, He said, “Come and follow Me.”  He calls all of us to receive the gift of redemption.   Now, according to Scripture, there are requirements which are really acts of love.  People say, “Well Christ wants everyone to partake of His love regardless of their state.”   No.  That’s not what Scripture says.  Scripture says, “unless you deny your very self and take up your cross and follow Me, you will not be My disciple.”  In order to receive the gift of His love which transforms us from our old sinful ways, we have to surrender ourselves to Him.  Remember the rich young man?  He said that he had to go bury his mother and father, and he walked away from Christ.  Did Christ go running after him to say He was only kidding?  No.  Three times He was left with only His apostles.  Everyone else left Him when He spoke about the Doctrine of the Eucharist – eat My flesh and drink My blood as food; the doctrine of marriage – it is between a man and a woman for life; and the doctrine of suffering – He would have to go to Jerusalem and suffer and die.  There are many others, but the mind will hear only what the seat can endure.  The Holy Father said that a sermon should only go for eight minutes. 

God wants a total response to our love.  When I was ordained, I was given the power to absolve sins.  I have the power of binding and loosening.  What can I bind and what can I not let go?  People who are not sorry for their sins and who haven’t resolved to make amends for their wrongs.  We all have the resolve to change.  We all fall but we get up again.  If you say, “I am living with whoever, wherever, and doing whatever, and you have to love me the same as everyone else,” Christ will say, “No.”   “But how could you excommunicate anybody?”  Paul said we should.  Those who eat and drink the Body and Blood of Christ are worthy and guilty of His death. 

So, our Good Lord calls everyone to His side.  Everyone is welcome here.  I don’t think any of the ushers have ever asked anybody for their Baptismal Certificate.  I don’t think we say, “Well if you don’t have a proper Baptismal Certificate, you’re not going to Heaven.”  I have never said that.  I am just hoping to get there myself.  If I eat bacon, I might get there a lot sooner than I planned.  Just putting that out there.  God asks us to renounce our very self.  In the Parable of the Wedding Feast, there’s a man there without a wedding garment and he got thrown out.  He would not change in order to come to the feast.  Christ calls us to change from our sinful selves and to open our hearts without reservation so that we may conform to the great things in life.  It’s always a work in progress.  But if we fall down, we get back up and keep trying. 

Everyone is welcome.  However, God wants more than your physical presence.  It’s a good start, but He wants us to open our souls and renounce our sins.  He cannot force us because love is a free-will act.  Open your hearts so that you can be transformed.  It’s not a matter of attendance, of making people feel good, or singing “Kumbaya” together.  It’s a matter of salvation…of changing and healing souls. 

All are welcome.  We don’t need to put up a sign out front for that.  I’ll tell you one more story about Bishop Waters, the Bishop of North Carolina.  In the early 60’s, there was only one diocese in the state.  Someone asked the Bishop, “Hey Bishop, how many black Catholics do you have?”  He said, “I don’t know.  We only have Catholics in our church.”  We have no distinction.  When people say to me, “Father, I’m not Catholic,” I say, “First of all, I didn’t ask, and 2) We are all children of God.”  Everyone has a right to be here.  This is our Father’s house and not a club.  But our Good Lord wants more than our physical attendance. He calls all of us to come, but not all will accept His love the way God wants to give it.  And that’s a real tragedy.

How will you apply this message to your life? __________________________________

Father’s Reflections . . .
We all go through trials and temptations.  As of late, I have been very troubled with a very grievous and troublesome temptation.  I have two fairies on each shoulder whispering in my ears  “Bacon is good for you.”   And everywhere I go there is a Hardees “Baconator” sign.  Really?  Well, that’s just food pornography….I don’t care who you are!

You can read all of Father Fitzgibbons’ sermons by going to https://annunciationcatholicalbemarle.com/ and clicking on “Blog” then “Categories” and then “Sermon Notes.”  From a cell phone, click on “Blog” then “Menu” and then “Categories” (located at the end of page).  There is also a search box if you are looking for a specific topic.

