“He Knows Our Fears”
Father Peter Fitzgibbons
October 12 – 13, 2024
Gospel: Mark 10:17-30
Going back to the Old Testament, there is the Commandment, “Thou shalt not kill.” In the Arnold Schwarzenegger movie, “True Lies,” Arnold’s wife asks him, while he is on truth serum, if he ever killed anybody. Arnold replies, “Yes, but they were all bad.” Translated properly from Hebrew, the Commandment says, “You shall not take life unjustly.” That is the Commandment. The State has the inherent right to execute prisoners who have been justly convicted of capital crimes. The Church did not give the State that right, and the Church cannot take it away. You have the right to protect yourself and others to the point of killing another person. That is not murder, which is forbidden. Remind me to speak to the Godmother, but that’s another matter. You have to read Scripture in Hebrew. “Oh! We should not have soldiers or armed police!” Yeah, let me know how that works out for you. Not well because it violates the 5th Commandment. You have the right and the obligation to preserve your own life.
Thomas à Kempis was a priest who died in 1471 at the age of 91, an amazing life span especially during that period, medicine being what it was. Even today, that would be considered a darn good run. During his life, he was a priest at an Abbey where one of his jobs was to write. He transcribed four copies of the bible with a quill pen and parchment paper. That’s a lot of writing. He also taught the young religious in the offices of the Abby. He wrote a book, “The Imitation of Christ,” which is a spiritual classic. If you are interested in spiritual life, it is a book you should have. He wrote that the key to spiritual life is to do the will of another rather than your own. And that’s hard. I teach that to all the young men who want to be married. I tell them that the answer to everything their wives ask is, “Yes, dear.” That’s it, and your meals will continue to come on a regular basis. Otherwise, you may win the battle, but you will not win the war. They will attrite (gradually arrange) your death by a thousand cuts, and you have to shut your eyes some time. So just say, “Yes, dear.”
Doing the will of another is the hardest thing. It is an act of love to trust in the will of another especially someone appointed over you. When I entered the military service, do you know what the first thing I did was? I was a brand new officer – a captain. But I went to a sergeant, even though I was already in the Army when he was still in diapers, and I asked him, “Would you help me, please?” Why? Because he knew more about the Army than I did. Knowledge does not always apply to rank or position. I had to trust that sergeant not to lead me astray. I had to trust Master Sergeant Rodriguez, who was a tunnel rat in Vietnam, to teach me how to do my job in combat so I didn’t get myself killed. He had been there, and rank had no standing. So, we trust, which is hard to do. Remember, we are fallen creatures because of Original Sin, sins committed after Baptism, and those sins committed against us after Baptism. Our first parents walked with God and talked with God but did not want to serve God. They ate the apple, and here we are.
What is God’s will? “I do not know what God’s will is for me.” Well, Christ spelled it out very specifically because every time He asked the Apostles a question, they got the answer wrong. He knew we would also screw it up, so He said, “Keep My Commandments,” and he spelled them out. “If you love Me, keep my Commandments.” That means the Commandments are works of love, so we trust and surrender our will to Him. And that’s hard because sometimes we think we are the brightest bears in Jellystone Park. But we are not. We are afraid. “If I do this, I won’t have any fun. I won’t have this, and I won’t have that.” The rich young man had many possessions. He was possessed by his possessions. Nobody could have his stuff. You see someone playing with your stuff, you call the police because it’s your stuff. All the gifts God has given, our talents and abilities, are to be put into service for others. Our Lord knows our fears – that we might lose something or that we might miss something. Fear is a tactic that the devil uses very often. It’s a poor, positive motivator but a great negative one. Fear. “I might miss something.” “I’m too busy on Sunday mornings to come to Mass.” Hmmm . . . 9:30 a.m. in Albemarle. What is going on in Albemarle at that hour? I’ve lived here a long time, and I would like to know because I’ve missed it! “I can’t come to Mass because I have company.” Bring them to Mass with you; it would be good for them. But people fear they will miss something.
Our Lord talked about this in today’s Gospel: “Amen, I say to you, there is no one who has given up house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or lands for my sake and for the sake of the gospel who will not receive a hundred times more now in this present age: houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and lands, with persecutions, and eternal life in the age to come (Mark 10:29-30). He promises us great things to assuage that fear that prevents us from renouncing ourselves and from loving Him. What our Lord promises us in this life are very nice things but the greatest thing of all He promises us is Himself.
How will you apply this message to your life? _____________________________________
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