The Catechism in a Year – Day 4

The Catechism begins to explore what it means “to believe” by examining our innate desire for God and all the ways we can come to know him. Fr. Mike grounds us in a refrain he promises to repeat throughout the year—God loves you. Not in an abstract way, but in a concrete, unique way. God knows you, and he wants you to know him. Today’s readings are Catechism paragraphs 26-35.


The Catechism in a Year – Day 3


Part 1 of the Catechism—the first pillar—is the longest part of the four parts of the Catechism, and arguably the most foundational. Fr. Mike sits down with Jeff Cavins to discuss the big picture behind this important pillar and prepare us for the journey ahead.

Click on the link to play video: https://youtu.be/lChGowdD7ZQ


The Catechism – Day 1

Welcome to Day 1 of the Catechism in a Year! Today, we begin our journey with Fr. Mike through the Catechism from the very beginning: the Prologue. The Catechism tackles some big questions right out of the gate. Why did God make us? How can we know him? How do we help others understand him as well? Fr. Mike invites us to discover God’s plan for us and accept the challenge he has placed before us. Today’s readings are Catechism paragraphs 1-10.

Click on the link to play video: https://youtu.be/tI-pOSv7tvg


The Catechism – Day 2

The Catechism reveals to us its intended readership, structure, and some practical directions for use. Fr. Mike and the Roman Catechism remind us that—above all—”the works of perfect Christian virtue spring from love and have no other objective than to arrive at love.” Today’s readings are Catechism paragraphs 11-25.

Click on the link to play video: https://youtu.be/lSyMNeL7Fz0


Why Should You Read the Catechism of the Catholic Church?

Why Should You Read the Catechism of the Catholic Church? 

For the same reason that I should wipe the dust off of mine. Because we are called to both deeper intimacy with Christ and to tell the world that Jesus is Lord. Our world has often, in all of its changes and empty promises, forgotten who Jesus Christ is. It looks at broken members of the Church and sees an invention of history, an institution belonging to the past. But we know that the Church is alive, so we must learn the truth and then share it with others. We must show the world how to look at brokenness and see the promise of the Redeemer. 

Reading the Catechism will only enrich your spiritual life. With the help of Fr. Mike Schmitz, we have the opportunity to read the Catechism together, and I encourage you to take that opportunity. I pray that we utilize the Catechism and The Catechism in a Year podcast to come to know, love, and believe in the teachings of the Church. Even more, I pray that we use this opportunity to seek her bridegroom, Christ Jesus, and come to love him through our study. 


Why Should You Read the Catechism of the Catholic Church?

Why Should You Read the Catechism of the Catholic Church?
For the same reason that I should wipe the dust off of mine. Because we are called to both deeper intimacy with Christ and to tell the world that Jesus is Lord. Our world has often, in all of its changes and empty promises, forgotten who Jesus Christ is. It looks at broken members of the Church and sees an invention of history, an institution belonging to the past. But we know that the Church is alive, so we must learn the truth and then share it with others. We must show the world how to look at brokenness and see the promise of the Redeemer.

Reading the Catechism will only enrich your spiritual life. With the help of Fr. Mike Schmitz, we have the opportunity to read the Catechism together, and I encourage you to take that opportunity. I pray that we utilize the Catechism and The Catechism in a Year podcast to come to know, love, and believe in the teachings of the Church. Even more, I pray that we use this opportunity to seek her bridegroom, Christ Jesus, and come to love him through our study.

//Ascension//


Sermon Notes – November 7, 2021 – “The Circle of Love Continues”

 “The Cycle of Love Continues”

Father Peter Fitzgibbons

 November 6 – 7, 2021

Gospel:  Mark 12:38-44

The month of November can be classified as a study in Ecclesiology or Who the Church is.  You can read about bishops referring to the Church as a “what.”  But it’s a “Who.”  “Father, why do you say that?  How can you contradict a bishop?”  I like contradicting bishops. . . it’s a hobby.  When Paul was going around beating people up, Jesus said “Saul, why do you persecute Me?”  He didn’t say, “Why are you persecuting My institution.”  No.  He said, “Why do you persecute Me.”  The Church is a “Who.” It’s the body of Christ.  There are aspects of a “what” but it’s a “Who.”  