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Sermon Notes – June 5, 2022 – “The Feast of Pentecost”

“The Feast of Pentecost”

Father Peter Fitzgibbons

 June 4 – 5, 2022

Gospel: John 20:19-23

We celebrate the Feast of Pentecost when our Lord sent the Holy Spirit upon the apostles.   Remember that He received His human nature from the Blessed Mother, and He asks us to continue His work with ours.   He takes our human nature and graces it with the Holy Spirit; first in Baptism and then the other Sacraments.  Now at Pentecost, the Holy Spirit in the Sacraments reveals His new human nature down through the ages in the Church.  We are part of the Church so that we may bring back what has been separated.   What separates us?  Sin. Sin drives us away from God and then away from each other.  It separates us from what unites us.  Remember the Tower of Babel in Genesis when they were building a tower to God?  And God said, “You’re bringing that?  Is that the best you’ve got?”   Sin drove us apart. 

You heard in the opening prayer about the different languages.  Was Peter a linguist?  No, he was a fisherman but through the Holy Spirit, everyone heard him.   They heard Jesus speaking through Peter.  We are all together in the one Body of Christ in the Church.  We are supposed to use the universal language which is Christ.  He may give us the gift of tongues.  If anyone has been to the 12:15 Mass which is in Spanish, you know that I don’t have that gift.  It’s more Spanglish.  I speak Spanish with a French accent.  That’s a wonder for you right?   People at the 12:15 Mass tell me that my Spanish is pretty good.  No, it’s not.  In my lifetime I have tried to learn seven different languages: English, French (Canadian and Parisian), Latin, Army, and Spanglish.  I gave up on Greek. . .I just grunt and people seems to understand.  So, I’m not a linguist.  What we now have in the Church has balkanized Christ.  We have Mass in Spanish, we have Mass in this language, that language, and whatever language there is.  But you know what?  It doesn’t work because fewer come.  What does work is Christ. 

We all have the capability of speaking the language to reach people.  What is that language?  It is the language of love. . . the language of Christ.  We are called to speak the fullness God’s love through the Holy Spirit no matter our vocation or our place in the Body of Christ.  Mine is different than yours.  But yours is no less important in bringing God’s message to the world.  Even though we cannot speak their language, this is how we touch and teach people and bring them to Christ.  Words are not necessary.  People have asked me, “Father, how do you work with all those soldiers?”  Do I understand everything they did?  Oh, heck no.  “So, why did they love you?”  I just showed up and shared in their sufferings.   I remember when I got to Iraq and the commanding officer asked me, “What are you doing here?”  Being a lowly lieutenant with a smart mouth, I said, “I’m your chaplain, Sir.  Where else am I supposed to be?”  The commander said, “Oh, good point.”   Just be there for people and share in their sufferings.  We are all quick to share in their joys, but now share in their sufferings.  Do acts of charity.  This is the language of Christ.  Even a smile is an act of charity and love.  That is the universal language.  You don’t need a course for it.  What you do need is a heart full of God’s love.  Become a carrier of that love.  We can carry a virus, so too we can carry God’s love.  Bring that to people.  The greatest gift of the Holy Spirit is love and not all the other stuff. 

When I was overseas, workers were imported from Pakistan, Bangladesh, and India.  They would come to our Mass.  Did they understand it?  Probably not.  Did they understand my English?  Probably not.  But they were afraid that the Interior Ministry would tell them they couldn’t come to Mass.  The Interior Ministry would harass them and do all sorts of nasty things.  They don’t have the same sense of justice we do.  I told them they were surrounded by 500,000 heavily armed American soldiers and that nobody was going to bother them.  Trust me on this one.  We didn’t want to be there, and we had an attitude.  So, nobody was going to bother them.  They came because it was the Mass.  If you look out at a military chapel, you will see the United Nations.  We had a Filipino priest whose English was about as good as mine.  “How can you go to those people?”   I said, “Because they are priests.”  I was assigned to Gitmo for three months.  I got “hey you” orders after I returned from a month at Fort Polk.  Did I speak Spanish?  No, but the Army didn’t care.  I told them, “I am your brother.  I am your son.  I am a priest.”  And they understood that. 

