“Feel the Love of God”
Father Peter Fitzgibbons
January 4 – 5, 2020
Scripture: Matthew 2: 1-12
I would ask for your prayers for the family of Cathy Henry, the Produce Queen. Cathy was diagnosed a year ago with brain cancer. The other day, I spoke with her husband who told me that the cancer had spread, and she was home in the care of Hospice. We learned on Sunday that Cathy died on Friday. I also ask for your prayers for the repose of the souls of two priests…Father George Closter, 79, pastor in Murphy, and Father Matthew Leonard, pastor in Swannanoa. Father Leonard did not show up for a wedding last Saturday, so they broke into the house and found him dead.
Wise men still seek Him. Well, they do, and they don’t. Chief priests and scribes were the most educated men in Israel at the time. They knew when and where the Messiah was to be born…Bethlehem in Judea. Did they go? No, they did not act on their knowledge. That proves that just because you have knowledge, it doesn’t make you holy. Otherwise, every bishop and priest would be a saint. Sadly, that’s not true. To be holy, we must be willing to take direction like the Wise Men who followed the star. They did what they were told and found the Savior. Faith is an action. It’s not how much you know; instead, it is how obedient you are. By the way, the Wise Men went to Joseph and Mary’s house…they were never at the nativity.
Scripture tells us ways in which to pray. One of the gifts the Wise Men brought was frankincense. Frankincense, in the Old Testament, was used in the temple at the altar. It was used to worship Almighty God. If you look in the Book of Revelation, you will see that it was used in Heaven too. The prayers of God’s people rose up with the incense toward the throne. So, the Wise Men brought incense to adore our Savior. This why it is used, and should be used, in Catholic worship because it is scriptural. You may not care for it, and you may not use it at home, but we use it in church because it is scriptural prayer. Our Good Lord didn’t say, “Hey, get that stuff out of here…it stinks.” He didn’t say it in Heaven either. I use it sparingly, because the ventilation in the church is not the greatest, and I’m not trying to turn it into a gas chamber. If you really want incense, go to the Eastern Rite of the Church. There it really is like having Mass in a gas chamber. I mean, they really love to use incense. I love it too, but I’m not going to make you cry and do all sorts of nasty things as if you really were in a gas chamber.
The Wise Men showed us something else about prayer. What did they do when they came before the Divine Presence? They prostrated themselves. They put their faces on the floor. They recognized the real presence of God on Earth. How did members of the ancient church pray? Did they run around screaming, babbling, and raising they hands up high? No. They prayed the “Our Father” flat on their faces, because these are the words our Savior told us to pray in absolute wonder and awe; that’s scripture. Holding hands during the ”Our Father” is so 1970’s…there is no scriptural basis for it. When I was in seminary, Father Burke told us to hold hands while we said the “Our Father.” One of the seminarians turned to me, and I told him, “I will break it!” He didn’t do that anymore. What…were we in a war together? You taking my pulse? Leave me alone. My goodness!
Besides frankincense, the Wise Men also brought gifts of gold because Christ was King, and myrrh which is a burial spice indicated what His mission was to be. The gift of frankincense was nice, and I’m sure Mary was thrilled with the gold….oh yeah, Cha Ching! But, the gift of myrrh ….a burial spice placed inside burial wraps…not so much. That particular gift must have upset both Mary and Joseph. Mary was on a mission, but she was not read into the plan. Neither she nor Joseph knew that Jesus was to die. God did not brief them. He only tells us as much as we need to know, and they didn’t need to know. Can you imagine Mary’s reaction when three complete strangers, wealthy strangers, but three strangers nevertheless, showed up with myrrh…a burial spice? If three people from Acquadale came to your house and brought you these gifts…that would be pretty different wouldn’t it?
Our Lord came into the world and went to the cross. That is why He came…to open the Gates of Heaven so we that may all have eternal life. By His death and resurrection, we have the means for salvation through the Sacraments which help us carry our crosses. He came for the sole mission to manifest His love. The greatness of His love is not the incarnation; rather, the greatness of His love came 30 some years later…after His death. Salvation is open to everyone. He offers the fruits of His love to all who will take it. God wants us all to get to heaven, and He gives us the means through the Sacraments to get there. He offers through His Holy Mother Church the infallible means through its teachings to do so. He has given us the absolute perfect map of the mine fields on this Earth that tells us where all the land mines are buried. Sometimes we are blind, and we want what we want. And when we don’t read the map, we go BOOM. He gives us the means to carry our crosses through the Sacraments, so that when we fall, we can get up and try again. This is for everyone, everywhere. We are all God’s children…His chosen people. You are God’s favorite, you – you – and so are you. Every one of you are worthy of the Crucifix.
Take a look at this face; I’m paler than Casper the ghost. But, at the 9:30 Mass, we had Chinese, Vietnamese, Mhong, Spanish, Germans, Phillipinos, and Yankees. We get people from everywhere. There are no hyphenated-Catholics; we are all God’s people. Regardless of where we were born, our skin color, our language, or anything else, salvation is open to all of God’s people. While at Hospice, I go into patients’ rooms and ask if I may say Prayers for the Dying…I do that a lot. If they say, “Well, Father, we aren’t Catholic,” I say, “Well, neither is God.” The nurses, if they are free, stay in the room while I say the prayers. Are those nurses Catholic? No. Are all those patients Catholic? No, but they are all God’s children, and only He knows their crosses. His mercy and love extend to all. He calls us to respond by opening our hearts so that He can give us His love. All He asks of us in return is to respond to His call to love Him.
Nobody is looking forward to taking the dirt nap or the way to it. We will do anything to avoid it, even undergo a colonoscopy or take noxious potions to survive. Thank God for our doctors. Death is not natural to us, because we were never made to die. We were supposed to live forever, but our original parents ate us out of house and home, and you know what happened after that.
On Friday, I was at the Gated Community, otherwise known as the Felon Academy or the Felon University of Salvation. One of the pagan felons became a Catholic felon. We can never say that someone is beyond the mercy of God, because nobody is. Nobody is beyond salvation. Know who taught him the faith? Another felon convicted of two murders. Part of the process is that he had to go to Confession and, believe it or not, I didn’t die from being stoned to death with popcorn. I’ve been doing this for 35 years, and if you can tell me something I haven’t heard before, I’ll pay you for the privilege of hearing it. Really? Is that the best you’ve got? Afterward, the Catholic felon was filled with joy when I gave him absolution …your sins are forgotten, and this happens every time you go to Confession. These are the fruits of God’s love that come to you by His death and resurrection. Feel the love of God!
Father’s Reflections…
While in the military, I served overseas in the Middle East and held Mass at various outposts. Pakistanis would ask me if they could participate. I told them, “Of course.” But, they were too afraid. You see, in a lot of Arabic communities, Mass is outlawed and often raided.You’ve heard me say this for 15 years…I can only give what I’ve got. The mind will only hear what the seat will endure.
How will you apply this message to your life? Need to feel the love of God? Go to Confession.