Category: Sermon Notes

Transripts of weekly sermons

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Sermon Notes – June 15, 2025 – “Embrace the Suck”

“Embrace the Suck”

Father Peter Fitzgibbons

June 14 – 15, 2025

Gospel:  John 16:12-15

A number of years ago, I was having dinner with some priests, and there was one priest who was complaining a lot.  He was not a happy camper and was having a very bad year.  Finally, the smart-aleck in me came out and I said to him, “Father, come down from the cross. We need the wood.”   He did not appreciate my insight.  We all have bad days.  We let off steam by voicing our discontent with situations, and that’s okay.  It’s normal.  Saint Paul did that; he complained about the thorn in his flesh and the cross he had to carry.  He asked the Lord to take the cross from him, and the Lord said, “No.  My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness” (2Corinthians 12:9).  Then Paul understood: “Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh, I complete what is lacking in Christ’s afflictions for the sake of his body, that is, the church” (Colossians 1:24).

Sometimes our crosses are primarily in one part of the body.  However, when your foot hurts, your whole body is sick.  If you have a headache, your whole body is sick.  Whatever part of the body is sick affects the whole body.  Some of our crosses can be long crosses that we have to carry all our lives.  For example, my parents gave me good looks but no money, and it really sucks to be poor!  Other crosses can be temporary, like going to the gas chamber.  As we say in the military, “embrace the suck.”  We can laugh about it afterward.   

So, we have an opportunity to participate in Christ’s redemptive acts by joining our suffering to His.  Just like the Blessed Mother, who, along with Saint John and Mary Clopas, watched her Son die on the Cross.  Each day, we have the sublime opportunity to participate in the redemptive power of Christ.  We can embrace our crosses and offer them up as penance for our own sin and in union with the Most Holy Sacrifice of the Mass.   The Sacrifice on the Crucifix is always before the Father in Heaven pleading for us and for everyone.  We gain strength from His sacrifice, so that we can offer up our suffering for ourselves and for others.   The beautiful part is that we do not have to like our sufferings.  When I had Covid, I offered it up every day.  Did I find it enjoyable?  Did anyone around me find it enjoyable?  Not likely.  When I’m sick, give me a cigarette and a luger, and I will do the honorable thing.  I came over here to the church to walk and say my prayers, meditate, and say the Rosary.  I thought I was a tough guy.  I made it halfway around the church and had to sit down.  Did I enjoy the four to six weeks I was sick?  Nope.  Although it was very slimming because I lost my appetite.   But I offered it up because I knew it would do some good.  Did I like it?  Oh, hell no.   But it would help others, and that was what was important. 

Some people are given gifts so that they can help others financially or materially.  They may be gifted in a trade, and that’s wonderful.  The Misfits don’t let me handle power tools.  I won’t forget that, Bob.  That really hurt.  We all have different gifts to use in building up the Body of Christ.  Offer up all your sufferings to the Savior for the salvation of souls.  We can be coworkers with Christ in the mission of redemption.  How marvelous that gift is!  But like many great gifts, it is hidden below a bunch of garbage.  Who would think that having illnesses and suffering is a good thing?  None of us.  But it is and it can be a wondrous thing.  I remember one man who was a major in the 101st Airborne.  His mother-in-law was suffering from end-stage ovarian cancer.  Her last wish during her final days was to eat a hamburger.  That was the only thing she wanted.  Her son-in-law, who thought he was a tough guy, said, “Lord, I will take her pain for a day so that she can have a hamburger.”  The next day, she had a hamburger.  That same day, her son-in-law was in the hospital at Fort Campbell.  He took all her pain upon himself.  Sometimes the results are immediate when we take another person’s pain upon ourselves, but they are always work. 

Now, there is one important caveat in all of this.  We do not have to like our sufferings, and because we offer them up each day doesn’t mean they become more enjoyable.  But we offer them up, and we know intellectually and spiritually that our sufferings are doing good.  They are redemptive not only for us but for others.  Never lose sight of that.  “Oh God!  I’m so happy because I’m suffering!”   Uh-Huh.  We have pills for that.  Take all your sufferings and join them with the sufferings of Christ for the salvation of souls.  Some of your pain may go away.  I don’t know, but sometimes that happens.  This is how we can join Christ.  We can become part of Christ’s Sacrifice by truly joining our sacrifice with His. 

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.”  On a cell phone: click on “Blog” and then “Menu.”  Scroll to the bottom and click on “Categories.”  Sermon Notes are also available on the Church’s Facebook page at OLA.Catholic.Church.  Click on “Groups” and then “Sermon Notes. 

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Sermon Notes – June 1, 2025 – “Offer Up Your Suffering”

“Offer Up Your Suffering”

Father Peter Fitzgibbons

May 31 – June 1, 2025

Gospel:  John 17:20-26

Today, we celebrate the day our Lord ascended into Heaven with the human nature He took from His mother that was united with His own divine nature, two natures in one person, called the Hypostatic Union.  The human nature He suffered with, that He taught with, and that He healed with, was taken up to Heaven today.  Do you know what the last sight the Apostles had of our good Lord?   His hands and feet with the marks of the Passion . . .  His sacred wounds . . . the price of sin given out of love. 

What do the marks of His Crucifixion do for us in Heaven?  They are presented to the Father to intercede on our behalf.   Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do” (Luke 23:34).  He is always pleading for us before the Father. 

Our Lord left us a great example of what to do with our many crosses, our own, those we acquired during our life, and those cast upon us by the sins of other people.  For example, some people do not realize how important I am, and they won’t get out of my way on the highway.  That is so rude.  You are in front of the holy man, and you are going too darn slow, so move!   All those other crosses – our limitations and physical illnesses – are all crosses we carry.   Make an active prayer and present them to the Father for ourselves and, even better, for others.  Saint Paul said, “Now I rejoice in my sufferings for Your sake, and in my flesh, I complete what is lacking in Christ’s afflictions for the sake of His body, that is, the Church” (Colossians 1:24). 

