Tag: Blessed Mother

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Sermon Notes – December 8, 2024 – “We Have Christmas Every Day”

 “We Have Christmas Every Day”

Father Peter Fitzgibbons

December 7-8, 2024

Gospel:   Luke 3:1-6

I heard confessions on Monday night in Statesville and Thursday night at St. Lukes.  On Monday night, we were invited to dinner at Outback.  One priest had never heard the phrase “circling the drain.”   My gosh!  Where have you been all your life?  You haven’t spent much time in hospitals and around nurses, have you?   On Thursday night, I had to educate one of the older priests when he said, “Well, the patient’s mother and wife wanted him to be given Last Rites, but the patient wouldn’t take it, so I left without giving it to him.”   I told this priest I’m a trained hospitalist, and this is how you handle that situation.   You wait until you see the nurses go by with the medication cart.  Then, have a cup of coffee and, after about ten minutes, go back into the patient’s room while he’s bombed and ask him, ‘Would you like Last Rites now? Oh, I thought you might say ‘yes.’”   Or you could ask the nurses when the patient will be medicated again and wait about ten minutes after that to ask him if he wants Last Rites.  Get the mission done, Father.   But God takes care of that anyway.  That’s just my bed-snide manner.  That night at dinner, Father Rossi ordered some hors d’oeuvres.  He asked me if I would like some tuna ahi.  It looked like undone roast beef.  I said, “That’s very kind, Father.  Would it get me any time off purgatory?”   No?  In that case, they don’t make a pharmaceutical strong enough to make me eat that thing.   I don’t eat fish.  I have a rule. 

In 17 days and a wake-up, we will celebrate the incarnation of God.  Our good Lord became incarnate in the womb of the Blessed Mother and made visible on Christmas.  We do not have to ask what love looks like because we can see it.  It’s a wonderful day.  God becoming incarnate was a great act of love by God.  But was it His greatest act of love?  No.  His greatest act of love was the crucifixion.   People say, “I wish we could have Christmas every day.”  You do!  I don’t get cookies every day like I do at Christmas, but God comes to us every day in the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. 

Jesus, as the 2nd Person in the Blessed Trinity, was hard to see under the veil of human flesh and blood.  He is also hard to see under the veil of bread and wine in the Mass when it becomes His Most Precious Body and Blood.  But this is our faith.   His human nature was united with His divinity in what is called hypostatic union.  In the Mass, that happens when I put a drop of water into the chalice of wine.  That is His human nature being assumed into His divine nature.  At every Mass, God becomes flesh again.  He is incarnate in the Most Blessed Sacrament in every Catholic church in the world.  So, we have Christmas every day but without bad music like, “I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Clause” and “Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer.”  Shut up!  Those songs make me want to rip out the loudspeaker. 

God is present in our world.  On His ascension, Jesus took the flesh that he received from the Blessed Mother and brought it to Heaven.  But He did not leave our world.  He didn’t say, “I’m going up to Heaven, and when it’s time, I’ll come back to get you and take you home.”  God is made present in our world every day in the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass.  It was hard for the Apostles to see our Lord and believe He was truly God.  Because of our fallen human nature, it is also difficult for us because we see with the eyes of our bodies instead of the eyes of our souls.  The trouble is our vision.  I appreciate all the hard work my eye doctor, Dr. Billingsly, has done for me.  He has saved me from walking around with a stick and a dog.  But the ability to see with the eyes of faith is most important to me. 

We have God’s physical presence every day, just like the Apostles.  We have Christmas every day.  Isn’t that wonderful?  It truly is.  Granted, we don’t have cookies and baked goods every day.  I will leave my back door open if anyone would care to make a donation.  I would be most grateful; just don’t tell my doctor.    We have Christmas every day without the bad music, wreaths, trees, and lawn statues, but that is unimportant.  What is important is what resides in the Tabernacle.  God came into the world, and He never left. 

Father’s Afterthoughts: 

We had a new patient in hospice.  He’s 91 years old.  So, I went into his room and started talking to him to see if he was oriented to time and place.  He was pretty “gah-gah.”   My final question was, “Do you remember the branch of service you were in?”  He said, “Marines!”   That question always gets through.

How will you apply this message to your life? _______________________________________ 

You can read all of Father Fitzgibbons’ sermons by going to AnnunciationCatholicAlbemarle.com, clicking on “Blog” then “Categories” and then “Sermon Notes.”  On a cell phone: click on “Blog” and then “Menu.”  Scroll to the bottom and click on “Categories.”  Sermon Notes are also available on the Church’s Facebook page at OLA.Catholic.Church.  Click on “Groups” and then “Sermon Notes.”

