Tag: Confession

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Sermon Notes – February 19, 2023 – “Did I Say I Hate Fish?”

“Did I Say I Hate Fish?”

Father Peter Fitzgibbons

February 18 – 19, 2023

Gospel:   Matthew 5:38-48

On Wednesday, we begin the season of Lent.  Ash Wednesday is not a holy day of obligation.  It’s a “good to do” and not a “must do.”  Ashes will be given only at 8:30 am and 6:30 pm.  There will be no “drive-thru” ashes or “ashes to go” given.   Also, you cannot drive into the parking lot, beep the horn, and expect to receive ashes.  There are some places that actually do that.  It’s a Sacramental just like Holy Water and not mandatory.  We’d love for you to come to Mass to begin the season of Lent.  On Ash Wednesday and Good Friday there is a “black fast” for those younger than 59 (I’m 69) which means you cannot eat between meals, and you can have only one full meal for the day considering your medical circumstances of course.  Nobody can eat meat on Ash Wednesday and on Holy Fridays during Lent.  You don’t have to eat fish although I do.  Did I tell you I that I hate fish?  On Fridays, we will have Lenten dinners which will be followed by Stations of the Cross. 

Lent is a season of penance, and we are supposed to do works of penance or self-punishment to atone for our sins and the sins of others.  The season of Lent is not a “self-help” season.  “Oh, I resolve to eat better.”  You are supposed to eat well.  It falls under the Fifth Commandment, so it is not a penance.  You are doing your body a favor.  We are supposed to do something that disciplines the will, restrains our pride, and rids ourselves of the obsession of self so that we can love better.  There must be a sacrifice.  For me, that would be eating fish because I hate fish!   Get the theme here?  I hate fish!  There has to be some kind of degradation.  When we sin, we tell God, “No.  I’m not going to do that. No! No! No!”   So, we step away from God.  When we do penance, we are taking a step back toward God.  Some of us may be over-achievers, like those of us who were at Fort Bragg, and have taken multiple steps away from God.  Come see me.   If you say, “I’m going to spend extra time in prayer.”   Extra prayers take time away from our other activities.  And so we begin that walk back towards God. 

Now, you don’t have to say, “I’m going to give up a kidney.”  The penance doesn’t have to be huge.  What’s important is how much love you give it with.   It’s not the size of the gift but the love with which it is given.  Doing a little bit of penance with great love is very effective.  What are we doing when we do penance?  We are decreasing our love and fascination with ourselves, even as wonderful as I think I am, and increasing our love for God.  When we love ourselves – and I especially love me – it’s hard to love others.   We need to decrease self-love so that we can increase our love of God.  We must love God first and then we will be able to love others.  We cannot give what we do not have.  Saint John the Baptist said, “He must increase, and I must decrease.”   That’s exactly how we grow in the love of God.  It’s awfully difficult sometimes.  When I drive past a Hardee’s, I just tear up because there’s just something about the smell of bacon.  Last night I had a small discomfort, but for me every discomfort is HUGE because it’s me.  If you buy your lunch at work, don’t.  Deprive yourself of a small meal and give that money to the poor. 

This season of penance is the perfect time for us to make a good Confession.  According to Church law, we are supposed to confess once a year.  It’s also a good time to reach out to others who may have fallen by the wayside and bring them back to the Sacraments and to the Church to rejoin in God’s love.  How do you call someone back to the Church?  I’ll give you a story.  This week I was doing my rounds in the Emergency Department at the VA hospital.  I’m just there for the scare.  When I walk by someone who is on an EKG, the machine goes crazy.  Nervous?  Anyway, I saw two veterans, and one of the guys was very talkative.  He was coming off drugs, and he wanted to get clean.  So, I talked to him for a long time.  The other guy was coming off booze, but he didn’t want much to do with me.  The next couple of days are not going to be pleasant at all for them.  As I was talking to the nurses, I learned that the guy who was coming off the sauce has a behavioral problem.  I said, “Well, he’ll get that fixed here.”   The ER nurses at the VA could top any WWE steel cage match.  Don’t mess with them.  They don’t wear a camera; however, whatever they break the doctors can fix.  So don’t worry about that. 

