Tag: COVID

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Sermon Notes – February 11, 2024 – “Forget as God Forgets”

“Forget as God Forgets”

Father Peter Fitzgibbons

February 10 – 11, 2024

Gospel: Mark 1:40-45

Today’s reading is from the Old Testament in the book of Leviticus, and it’s about leprosy.  Anyone who had leprosy was required to shout, “Unclean, unclean!”  This reminded me of the pandemic a couple of years ago when people got hyped up if someone contracted the disease, “Covid, Covid!”  It is not terminal.   

I’m going to give you some philosophical continuing credit.  What is a primary virtue?  The primary virtue is justice.  Why justice?  Because justice is the virtue that orders all the other virtues to their necessary and proper end which is Almighty God.  So, when we are talking about the budget and how we have billions and billions of dollars to allocate, we are talking about real money.  “We’ll allocate this much here and this much there.”  Now think about justice.  I, Stump, and many others in the parish are combat veterans.  We don’t get free medical care, and I even retired from the Army.  Un-uh Un-uh Un-uh.   If I tried to get a benefit, I’d have to prove it was connected to my Army service.  It’s easier to go before the Supreme Court than it is to get the VA to recognize a disability due to military service.  So, we don’t give justice to our military service members, but we are giving away billions and billions of dollars to people who enter the United States illegally.   But those of us who are citizens not so much.

One thing in the spiritual life that most of us don’t think about is that we are called to be like God in all things.  That sounds reasonable, doesn’t it?  But that would be tough because God is perfection of all attributes and virtues.  That would be kind of difficult for us to attain.  But we try.  There is one aspect of our lives which is very important for us to concentrate on and that is our memory.  Now I don’t mean you have to remember every password on every device you own.  The memory of a spiritual person needs to be both good and bad.  “Okay Father, explain that.”  I’m glad you asked.  Your memory has to be bad like God’s memory is bad.  “How is God’s memory bad?”  Well, He says in the Old Testament, “I will put your sins behind you.  Your sins are remembered no more” (Ezekiel 18:22).  So, God forgives and forgets.  We are called to forget our sins that have been forgiven and to let them go.  And, to not remember the sins that others may or may not have committed against us just like God does. 

We also need a perfect memory so that we can remember the love and mercy God has shown us by forgiving our sins, giving us the gift of His very Self in the Sacraments, and the promise of eternal life.  We are called to show that same mercy and love to His people.  A perfect memory manifests itself in the Prayers of Thanksgiving.  Be grateful for what you have.  My theme for Lent this year is, “Someday, tomorrow will begin without us.”   The other morning, I was hearing first confessions from children at Saint Luke’s.  They are so young, so I don’t make them spend a lot of time in the confessional.  A lot of them said that they had hurt their parents, brothers, and sisters.  I told them, “Remember, your time with them is so small.  Cherish the time you have with them, because you will miss that time when they are gone.  They may be difficult at times, and if you had a brother like mine, you would understand that.  If you had a brother like me, you would also understand.  But cherish them as God cherishes us.”

God promises to be with us as long as we don’t throw Him out of our souls through mortal sins or repeated venial sins.  We have our Lord’s protection, and we get pretty upset if something happens to us that we didn’t expect, and it ruins our plans.   Saint Teresa of Avila said to our Lord, “If this is how You treat Your friends, no wonder why You have so few of them!”  But we will never know how much evil God has protected us from for ourselves, our families, and our loved ones.  We will never know until we see Him face-to-face when all things will be made present and known.  We do not know but God does.  Just think of the things you have been protected from, and you haven’t died yet, have you?   A lot of my classmates did not reach my age nor did my twin brother.   I always thought I’d be the first to go because I’ve been to some bad places.  To my own credit, it seemed like a good idea at the time.  We do not know the threats God has protected us from, how much love He has given us, and the gifts He has given us as a result of our prayers.  Perhaps they were not the ones we asked for but were better ones.  This is how we must work on our memory.  The most important part of a bad memory is forgetting oneself for the love of God.  We must forget ourselves.  Our Lord said, “Leave everything behind and come follow Me.”  The most important thing in spiritual life is memory.

