Tag: consolation

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Sermon Notes – February 25, 2024 – “A Glimpse of Heaven”

“A Glimpse of Heaven”

Father Peter Fitzgibbons

February 24 – 25, 2024

Gospel: Mark 9:2-10


2) After six days Jesus took Peter, James, and John and led them up a high mountain apart by themselves. And He was transfigured before them, 3) and His clothes became dazzling white, such as no fuller on earth could bleach them. 4) Then Elijah appeared to them along with Moses, and they were conversing with Jesus. 5) Then Peter said to Jesus in reply, “Rabbi, it is good that we are here! Let us make three tents: one for You, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.”  6) He hardly knew what to say, they were so terrified.  7) Then a cloud came, casting a shadow over them; then from the cloud came a voice, “This is my beloved Son. Listen to Him.”  8) Suddenly, looking around, they no longer saw anyone but Jesus alone with them.  9) As they were coming down from the mountain, He charged them not to relate what they had seen to anyone, except when the Son of Man had risen from the dead.    10) So, they kept the matter to themselves, questioning what rising from the dead meant.

We learn what Heaven is like by the transfigurations in the Gospel.  I could preach for hours on that subject.  Would you like me to preach for hours?  Before you respond, the pious answer is “Yes, Father.”   But I know what you are really thinking: “Come on old man.  I’m starving here!”  So, what is Heaven like?  Heaven is being in the presence of Jesus.  It’s not a place.  It’s a Who.  It is the presence of God.  Moses and Elijah were in the presence of God.  They talked about what would happen in the future, so they had knowledge of the future.  Remember that in Heaven everything is in the present.  God is always in the present because He is not subject to His own creation of time, the past, or the future.   Everything is present to God at once.  All time is present.   

How did the Apostles know they were talking to Moses and Elijah?  There was no Facebook back then.  There were no cameras or photographs.  So, like Moses and Elijah, their minds had been enlightened by a gift from God.  They knew Moses and Elijah.  They knew they were talking to Jesus.  So, what does that tell us about death?   It tells us there is forgiveness after death.  What did God say to Moses after he struck the rock three times?  “Because you did not believe in me. . . therefore you shall not bring this assembly into the land which I have given them” (Num. 20:6-13).   Moses was not allowed to enter the Promised Land, but where was he that day?  He was in the Promised Land.  So, there is forgiveness after death. 

Purgatory is the full expression of God’s love and mercy.  The Apostles wanted this joy to continue; however, Heaven is later and not here on Earth no matter what any bishop or Church deacon tells you.  “If we have just one more collection or one more ministry, we’ll have Heaven on Earth, and everybody will be happy.”  No.  We will never have Heaven on Earth.  That’s akin to a government official saying, “If we pass these great budgets and everything else, we’ll be all set, and everybody will be happy.”  Ahh, no.  You won’t have Heaven on Earth.  Heaven comes later.  If we are holy, we will have as much happiness as possible in this life.  However, full happiness does not come until we are with our Savior forever. 

Holiness has its own crosses.  Bishop Sheen had a television show.  He was a handsome man, eloquent, learned, and gave a great presentation.   Do you know what his daily diet consisted of?  Boiled chicken, graham crackers, and milk.  His stomach was that bad, but nobody knew.  Saint Theresa of Calcutta experienced “interior darkness,” but she was joyous.  Never mind all the crosses Saint John Paul II had as the Holy Father, but he was also shot.  Doctors say that the blood transfusions he received caused his Parkinson’s disease.  However, he suffered joyously for the salvation of souls.  One story about the Holy Father . . . he was a huge lover of classical music.  So, they had a world-renowned orchestra come in with some of the best maestros in the world.  After they finished playing one of his favorite pieces, the maestro turned around to look at the Holy Father and hoped that he liked it.  “Please like it!”  His Holiness was shaking and drooling because of his Parkinsons, but he gave the maestro a thumbs-up. 

Ten days before the Passion, God gave Peter, James, and John the great gift of consolation to prepare them for the scandal of the Cross.   God has given us consolation many, many times to help us endure our sufferings.  Consolations are a glimpse of Heaven.  Some consolations He gives us before we have great trials and some after.  And some just because God likes to give them to us because He loves us.  During that time when we are experiencing great trials and suffering, we don’t experience the consolation of Christ.  That’s hogwash.  “Oh!  I’m struggling!  My goodness!”  Grow up!  Just because we don’t feel the consolation of God and His presence, doesn’t mean He isn’t with us.  You cannot prove a positive with a negative. 