Anyway, I was talking to the one guy, and he was upset and ashamed.  One of the phrases we use in the military, not those phrases, but a good one that we use is, “We don’t shoot our wounded.”  You are sick and we will take care of you until you are not.  That’s exactly what we tell sinners.   We don’t shoot our wounded here.  The Church wants to reclaim people for Christ and keep them close to the Cross.  The guy was upset so I said to him, “Here is my card.  If you need someone to talk to, give me a call.   A lot of counselors have not been where we’ve been.”  When counselors are working with someone who has PTSD, they’ll say, “Oh, I know it must have been hard over there.”   They don’t have a freaking clue because they weren’t there.  But if a counselor has been there, the veterans will talk to them. 

In the ten years I’ve been handing out my cards, nobody has ever called me.  I’m not upset, but it’s important for me to do that.  It gives people something to hang on to and to give them hope that somebody cares.   We can tell people how great God has been to us and that we do not shoot our wounded although the Catholic Church tends to shoot theirs.  But we will take care of you until you no longer need us.  That’s what we tell people especially those who have fallen away from God because they feel guilty.  Some of the guilt they feel is expressed as anger.  “I don’t need this!”  Then why are you so angry?     

It is important for all of us to go out and search for stray and lost sheep.  What are the signs of sin?  Guilt, shame, fear, and remorse.   The one that keeps people away is fear.  Tell them that we don’t shoot our wounded.  The sad part about the two veterans I met in the ER that day is that I don’t know if either of them will get clean or sober.  Because they feel better for a few days, a lot of people check themselves out against medical advice and try the drugs or booze again.  That’s why we must stay close and remember our frailties.  As Saint Therese of Lisieux said, “When I am small, I am safe.”   Instead, we think, “I’m the smartest bear in Jellystone Park.  I can do this all by myself.  I’m good.”   However, our Lord said to be perfect.  Good is not good enough. 

Lent is a wonderful time for us to help ourselves to love even more.  When we love more, we will be happier.  Remember the apostles who had the you-know-what beat out of them in prison?  They left prison and rejoiced for they were found worthy to suffer for the name.  So, when we give up these small things in our lives, we should be happier.  I still hate fish. . .did I tell you that?   But I’m happy because I eat it for Christ and the love of others.  As Saint Paul says, “Now I rejoice in my sufferings for Your sake, and in my flesh, I complete what is lacking in Christ’s afflictions for the sake of His body, that is, the church” (Colossians 1:24).

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.”  Sermon Notes are also available on the church Facebook page at facebook.com/ola.catholic.church.  Click on “Groups” and then “Sermon Notes.”

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Sermon Notes – March 27, 2022 – “The Oreo Confession”

“The Oreo Confession”

Father Peter Fitzgibbons

 March 26 – 27, 2022

Gospel:  Luke 15:1-3, 11-32

I’ve been here a long time and have had the opportunity to become ill several times.  When that has happened, I’ve gone to see either Phyllis or Cindy.  Last time, I had Lori drive me up to the VA hospital.   She wouldn’t give me a gun and a cigarette so I could cure myself.  Oh no!  Let’s make you enjoy COVID to the fullest!  You know what they told me at the VA?  They told me I was sick.  Gosh, those people are really good!  When you go there, they will ask, “What’s wrong?”  My brother was captain of the rescue squad, and he brought somebody into the emergency room over at King County Hospital.  Now, my brother was dressed in his fire and rescue uniform, and the nurse asked, “What’s the matter with him?”  My brother goes, “He’s sick.  What do I look like to you?”   Healthcare providers need to ask what your symptoms are.  Unfortunately, there is not yet a universal pill that you can take, and everything will be cured.  Take two aspirin and have a good life.  No, the medicine you are given depends on your symptoms. 