When we speak the universal language of love, it unites everyone.  The universal language of love is your charity, both spiritual and corporal.  You don’t have to go to school for it.  If you have to go to school for it, you’re missing the whole boat.  Fill yourself up with Christ.  In Room 1 at the VA Hospital, we had a new hospice patient.  He was a medic on D-Day.  A church member brought him in, and she asked him if there was anything she could get for him.  He said, “Yeah, a dozen roses for my wife.  It’s our 65th wedding anniversary.”  This guy was in Hospice care.  I took that story and made it part of his medical record so that the staff would know.  His wife came in to visit, and she was a hot ticket.  She reminded me of Frankie.  She was the church organist and pianist, and I could see her going Jerry Lee Lewis on somebody.  She was rocking it.  She was so funny.  A couple of nights later, another patient in Room 2 was about to get his celestial discharge.  He was passing from this life to Almighty God.  His wife was repeating the words to his favorite hymn.  The nurse came by and heard her.  She thought about it and went to the wife of the man in Room 1 and said, “Mam, I understand you were a church organist.”  She said, “Yes, I was.”  The nurse asked her if she played the piano, and she said yes.  Then the nurse asked the lady if she knew this hymn.  She did.  The nurse asked the lady if she would mind playing the hymn because the gentleman in the next room was dying.  The lady said, “Oh, I’d love to.”  She went down to where the piano was, and the nurse got some other nurses to come.  Doctor Phoul who had a beautiful voice also came.  They sang that hymn as the man passed from this life to the next.  Now I’m not aware that they taught that course in medical school.  I’m also not aware that they taught it in nursing school.  It is not within any of the treatment parameters that we have.  I’ve been doing this job for a long time, and I’ve never seen it happen.  What led them to do it?  It was the love of Christ being present.  It was a great act of love. This is the love we speak.  You don’t have to speak a different language.  What you need is an open heart for God to come in and take possession and manifest His love throughout the world.

You can read all of Father Fitzgibbons’ sermons by going to https://annunciationcatholicalbemarle.com/ and clicking on “Blog” then “Categories” and then “Sermon Notes.”  From a cell phone, click on “Blog” then “Menu” and then “Categories” (located at the end of page).  There is also a search box if you are looking for a specific topic.

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Why You’re Not a Saint Yet

Are there things in my life that are incompatible with holiness?

We all wish to be saints—God’s people with him forever in heaven. But do we will it? Do we choose it?

Fr. Mike wants you to know that today is the day. This is the moment. There’s only one reason you’re not a saint yet.

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Sermon Notes – May 15, 2022 – The Sacrament of Confirmation

Sermon Notes

 “The Sacrament of Confirmation”

Father Peter Fitzgibbons

 May 14 – 15, 2022

Gospel:  John 13:31-33, 34-35

This is one of those days when we have First Communion which is wonderful.  All this hard work is coming to fruition.  It is works of love coming to fruition in the Sacraments.  Your parents’ love they took in their wedding vows and baptism like their parents before them who brought their marriage vows to fulfillment and brought them to receive divine life in the Faith and the Sacraments.  So, I want to thank the parents and teachers for their hard work especially during COVID.  I also want to thank the kids.  It was rather difficult.  Things are always changing.  If distance learning is the worst thing that ever happens to you, your life is going to be great.  You have to be flexible in life because everything changes.  This is a wonderful day.  You all look so nice.  Now you can come to church every Sunday like that.  That would be great.  I would love that!