This is our opportunity to respond to His great gifts with acts of faith, hope, and love knowing that He is always with us.  Our guardian angel is always with us.  Mine is tired.  Just because we don’t feel consolation doesn’t mean anything.  This, indeed, might be a chance for us to console God.  How many of us have sinned so grievously against Him and don’t care?  We do not enjoy the times between consolations.  I would love to have them all the time.  But that’s not reality, and it’s the danger of a lot of spiritual programs.  “Pray this way while holding your mouth just right and standing on one foot, and you will receive consolation every time you pray.”  But that’s not true at all.  Look at Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane.  God is never, ever away from us.  Between consolations, we make our act of faith that God is with us; our act of hope that He will bring us safely through our trials; and our act of love by turning our trials into acts of love for others.

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” 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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Feeling Far from God?

What to Do About Feeling Far from God (Desolation) (feat. Fr. Gregory Pine, O.P.)

Click on the link to play video:

https://youtu.be/wV2CYZSnxq4

We think feeling far from God (desolation) is bad, and feeling close to God (consolation) is good, but St. Francis de Sales has a different take.

Even if desolation doesn’t go away, and consolation doesn’t last forever, God allows these periods to draw us closer to Him. How?

Periods of desolation can be opportunities to turn away from sin.

St. Francis recommends:

  1. Eradicate any and all habitual mortal sin
  2. Address lingering attachments to sin
  3. Eliminate distractions
  4. Let go and trust that God loves you, even if you don’t feel it

What about consolation?

  1. Give thanks to God
  2. Acknowledge that this isn’t something you accomplished
  3. Consider confiding in a trusted friend or spiritual director to keep you grounded
  4. Remember that consolation is not the goal of the spiritual life

In the end, St. Francis reminds us that you are not the sum total of your emotional experiences, you are the sum total of the Father’s love for you.

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Sermon Notes – March 13, 2022 –  “The Temptations”

 “The Temptations”

Father Peter Fitzgibbons

 March 12 – 13, 2022

Gospel: Luke 9:28-36

Pop quiz:  Do you know what hypostatic union is?  I didn’t think so.  Hypostatic union is the union of the two natures in Christ.  Christ is one “Who” or one person and two “What’s.”  We, however, have just one “what.”  Our nature is human, and it’s the only one we have.  Christ has two natures – one that is human and one that is divine.  The human nature He took from the Blessed Mother was assumed and lost in His divine nature.  That’s why in the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, when I’m preparing the gift, you see me pour wine into the chalice and then one drop of water.   That blood and water is a symbol of His human nature being assumed and lost into the divine nature of Christ.  If that drop of water is not in there, it is not the proper matter, and the chalice cannot be transubstantiated, i.e., it cannot change into the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ.  For the Sacrament to be valid, there must be proper matter and form.  The proper matter consists of the wine and the drop of water.  The proper form is to say the words that Christ said.  If one of those two things is missing, the Sacrament is invalid. 

Sometimes people complain that they no longer get the wine.  Well, you never got the wine.  When it was possible, and only in this country did it happen and probably won’t happen ever again, you were offered the Most Precious Blood of Christ.  You were not offered the consecrated wine.   You were offered the wine with water that had been transubstantiated or changed into the Most Precious Blood of our Savior.  Anything else would be blasphemous.  Priests were trained, unless they were sick during that time, to say the correct words.  People have an appreciation for that because anything else would be blasphemous.  Blasphemy is holding something sacred up for mockery or ridicule.  During the transfiguration, our Good Lord exposed and made present to the three apostles His true nature in Christ.  He lowered the veil of His humanity so that they could see some of His divinity.  They could see on Earth what will happen in Heaven, and so can we.  If you have any doubts about getting to Heaven, come see me and I’ll help you out.  It’s my job.   

Moses and Elijah were talking to God face-to-face as one man talks to another.  There was no knowledge gap because, like God’s presence, Heaven is the eternal now.  God has no time.  They talked about the events about to happen in 10 days.  So, how did Peter, James, and John know who Moses and Elijah were?   Of course, Christ may have called them by name.  But they were also enlightened and could see.  It was a gift.  One of the great miracles was the manifestation God when the apostles heard His voice, “This is my Son, the Chosen One.”  It was no coincidence that this miracle occurred 10 days before the Passion.  It was to prepare them for the scandal of the Passion.  Our good Lord comes and gives us consolations although not as often as we would like them.   He comforts us when we need it . . . sometimes before a great tribulation and sometimes afterward.    I don’t get consolations as often as I would like.  Maybe you do, but I don’t.  I’m a real whiner in prayer.  I don’t normally admit that in public, however I just did. 