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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Sermon Notes – Stump the Chump

“Stump the Chump“

Father Peter Fitzgibbons

February 13-14, 2021

Gospel:  Mark 1: 40-45

On occasion, as I go about my day, I have people come up and say, “Father, may I ask you a question?” Sure!  Sometimes, people have very good questions.  Now, these questions generally fall into one of two categories.  The first category includes the faithful who are seeking understanding.  This happened on Tuesday when someone asked me, “Father, why do we call you father?  I never really knew why.”  The first good reason is my mother told me to, and if you don’t obey her, you know what happens.  The second reason is scriptural.  Paul said in his epistle: “I am your spiritual father.  I beget you in Christ. I baptized you and gave you spiritual life.”   Then, there is this other group of people who try to see if I’m the village idiot.  I’m not, but I qualify for the top ten.   I call this game “stump the chump.”   “Father, where does it say in scripture that we are supposed to kneel?”  Well, that’s easy enough… Matthew 27, Psalm 95, Romans 14, and Revelation just to name a few.  I mean, come on!  Really?   I’m not the brightest bulb on the circuit, but that’s an easy one.  They are trying to get me to prove that Catholicism is wrong.  That or try to convert me.  I already know I’m not going to convince them to become Catholic.  “Have you ever heard about the precious blood?”   You know…I believe I have.  I stayed awake that day at seminary.  These are all “gotcha questions. 

How do you tell people about Christ? The best way to evangelize is not by giving someone a bunch of information.  They could get that online or look in the Catechism of the Catholic Church…it’s all in there.  So, how do you tell people about Christ?  Do we tell them to read the book?   Well, the book doesn’t contain everything about Jesus Christ.  The book is a “what” not a “Who.”  But, we can pass on the “Who” to people by telling them what Jesus has done for us.  If giving people a book brought people to Christ, we could give everyone a copy of the Catechism and fill the church with converts.  But that doesn’t happen.  If that worked, we could all read a medical book and be the epitome of health.  We have to tell people what’s in the book and bring it to real life.  We have to tell them about God’s grace and what He has done in our lives. Today’s gospel shows us how to evangelize.  Jesus cured that leper from a death sentence.  He went away and could not stop telling people how Jesus had restored his life.  Like the leper, we also have to tell people what God has done for us. 

We see proof of God’s love so often that sometimes we become immune to it and ungrateful.  Each time you go to Mass, you receive the Most Precious Body and Blood just like the apostles did at the Last Supper.  You can come to church during the day and speak to our Lord in the Most Blessed Sacrament as one person speaks to another.  But, because we have become so accustomed to the gift of His love, we forget to be thankful.  I’m thankful for a lot of things.  I’m thankful for indoor plumbing.  I’m thankful for clean clothes.  I’m thankful that McDonalds is open 24-7.  I’m thankful about not having to go outside in a rain storm to take a shower.  That’s nice and a big change.  I’m thankful for many things even those that are unpleasant like the COVID test.  I get it every week, so I don’t want to hear any whining.  “Oh!  That’s terrible!”  Well, thank God we have that test.  “But why, Father?”  We could have the Chinese test instead.  Come on!   We are also grateful for the geniuses who have worked tirelessly night and day to develop these tests and vaccines so that we can maintain our health and delay what will eventually come. 

God has given us our life, and when we lose it by sin, He gives it back to us.  This is how we tell people about the truth and meaning of our faith.  Not in an obnoxious way, but by telling them what the Lord has done in our lives and the great gift He has given us…the gift of Himself.  Not that we deserve it, but because He loves us.  He brought me back to life through my baptism.  He feeds me the Precious Body and Blood in Holy Communion.  When my soul is dead with sin, and I may lose Heaven if those sins are not forgiven, He gives my life back to me through the Sacrament of Penance.  He forgives and He forgets.  My soul is washed in His blood. 

The Blessed Mother was the first to be washed in His blood.  She was standing beneath the cross and was spattered with it.  When they took Him down from the cross and laid Him on her lap, she was covered with His blood.  Once you are dead, your blood stops coagulating. So, Mary was covered with the blood of Christ.  “Why do you honor Mary?”  She was the first human being to be covered in the Precious Blood.  She was also the first to receive a miracle.  Remember the wedding at Cana?  That was a direct intercession of God.  “Son, they have no more wine.”  Boom.  And, there was wine.

This is how we tell people about our faith.  We don’t use obnoxious evangelization techniques when we talk to them.  We just tell them about what God has done for us.  But, we keep trying to reinvent the wheel.  If we do it differently, will things be better?  No.  We do what works.  What happened when God performed His miracles?  The recipients of those miracles told others.  And, what happened?  Look at the last line in today’s Gospel.  Jesus went to deserted places, but people kept coming to Him from all sides.

How will you apply this message to your life?  Are you grateful for His love or have you become immune to it?  Will you tell others what God has done in your life?

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.

