“Stop Pole-Vaulting Over Mouse Turds”
Father Peter Fitzgibbons
September 14 – 15, 2024
Gospel: Mark 8:27-35
If you read the gospels, and I hope you do, just the black part – not the white part – you may think, “Gee, it seems awfully hard to be a follower of Christ.” Remember what Christ told the rich young man? He said, “If you wish to be perfect, go, sell what you have and give to [the] poor, and you will have treasure in Heaven. Then come, follow Me” (Matthew 19:21). Well, the young man didn’t. Our Lord said, “Unless you eat the flesh of the Son of man and drink His blood, you have no life in you” (John 6:53). What happened? His disciples left Him. God created male and female, i.e., original equipment. Regarding marriage, Jesus said, “They are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore, what God has joined together, no human being must separate” (Matthew 19:6). Jesus told the disciples, “If anyone wishes to come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me” (Luke 9:23). That means to imitate Him which doesn’t seem pleasant now does it? “Oh, it’s so hard!” I always like it when people want to talk about stuff. They say, “Can we talk about this?” When people want to talk about their sinful ways, they are trying to negotiate your surrender. They want you to take their side and co-sign their garbage. They are not seeking clarification; they are seeking change.
What is the purpose of instruction? To instruct – not negotiate. Christ did not negotiate because He had the truth. “But the truth is so hard!” Do you know why it’s hard to follow the truth? Because of a lack of love. Jesus said, “If you love Me, keep My Commandments. They are not burdensome” (John 5:3). We do it out of love. Love finds no burden. If someone asks you to go one mile, go two miles with them. If someone asks for your coat, let them have your shirt as well. If someone hits you on the right cheek, offer them the left cheek too (Matthew 5:39-41). That’s not exactly pleasant. If someone hits me, I may lay them out. It’s a muscle memory from when I played hockey.
Love never asks how little it can do. “Hey, Father, what’s the least I can do to get into Heaven?” “Does God grade on a curve?” Love never asks that. Love says, “Is that all I can do? Can I do more?” Sometimes, an act of love is a little difficult because no matter how far we have advanced in our spiritual lives, we are all prone to “king baby” syndrome. “I want what I want when I want it!” It’s easier dealing with a terrorist. Love never set limits and always seeks to do more. Now, remember this, it is very important to spiritual health: Love is not an emotion, nor is forgiveness. Love is an act of the Will. Our emotions are disoriented because of the effects of original sin, the sins we have committed after Baptism, and those sins committed against us by others. But Jesus commands it, so it can be done.
An act of Love is to do something for the sake of another, whether you understand it or not. Sometimes, it is most unpleasant, even egregious, and we don’t want to do it. I do a lot of work in health care, and sometimes the work is a little less appealing to my senses, but I do it anyway. I was in Hospice, and one of the nurses asked if I could help her clean out a patient’s trachea tube. I wouldn’t recommend it to most people because it’s not the most appealing smell. But I’m a ghoul, so I said, “Sure!” It’s not about me – it’s about that poor schmuck who wants to breathe. It’s not about us, and it’s not about emotions. When I was a young priest, I went on a Hospice call for an older woman who had lung cancer. She was staying at her son’s house. Her son had served in WWII and earned a Purple Heart. He had to do a lot of bad stuff. I went in to see his mother and gave her the Sacraments. But her son wouldn’t go into the room and just stood by the door. His wife went into the room and had to give her husband’s mother a morphine suppository for pain. Do you know what she did after that? She went into the bathroom and vomited. That was love, and it’s the kind of love we are supposed to be examples of. Parents, think about the times you took care of your children when they were sick. Sometimes, it wasn’t exactly pleasant to the senses, but you did it because you loved them.
Now I may find things a little less pleasant to my senses, but I do it anyway because it is not about me. I have to see Christ in the person in that situation. “My God! I’m so tired. I can’t say all my prayers.” Shut up and say your prayers. They are not that long. You are pole-vaulting over mouse droppings. “Oh! These things God asks me to do are so hard!” No, they aren’t. God asks us to do little acts of love by a denial of self, which is what love is. Love does not think of self. That’s how we do what Christ asks us to do. Yes, sometimes it will be unpleasant. But the unpleasantness itself is another gift to our Lord. Love enables us to do things that might be repulsive. Remember the television series, “The Band of Brothers”? What bound them together? Love. There is no price too high to pay for a brother. Cost is not important. It is just a measure of how much we love.
How will you apply this message to your life?___________________________________
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