What is lacking in the sufferings of Christ is our participation in it.  We can participate by offering up our prayers, works, joys, and sufferings to the Lord.   We offer them up for ourselves, for those who are dear to us, and especially for those who are not so dear to us.  They need our prayers, too.  So, keep them in your prayers, especially in your Morning Offering.  It’s a classic prayer, and an old one, but the old prayers are good because they focus us on the exact meaning of the prayer.

Morning Offering:

O Jesus, through the Immaculate Heart of Mary,

I offer You my prayers, works, joys, and sufferings of this day

for all the intentions of Your Sacred Heart

in union with the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass throughout the world,

for the salvation of souls, the reparation of sins, the reunion of all Christians,

and in particular for the intentions of the Holy Father this month.  Amen.

The last vision the Apostles had of our Lord in His human nature here on Earth was the marks of His love to plead for us before the Father.  We must bear our crosses, but we do not have to like them.  Bring them to the Father constantly in your prayers for all your infirmities, both interior and exterior.  Offer them up in prayer to the Father in imitation of and communion with the sacrifice of Jesus.

Father’s Reflections:  I visited a patient in Hospice who claimed to be a Catholic Buddhist.  I talked to the hospital chaplain, who said there actually was such a thing as a Catholic Buddhist.  Really?  It is either the guy with a beard or the guy with a fat belly.  It’s one or the other, not both.  The chaplain said the patient wasn’t doing well.  Well, in Hospice, nobody is doing well.  I went in to see this patient and talked to him for a bit.  I said, “I heard you aren’t going well, and I’d like to give you Last Rites.”  He said, “I’m not going to need them.”   Now, although that will make our hospitalist very happy, it will surprise him.  So, I talked to the patient some more, and I said, “You are Catholic, right?”  He said, “Yes.”  Are you sorry for your sins?  He said, “Yes.”  So, I gave him absolution and an Apostolic Pardon.  I wasn’t going to ask him any more questions, because I had gotten the deal done.  I didn’t put anything in the record.  Nobody needs to know; God does.  The other chaplain asked me how I interacted so well with people.  I said, “I had ethnic studies when I was very young.”  Really?  “Yeah, I learned how to make people an offer they couldn’t refuse.”  It’s the art of the deal.  Get the mission done. 

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.”  On a cell phone: click on “Blog” and then “Menu.”  Scroll to the bottom and click on “Categories.”  Sermon Notes are also available on the Church’s Facebook page at OLA.Catholic.Church.  Click on “Groups” and then “Sermon Notes.

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Sermon Notes – May 25, 2025 – “Stop Running!”

“Stop Running!”

Father Peter Fitzgibbons

May 24 – 25, 2025

Gospel:  John 14:23-29

While I was home, I met a correctional officer from the prison.  Rhode Island is a small state, but we have our fair share of felons.  This correctional officer asked me, “Father, how do you find God?”  I said, “That’s easy – Just stop running.”  People run from God, although they say they are looking for Him.  No, they aren’t.  They are running from Him.  What are you looking for, and why are you running?  It may be the fear, shame, remorse, and guilt for what they have done.  It may not only be for the fear of their sins, but also for what God will ask of them.  What is the worst thing God will ask of you?  To renounce yourself.   Christ said, “If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me” (Matthew 16:24).   “Do not tell Me what I should be or what you conceive Me to be.  I will let you know who I am.”   People try to get rid of God.  Ask Judy Wentzel.  She deals with antiques and sees a lot of crucifixes, rosaries, and medals in her antique shop.  People run from God, “I will not serve.”  You find God by renouncing yourself. 

People come up to me and say, “Father, where does it say this in the bible?”  Sometimes I take it as a good-natured question, but at other times it is annoying.  We have a wonderful invention now called Google.  There is also this great book called the Catechism of the Catholic Church.  Look it up yourself, or are you trying to play “Stump the Chump”?   Yes, I did go to seminary, and I had to pass many tests.  During my last year of seminary before we graduated and were ordained, we participated in “Murderers Row.”  All the professors you had during your years of undergraduate studies and graduate seminary studies were sitting there, and they could ask you any question from your last eight years of school.  Yeah, that was a bit nerve-racking, especially when the professor from your first year of philosophy starts quizzing you, “What is the principle of identity?”  Oh God, no!   We learned that on the first day of class. 

Now, this will be an interesting weekend, and many people are going to save a lot of money.  Do you know why?  There will be Memorial Day mattress sales!  It is really killing me that I’m here with all those sales happening!  I saw a survey recently that showed 27% of Generation Z said they don’t know why we have this holiday.  They really should be at the Parris Island Marine Corps base.  Only 47% of Baby Boomers know why we commemorate Memorial Day.   A couple of years ago, I received a note from the Chief of Chaplains at the VA about a veteran whose wife had died and who wanted to talk to a Catholic chaplain who was also a veteran.  I’m the only guy on staff at the VA who meets those qualifications, so I made an appointment with him.  This veteran came into my office with all these books.  Now, these were post-graduate books and rather worn and ragged.  I was rather impressed because I hadn’t seen some of these books since seminary.    He had lots of questions, and when he finally ran out of steam, I said, “I heard your wife died.”  Yes.  “Did you love her?”  Yes.  “Do you miss her?”  Yes.  Then I asked, “What branch of service were you in?”  Army.  “Were you in Vietnam?  Yes.  I knew all the answers to my questions before I asked them, like any good lawyer.  “What did you do in the Army?”  I was a medic.   “Alright, Doc.  How many soldiers did you save?”  He didn’t know, and I believe that.  “Doc, how many soldiers did you lose?”  He knew every one of them by name, and each day he would see their pictures in his head.  His wife helped him keep it together.  Now, not only is he grieving the loss of his wife, but he is dealing with the trauma from his military service alone.