What happens after He gives us His consolation?  The great temptation of the devil: “You are not doing something right, so God is allowing this to happen.”  “He is punishing you.”  “He withdrew Himself from you; therefore, you are bad.”  And none of that is true.   It’s the great lie of the devil.  “If you prayed right, God would be with you all the time.”  No.  If you thought God was elevating you all the time, you’d be in a mental hospital.  It’s not true.  We do not constantly live in God’s consolation like what Peter, James, and John experienced.   But we do have the consolation that He is always present to us.  So, God will come to us every now and then, not as often as we want, but more often than we think.  He comes to us to show His love.  He loves us not because we’ve said the right word or combination of words in prayer.   No.  God comes and consoles us because He loves us.  God comes to even the most hardened sinner.  Why?  Because He loves them too.  His Son died on the cross for them too.  God wants them to turn around and embrace Him.  He did not make them to be condemned to hell.  He made them, and all of us, so that we could know Him and love Him. 

If you want more heavenly consolations, the tangible and non-blasphemous ones, pray for them.  It couldn’t hurt.  You can pray for anything you want; just don’t be discouraged if you don’t get it.  But keep praying.  I’m still not a Monsignor after 38 years in the priesthood, and I haven’t given up.  I’ll be writing my Christmas card to the bishop on the back of a $100 bill.  It’s the Rhode Island way.

Keep praying but be careful about the temptations of satan.  Pray even if you don’t feel it.  Feelings are so fickle and are not a basis of spiritual life.  People say, “I don’t feel consoled” and “I don’t feel this or that.”   I don’t care what you feel.  Feelings are not reality.  Reality is that God is always with us.  Where else is God supposed to be other than with us?   “I feel alone.”  That’s a temptation.  Where is your guardian angel?  Your guardian angel is always with you.  The Church is always praying for you.  So, you are not alone.  You are not unprayed for, and you are not unloved.  That is another great temptation and an easy one for us to fall into because like Peter, James, and John, we want our heaven here on Earth. 

Do not be discouraged if you don’t receive the consolations that you think you should have.  It doesn’t mean you are bad.  It doesn’t mean you are praying wrong.  It doesn’t mean you have to give more to the church although that would be a good thing. . . you should do it anyway.  Just saying!   Right after Communion is the best time to receive certain gifts.  We need and appreciate them.  Remember when your parents let you walk to school all by yourself?  You didn’t know that half the neighborhood was watching as you walked to school.  You didn’t see the trooper behind the tree watching all the kids as they walked to school.  You thought you were so grown up, right?  No!  The neighbors and the state troopers made sure you were safe and got to school okay.  So do not be discouraged with your passions.  Do not be discouraged with your ordinary walk in life or think that God is not with you.  Because that is a lie.

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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Minute Meditation – Weaving Prayer and Work

Sustaining them in these trials was the work of prayer. To such communities the church entrusted the “office” of praying the liturgy of the hours. The day—and night—was punctuated by formal prayer. In this way hymns, psalms, and prayers—recited or sung—would continually rise from earth to heaven. In this way the glory of God never ceased to be celebrated and the needs of humankind never ceased to be a source of trusting petitions. If those first sisters did, indeed, count the insults and privations as “great delights” what would explain such joy but the exaltation that flows from a love that “surpasses understanding.” It was through the daily cycle of prayer that such “blessed assurance” grew in them. The rounds of hours of the breviary brought the richness of psalms and Scripture texts into dialogue with their daily tasks. Meditation upon the Byzantine Cross, the adoration of the Eucharist, attending Mass, hearing sermons—all gave new meaning to each day’s trials or triumphs. Weaving prayer and productive work created the balance within their hearts and minds that allowed them to keep moving. The poor sisters lived filled with consolation, with assurance. They dared to believe that promise of Jesus. They were learning that he was true to his word and their joy was, indeed, full and free. They learned to reverse their own standards of judgment in favor of the riddle that calls one to lose life in order to gain it. That women could live without the safety net of approved monastic vows and ample endowments and follow Christ in such literal fashion was news indeed. And the women themselves were the first to understand that.

— from the book Light of Assisi: The Story of Saint Clare

by Margaret Carney, OSF

//Franciscan Media//

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Sermon Notes – How Did They Know?