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Sermon Notes – July 7, 2024 – “True Knowledge Leads to Humility”

“True Knowledge Leads to Humility”

Father Peter Fitzgibbons

July 6 – 7, 2024

Gospel:  Mark 6:1-6

Why do we receive an education?  So that we can use our talents to provide for ourselves and our loved ones, for the good of Society, for the good of the Church, and for our own salvation.   One of the greatest fruits of education has a significant impact on spiritual life.   We learn that we don’t know everything and become humble.  The Apostles always had a problem with education.  They said, “Lord, show us the Father, and we will believe.”   Jesus said, “Whoever has seen me has seen the Father” (John 14:9).   The Apostles didn’t understand that, so they had to continue their education. 

Knowledge is a virtue and can produce many fruits.  The people of Nazareth, Jesus’ hometown, said they knew Him.  Obviously, they didn’t because if they had, they would have worshipped Him.  True knowledge, used properly, brings about humility.   The more I learn, the more I realize that I don’t know everything.  Sometimes, people read a book and then say, “Father, I know all about this stuff.”  Uh-Huh.  Sometimes people try to tell me what the Church believes.  “Father, I went to a weekend course on Theology.”   Oh, good.  I studied Theology for four years; come talk to me when you’re serious.  It’s pride that says, “I have knowledge; therefore, I know everything.”   True knowledge is the exact opposite.  One of the fruits of education can be seen in the creche at Bethlehem.  You see three kinds of people around Jesus:  the holy – Saint Joseph and the Blessed Mother; the shepherds who knew they knew nothing; and the Wisemen who were educated enough to know they knew nothing. 

People often ask me questions about the Faith, and that’s good.   It may inspire them to read further.   Faith seeking understanding is Theology.   Now, I’m not a learned guy.  I know a few things about a few things.  I know some things about the military and work as a hospital chaplain.  But other than that, not so much.  However, I can refer you to people who are experts in exorcism, Canon Law, and Martial Law.  I’m not an expert in those fields and have only a passing knowledge of them.   Remember our minds are fallen because of Original Sin and sins committed after Baptism.   There is a great book that I read in seminary.  It’s the “Fundamentals of Catholic Dogma” by Father Ludwig Ott.  It’s a very thick book with a very small print.  It helps to have young eyes.  I’ve read and reread that book.  So, when you come to Confession, you know I’m prepared.  But the fruit of that learning is not so that I can bedazzle you with my knowledge.  The fruit of knowledge leads to a holy life so that every day we conform our lives closer and closer to Almighty God. 

We come here to learn how to use our knowledge in works of faith, hope, and charity.  “But Father, I don’t understand everything.”  Perfect.  You’re in the right place.  Will you ever understand everything?  No.  Only when you are in Heaven will your mind be enlightened.  In the meantime, we learn as much as we can and that knowledge, hopefully, will lead us to greater humility.  Saint Thomas a Kempis, in his writing about the temptations of Christ, wrote “It is better to have but little knowledge with humility and understanding, than great learning which might make you proud.” Humility with the knowledge we have is love lived out. 

Last week, I told you a story about our Most Reverend Bishop, who retired after serving for 20 years as bishop.  Although I did not know it, he was very sick.  None of us knew he had only one kidney until after he retired.  Having only one kidney was debilitating for him.  Even as tired as he was after Confirmation here at the church, when I asked him to visit someone in the hospital, he agreed.  I knew it would thrill Genevieve for the bishop of the church to visit her.  As it turned out, besides Genevieve, there was another woman in the hospital who was being sent home to die.  The bishop spent time with them, and he was so compassionate.  He had the knowledge, and he put it into practice.  That is humility.  I’ll say this about myself: I try to do it too.  When I work at the hospital, I’ll help nurses and patients and deal with some things that people would consider yucky.  But it’s not about me; it’s about that person who is sick.  That’s humility, and it’s what I try to practice all the time, but I have an ego as big as the Grand Canyon, so it’s tough.   I have letters before and after my name.  “I fought for my country.”  So did the cook.  Shut up!   If we don’t have humility, all that knowledge we’re supposed to have is wasted. 

Father’s Reflections . . . I will tell you this story so that you know I am almost human . . . almost.  The other day I had a severe temptation.  If you guessed it was for fish, you’d be wrong.  I’m getting older and I’m seeing all these doctors.  It would be great if I could look at my medical file.  I work at the Veterans Hospital, and I can access medical files as part of my work, but I can’t look at my own file.  So, I was thinking that maybe I could ask one of my homeboys to look at it although that would be unethical.  I just want to find out if a wise doctor put in my expiration date just so I can prepare.  But I’m over it.  See, I get temptations just like everyone else. 