Confirmation is an interesting sacrament.  It is one of the three Sacraments you cannot repeat. You cannot repeat Baptism.  You cannot repeat any of the three stages of Holy Orders.  Confirmation also cannot be repeated.  If Last Rites are given to someone and they recover, they can be given Last Rites again later.  On this day these young people receive the Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity of our Lord, Jesus Christ in Holy Communion.  This is not the first time they will have received Jesus.  If you are thinking, “They are receiving Jesus for the first time.”  No, they aren’t.  That’s blasphemy.  It denies the Sacrament of Baptism and Penance.  When you receive the Sacrament, you receive the whole Body, and not just pieces of Him.  When you receive the Holy Spirit at Confirmation, you receive Him in all the Sacraments.  You receive the whole Body. But each Sacrament is different at each stage of life.  There is the Sacrament of vocations such as marriage and Holy Orders.  There is the Sacrament of Last Rites and of a new birth and baptism.  Confirmation strengthens us so that we can carry our crosses and become like martyrs of the faithful in this world.  This is a great Sacrament to strengthen the soul for the crosses people inflict upon us.  All the names they call us – misogynists, homophobic, and blah, blah, blah.  Really, is that the best you’ve got?   I’ve got a sister who scares rugby players.  I had a First Sergeant.  You are not going to scare me by calling me names.

Today you receive Holy Communion and, like you did before when you received the Sacrament of Penance, you will receive the most precious Body and Blood of our Lord so that you will be strengthened.  The gift of Holy Communion is not like belonging to a particular club where you get prizes.  It is a Sacrament of longing – not belonging.  Saint Pope John Paul II said, “understanding Holy Communion, a living Sacrament, brings you to the Sacrament of Penance.”  Properly prepare for the Sacrament of Holy Communion.  This too drives us on to greater love and to seek a greater union with Almighty God.  This is why the law of the Church changed.  Before, you were only allowed to receive Holy Communion at one Mass per day.  But now the law has changed, and you can receive it at every Mass you attend up to three times per day.  You want faith strengthened so that you don’t grow tired on this journey.  Strength is found in the most Precious Body and Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ. 

In Holy Communion the actual grace sustains our strength as we carry our cross every day as our Savior.  If you sin, that can be fixed through the Sacrament of Penance which takes away and heals the wounds in our soul inflicted by sin.  Christ offers you this grace within your soul.  Now, you have to use the grace.  Grace doesn’t come with its own powers…we have to cooperate.  We have to take the necessary actions.  For example, if you say, “Oh, I have a headache! God, please cure it.”  God says, “Love to.  Get up.  Walk 10 feet to the bathroom. Take a couple of aspirin.  You’ll be fine.”   So, we need to cooperate.  The same is true for God’s graces.  If we cooperate, we can make those graces manifest.  Will we always feel it?  No.  Will we always see results?  No.  But that doesn’t mean it’s not there. 

Next week I’ll be on vacation, but you can go to Mass at Saint Luke’s and receive Holy Communion.  Will it be different?  Probably.  You won’t have all the usual people around you.  Will it be a little less sad?  No.  It will be different.  Different is not always bad.  Different can be good because you grow in love.  Now kids, ask your parents, “Mom and dad, is your love greater today than when you first got married?”  The answer should be yes.  If not, come see me…we need to talk.  But it is different.  The love has deepened, and it has grown by the acts of God’s grace and through the prayers and sufferings of self-denial.  The love of those who are 67 is different than when they were 21.  It is deeper, and they have grown closer together.  It is far better if they have done it right.  The same is true for you with Holy Communion.  Will you always receive spiritual thrills?  No.  Does that mean it doesn’t work?  No.  It always works.  Each day I have to take a bunch of pills because I’m old.  Do I feel each of those pills working?  No.  Do I know they work?  Yes.  How do I know they work?  By using a blood pressure cuff.  If I don’t take the pills…oops!  Bad move.  I know they work even though I don’t feel it.  Just because you don’t feel something, doesn’t mean it’s not working.  Let me ask you, “Do you feel or see your guardian angel?”   I have once.  His name is Bruce.  God really has a sense of humor.  You don’t feel it, but it’s always there.  He/she/it…spirits have no gender.  When you are away at school, do you feel your parents’ love?  You see it.  I saw it in a brown bag lunch and a peanut butter and jelly sandwich.  I like peanut butter and jelly.  I could always tell who made my sandwich by how much jelly was on the sandwich.  Mom always put more than Dad.  I always knew.  So just because you don’t feel it, doesn’t mean it’s not working.  Don’t ever say, “I’m doing something wrong. It’s not working.”  That’s not true…it always works.  Be confident and don’t let anything keep you away from the Sacrament.  Come as often as you can, even during the week for extra credit.  John Paul II said, “Penance prepares you for the Sacrament.  And you will be happy. 

