“Lord, Increase Our Faith”
Father Peter Fitzgibbons
July 11 – 12, 2020
Scripture: Matthew 13: 1-23
I hear a lot of complaints from people about all the things they cannot do during this pandemic. Well, I’m a law breaker, actually, because at Harris Teeter, I intentionally went up the wrong aisle. I fought for my country, so I’m going this way! I hear people complain about this and that…but, all of those are inconveniences at best. When we don’t get what we want when we want it, we think that’s an inconvenience. When I go to the VA Hospital, I visit patients in their rooms. So, I get all masked up and go in like Darth Vader. Everyone has to do that, because we cannot touch the patients. All of those old veterans are in solitary confinement…they cannot leave the unit; they are trapped in there. But, even in prison, inmates in solitary confinement get recreation time every so often. The patients at the VA don’t get that, because they are sick and feeble. This quarantine is so hard on them, and you can see their cognitive, spiritual, emotional, and physical capacities decline. So, these are the people who are truly suffering. I am not allowed to go in to Spring Arbor or Taylor House. Sometimes, I‘ll call and I’m told, “Oh, they’re gone.” Oh, okay. Feel sorry for these people. You have to go and get take-out food…oh, my heart bleeds for you…really! That’s a wealth problem. You have money to order take-out. Maybe, you need to expand your mind…consider it a picnic. Go to the lake or somewhere to have fun. You have to make your own fun. My goodness! Everything we have is convenient. But, that’s not true for everyone. It’s not true for those people who are trapped in nursing homes and hospitals. So, pray for them.
In the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Amen
In the old Rite of Baptism, parents would bring their children to church, and the priest would ask them, “What do you ask of the Church?” The parents would say “faith.” That is the correct answer, because you are asking for a gift from God. God gives us the gift of faith in the Sacraments. In the Sacrament of Baptism, He infuses the three theological virtues into our soul: faith, hope, and charity. It’s a free gift from God based on a request by the parents. God wants everyone to come to Him, to know Him, to love Him, and to serve Him in this world and to be happy with Him in the next. He gives us this gift, and He offers to us freely the way in which to increase the virtues of faith, hope and charity…by reception of the Sacraments. The beauty of that gift is that it never goes away. God gives us many gifts, but time, nature, and our inattention can destroy them. If we have a talent for sports, it’s going to fade away if not practiced. God gives us muscles that, if not exercised, will atrophy. However, the gift of faith never will. Many people have tried to rid themselves of faith. They’ve left the church, and they’ve sinned greatly. We have all sinned greatly…let’s be honest. But the gift of faith is always there. It gets beaten up a bit, but it never goes away. It’s always there saying to us, “life is tough; it’s tougher when you’re stupid… had enough?” I run in to people who ask if I’m a Catholic priest, and I say yes. They’ll say, “I used to be Catholic.” Okay, I still am, so what happened to you? I always ask them that question, and they don’t like it. But, that’s their faith speaking to them…sort of an internal conference. ”Well, I used to be Catholic.” Sounds like you are really happy about that. Their infused faith is always prompting them to come back to the Church. One day, I was doing my visitation at the hospital. I walked up to a patient and introduced myself as the Catholic chaplain for the Medical Center. This patient said, “Whoa…whoa…whoa! I used to be Catholic. I’m not Catholic anymore.” Okay. Most people just say “Hello, Chaplain or Father.” But if you want to be a real jerk, go ahead. I almost told that veteran my first name, by the way, is “Major.” Lose the attitude, dude. What’s wrong with you! You’d think they would be grateful for a visitor stopping in and breaking up the day. But, what happened is that I touched his gift of faith. That’s Christ in me, because I’m a priest. You neglected it, you turned away, and you beat it up, but is your faith dead? No. Your faith is still alive. During the early 1900’s, Saint Therese de Lisieux had been praying right up to the end for a convict who had received the death penalty in France. Just before the guillotine fell, he screamed “The cross..the cross!”
We have all been given the nature of faith. All of us, by our sins, have neglected and beaten it up a bit. But, that’s why we are at church. You demonstrate your faith by coming here. We increase our faith by receiving the Sacraments. Living the faith doesn’t increase it; instead, it is purified. Our faith is tested by all of our temptations, sufferings, and inconveniences like COVID. Although our faith is constantly being tested, we can increase it by reception of the Sacraments. Faith is not a virtue we get by doing it…that’s a habitual virtue. A habitual virtue is gotten through practice. For example, if we pray, “Lord, please increase my patience.” Pray that, and I guarantee when you walk out that door, you will get behind every blue haired driver in Stanly County on a 2-lane road, driving 15 mph under the speed limit, and have no way to pass. I did once and …well, that doesn’t matter! So, you get better at a habitual virtue by doing it. How do you get better at baking? By doing it. Baking is not an infused virtue. You get better at baking by doing it. Faith is an infused virtue that grows through our increased reception of the Sacraments. You have faith, because you are here. You are purifying it by wondering if Father is ever going to stop preaching!! That’s faith, hope, and charity. You increase your faith through the Sacraments. As a priest told me at my first Mass, “Spend less time on your toes and more time on your knees.” Lord, increase our faith.
How will you apply this message to your life? Will you increase your faith by receiving the Sacraments as often as possible?