There was a priest in our diocese, Father Tom Scott.  His parish was in Mount Airy, and he retired for medical reasons.  He had Leukemia and Agent Orange poisoning.  He was a corpsman in Vietnam for two tours.  One was planned, but he volunteered to go back as a Marine, and he got himself really blown up.  He still had shrapnel in his hand.  Sometimes he would show me a piece that had worked its way out.   On his patten, which is the little gold plate that the priest’s host is placed on, he had the names of all the Marines he lost.  Some priests made fun of him, and they make fun of me.   I agree that, except for former military service, everything else is fair game.  You might be thinking, “Father, it has been 50 years since that war.”  Yes.  With most things, through God’s grace, the passage of time makes it easier for us.  But pulling the trigger and the stress that comes with it are a whole other matter.   I give books to the medical staff who say, “Oh, I can’t read that!  It’s too graphic.”  But it’s what we lived and what some of us are still living.  The war never left us.  If you want to learn about it and the cause of PTSD, read the book “On Killing: The Psychological Cost of Learning to Kill in War and Society” by Lieutenant Colonel Dave Grossman.  Usually, with the passage of time and grace, you adjust.    

Eventually, as you grow older, defenses become weaker.  Your family leaves, dies, or whatever.  We had one veteran who was dying in Hospice, and he asked his nurse, “Would you hold my hand till I fall asleep?”   Although I’m not Dr. House, I know when these old timers are about to pass because they start telling me all these things they never told their wives.  When they tell me what happened, I know they will be gone in a couple of weeks.  They are cleaning house.  There are a lot of grey-haired old men and ladies, whose faces soldiers and Marines were the last ones they saw before they passed from this world to the next.  Read “Chicken Soup for the Veteran’s Soul.”  Most people forget what this weekend is about because they were not involved in that part of life, but they all benefited.  Those soldiers and Marines remember it every day.  The benefit of their service is our freedom and not mattress sales.   

Father’s Afterthoughts:  One more story – I have bunches of them.  We were training with medical mannequins, and one of the nurse trainers approached me and asked, “Padre, can you go talk to this guy?”  What’s wrong?    “No matter what we do, the patient is going to die.”   Sometimes, if you fix one crisis, you create another one.   So, I went in to see him.  He was a full-bird colonel.  I said, “Doc,” and he said, “Chaplain.”   I stood beside him, and he said, “I’m not going to lose him.  I sent too many soldiers home in body bags.  I’m not going to lose this one.”  He had been in Vietnam as a battalion surgeon.   I said, “Okay, Doc.”   I went back to the training nurse and said, “He’s back in Vietnam, having a flashback about the soldiers he lost.  He won’t lose this one.”

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.”  On a cell phone: click on “Blog” and then “Menu.”  Scroll to the bottom and click on “Categories.”  Sermon Notes are also available on the Church’s Facebook page at OLA.Catholic.Church.  Click on “Groups” and then “Sermon Notes.   

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Sermon Notes – May 18, 2025 – “It’s Not About Us”

“It’s Not About Us”

Father Peter Fitzgibbons

May 17 – 18, 2025


Gospel:  John 13:31-35

Every time our Lord asked the Apostles a question, they got the answer wrong.  And when He gives us tasks, He must be specific, because ever since He created man, we have always tried to improve on God’s Word.  “Well, God said this, but He really meant that.”  Huh-huh.  “I think we should do it this way.  It’s much, much better.”  However, every time we have changed things, we have messed things up. 

Our Lord spelled out exactly what we must do to achieve eternal life.  He said, ”As I have loved you, so you also should love one another” (John 13:34).   We do not have to wonder what love means because He left us very specific ways in which to love Him: “If you love Me keep My Commandments” (John 14:15).  And before you start complaining, He also said, “My Commandments are not burdensome” (John 5:3).   He was very specific about how to love and not in the way we think we should.  I think pizza is still great for breakfast, but some doctors might disagree.  Think about it – pizza contains the four basic food groups, and chocolate cake has milk and eggs – all good stuff.  But our Lord left us with very specific ways in which to love.  He not only told us, but He showed us the depth of His love on the Cross.  We may complain that the Commandments are burdensome, but that’s only because of our love of self.  It may have been Saint Ambrose who said, “There is no work involved in love, and if there is, the work itself is love.”  If there is true love for a spouse, child, or friend, there is no cost in the gift.  We do what our good Lord asks us to do because it is a work of love.

I told you the story about how, at the beginning of my hospital work, I had to leave a patient’s room because of the stench.  I made the mistake of telling my father about it.  My father, who was a medic before he became an officer and spy, said, “Son, I understand that.  Do whatever it is you need to do – throw up, pass an organ or two, but then go back into the room.  You are not what is most important.”  That is self-love dying.  We do for others because they were made in the image and likeness of God. 

When I was a soldier, if a fellow soldier didn’t have any smokes, my smokes were theirs.  We took care of our own, and we didn’t count the costs.  We used to go on 12-mile nature walks every quarter, carrying a 60-pound pack containing everything Uncle Sam had issued us.  Those packs were weighed only at the beginning of the walk and not at the end.  As we were on our way, enjoying the beauty of nature, listening to the birds sing, we rejoiced that we actually got paid for the agony.  If a soldier was having a hard day and began to fall behind, I would see other soldiers go up behind that soldier, grab some of the stuff from the soldier’s pack, and add it to their own packs.  They didn’t ask, they just did it, and at the end of the walk, they returned all the stuff they had carried to the soldier.  There was no need to say thank you.  It was just what we did, and it was the right thing to do.  It was Christ-like.  Now, I didn’t see many of them in chapel very often, and Lord knows I tried to change that.  But they knew the love of Christ.