Students, may I ask for a favor?  Today, before you go home, thank your teachers and your parents for bringing you to this day because you don’t drive do you?  Tell me you don’t drive.  We have cops in the congregation…so please tell me you don’t drive.  You can’t really get here on your own.  And no matter how adorable you all think you are, there are times when you are less than adorable and have caused your parents and teachers great anguish.  Thank them for their acts of love and sacrifice that they made to get you here today.  The most important prayer you can ever say is the prayer of thank you.

How will you apply this message to your life? 

You can read all of Father Fitzgibbons’ sermons by going to https://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”

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Sermon Notes – May 8, 2022 – “Felon Approved”

Sermon Notes

Father Peter Fitzgibbons

“ Felon Approved “

May 7 – 8, 2022

Gospel: John 10: 27-30

I can say this for the first time in two years:  This sermon is felon approved.  I took it on the road the other day to the local prison – what I call Felon University or FU.   You will be happy to hear that the usual crowd is still there.   We also had a couple of new people.  It was a little confusing at first because they only let inmates who are Catholic in for the Mass.  Technically, they can’t do that but with COVID they’ve gone a bit crazy.  Now, everybody likes to go to church because it is air conditioned there.  The living and sleeping quarters in prison are not.  Hey – nobody asked you to commit a felony in North Carolina.   You don’t like it?  Don’t commit a felony.  So, this one guy came in and the guard looked in the records and saw that his religion is Christian.  The inmate said, “No, I’m Catholic.”  The guard said, “It says right here that you are Christian.”  The inmate said, “I was born a Catholic and for over 20 years at Central Prison I was a Catholic.”  Sweet!  Aren’t we lucky to have you!  Some of the others were newcomers, so I told them a little bit about myself.  I told them I had worked with paratroopers and special operations and that if they had a sin I hadn’t heard before, I’d pay them for the privilege to hear it.  “Oh, you don’t understand, Father.”  Yeah, I do.  Been there and done that.  Got a t-shirt. 

One thing I learned as a young soldier and abided by my whole career is that when you are out and about, when you are going from here to there, doing the sneak and peek, you always watch the guy ahead of you.  War movies portray soldiers wandering all over the place and not paying attention.  That’s just not true.  We made sure that we walked in the same footsteps as the guy ahead of us.  We walked in their exact same steps or something very unpleasant might happen . . . something similar to the old Army song, “You’re Coming Home in a Body Bag.”  So, you made sure to walk in their footsteps because it was safe. 

In the Gospel, our Lord said, “Follow Me.”  Follow Him in His footsteps.  If we do what He did, we will get exactly what He got.   During the heights of our self-esteem, we think that we are the only ones who have or ever will have our problems.  And that’s not true.  Look at the writings of the saints.  We are not unique.  Billions of people have done this before with God’s help.   There is help with all our crosses and temptations.   The Church has given us her teachings to help us stay the course.  We also have 2,000 years of the saints’ histories who bore the same crosses that we do and even greater ones. They walked in the same steps as Christ.  When they didn’t, bad things happened to them because they thought they knew better.  When they tidied up and got back to walking in the same steps as Christ, they were safe.  Nobody is safe outside of God’s direction.  He gave us the means and compass directions for exactly where we are going and where satan can’t touch us.  So, if we go to Hell, we are self-made men and women.  Satan sits on the sidelines saying, “Hey, you’re missing a lot of fun out here. . .the water is fine!”  Ah, no.  “I don’t know why you’re putting up with all that stuff; everybody goes to Heaven.”   Yes. . . some go for a cup of coffee and others get to stay for eternity.  Because of our fallen nature, sometimes more often than we’d like to say, we toy with the illusion of how much fun we might be missing.  You aren’t.  The real fun is inside. 

