“We Want What We Want When We Want It”
Father Peter Fitzgibbons
March 16 – 17, 2024
Gospel: John 12:20-33
Our Good Lord said, “Unless a grain of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains just a grain of wheat; but if it dies, it produces much fruit” (John 12:24). He calls us to be grains of wheat. But why must we die? I’m glad you are interested, otherwise the sermon would be over. It’s so that we may bring forth life. The means to do it is really easy; it’s right in front of us. Keep the Commandments. By keeping the Commandments, we die to ourselves. Dying to ourselves is the resignation of the will. De-egotazation is the basis of every 12-Step group. De-egotazation steps are the keys to recovering from whatever addictions people have. However, it’s not just obeying the Commandments – there are more than 10, and those 10 have a lot of other things in them.
There are two ways in which to obey the Commandments. One way is objectively by obeying the law. For example, if you are driving to Misenheimer you will go through Richfield. Near the VFW, there is usually a highway patrol officer or deputy sheriff sitting there. So, you reduce your speed, and once the coast is clear, you kick your speed back up to 65. But when you get to the university, you slow back down in case a Misenheimer police officer is hiding behind the bushes. Once you are on the other side of the university, you floor it again to Salisbury. When you don’t want to get into trouble or get caught, that is objective obedience. But that is only the beginning of de-egotazation.
People say, “We are studying scripture. What do you think this means?” Every time our Lord asked the Apostles a question, they always got it wrong. Peter got it right once, but Jesus said, “My heavenly Father revealed it to you” (Matthew 16:13-19). So, we cannot say we know what ‘this’ means. Jesus said only male and female were created and for that reason, a man and a woman shall leave their families and the two shall be as one. During the first week in Latin class, we learned the words male and female. It’s really easy! Yet now, in principle, people say, “Well, I think that means this, and we can change it.” No! He said it. That’s like telling Christ, “You were wrong.” How is that for ego? “You were wrong.” Really?
The second part of obedience is when you truly die to self. Spiritual growth really takes over with interior ascent. This is not just the objective obedience of simply following the law but the interior ascent. “I do it because of my love of the Lord. I resign my will to Him.” That is the hardest part of all. Soon, I will have been a priest for 40 years, and because I can take tests, I’ve got some letters after my name and some titles before it. I’m a really big guy. Sometimes the bishop will say, “I want this done.” Are you kidding me? Granted, his Excellency has more information than I do. But sometimes I think, “Is he telling me how to do my job?” That is the ego speaking. It’s like pastors who don’t take suggestions or even listen to people. Look at the history of this place, and you realize that previous pastors never took any advice from anybody. That’s why we have had to fix everything in the past few years – because they built it wrong. They wouldn’t listen.
Subjective obedience is the most difficult because it’s when we truly die to self. The first one, the objective part, is tough enough. I can handle driving 65 in a 55 . . . I really can. However, in North Carolina, law enforcement can give you a ticket for driving 56 in a 55. I don’t think a judge would hear it, but according to the law, there is no grey area. It’s the ego – not just the objective ego but also the subjective. And that is the hardest part of dying to oneself. The objective is hard enough, but the subjective is worse. That’s where real spiritual growth exists.
We bristle at rules. “Oh, the Church has too many rules!” Well, flying has a lot of rules too. I suggest you follow them, otherwise we will be coming by with a squeegee to clean up your body parts. There are a lot of rules in a lot of things. Pharmacology has a lot of rules. Trying it on your own usually doesn’t work out well. Rules are there to keep us from doing stupid stuff. They are there to warn us that something will hurt really bad, and we won’t be able to fix it on this Earth. Rules are there to keep us safe and to point us in the right direction. But we don’t like the rules because of our egos. I want what I want when I want it! Our daily dying to self: “Yes, Lord. I will try to do what you ask of me not only because it’s for my own good, but it will also enable me to love You even more.”
How will you apply this message to your life?_________________________________________
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