 Loving one another can be hard.  It really can.  Sometimes people are not nice or don’t treat us the way we think they should, and that’s alright.  We are called to love them as Christ did.  We don’t have to like them, but we have to love them.

Father’s Reflections:

On most mornings, I’m usually here in the church saying my prayers and doing my meditation.  This morning, the fruit of my meditation was that pie is still fruit, and although we have service dogs, we don’t have service cats.  There is some meaning behind that.

I have been a priest for a long time, and I saw something in this church that I’ve never seen before.  There was a wedding being performed by a deacon here in our church.  If you are Catholic, you can get married or have a funeral in any church, even at St. Peter’s in Rome.  Please don’t – I really don’t want to do all the paperwork required.  The people today were from Concord, and they were very wonderful people and delightful to work with, which is a shock for weddings; they can be the worst.  Anyhow, I’m sitting in the Sacristy with the door closed, and someone hung paper over the window of the door.  I guess it’s bad luck to see the bride before the wedding.  That was the first time I’ve ever seen that happen.  Okay, Lord, I’m ready to go now!

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.”  On a cell phone: click on “Blog” and then “Menu.”  Scroll to the bottom and click on “Categories.”  Sermon Notes are also available on the Church’s Facebook page at OLA.Catholic.Church.  Click on “Groups” and then “Sermon Notes.                            

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Sermon Notes – May 11, 2025 – “Read the Instructions”

“Read the Instructions”

Father Peter Fitzgibbons

May 10 – 11, 2025


Gospel:  John 10: 27-30

Today is a wonderful day.  The Sacrament of First Communion will be administered.  Last night, I imposed the Sacrament of Confirmation on students.  I want to thank the Faith Formation staff and especially the parents for their wonderful work in helping prepare for this day.   This is a great gift because this gift is not just a gift with a lowercase “g.”  It is a Gift with a capital “G.”  This Gift is God, Himself, coming into your souls.  It is the medicine of God.

Do you know why doctors give us medicine?  If we are sick, it will make us healthy.  Another reason for medicine is to keep us healthy.  It is the same reason God gives us Himself in the Sacraments, to make us healthy and to keep us healthy.  When we sin, the Sacrament of Penance makes us healthy.  The other Sacraments help keep us healthy, which include Holy Communion that the young people will receive today, and the Sacrament of Confirmation, which keeps us strong for service to others. 

Now, there may be restrictions that come with the medicine our physicians prescribe.  The instructions on the bottle may say, “Do not take with grapefruit juice.”  I love that one, and I wonder how that was determined.  Did some poor shmuck take his medicine with grapefruit juice and go whoops!   Other medications should be taken with food, and if you don’t, you quickly realize you made a big mistake.  There may also be certain times to take medicine.  So, there can be all sorts of restrictions so that the medicine can do its job.   But we are always complaining about it: “Oh, poor me.  I cannot eat this or that.”  Oh, be quiet.  At least you are old enough to enjoy the privilege.  We must cooperate with the medicine we’ve been prescribed.  It’s the same with God and the Sacraments.  They are gifts from God, but we must cooperate by receiving the Sacraments in a State of Grace, which is attained by receiving the Sacrament of Penance.  These gifts will not overpower us.  They will not take us away from the temptation to sin.  We must not make appointments to visit it or take it to lunch.  You must work with the gift that God has given you. 

Do you know what the biggest occasion of sin is?   I don’t want to hear about cell phones, computers, or anything else.  Computers have an off switch, and cell phones need to be charged.  The biggest occasion for sin sits right on top of our shoulders.  We are not responsible for our thoughts, but we are responsible for what we do with them.  God’s medicine is not going to overpower our thoughts.  Even though you may not feel His medicine working, it is.  The pills I take are working, even though I don’t feel them working.  I know my blood pressure pills are working because when I take my blood pressure, it’s fine.  The pills are working.  Do I feel it?  No.  If I stop taking the pills, will I feel it?  No.  But the damage will continue, and I will feel it one day when I take the big dirt nap a lot sooner than I should.  

So, we must cooperate with God’s gifts.  Just because you don’t feel them working, doesn’t mean they aren’t.  They are.  But we have to cooperate by doing what we need to do.  These are God’s gifts to you.  Use them by trying to live a holy life, coming to every weekend Mass, and going to Confession.  I go to Confession too, and I’ve known these priests since they were ordained.   I tell them everything, and they are still standing.  But if we don’t cooperate with God, the Sacraments will not work.  It is not easy.  However, Saint Ambrose said, “The work of love is not hard; if there is any work involved, the work itself is love.”  

God’s medicine is the gift of the Sacraments.  He gives us the gift of His very Self so that we can carry our crosses, and if we fall, we can get back up and carry them again.  God offers us His grace for our healing and to strengthen us so that we can carry all our crosses out of love for Him. 

Father’s Reflections . . . . So, we have a new pope.  Passed over again!  People have asked me, “Father, how was your trip?”  My trips are always interesting.  I used to fly in my clerical clothes, my black suit and collar.  On one of my flights, there were six priests on board.   Once the plane was in flight, nobody talked, nobody moved, and nobody wanted anything.  They all sat as quiet as a tomb.  The crew brought me several Cokes and a shopping bag full of treats.  Yeah baby!  I like that.  So, I was getting on the plane Sunday night at 10, and although I was flying in lay clothes, my seatmate looked up and said, “Hi Father. How are you?”  Crap: I can forget about martinis! 