The parable of the prodigal son and his older brother is demonstrated every day of the week in the Church.  Both brothers needed God’s forgiveness but for different reasons.  Even though Jews don’t touch pigs, the prodigal son fed them which was very sinful.  Leaving his father went against the Fourth Commandment which, in the Old Testament, carried the penalty of death.  But his father welcomed him back.  Somebody told me once that the older son got a raw deal.  Well, the older son had some grave problems too.  He was ungrateful.  “I’ve slaved for you, Dad, all these years!”  So let me see…he called to one of his servants.  Really?  You were really slaving away, kid, if you had servants!   “You never gave me a goat to celebrate with my friends.”  Did he ever ask?  Dads are not psychic, believe it or not.  He never asked.  He was not grateful, and he didn’t care about his brother…he was just jealous.  Then, he cast aspersions on his brother.  “He spent money on loose women!”  Excuse me…how do you know?   First of all, it is scandalous to repeat such a statement.  Second of all, if he did, you have no idea what those women’s situations were.  It was a rash judgement.  It was ingratitude and self-righteousness. 

This is where priests function as the Divine Physician.  We apply the mercy of God’s love to souls.  When healthcare providers figure out what’s physically wrong with us and offer the appropriate remedy, they are offering us God’s love because a doctor’s wisdom is a gift from God.  God’s love and healing power is manifested in healthcare professionals.   Likewise, God’s healing love is manifested in priests as the Divine Physician so that when you come in for Confession, I can apply the appropriate remedy.  To have God’s mercy properly applied, you have to tell me what your sins are.  My mother always wanted to have doctors in the family.  Well, she got two.  My brother earned two doctorates, and I am a physician for souls.  I diagnose severe illness, and I treat it.  Rather, I offer treatment, and people take it, or they don’t.  Sometimes I get “Orio confessions.”   “Father, I was mean to my dog, I killed two people, and I…”   Whoa!  You’re trying to slip one in there hoping Father didn’t hear it.  I ain’t deaf!  I hear everything in there.  “Bless me Father for I have sinned.  I have told some white lies.”   Lies are not color coded.  It’s either a lie or it’s not.  Just putting that out there.  Sometimes, I have to ask questions – not that I’m nosey – but I have to find out the gravity of the sin.  People have different crosses at different times in their lives.  I have to assess the sin and offer the proper remedies to heal your soul.  Like the two brothers, both were in need of God’s forgiveness but for different reasons. 

We always get jailhouse lawyers.  They stayed at a Holiday Inn last night, now they know everything.  They’ll say, “Father, I was taught in Catechism that a mortal sin must have three conditions:  grave offense, sufficient knowledge and reflection, and full consent.  So, that’s not a mortal sin.”  Well, you may be brighter than me, and you probably are.  There is no Mensa card in my pocket.  My brother had one, I don’t.  He had to pay $400 to get it, so how bright was he? For those who truly love God, do you know the difference between a mortal and a venial sin?  It’s the same difference as punching y ,m.our wife or slapping her.  That’s the difference. 

People try to see God in elaborate things.  I have been blessed to be in this beautiful church for a long time.  I look at the beautiful vestments, the beautiful adornments on the altar, and the beautiful music from Frankie and the choir.   For most of my priesthood, I have not been favored with all that.  I’m used to a bit more rustic environment when I offered Mass.  I didn’t have an organist or a choir, but God was present.  Surroundings mean nothing.  My spiritual advisor told me once that the greatest experience you will ever have with God is the experience of His forgiveness.  In the Sacrament of Penance, God forgives and forgets all our sins.

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.”   Sermon notes can also be found on the church Facebook page by searching for “Facebook Our Lady of the Annunciation Albemarle”



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Sermon Notes – February 27, 2022 – “Unchain Your Heart”

 “Unchain Your Heart”