Satan tempts us with false happiness.  Then the Four Horsemen come carrying with them the guilt, fear, shame, and remorse that comes as a result of sin.  Satan is always on the sidelines.  And as soon as you leave our Lord’s marked footprints, guess what happens.  Your soul goes BOOM!  Do what Christ tells you to do.  Stay in His footsteps.  Try not to listen to the distractions.  Don’t look for an easier path.  When you look around you may see some steps that have strayed off the path and a BIG hole.  Whoa, that had to hurt!

One thing I’ve heard about Special Forces is that they have what’s called the “Q” course.  It’s a land navigation course that is really tough.  You have to find a lot of places in the dark and everything else.  You never know when it ends.  You never know when you are finished. . . sometimes not until you turn the corner.  I heard one guy say that a couple of soldiers were just 100 yards away from the endpoint, and they gave up.  They were 100 yards away from finishing the Special Forces Q course, and they gave up.  We never know when the end comes, and we go to heaven.  Keep walking in His steps.  Don’t be distracted from what’s going on around us . . . that’s none of our concern.  Follow Christ where He leads you.  That promise has always worked. 

We have a joy that nobody can take from us.  We are strengthened against temptation by the Sacraments and by the sufferings and praises of the saints in Heaven.  Nobody can snatch this joy from our hands.  The devil can’t.  It’s on us.  Nobody can make us do anything.  I always love it when people say, “I left the Church because of blah blah blah. They made me leave.”  Nobody made you leave.  “There are sinners in the Church.”  Yeah.  I’m one of them.  Church is a hospital for sinners, not a hotel for saints.  People make mistakes.  We are all struggling with our crosses.  No one makes you leave the Church.  That’s just an excuse for your own bad behavior.  No one makes you do anything unless they have a gun to your head and even then, it’s a choice.  No one can snatch us out of God’s hands except us and that’s when we become like our first parents . . . we want to be God and will not serve.

How will you apply this message to your life? 

Father’s Afterthoughts . . .
One time when I was overseas and had to go from Point A to Point B, I was walking and paying close attention to the footsteps.  Suddenly, I came to a place where there were no more footsteps.  Houston, we have a problem.  Back up boy.  Back up all the way. . . very slowly.

You can read all of Father Fitzgibbons’ sermons by going to AnnunciationCatholicAlbemarle.com, 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”

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Sermon Notes – April 24, 2022 – I Love Chocolate Bunny Ears

“I Love Chocolate Bunny Ears“

Father Peter Fitzgibbons

April 23 – 24, 2022

Gospel: Jn 20:19-31


This past week ends the octave of Easter.  People say, “We wish you Easter joy.”  Thank you!  Can you define Easter joy?   Is it the day for biting the ears off Easter bunnies?  You barbarians!   I love chocolate bunny ears.  I’ll be a real man and say it. . . I love chocolate bunny ears!  Anyone who wants to make fun of that, I’m a real man and can take it.  However, I don’t do the hard-boiled egg thing.  Is Easter joy about having lamb with mint jelly?  You know what I had for Easter dinner?  A peanut butter and jelly sandwich.  You know why?  I was out of SpaghettiOs.  Welcome to bachelor living!  

So, what is Easter joy?  Easter joy exists on two levels. . .intellectually and internally.  We can have it on an intellectual level by knowing that our dear Lord suffered and died for our sins and then rose again.  In doing so, He opened the doors of Heaven for us so that we might have eternal life.  We all now have a chance to get to Heaven, and He showed us the way.  He also gave us the means to get there.  What are the means in which we can get to Heaven?  Through the Sacramental Life of the Church.   The source of our internal joy is the gift of the Sacraments and by taking advantage of the gifts He gave us by His sacrifice, death, and resurrection.  From His wounded side, the one that Saint Thomas touched, flows the Blood and Water to the Sacramental Life of the Church. 