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.”  On a cell phone: click on “Blog” and then “Menu.”  Scroll to the bottom and click on “Categories.”  Sermon Notes are also available on the Church’s Facebook page at OLA.Catholic.Church.  Click on “Groups” and then “Sermon Notes.

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Sermon Notes – April 27, 2025 – We Are as Sick as Our Secrets

Sermon Notes
           
   “We Are as Sick as Our Secrets”

Father Peter Fitzgibbons

April 26 – 27, 2025


Gospel:  John 20: 19-31

One thing you learn as a priest after the 2nd week is that nothing will surprise you, especially confessions.  People will try to blow the good stuff past the new guy.  They come into the confessional booth and say, “Bless me, Father, for I have sinned.  I have lied, gossiped, committed adultery, and failed to say my prayers.”  We call that the classic “Oreo confession.”  Sometimes they will say it really fast, hoping I won’t hear it. “Bless me, Father, for I have sinned. I have lied, gossiped, committedadultery, andfailed to pray.”  Hold on.  Let’s go back to that one you tried to blow by.  That’s kind of important because I cannot forgive what I do not know.  Our Lord said, “Whatever you bind on Earth shall be bound in Heaven, and whatever you loose on Earth shall be loosed in Heaven” (Matthew 16:19).  So, which sins do we forgive – the sins you are trying to hide or the sins for which you are trying to make amends?  For instance, during premarital counseling, if a couple tells me they are living together, I tell them that unless they are living together as brother and sister, one of them must move out.  If they say they can’t or they won’t, I tell them I cannot perform their wedding, and they get really upset!  Hey – this is a rule of the Church.  You are living in a state of objective mortal sin, and I cannot condone that.  I would be cosigning fertilizer.  It’s the same thing with Baptism – they don’t like it either.  You wouldn’t believe the harsh things that people say to me, and that’s not just the staff – it’s people in general. 

Guilt, pride, shame, fear, and remorse.  If you can put a name on it, someone else has done it before you.  As priests, we take a moral theology course to prepare for the Sacrament of Penance.  We learn about consanguinity and affinity, which outline who you can marry on your family tree.  You cannot marry your first cousin, and you have to have permission to marry your second cousin.  It’s a southern thing.   They must have known I was going south. 

I have to know your sins.  You do not prescribe aspirin for a brain tumor.  In 12-step programs, a saying is, “You are only as sick as your secrets.”  Having secrets can derail the recovery of addicts who need to admit publicly the nature of their wrongs.   I performed the funeral service for a veteran.  I asked the funeral director what happened to this person, and he said she died from kidney failure.  She was only 31 years old.   Now, I’m not Dr. House, but I’m not stupid either.  She did not die of kidney failure.  Whenever I do a funeral, I am required to put a note in the medical record.   So, I looked at the diagnosis, which they now call the “problem list.”   That was one heck of a problem – she’s dead.   While I was in her medical record, I looked at the doctor’s notes.  She had a deep, dark secret that was never addressed, from which she never received help, and she eventually committed suicide.  We are as sick as our secrets.   Just like your physician, I have no idea what medicine is needed if you don’t tell me where it hurts.           

I listen and occasionally I ask questions, but that is very rare.  Most people tell me way too much.  If I have a question after 40 years of hearing confessions, I’ll let you know.  Okay?  There may be mitigating and aggravating factors.  The habit of sinning is a mitigating factor, and pride is an aggravating factor.  There are all sorts of things I consider in applying medicine for the soul.  But I have to hear the sin.  God is offering His forgiveness.   When we sin, we take back our love of God.  “I will not serve.”  Yet, when we say, “I don’t want to tell him everything, that is only partially giving our love back to God.  Would you want a half-apology if someone hurt you?   We need to totally give ourselves back to God for the forgiveness of our sins.  Not just a little bit.  “Can I go right to God for forgiveness of my sins?”  Yes, if you are in danger of death, yes.  If you have appendicitis, can you go right to God for healing?  That’s probably not the best idea.  You could say a prayer on your way to Atrium Hospital, but I would definitely get to the hospital first.  God has ways and means by which to dispense His love to us.  What holds us back is guilt, pride, shame, fear, and remorse.  When I go into a hospital room, some people get very modest.  I have been doing hospital work for over 40 years, so I have seen more body parts than you will ever have.  However, sometimes patients are a bit more casual than I care for: “I’m too sexy for the sheet.”  No, you’re not. 

God gave His healing power to the Apostles, and to the bishops and priests after them, the power to forgive sin and to anoint the soul with the Most Precious Blood to restore it to life.  But to heal, I must know what hurts to apply the appropriate remedy.  “But it’s embarrassing.”  No, that’s the guilt, shame, and fear of the Four Horsemen following you and causing you to stay away from the Sacrament of Penance.  It’s all a lie.  How liberating it is to finally get out from underneath all that sin, no matter what it is.  Sin affects the body, soul, and psyche, the three parts of man.  So go to our good Lord’s clergy, his priests and bishops, and get out from underneath all that garbage.  Go to Confession and get it all out of your system.  Your sins will be forgiven, and the appropriate remedy to heal your soul will be given.  You will feel a heck of a lot better, and I promise I won’t collapse during confession. 

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.”  On a cell phone: click on “Blog” and then “Menu.”  Scroll to the bottom and click on “Categories.”  Sermon Notes are also available on the Church’s Facebook page at OLA.Catholic.Church.  Click on “Groups” and then “Sermon Notes.