How will you apply this message to your life?  ________________________________________

You can read all of Father Fitzgibbons’ sermons by going to AnnunciationCatholicAlbemarle.com, clicking on “Blog” then “Categories” and then “Sermon Notes.”  On a cell phone: click on “Blog” and then “Menu.”  Scroll to the bottom and click on “Categories.”  Sermon Notes are also available on the Church’s Facebook page at OLA.Catholic.Church.  Click on “Groups” and then “Sermon Notes.”

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Sermon Notes – June 2, 2024 – “We Walk the Talk”

“We Walk the Talk”

Father Peter Fitzgibbons

June 1 – 2, 2024

Gospel: Mark 2:23-3:6

Now, we Catholics are funny people, strange people, according to some. Do you know why some people think we are weird, exotic, and other less attractive adjectives?  Besides the yard sales, bingo, and all of that, we believe what Scripture says.  We are a bible-believing and bible-practicing Church.  “But, Father, a lot of churches are bible-believing.”  Really?  “Well, you don’t know what Scripture says.”  We existed before Scripture was ever written down.   The first scripture was written three years after the fact, and the last one – the Book of Revelation – was written 60 years later.   Catholics put the New Testament together in the 4th Century.  So, we should know what it means.  We see the words and do what the words say.  I’ll give you a few examples: 

 1)    In his epistle, Saint James says, “Is any among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord; and the prayer of faith will save the sick man, and the Lord will raise him up; and if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven” (Jas. 5:14–15).  Saint James is referring to the Last Rites, which I have given a couple of times this week.

2)    In the Gospel of Luke, there is veneration and devotion to our Blessed Mother.  In her Magnificat, the Blessed Mother said, “From now onwards, all generations will call me blessed” (Luke 1:48).   That is a command in the black part of Scripture if you care to look it up.  So why are we the only church that does that other than Orthodox?  “All generations will call me blessed.”  That is called a task; it’s not a choice.

 3)    Our Lord breathed on His apostles, and He said to them: “Receive the Holy Spirit. For those whose sins you forgive, they are forgiven; for those whose sins you retain, they are retained” (John 20:22).  That’s what we do in Confession.  Nobody else does that.  We are celebrating the Solemnity of Corpus Christi, which is also known as the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ.   Transubstantiation changes the bread into the Body of Christ and the wine into the Blood of Christ for the salvation of souls.  “Oh, transubstantiation is such a big word!”  Yes, and first graders learn it; you’ll be fine.  This happens when, during the Mass, the priest, acting in the person of Christ, says, “This is My Body,” “This is the chalice of My Blood.”  Jesus said, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of man and drink his blood, you have no life in you” (John 6:53).  After that, everyone but the 12 Apostles left Him.  Wordsmiths say, “Well, He meant that metaphorically.”   First, the word “metaphorically” never appears anywhere in Scripture.  Second, the original word means “eat, chew, or masticate.  That’s why His disciples thought He was talking about cannibalism.   

How many of you will go home tonight after Mass, and instead of making dinner, willread a cookbook?   Would that fill you up?  “Oh, my gosh, I am so full.  I cannot read another bite!”  Really?  When you have a headache, do you go to the medicine cabinet, read the label on the aspirin bottle, and put it back on the shelf?  “Oh, I feel much better now.”  No.  Medicine does you no good if it’s still in the bottle on the shelf.  Jesus said, “Eat My flesh and drink My blood. Otherwise, you have no life in you.”  You must take the celestial medicine our Lord has offered us and take it internally for it to have a healing effect.  We read the words He says and follow them.  We’re kind of funny that way.

4)    We believe that God made male and female.  “A man will leave his father and mother and cling to his wife, and the two of them will become one body” in marriage for life (Genesis 2:24).  That’s what it says in the black part of Scripture, so that’s what we do. 

5)    If someone is not Catholic or is not in a state of grace, they cannot take Holy Communion.  “But that’s cruel.”  Jesus said it.  In his letter to the Corinthians, Paul said, “Whoever eats and drinks the body and blood of Christ unworthily is guilty of His death” (1 Corinthians 11:27).  That’s also in the black part of Scripture. 

