July 23 – 24, 2022
“Love You More!”
Father Peter Fitzgibbons
Gospel: Luke 11:1-13
1 Now it happened that He was in a certain place praying, and when He had finished, one of His disciples said, ‘Lord, teach us to pray, as John taught his disciples.’ 2 He said to them, ‘When you pray, this is what to say: Father, may your name be held holy, your kingdom come; 3 give us each day our daily bread, and forgive us our sins, 4 for we ourselves forgive each one who is in debt to us. And do not put us to the test.’ 5 He also said to them, ‘Suppose one of you has a friend and goes to him in the middle of the night to say, “My friend, lend me three loaves, 6 because a friend of mine on his travels has just arrived at my house and I have nothing to offer him;” 7 and the man answers from inside the house, “Do not bother me. The door is bolted now, and my children are with me in bed; I cannot get up to give it to you.” 8 I tell you, if the man does not get up and give it to him for friendship’s sake, persistence will make him get up and give his friend all he wants. 9 ‘So I say to you: Ask, and it will be given to you; search, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened to you. 10 For everyone who asks receives; everyone who searches finds; everyone who knocks will have the door opened. 11 What father among you, if his son asked for a fish, would hand him a snake? 12 Or if he asked for an egg, hand him a scorpion? 13 If you then, evil as you are, know how to give your children what is good, how much more will the Heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him!’
Why must God give us good things? Because, as Saint John tells us, God is love. What is God’s nature? His nature is love itself. Love seeks to diffuse itself by spreading that love. So, to not give us good things would be a denial of His very nature. He gives us good things whether we deserve them or not because He loves us. The first question in the Catechism is “Why did God make us?” Because He loves us. God gives us good things not because we pray the “right” way, or because we tithe to the Church, or because we do this, that, and the other thing. That would be like a business deal. . .you give me this, and I’ll give you that. He offers these gifts to us, both temporal and spiritual, to show His love for us and to draw us ever closer. Or, if we have wandered away, to call us back and to remind those souls, including ours, that He wants us to be with Him.
We are called to pray. Most of us have prayed for things very hard and valiantly. We’ve used the right words and claimed the things we have prayed for in the name of Jesus. We have asked for the intercession of Saint Jude who is the patron saint of the impossible and the intercession of other saints who are patrons of particular causes. But we have been disappointed because sometimes those answers have not come, and we have not gotten what we wanted. That doesn’t mean that God has stopped loving us. It means that He has other plans for us and that, in itself, is a gift of love. We are called to have trust in the Lord. Trust Him even though the answer to our immediate need, want, desire, plea, threat, is “No.” He has something far better in mind for you or that person you have been praying for. You must trust Him.
Now I have been 38 years a priest, and I am not yet a monsignor. Wait a moment while I tear up. Sorry; I got a little misty-eyed there. But I have been the pastor for the past 18 years of the greatest parish in the diocese. I don’t tell anyone that because they might boot my butt out of here. But I’ll take that trade all day long. You have to remember that God loves us and sees more than we can see for ourselves. Sometimes what we want is not good for us as anyone who has children knows. The crosses He allows us to carry, He gives us for the sake of others. God constantly offers us these gifts to keep us encouraged, to remind us of His love for us, and to draw us ever closer to Him.
God gives us all these gifts because He loves us. Sometimes that love is hard to see because of the gift wrapping. Some of His gifts we never see. We never see all the temporal and spiritual evils He protects us from. Remember that when you thank Him at the end of the day. So, pray. And as Saint Augustine once said, “Pray as though everything depended on God. Work as though everything depended on you.” God will give you the most wondrous gifts along with all the other gifts including the good stuff like apple pie and the bad stuff like Covid. But whatever the gifts may be, they all point to His love for us. He is love itself, and He wants us to love Him back more and more in this life. . . all of us, both good and bad. He wants to turn them back to Him too. He takes no delight in the death of a sinner. That’s not why He sent His Son. He wants to draw us ever closer to Him in this life so that we may have life with Him united in perfect love in Heaven.
How will you apply this message to your life? ______________________________________
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You can read all of Father Fitzgibbons’ sermons by going to annunciationcatholicalbemarle.com and clicking on “Blog” then “Categories” then “Sermon Notes.” Cell phone: click on “Blog” then “Menu” and then “Categories”