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Sermon Notes – April 20, 2025 – “He is Alive”

“He is Alive”

Father Peter Fitzgibbons

April 19 – 20, 2025

Gospel:  John 20: 1-9

1 It was very early on the first day of the week and still dark, when Mary of Magdala came to the tomb. She saw that the stone had been moved away from the tomb 2 and came running to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one whom Jesus loved. ‘They have taken the Lord out of the tomb,’ she said, ‘and we don’t know where they have put Him.’ 3 So Peter set out with the other disciple to go to the tomb. 4 They ran together, but the other disciple, running faster than Peter, reached the tomb first; 5 he bent down and saw the linen cloths lying on the ground, but did not go in. 6 Simon Peter, following him, also came up, went into the tomb, saw the linen cloths lying on the ground 7 and also the cloth that had been over His head; this was not with the linen cloths but rolled up in a place by itself. 8 Then the other disciple who had reached the tomb first also went in; he saw and he believed. 9 Till this moment they had still not understood the Scripture, that He must rise from the dead.

This summer I will have another birthday… hopefully.   My brother stopped his seven years ago, and my twin brother has too.  I have been debating whether to get a tattoo – maybe one with barbed wire and a skull.  But at my age, perhaps a tattoo with my home address and phone number would be a better idea.  I have been around.  I may not look my age, and I certainly don’t act it.  “Father, you’ve seen a lot and done a lot.”  Yes.  I can’t tell you much about it, but I have.  If I did, I would have to kill you.  It’s nothing personal, just business.  “Father, what is the most interesting thing you have seen that you can tell us about without having to commit mass murder?”   Well, I’ve seen people rise from the dead.  “Really?  Father, you better cut back on the meds.”  No, I really have seen people come back from the dead and be restored to life.  Not in the way Jesus rose (Matthew 28:5-6), and not in the way Lazarus (John 11:1-44), Jairus’ daughter (Mark 5:21-43), and the widow’s son (Luke 7:11-17) rose.  No, not in that way.  “Father, how did they rise from the dead?”  Good question.  Their souls were dead because of repeated venial sin or mortal sin.  They were dead.  They had no divine life in them.  But they were restored to life through the grace that comes from our Lord’s Passion, death, and resurrection, which opened the Gates of Heaven, bestowed upon Mother Holy Church the means to effect resurrection, and gave the grace to wash away all sin from the soul, and return it to life.  No matter how bad it is, all sin can be washed away. 

The most powerful instrument ever known is the blood of Christ.  Go back to the Passion on Good Friday, and we see the power of our Lord’s blood being poured out for us, drip by drip.  I have seen many come back from the dead.  Their lives are returned to them through Holy Communion.  Does a resurrection happen?  It sure does, every day.  You would be surprised where it happens.  People will say, “Father, may I talk to you?”  Sure!   This is usually what I do – I see the older, sicker patients in the hospital.  I say to them, “Would you like to receive the Anointing of the Sick?”   If they say, ‘yes,’ I say, “By the way, when was the last time you went to Confession?”  I don’t ask if they want to go.  I use an authoritarian tone and ask them when the last time was.  It pushes them over the hump of fear they are hiding behind so that life can be restored to their souls, and they can spend eternity in Heaven with Christ.   

This is the good news of the Resurrection: that Christ has died, and He is alive.  He gives that life to the soul so that we can live for Him in this world and go to Him in the next.  Eventually, we will get our bodies back, hopefully in better shape than they are now.    When you have the divine life, what else do you have?  Joy.  Christ wishes to live in all of us.  He made our souls for only one thing, and that is not sin.  He made our souls a fitting resting place for Himself. 

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.”  On a cell phone: click on “Blog” and then “Menu.”  Scroll to the bottom and click on “Categories.”  Sermon Notes are also available on the Church’s Facebook page at OLA.Catholic.Church.  Click on “Groups” and then “Sermon Notes.

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Sermon Notes – April 13, 2025 – The Sound and Smell of Love

“The Sound and Smell of Love”

Father Peter Fitzgibbons

April 12 – 13, 2025


Gospel:  Luke 23:1-49

Holy Mother Church instructs her priests to proclaim a short sermon after reading the Passion.  So, this will be short, but very good. 

In the Passion, we see the frailty of human nature.  Some say, “If we only had power, we could make everything right.”   Pontius Pilate had absolute power as the Roman governor.  He had a Roman legion of 12,000 soldiers at his command.  So when the crowd began to rebel, on Pilate’s order, the soldiers could have killed everyone without any repercussions for him.  They could have taken care of business, and nothing would have happened.  But Pilate caved even though he had absolute power.  Five days later, the Jews were calling for his crucifixion. 

People say, “I love God.”  Then why don’t you go to church?   What about your sin?  “Well, when I sin, I only hurt myself.”   Really?  Sin hurts a lot of people.  I would like everyone to search for “Jesus Christ Superstar” on YouTube.  It’s an old Broadway play, and in one part, there is the scourging of Jesus.  Listen to the flogging of Jesus.  How brutal it was.  Listen to Pilate counting the 39 strokes.  They couldn’t give him 40 because that would have been illegal. 

If you read and listen to the Passion and meditate on it, you hear the story of love freely given, even though we didn’t deserve it.  In “Jesus Christ Superstar,” there is a part on the soundtrack when our Lord is on the Cross, and if you listen carefully, you hear the drip, drip, drip of blood.  Police officers, EMTs, and medical folks will tell you that blood has a smell.  It has a copper smell that makes some people sick.  But when we listen, and if we think about it, we can say that love has a smell.  It is God’s love.  I was thinking about that earlier this morning – the house I grew up in smelled like apple pie.  Love has a smell, and it also has a sound.  Listen to the track of “Jesus Christ Superstar” and listen to the drops of blood.  It is love being poured out one drop at a time for us.