What brought the Church in to being?  I’ll give you the answer by asking my second question. What brought you in to being?  It wasn’t a “what” – it was a “Who.”  God’s love.  The first question in the Catechism is “Why did God make you?”  Because He loved you.  You were created out of love.  You have always been in the mind of God for all eternity.  We existed in the mind of God before we existed in the bodies of our mothers.  God created us out of love and sustains us out of love.  He calls us into His presence out of love.  He calls us into His church out of love. This is His gift of love so that we can become one with the Body of Christ. . . His Bride.  So, the Church is not a “what.”  It’s a “Who.”  It is the Bride of Christ. 

Some people try to change the Church.  If it’s an institution you can change it, but if it’s a “Who,” you can’t.  The Church is a “Who.”  That “Who” was formed out of love, sustained and created out of love, and exists only because of love.  It’s a love of all people in the world and not just those here in Albemarle even though we love it here . . . it’s the best parish in the diocese.  Don’t tell them that – they will get really upset.  I almost get into fights with other priests when they tell me how great their parish is.  Really?  The whole Church is united by baptism.  As Bishop Waters said, there are no hyphenated Catholics. We are united in love, and we come to express our love and our prayers for those who have gone before us.  As we pass from this world, those left behind will pray for us, and the cycle of love will continue.  

Our love of others gave us what we have.  We didn’t build or pay for this church.  The Church of the Annunciation in New York gave the money to build it.   So, Yankees built this church.  We are enjoying their gifts of love and the gifts of love by those in this parish who have gone on before us.  The saints who have gone on before us pray for us.  They give us that gift of love.  They intercede for us to the Father so that we can attain what they have.  Love is not fulfilled unless it is complete.  No mother is happy unless she has her family around her.  The saints want their spiritual family, the whole body of the Church, to be with them in Heaven.  They always pray for us.  We as the Church Militant, the Church working for our salvation, pick up our crosses each day and follow the good Lord. We pray for those who can’t. . .those who have gone before us and who are cleaning their baptismal robes so that they may come and dwell in the place of the Perfect. This is mentioned at every Mass.  When we pass away, the Church will pray for us, maybe not by name, but they will always pray for us.  You were given the gift of love not by your prayers but by this prayer.  Because the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass is what?  You got me on that one.  It’s not a “what.”   It’s a “Who.”   

In some churches, they announce that “the liturgy will be celebrated…”  That’s a Greek word meaning a public act. Big deal.  They think they are really hip.  The Holy Sacrifice of the Mass is Christ offering Himself to the Father. And Christ, in that offering, is made present on the altar.  He asks not for our participation.  This is where the catechetics of the Mass have gotten really weird over the years.  The terms we use when referring to the Mass are often blasphemous.  “We go to church.”  Yeah.  You walk in and walk back out.  Big deal.  “I attend church.” Well, I attend a play.  “I actively participate.”  You know, I have a degree in Philosophy, believe it or not, and I have paperwork to prove it.  But I have no idea what that phrase means.  It was made up in the last forty years, and it means absolutely nothing.  So, when I say Mass in hospitals and nursing homes for people who are barely conscious and heavily medicated, they aren’t actively participating?  During my 13-minute Mass in the field, when the natives were restless, we didn’t sing, but we prayed a lot.  Are you kidding me?  They were trying to kill Blanch and John’s little boy.  You do not actively participate.  You do not go to Mass.  You do not attend Mass.  Take what I’m about to tell you and commit it to memory.  You are called, when you come here, to become part of Christ’s sacrifice. Whether we sing or not and whether we take up a collection or not has nothing to do with it.  You are called to become part of the sacrifice of Christ.  The Romans participated in the crucifixion, but they didn’t actually suffer with Christ, did they?   You take the place of the Blessed Mother whose human nature Christ took and suffered with on the Cross and redeemed us with.  You take the place of Saint John the Apostle, the Beloved, who suffered with Christ out of love.  You take the place of Mary Cleophas.  You are suffering with Christ.  You unite your sufferings and human nature with the suffering of Christ.  In the offertory, the priest, acting in the person of Christ, takes your human natures and makes them one with Christ in that animation of love on the altar that is always present to the Following.  You become part of Christ’s sacrifice.  That is why this place is so special.  Not only is there the Real Presence of our Lord in the Most Blessed Sacrament, but you are also standing at the foot of the Cross.  And very shortly you will become part of Christ’s sacrifice. At Mass, you will receive the grace of offering yourself.  You may offer that grace to one of your departed brethren.  The grace of receiving Holy Communion is another one.  Even if you are not able to receive the Most Precious Body and Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ, you can offer that sense of deprivation to someone else. 