This is what we believe.  “Oh, you have too many rules.”  Not really.  They are guidelines for our own well-being and salvation.  Some are precautionary so you don’t step off a cliff thinking you can fly.  Besides, all these so-called RULES are what God said.  This is our Faith, and it is what we have believed from the beginning.  We are a bible-believing and bible-practicing Church.   We do as Scripture tells us to do, and by doing so, we have life. 

 If you visit the Catacombs in Rome and go into some of the tombs of the saints, there are pictures of grapes and wheat . . . ancient symbols of the Eucharist and the Real Presence.  Those pictures aren’t just artwork, they reflect the saints’ belief in the Real Presence.  This is why we are silent in the presence of the Blessed Sacrament and during the Mass.  We are in the presence of the actual Body and Blood of Christ.  God Himself is here. 

Father’s Reflections . . . Lonnie, a patient at the VA Hospital, was a glider soldier on D-Day.  I said to Lonnie, “Soon, it will be the anniversary of your walking tour across France and Germany.”  Another soldier told me he got to Normandy on June 6th, D+2.  He said the water was still red from all the blood, and he had to step over bodies on the beach to get to where he needed to be.

How will you apply this message to your life?  ________________________________________

You can read all of Father Fitzgibbons’ sermons by going to AnnunciationCatholicAlbemarle.com, clicking on “Blog” then “Categories” and then “Sermon Notes.”  On a cell phone: click on “Blog” and then “Menu.”  Scroll to the bottom and click on “Categories.”  Sermon Notes are also available on the Church’s Facebook page at OLA.Catholic.Church.  Click on “Groups” and then “Sermon Notes.”

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The Catechism in a Year – Day 343 – Praying Through Mary

To love Mary doesn’t mean our hearts belong any less to Jesus. Today, the Catechism explains our Blessed Mother’s role in prayer and why the Catholic Church prays in communion with her. We also explore the origin behind the Hail Mary prayer and other prayers to Mary throughout the Church’s history. Lastly, Fr. Mike reflects on the tenderness and strength of Mary’s motherhood that carries us through the difficulties of our lives. By uniting our prayer to her prayer, we unite our trust with her perfect “Fiat.” Today’s readings are Catechism paragraphs 2673-2682.

Click on link: https://youtu.be/hc8swuEn4Ag?si=zQWLCyFX9Y9i6BhI

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Sermon Notes – January 1, 2023 – “Take Care of My Mother, I Remember Your Name”

“Take Care of My Mother, I Remember Your Name”

Father Peter Fitzgibbons

January 1, 2023

Gospel:  Luke 2:16-21

16 So they hurried away and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby lying in the manger.  17 When they saw the child they repeated what they had been told about him, 18 and everyone who heard it was astonished at what the shepherds said to them. 19 As for Mary, she treasured all these things and pondered them in her heart.  20 And the shepherds went back glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, just as they had been told.  21 When the eighth day came and the child was to be circumcised, they gave him the name Jesus, the name the angel had given him before his conception.

In a few moments we will recite the Nicene Creed which is one of the statements of belief in the Church.  We have many creeds including the Apostles Creed and the Athanasian Creed.   The Nicene Creed was formulated by the Council Fathers, the Bishops, under the leadership of the Pope at the Council of Nicea in the fourth century.  The Nicene Creed was a response to heresy by a priest named Arius who challenged our beliefs.  Arius thought he was brighter than the average bear and that he had knowledge that nobody else had.  So, he, in his exalted wisdom, sought to redefine who Christ is.  He denied the true nature of Christ.  This caused a bloody revolt within the empire.  The Church went through great strife., and there was martyrdom all over the world.  It was terrible.  But that is what evil does.  So, the bishops of the Church gathered in council along with the Holy Father and made a declaration about who Christ is and where He came from.   

Remember, Christ is a person.  He is a “Who.”  He is not an “it” or a “what.”   And that is affirmed in the Nicene Creed.  In philosophy, you learn that a person is a “Who.”  Inside that “who” is a “what” which is their nature.  We have a human nature…some of us just barely.  Animals have an animal nature.  Christ is a “Who” with two “what’s”.   He has a divine nature which is Himself, and He had the human nature He took from the Blessed Mother.   If you watch closely during the Mass, you see that I put one drop of water into the chalice of wine.  The amount of wine and water in the chalice cannot be equal parts.  The drop of water is not to cut the effect of the wine.   It is to symbolize the human nature assumed and lost within the divinity.  And unless I put that drop of water into the chalice of wine, the Mass is invalid because no Precious Blood has been consecrated.  The mixture of wine and water in the chalice must be very precise because it is expressing the theological and ontological real meaning of who Christ is. 