Father Peter Fitzgibbons

 February 26-27, 2022

Gospel:  Luke 6:39-45

This week, we have Ash Wednesday for which we have rules of fasting and abstinence.  You can look them up online for a reminder.  People call this the Penitential Season.  “Ugh!  I have to give up something.  It’s 40 days of punishment!”  It’s more than 40 days because we don’t count Sundays, and it ends on Holy Thursday.  That is 40-50 days of no cake, no coffee, no pie, no soda, and no booze.  Be happy about it.  I prefer to think of it not as a Penitential Season in the sense that it’s about deprivation, but as an exercise of spiritual freedom.  We free ourselves from bondage to things so that we may be able to love.  We are trapped in pleasures not worthy of us.  Chocolate cake will satisfy us for just so long.   Believe it or not, I have not had a piece of bacon in two years.  Medical quacks!  Anyway.  We are enslaved to things rather than free to love.  When you break those chains, you achieve freedom.  If you are not chained to Facebook, games, or whatever else you have, you are free to love and free to experience God’s love.   Satan stirs up all these things in our heart.   But Jesus said, “My ways are easy.”  His ways are not difficult…He said that.  Denying our fantasies is not difficult.  If we say that they are, we are accusing Jesus of lying.  We make it difficult by listening to Satan and instead, we wind up pole vaulting over mouse droppings where everything is so hard and so dramatic.  Hey!  Come down off the cross, we need the wood! 

I’ll tell you this story.  I was at a Christmas dinner years ago with the bishops and the abbot, a priest, was there.  He was telling us about how he offered Mass to the people in Venice, and it was so cold, he could see his breath.  I said, “Well, Father, I offered Mass in Iraq in 136 degree weather and during a sand storm.  But to me, that was just another day at the office.  Would I do it again?  Yes, because I love my soldiers.  Was it pleasant?  Not really, but it was a work of love free from attachment.  You will find that you have greater happiness.  You will find a greater love to allow more love into your soul rather than a love of things.  Rather than having things taking up space in our souls, God is there.  He is the one for whom our souls were made.  As Saint Augustine said, “Our heart is restless until it rests in You.”  Our souls were made for God alone.  Everything else does not satisfy.  People are so unhappy because they keep trying to fill that void with people, places, and things that are not God.  

During this season and our works of love, I urge you to come to Confession, and make it a frequent habit.  I urge you to offer more prayer.  And don’t say, “Oh, I’m going to say two Rosaries every day.”  Just try a decade at a time, okay?  Start out small with baby steps.  You aren’t monks.  You aren’t cloistered.  You aren’t consecrated and can sit there for an hour.   In seminary, we sat there for hours praying for vocations in the world.  Just pray.  Hey, that computer has an off switch.  It won’t hurt you a bit.  Honest.  I promise it won’t hurt you a bit.  Those people on Facebook will not miss you.  TikTok videos will go on without you.   Someday, we will get our celestial discharge, and they will still go on without us. 

This season is a time for us to grow.  It is not a time for brutality or self-flagellation.  It’s a time for freedom to free ourselves from bondage to things; to improve our vision so that we can see what is really important to us; and to grow in the joy of our spiritual lives.  This is not transitory joy that’s good for only a few seconds, then gone, and we are left to deal with the consequences.  Rather, this is a joy that nobody can take from us.  This is what we do.  Seek His love.  Don’t ask anyone, “What are you giving up for Lent?”  First of all, it’s none of your business.   And yes, it is my business as your priest. 

People ask, “What are you going to do for this Lent?”  Well, I’m going to try to be holier.  I’m going to try to free myself of the bondage to things.  We all have our fun and things that we like to do.  They are innocent in and of themselves.  They are not sinful.  But, putting them down and turning to prayer might be a much better alternative.

How will you apply this message to your life? 

You can read all of Father Fitzgibbons’ sermons by going to http://AnnunciationCatholicAlbemarle.com/ and clicking on “Blog” then “Categories” and then “Sermon Notes.”   Sermon notes can also be found on the church Facebook page by searching for “Facebook Our Lady of the Annunciation Albemarle”

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Ascension Presents – Why God Allows Us to Learn from Our Mistakes

God is quick to forgive, and he’s given us the gift of confession so we can return to a relationship with him after sin. But this love he has for us is so great that he never wants us to be caught by sin again, which is why he allows our sins to have consequences. Just like your parents would teach you why something is wrong, God helps us build knowledge of sin and its consequences by letting us experience them. Without learning from our mistakes, we would just keep falling into the same sins, separating us from a relationship with God.