This month, we pray for those who have gone before us.  The Church always prays for the departed. . . always.  The Protestants, with their so-called reformation say, “We don’t pray for the dead.”  Yeah, well we do.  It’s a part of the Church.  The Catacombs are filled with inscribed prayers in Latin.   What do they say?  “Pray for me.”  Since the earliest days of the Church, for over 2,000 years, we have prayed for them.  This is what we do.  When our loved ones are all in Heaven, with mine it may take a little work, but when they are all in Heaven, then our prayers go to someone else who needs them.  Remember that old Italian saying: “I remember your name.”  The saints all know who to pray for because when they get to Heaven, they are enlightened by the transfiguration.  They know who helped them, and they will mention you by name to the ear of Christ.

Father’s Afterthoughts:

Veterans Day is this week.  There are a lot of people who served, but just because they served doesn’t make them heroes.  In my day, people served because they didn’t want to go to jail or to go to Canada and learn to speak French.  I wouldn’t want to share a foxhole with them.  They might get me killed.  But there are a lot of unknown heroes.  I hear a lot of stories from veterans at the VA Hospital, and I’m going to tell you about two heroes.  One of the vets asked me if I served in Vietnam, and I told him “No.”   This vet told me that his older brother volunteered for Vietnam so he wouldn’t have to go.  His brother was a hero.  Another veteran, who is 99 years old and in Hospice, has all his faculties. . . he just can’t see very well.  This veteran was in the Armored Division during World War II and had a job nobody wanted. . . Radio Telephone Operator or RTO.   They were the ones the enemy was told to take out first.  Your lifespan as an RTO wasn’t that great.  To make matters worse, you carried a big antenna which let everybody know exactly where you were.  Thank you!  The good side of being the RTO is that he got to ride in a half-track and didn’t have to walk all the way to Berlin.  His unit liberated Dachau; the first concentration camp established in Germany.  Those are the veterans you should pray for and honor.

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.”  They can also be found on Facebook by searching for “Our Lady of the Annunciation Albemarle”


Ascension Presents – Prayer Ain’t Easy

Growing up Fr. Mike thought prayer should be like soaking in a hot tub. He didn’t understand why it was so hard when he tried it.

It took him a while to learn that, as the Catechism says, prayer is a gift of grace and a determined response on our part. Prayer always presupposes effort. There’s always some kind of engagement when we properly pray to God. It’s not just about soaking in God’s grace. The required effort in prayer is difficult more often than it is not. Prayer is a battle against ourselves and “the wiles of the tempter who does all he can to turn man away from prayer” (CCC 2725).

Over time, Fr. Mike discovered that prayer needs to be more than a momentary time where we seek solace and closeness with God. We need to constantly acknowledge our relationship with God throughout the day, just as a husband and wife are constantly thinking of each other. Then when we do set aside time to simply be with God, it happens more naturally.

If you want to improve your prayer life, make the intentional and faithful decision to live the same way outside of prayer as you do within prayer.

Read “The Battle of Prayer” section in the Catechism.