When you hear the Passion proclaimed, you hear the effects of our sin.  All sin – mortal, venial, and material – is an alienation of God.  Yet when you read the culmination of the Passion, you cannot deny one statement of fact – that God loves us.  Look upon the Crucifix and know that God loves you.  In the next-to-last words our Lord said in this life before He was resurrected and went to the Father to open the Gates of Heaven, was a prayer for us.  “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do!”

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.”  On a cell phone: click on “Blog” and then “Menu.”  Scroll to the bottom and click on “Categories.”  Sermon Notes are also available on the Church’s Facebook page at OLA.Catholic.Church.  Click on “Groups” and then “Sermon Notes.

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Sermon Notes – April 6, 2025 – “God is in the Business of Salvation – Not Condemnation”

                           “God is in the Business of Salvation – Not Condemnation”

                                     Father Peter Fitzgibbons

                                       April 5 – 6, 2025

Gospel:  John 8:1-11

In today’s Gospel reading, it is the only time in all of Scripture that our Lord wrote anything.  What did He write?  That’s a good question, but Scripture does not record what was written.  Bishop Sheen talked about it in one of his books.  The woman was caught in the act of adultery, and the law demanded justice.  Jesus said, “Let him who is without sin among you be the first to throw a stone at her” (John 8:7).  In his book, Bishop Sheen suggested that what our Lord wrote on the ground could have been the sins of those men standing around Him.   He knew their sins.  Oops!  And off they went.  Bye-bye!  Some of their sins could have warranted capital punishment just like the woman’s.  

Jesus does not condemn us for our sins.  He is not in the condemnation business; He is in the salvation business.  During the Particular Judgment and the Final Judgment, if our Lord can cry in Heaven, He does.  He created us out of love.  Why?  To live with Him forever.  However, through our sins, we choose not to love Him and are cast off.   Our Lord does not revoke our free Will, so we have a choice to either love Him or not to love Him.   If we love Him, we will stay with Him forever.  But if we do not love our Lord, we will be separated from Him forever.   He wants us all to be saved and not condemned.  

We do not know the situations people are in, but we try to have some level of understanding.   Now the actions themselves may be grossly sinful.  That’s true, but we may not know the reason.  Is there an impediment?  Are there mitigating factors?   We studied those things in Canon Law, and they are considered during Confession.   People play all sorts of spiritual word games.  “Well, this is not a mortal sin because I did this and that.”   I have Spiritual Canon lawyers trying to play with me.  “God knows I love him.”   Really?  You don’t show it for someone who is truly in love with God.   You know the difference between a mortal and venial sin, right?  Well, God doesn’t.   A material sin happens when you hit your thumb with a hammer and let out some verbiage that is probably not appropriate in polite society.  Material sins are instant reactions.  The only difference between mortal and venial sins for someone who truly loves God is the difference between punching and slapping your wife.  There is no difference. 

We judge the actions but pray for the sinner.   The actions can be wrong and very much so, but Jesus told us to love them and to judge their actions.  We will know them by their fruits.  They are not beyond His mercy.  I told you about the man who brought me coffee on Sunday mornings while I was at St. Gabriel’s.  He was a member of the German Schutzstaffel (Protective Echelon) and a bodyguard for Adolf Hitler.   These were the bad boys in the German military.  They were the worst of the worst.  But this man died in the arms of Holy Mother Church.  We are to forgive one another just as God has forgiven us. What is forgiveness?  Forgiveness is an act of the Will.  It is not an act of emotion.  Love is an act of the Will.  It also is not an emotion.   Liking someone is an act of emotion, but love is not.  When you say, “I forgive you because Christ told me to,” that doesn’t mean you are going to invite them to Christmas dinner or send them a birthday card.  That is not required.  Remember all our emotions, faculties, and senses are diminished by Original Sin, the sins we have committed after our Baptism, and the sins others have committed against us.  They can be affected by things like a stoplight turning red just as we approach it, when a blue-haired wonder won’t get out of your way, or the kind of chocolate you had that day.  Those things can immediately change our emotions.  However, our Lord told us how to deal with our emotions, our dislike for people who have hurt us, and those who have neglected us.  Although the effect can be immediate, it is usually not and can be a long process.  We might have to bear emotional suffering all our lives.   It’s like me and my family – they gave me good looks but no money.  But we pray for them just as our Lord said.   By the way, it was not a suggestion.  In the military, a suggestion by a superior has the force of an order.   

Our Lord didn’t say we have to like it.   In fact, it doesn’t matter whether you like to do it, want to do it, or care about doing it . . . you just do it.  You pray for those who persecute you and for those who harm you.  Whatever they have done against you, pray for them.  By praying for them, you may help them with their own problems and help them embrace our Lord.   It also helps you.  Remember, we pray for them not because we want to: “I really want to pray for that guy who scraped my car.”   No, you don’t.  But we pray for them because Christ told us to do so, and it will be better for them and better for us. 

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.”  On a cell phone: click on “Blog” and then “Menu.”  Scroll to the bottom and click on “Categories.”  Sermon Notes are also available on the Church’s Facebook page at OLA.Catholic.Church.  Click on “Groups” and then “Sermon Notes.

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Sermon Notes – March 23, 2025 – “God Does Not Want Us Separated From Him”

 “God Does Not Want Us Separated From Him”

 Father Peter Fitzgibbons

 March 22 – 23, 2025


Gospel:  Luke 13:1-9

In the past two months, I have done seven funerals…I must be good at it.  On Friday, I had a double header— a father and son.  I asked the family why we couldn’t hold both funerals together.  But they said, “No.  Our mother hated our father, who was her ex-husband, so we have to have two separate funerals.”   But maybe she would just like to come to gloat and make sure he’s dead.   Well, that wasn’t happening, so we had two separate funerals and committed both of their souls to Almighty God and His mercy.   