Today, Fr. Mike explains why God lets us learn from our mistakes, and how it shows the depth of his mercy.

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Catholic Coffee Talk – How Do I Not Dread Confession?

Great question from Nancy: What can I do or say or think about so I don’t dread confession? We all can feel that angst about confessing our sins, so we tackle that head-on this week. We also recommend some great (and catholic!) coffee and a simple way to up the comfort-level of your home. 

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Meditation of the Day – For Want of Contrition

“For want of contrition, innumerable Confessions are either sacrilegious or invalid; the penitent so often breaks his promises to God, and falls again so easily into the same faults, and many souls are eternally lost. Contrition is that true and lively sorrow which the soul has for all the sins it has committed, with a firm determination never to commit them any more . . . Many Christians spend a long time in examining their consciences, and in making long and often unnecessary narrations to the confessor, and then bestow little or no time upon considering the malice of their sins, and upon bewailing and detesting them. Christians such as these, says St. Gregory, act like a wounded man who shows his wounds to the doctor with the utmost anxiety and care, and then will not make use of the remedies prescribed. It is not so much thinking, nor so much speaking of your sins that will procure their pardon, but heartfelt sorrow and detestation of them.”— Fr. Ignatius of the Side of Jesus, p. 289

//Catholic Company//

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Haven’t Been to Confession in a While? A Couple Tips

Learn more about Fr. Mike Schmitz and Fr. Josh Johnson’s Pocket Guide to the Sacrament of Reconciliation: https://tinyurl.com/yhwfakge

Confession is a place of never ending mercy and forgiveness, and is one of the most beautiful parts of our Catholic faith. But for many, it can also be a very daunting experience, especially if it’s been a long time since your last confession. Whether it’s the first time you’ve gone in a year, or it’s the first time you’ve gone in your life, God is ready and willing to forgive your sins. All we have to do is let him into our hearts.

Today, Fr. Mike explains how to approach going to confession for the first time in a long time.

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Sermon Notes – That 3 in 1 and 1 in 3 Thing

“That 3 in 1 and 1 in 3 Thing”

Father Peter Fitzgibbons

May 22 – 23, 2021


Gospel:  John 20:19-23

Today, Holy Mother Church celebrates the Solemnity of Pentecost which is when the Holy Spirit came upon the Apostles.  It’s also the birthday of the Church.  Now, let me ask you a question.  When did you first receive the Holy Spirit?  At Baptism.  Remember, when I baptize you, it is done in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.  When is the next time you receive the gift of the Holy Spirit?  At Confession.  After that?  Holy Communion.  Now, you may be thinking, “You also receive the Holy Spirit at Confirmation.”  Yeah, you do.  You receive Jesus, and you receive God the Father. That 3 in 1 and 1 in 3 thing.  You receive the fullness of the Spirit.  In each Sacrament, you receive the whole God.

The Sacraments are given for different purposes depending on your particular mission in the Body of Christ.  At Baptism, you were given the gift of God Himself.  In each Sacrament, you get the gift of the whole God…not just a slice of Him.  You get the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.  In Baptism, Christ asked for, and you, through your parents, gave Him your human nature.  The human nature He took from Mary in the body He was born with, taught with, healed with, suffered with, and redeemed us with is now in Heaven.  So, how does He continue His mission to teach, heal, and sanctify the world?  It goes on through us by living a good Catholic life.  In whatever part of the Body of Christ He has assigned us, we work for His glory and the salvation of souls.  So, if you are in hell, you are a self- made man. 

Christ takes our human nature at Baptism, so, we are part of His new body which is the Church.   Each of us has a place in the body of Christ to do the work of bringing Him to the world.  Through the gifts of the Holy Spirit, He helps us accomplish that mission.  There are seven gifts (wisdom, understanding, counsel, fortitude, knowledge, piety, and fear of the Lord) and 12 fruits (charity, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, long-suffering, humility, faithfulness, modesty, self-control, and chastity).  The whole purpose of giving us the Holy Spirit through the Sacraments is to bring God’s love to the world and to make that love manifest in whatever part of the Body we are in.  The graces of the Holy Spirit strengthen us so that we can carry out that mission.   