“How Did They Know?“

Father Peter Fitzgibbons

Feb 27-28, 2021

Gospel:   Mark 9: 2-10


We’ve heard this Gospel proclaimed year after year.  But, have you ever wondered how Peter, James, and John knew it was Moses and Elijah?  There were no pictures or artists that could paint them; there was no Facebook, no Tic-Toc, and no selfies.  So, how did they know?  You ever ask yourself that?  Remember, Moses and Elijah died a thousand or so years before the apostles showed up.  So, how did they know?  In the transfiguration, our good Lord gave the apostles, Peter, James, and John, a taste of what Heaven would be like…just a little taste.  They saw the glorified bodies of Moses and Elijah.  They knew it was Moses and Elijah.  They saw them with their eyes. They saw Heaven, and the people there were talking to God.  You will know people in Heaven…if you get there.  If you are concerned about that, come see me, and we can work it out.  But, you will know people in Heaven, and you will be able to talk to them about future events.  In Heaven, everything is now, because God is the Eternal Now and not the past, present, or future.  He is the Eternal Now.  He is present always.  So, you will know and be enlightened. 

There is forgiveness after death – in purgatory.  Moses was in the Promised Land; he was right outside Jerusalem.  God told Moses that he would never enter the Promised Land because he had sinned.  But he did.  So, there is forgiveness after death.  Our good Lord, in this vision, lowered the veil of His humanity to show the apostles part of His divinity.  They saw Heaven on Earth.  He gave them this great revelation of what Heaven is like to prepare and strengthen them for the scandal of the Passion which would happen in less than two weeks.  After all of the miracles they had seen, this was their final gift.  Now, all of us would like to receive consolation and great gifts from God.  We pray for them.  We look for them, and if we get one, we want more.  What are the gifts of consolation?  First of all, they don’t come as often as we’d like.  They usually come before our great trials or afterward as consolations. 

Heaven is only meant for after this life and not during, just as it was for the apostles.  Most of us would like to say, “If I had such a dramatic experience with God, I would have no problem believing and would never doubt the faith again.  I would go to confession more often.  I might even go to daily Mass occasionally.  I just need to be convinced.”  But, scripture is contrary to those statements.  Jesus had three years of public ministry.  How many people did the apostles see raised from the dead?  At least three.  Scripture says that not all of the miracles Jesus performed were recorded.  He fed 5,000 people, walked on water, cured lepers, and the apostles cast out demons.  The apostles saw all sorts of miracles, because they were there.  Yet, where were they ten days later? 

We are like the apostles.  We have these great gifts.  “Oh, I will never doubt again.”  Yes, you will.  We all do.  This is the struggle we have.  We are tempted to be disconsolate.  The devil will say, “Well, if you were better; if you were doing what you are supposed to do, what your Lord said to do,  you would always feel good.”  Blah, blah, blah.  That’s a bunch of spiritual fertilizer.  It’s not true.

Our Lord does not distance Himself from us.  He is always with us, we just can’t see Him.  I was driving up to the VA the other day.  I was doing 60 mph in a 55 mph zone, so I was cool.  From out of nowhere, this van comes up right behind me and passes.  Then, all of a sudden, I see the blue light special.  I didn’t see the trooper, but he was there.  You don’t see God, but He is always there. Your Guardian Angel is always with you.  Just because you don’t see Him, doesn’t mean He isn’t there.  You look for Him.  “I cannot find Him.”  But, He is there.  

You might look at someone, and tell them they look great.  But, a doctor might look at that same person, and tell them they don’t look so good.  The doctor has the eyes of a physician.  I have the eyes of a bozo.  My eye doctor says I’m not ready for a stick and a seeing eye quite yet.  But, it’s how we see it. 

Our Lord is always with us.  He is always giving us signs of His love and His presence.  Sometimes, we overlook consolations, because we are too busy to see them, or we are looking the other way.  Our Lord gives us great consolations. Maybe not as many as we would like, but as many as we need. They come and they go as our Lord sees fit.  Look for small consolations, because He is there.  Make sure you do not give up hope, and do not give in to despair.  You may worry and ask Him, “Lord, have you forgotten about us?  Do you see what is happening?”  Yes, I am here.  You cannot see Me, but I see you, and I am with you. 

How will you apply this message to your life?  Are you overlooking the signs of His love and His presence?

Father’s Afterthoughts…

While I was at the VA, I saw a nurse practitioner I know.  I said, “Doc, can I ask you a question?  She’s a medical professional.  She said, “Sure!”  “Doc, does this mask make me look fat?”  You have to make your own fun at the VA.

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 the page).  There is also a search box if you are looking for a specific topic.