In the Gospel, we hear that God gives the vineyard owner’s tree another year to see if it produces fruit.  God gives us all the time we need to make our way to Heaven.  Do you know why He does that?   It’s why God made you…because He loves us.  Why does God give us time to repent?  Also, because He loves us.   God doesn’t want anyone to be separated from Him, and He is always pleading for our mercy.  He spoke from the Cross seven times, which is called the seven last words.  The sixth time He spoke from the Cross, He said, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do” (Luke 23:24).   We do not know how grievous sin is. 

God gives us the time and means to achieve our salvation because He doesn’t want anyone to be separated from Him.  He loves us.  Love is His nature.  He created us out of love.   But we have free Will, and we all sin.   He keeps following us, hoping that we will reform so that we may have life and have it to the fullest in the Kingdom of Heaven.   We were created to experience happiness in Heaven, and He provides us with the time and means to get there and to achieve our salvation.   Anybody in hell is a self-made man or woman… I don’t want to be sexist or transphobic.  People go to hell because they turn their backs on God and flip Him off.  “Hey, I’m a self-made man and I can do what I want.”   People who do not want God’s help wind up in hell.  God did not want them there.  He did not create us to be in hell.  But even at the point of death, they turned their backs on God’s love.  I have a little technique that I use at the VA Hospital, and hopefully I’ll have a chance to teach it to my replacement before I retire.  When I see older men, and sometimes older women, at the VA, I wait until they are bombed from their meds to give them Last Rites just in case I don’t see them again before they pass.  There are so few of us priests nowadays, so I always do that. 

A guy came by my office on Friday, and he asked me, “Why did they hit Christ 39 times?”  Because hitting Him 40 times would have been illegal.  It was terrible, but that was to show us how evil sin is.   Meditate on that… the 39 strikes with a whip.  That’s how bad sin is.  God gives us the means for salvation, and He is always calling us even unto the point of death.  Unfortunately, I receive calls to administer Last Rites to people when they are already at the funeral home, and I have to say, “No, it’s a little late for that.   They need to be a little warmer than they are now.”   Last Rites must be given within two hours of clinical death or before signs of rigor mortis.  Additionally, the body must be intact and not scattered throughout creation.  Remember, I was an Army chaplain and a chaplain at a trauma center.  The Sacraments are for the living.   When I administer Last Rites to someone after clinical death, I always say under my breath, “Si vivis – If you are living.”  I say it in Latin and in a low tone so that the family cannot hear me. 

That’s how much God loves us.  No matter how bad we think we are or how bad the things we have done are, He does not want us separated from Him.   I’ve gotten out of my sick bed to give Last Rites to someone because that is what God wants.  One time I was going up the stairwell at a hospital, and a nurse was coming down the stairs.  She asked me, “Are you a priest?”   Yeah.  “Somebody in ICU needs Last Rites.”   Okay.  So, I went to the ICU, gave the patient Last Rites, and I never saw her again.  I do know she died.  Sometimes it just happens.  When I was still an Associate Pastor, I served as the Catholic chaplain at Presbyterian Hospital in Charlotte, which is now part of Novant Health, Atrium Health, and Mercy Hospital.  So, I had a busy job.   One day, I was at Novant Hospital, deciding which wing to visit first.  Once I made the decision, I walked into a patient’s room, and a man in the room said, “My wife is dying. Would you give her Last Rites?”   Certainly.   As I administered the Last Rites, there is a point in the Rites that states, “At or near the point of death, say these words.”  And it was at that precise moment that the woman took her last breath.   So, I said: “Go forth, Christian soul.”  I have that part down after 40 years of practice.  It is by the grace of God that you have a priest at your deathbed, especially here in the South.  God loves us even to the point that He will accept imperfect contrition.  There are two kinds of contrition: perfect and imperfect.  Perfect contrition is one in which you are sad because you offended God, whom you should love with all your heart.   Imperfect contrition arises from a desire to avoid hell: “I don’t want to go to hell, so I’m going to do this just in case.”   Either is sufficient to avoid hell and enter heaven.   However, perfect contrition significantly reduces the time spent in Purgatory. 

Saint John Vianney, the Cure of Ars and patron saint of Catholic parish pastors told a story about walking down the road one day when a lady approached him.  She said, “Father.”  Father Vianney said, “Good morning, my child.”  The woman said, “You know my husband died.”  Yes.  “He was not a nice guy.  He hit me, he drank, he ran around on me, and he did a lot of other bad stuff.”    She gave Father Vianney a whole laundry list of bad things her husband had done.  Then she said, “Father, you can read souls.  He’s in hell, isn’t he?”   Father Vianney replied, “I don’t know.”  “What do you mean you don’t know!!”    By this time, she was getting ugly.  Father Vianney said, “There was a long time after he left the bridge until he hit the water. He had enough time to say, ‘I’m sorry.’”   Either way – whether it was perfect or imperfect contrition – would have been sufficient to save his soul from hell.   When I was an assistant at St. Gabriel’s, there was a man who served me breakfast.  He had a tattoo on his arm, and I knew what that tattoo meant.  During World War II, he served as Adolf Hitler’s personal bodyguard.   These were really bad guys – the worst in the German Army.  But he died reconciled to Christ and the Church.  That is how great God’s love is for us, and we are to lead everyone to His mercy.   

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.”  On a cell phone: click on “Blog” and then “Menu.”  Scroll to the bottom and click on “Categories.”  Sermon Notes are also available on the Church’s Facebook page at OLA.Catholic.Church.  Click on “Groups” and then “Sermon Notes.