Part of my job as a priest is working at the veterans’ hospital in Hospice.  Hospice is a part of the hospital where people who are very sick and in the last six months of their lives are cared for by specially trained doctors and nurses.  They have all sorts of terrible diseases.  We had one patient who had Progressive Supranuclear Palsy which is a rare disease that the patient contracted while working as a doctor in Vietnam.  His brain turned into jelly, and there is no treatment.  It’s so sad.  The hospice staff try to make their patients as comfortable and pain-free as possible.  A few years ago, there was a nice area with a kitchen and dining room where hospice patients could come out of their rooms and eat together.  Other veterans from across the hospital would come down and have lunch with them.  It was so much fun to laugh and talk with them.  I would pick up trays and do whatever I could for them.  You know what a sign of God’s love looks like?  There was a hospice patient at the luncheon who couldn’t feed himself…he was that sick.  Another man who, after this incident died about two weeks later, was also at the luncheon.  But, instead of eating his own lunch, he spent that time feeding the patient who couldn’t feed himself.  One would think that if you’re dying, it would be all about you.  But, this is what God’s love looks like.  This was an act of the Holy Spirit.  The staff would have fed that patient, but he did it.  He didn’t have to do it, but he wanted to.  He made sure that man ate before he did.  That is a sign of the Holy Spirit in action and God’s love is in the world. 

Another thing they have done in Hospice, and hopefully will do again once COVID is over, is that when veterans are actively dying and don’t have family members there, volunteers come and sit with them all night and all day so that they don’t have to die alone. Usually, the veterans are very old and don’t have anybody.  But, a veteran should never die alone. In the military, you never leave a fallen comrade.  I’ve always thought that this is a sign of Christ, along with their guardian angel, being with them as they leave this life. You see the love of Christ in those volunteers.  They don’t need to teach us…their actions teach us everything.  It’s all through the promptings of the Holy Spirit who moves and works within us – not always the way want; otherwise, I’d be a monsignor! 

I’ll tell you a story about the nursing staff.  Don’t let this get back to them.  World War II veterans are very old, and when they are nearing the time of their passing, all of the memories of what they had to do during the war come back.  Mine will come back too when it’s my time.  It’s just part of what we went through.  It comes back for a lot of the men who saw combat.  Many times, it was their wives who helped them keep it all together, and if their wives are no longer with them, it’s a real hardship for them.  I remember this one man who was in his nineties and about to leave us asked the nurse if she would hold his hand until he fell asleep.  The memories had come back, and his wife had done that for him.  That’s not in any nurse’s job description.  But, she sacrificed her own time to sit with that man while he faced his nightmares.  I’ve sat with veterans as they were passing from this life…that’s what we do.  We offer spontaneous acts of love.  I’ve seen you do it.  Your acts of generosity are acts of the Holy Spirit.  You are showing Christ’s love.  If you ask anyone why they do it, they would probably say that they don’t know, but it felt like the right thing to do.  Do they get paid for it?  No.  It was just the right thing to do.  These are the actions of the Holy Spirit using our human natures to show Christ’s love to the world.  But, so that we can repeat these acts of love, we must be refreshed in the Holy Spirit by frequently participating in the Sacrament of Penance and Holy Communion. 

What is so beautiful about these acts of love is that you do it without thinking.  It’s just a normal response.  You don’t stop and think about what you should or shouldn’t do…you just do it.  That’s the action of the Holy Spirit letting the Spirit work in you to bring the love of Christ to the world.  And, believe it or not, someone will see and be taught God’s word simply through your acts of love                                                                                                      

How will you apply this message to your life? Refresh yourself in the Holy Spirit by frequently participating in the Sacrament of Penance and Holy Communion

You can read all of Father Fitzgibbons’ sermons by going to https://annunciationcatholicalbemarle.com/ and clicking on “Blog” then “Categories” and then “Sermon Notes.”  From a cell phone, click on “Blog” then “Menu” and then “Categories” (located at the end of page).  There is also a search box if you are looking for a specific topic.