The Sacraments are the life of the Church.  Our Lord ordained the apostles on Holy Thursday and later gave them the power to forgive sins.  We still hold to that tradition in the Church.  I’m ordained a priest, and I said my first Mass with my bishop.  After that, in the sacristy, I received a document called “faculties” which gives me permission to absolve people from their sins.  Only a priest and a bishop can act in the person of Christ.  They celebrate the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass and therefore, have the power to administer the Sacraments of the Church which are the fruits of our Lord’s Passion and death. . .the Holy Sacrifice.    Only a priest or bishop can do that.  Remember what is said during the Mass?  “This is My body.  This is My blood.”  I don’t say “This is Christ’s body. This is Christ’s blood.”   During the Sacrament of Penance, I act in the person of Christ.  I don’t say “Christ absolves you.”  I say, “I absolve you” . . .not the “Church absolves you” or “We absolve you” but “I absolve you” while acting in the person of Christ.   The words are very important so that we can have that joy inside of us, and so that we may have the joy of Easter and the fruits of it. 

Through our Good Lord’s Passion, death, and resurrection, we are strengthened so that we can follow Him.  It is through our own Calvary’s and our own resurrections that we can be with Him forever.  Pop quiz:  When do you receive the Holy Spirit?  At Baptism.  “I baptize you in the name of the Father, the Son, and Holy Spirit.”  When is the second time you receive the Holy Spirit?  Penance.  Penance comes before Holy Communion.  One happens before the other.  During Holy Communion, you receive the Savior.  What does He save you from?  Our sins.  If you aren’t sick, there’s no need to see a doctor, and you’re just wasting the doctor’s time. 

In the Sacraments, you see the full Divinity. . .all of It.  The Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.  You may be thinking, “In Confirmation, you also receive the Holy Spirit.”  I like it when I get asked that question.  Yeah, that’s true but we don’t subdivide God with a little slice here and little slice there.  When you receive the Sacraments, you receive all of God, not just parts of Him.   This is how we internalize and experience the joy of Easter, especially the joy of the forgiveness of our sins.  And the joy of receiving our Good Lord like the apostles did from His own hands.  That’s why I am the only one who gives Holy Communion.  I am the priest acting in the person of Christ, so I give you Communion by my own hand.  It’s not that I think that much of myself – I really do – but it is Christ who feeds you.  I am a symbol of Christ, acting in the person of Christ, so it is He who feeds you the Body of Christ.  It is the fruits of our Good Lord’s suffering, death, and resurrection. 

That’s how we experience Easter joy.  It’s not from all the beautiful Easter flowers – we got a great deal on them by the way.  It’s not from how beautiful the church looks – and it does.  True Easter joy comes from experiencing God’s love.  Love that was forsaken by sin and rejected by sin.  But that’s not the end of the story.  Most people are happy when they see their loved ones.  In my family, we were happy when they left . . .but, that’s just us.  Aren’t you happy when you have your loved ones with you after being separated from them before their visit?  So too is our Lord.   We have Easter joy by God coming down and infusing His very self into our souls for our salvation.  That is true Easter joy. 

How will you apply this message to your life? 

You can read all of Father Fitzgibbons’ sermons by going to AnnunciationCatholicAlbemarle.com, 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”

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Saint of the Day – April 20 – Saint Donan

St. Donan (d. 617 A.D.), also known as St. Donnán of Eigg, was a prominent Celtic missionary and Gaelic priest. Little is known of his life except that he was likely an Irishman who traveled as a missionary throughout Galloway and northward along the west coast of Scotland. He is thought to have been a contemporary of St. Columba. Donan formed a religious community on the tiny northwest island of Eigg in Scotland. The community grew to fifty-two men. One year, after celebrating the Easter Vigil Mass, they were unexpectedly attacked and martyred either by pirates or a band of Viking raiders. Tradition holds that the community was gathered together and killed in the refectory on the night of April 17, 617. The martyrdom of Christian missionaries at this time was rare, leading many to suspect the attack was instigated by a malicious local queen who viewed St. Donan and his monks as a threat to her power. His feast day is April 17.

//Catholic Company//