The Blessed Mother is fittingly called the mother of God so that each year God is made visible.  Why is she called the mother of God?  Because that is what scripture said.  The Council Fathers declared that Mary, the Blessed Mother, was the mother of God.  To some, this was a novel idea, but it really wasn’t because members of the Council knew scripture.  And scripture said that Mary was the mother of God.  Mary had just conceived when she went to visit Elizabeth, her kinswoman.  And when Elizabeth said, “Who am I that the mother of our Lord should come unto me,” she was saying that Mary is the mother of God.   Remember, when you read scripture, you have to read it as a First Century Jew coming from a Jewish culture.  “Oh, I studied under so-and-so.”  Do you know how to study the Old Testament?  Study it under a rabbi.  I did.  Then you discover what things really mean.  “Oh, that’s what that means.”  Bingo!  You have to consider the culture. 

First Century Jews would never use our word for “God.”  Even now, the Orthodox leave letters out and use hyphens.  They don’t use the word “God.”   When Mary greeted Elizabeth, the baby, John, leapt in her womb.  Again, you have to read scripture in the original language.  John didn’t “leap in the womb.”  The original word was “danced.”  It’s the same word that David used to describe what King David did before the Arc of the Covenant as the Arc was coming into Jerusalem.   John the Baptist danced before the Arc of the New Covenant.  Mary is referred to as the mother of our Lord throughout scripture.   Mariology is a subset of Christology because if you study Christ, you have to study Mary.  This is why, as Catholics, we have a great devotion to our Lady.  “Oh, but we don’t want to neglect Christ.”  I’m the wrong ethnicity, I’m French Canadian, but there’s a great Italian phrase that I love to repeat, “Hey Father, you take care of my mother, I remember your name.”

In praising the mother of God, aren’t you also praising Him who is the source and author of all virtue?   However, it was not enough for Mary to be the mother of Christ.  She also had a secondary vocation.  Read the scriptures.  When some people read them, they become like jailhouse lawyers …they read stuff and say, “Oh yeah!  It says this.”   Well, not quite.  Mary is also our mother.   At the wedding in Cana at Galilee, she said, “Son, they have no more wine.”   Any man knows that when a woman says that it’s an implied task and you better get to work and fix it.  She stated the problem and now it’s your problem.  Fix it.  Yes, Mom.  Yes, Dear.  What did Christ say?   The English translation is not a good one.  He didn’t call her “mother.”  He said, “Woman what are thee to me?”   This sounds very harsh.  Say that to your mother and let me know how it works for you.   Not well I bet.   Even saying that to Bea Morton would result in a less than optimal outcome.  There would be a lot of tears and crying on your part.   But that was the beginning of Mary’s second vocation as our Lord began His ministry which was fulfilled three years later at the foot of the Cross.   “Son, behold your mother. Woman, behold your son.”   He said “woman” and not “mother.”  She was to be the spiritual mother of all men.    Christ works through her.  Christ works through her to become present in this world.  He works through her to open the gates of Heaven and help us with our salvation.   Remember the words of Saint Bernard:

Remember, Oh gracious Sweet Virgin Mary, never has it been heard that you left unaided anyone who ran to you for protection, implored your help or sought for your intercessions.  With this inspired confidence I fly to you my mother, Oh Sweet virgin of virgins, I come to you and before you I stand sinful and sorrowful.  Oh Mother of The Word Incarnate, do not despise my petitions but listen, hear and answer them with your utmost love. Amen

Now is that a great prayer?  Darn right.  I say it every morning.  Does it always work?  Um, yes.  However, I’m not a monsignor.  The forecast looks really bleak on that front.  But my prayers are never denied.  I always receive strength, consolation, and affirmation.  It always comes because Mom knows best.  We use that phrase in our physical life how much more so is it true in our spiritual life?  We know the mother of God.  As Teresa Cuthrone might say, “Hey, I know a girl.”

When we pray the Rosary, we pray scripture.   There is nothing contrary or adverse to Christ in that.    Otherwise, she would have dropped out of scripture like Joseph.   She is our mother too and wants to take care of us.  She wants us to be with her Son.  So always ask for help.  Nobody has been sent to hell for asking for intercession.

Father’s Reflections… I had an appointment with my cardiologist on Wednesday.  He said I was fine.   Okay.  But because I’m a cautious man, I kept the receipt. 

How will you apply this message to your life? _________________________________________


You can read all of Father Fitzgibbons’ sermons by going to annunciationcatholicalbemarle.com and clicking on “Blog” then “Categories” then “Sermon Notes.”  On a cell phone: click on “Blog” then “Menu” and then “Categories”