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Sermon Notes – You Cannot Judge Someone’s Insides by Their Outside

“You Cannot Judge Someone’s Insides by Their Outside“

Father Peter Fitzgibbons

February 6 – 7, 2021

Gospel:  Mark 1: 29-39

A number of years ago, I was vacationing at my now dead brother’s house.  My sister-in-law is very nice, and she let me stay there.  Why she married my brother is a mystery to me.  In my bedroom was a fireplace. This is a four bedroom house with two fireplaces, and I had one of them.  I was looking around at all of their pictures…I love looking at people’s pictures.  I saw a picture of my sister-in-law’s brother.  He was a good looking officer dressed in his Army Class-A uniform.  I asked my sister-in-law if he had ever served in Vietnam, and she said yes.  Did he ever tell you anything about the ribbons on his uniform?  She said no.  Well, I wouldn’t expect him to, but I’ll tell you this, because I think you need to know.  You might want to ask him about this top ribbon.  The highest award always goes on top. That is the Distinguished Flying Cross which is usually a downgraded Medal of Honor. You should know about that.  A few years later, he and I were sitting in the ICU while my brother was on his journey to Heaven.  He told me about some of his travels while he was in Vietnam.  I can’t tell you about them, because they are all classified, but, he did some pretty impressive things.  Now, he looks like a retired old man.  You just never know what people have done…about the good they have done.

When my brother was laid out in the box, he had all of these badges on his uniform.  He was a fire captain and assigned to fire and rescue.  I didn’t understand what the badges meant, so I asked a friend of his, Mike Scallion.  Mike said, “He never told you?”  No.  “Well, these are for the people he saved… he saved a lot of lives.”  But, my brother never told us.  People would come up and ask him to loan them money.  He’d say, “Sure!”  To my brother, it was a gift.  He never loaned money. You never know the good things people have done.  I still hear stories about my brother when I go home.

Conversely, you never know about the crosses people were given to carry by our good Lord.  There are the crosses we bear from birth that God gives us all.  Some change throughout our lives and come with age.  There are the crosses we have because of our sins which we have acquired on our own.  There are also the crosses that other people have given us.  Perhaps we didn’t have perfect parents.  I see a lot of those crosses in the Gated Community I visit.  People with those crosses have a harder shot at life than most of us.  You never know the crosses people are called to carry.  But, they have made their choices, and their crosses are mostly because they avoid God and choose to do evil.  The habit and attraction of sin carries its own cross.  Finally, there are the crosses we bear for our family, friends, and others. 

Now, when you leave here, you will probably encounter people who will irk the living you-know-what out of you.  Somehow, they find a way to stumble across our path.  They may cut us off in traffic. They may take our buggy in Harris teeter or Walmart.  They’ll do something, and you may want to go charismatic on them.  We might do that to people too, believe it or not, some of you might irk other people…I don’t know.   My First-Sergeant had a very effective counselling technique.  He was charismatic and laid hands on people.  We used to call it “wall-to-wall counselling,” and it usually solved the problem in one short session.  If it’s not strangers that irk us, it’s our family.  Those are the ones who can irk us the most.  My cousin calls me and always wants to Face-Time.  The last time he called me, I was hearing confessions when all of a sudden the theme from the “Godfather” starts playing – that’s my ring tone.  My phone showed that it was Jim, and he wanted to FaceTime.  Hey Cuz – I don’t do Face-Time. Learn it.  God allows people in our lives for a number of reasons, not just to irk us, but to teach us patience.

You obviously want to be holy, because you are here.  But, being here is only a part of becoming holy.  You have to go out and practice what you receive here.  All of those rosaries do no good if we don’t use them.  All the great Catholic books in the world and all the crucifixes do no good if we don’t put them into practice.  It’s nice when people say, “Father, that was a great sermon.”  Thanks. Take a copy of the sermon notes; I’ll even autograph it for you.  But it does no good unless you put the message into practice.  So, God sends people into our lives to remind us to pray for others and to help them carry their crosses. He puts these people in our lives to help us learn patience along with suffering.  We don’t know what crosses people are carrying.  We all would like for people to be considerate and compassionate toward us, but how can we be considerate and compassionate toward them?  By praying for them and helping them carry their crosses, whatever those crosses are.  They may be helping to carry someone else’s cross…you never know.  You cannot judge someone’s insides by their outside.

I ask patients how they are doing. Some will say, “Fine!”  But, you are in Hospice care.  Do you know what fine means?  I think we need to talk.  I wouldn’t be putting in menu orders for tomorrow if I were you.  We don’t know what’s going on inside of people. But, if they are like us, and yes, they are all like us, some better…some worse, but generally, we are all the same.  We can help them carry their crosses.  If they are irksome and obnoxious to us, it may be because you have called upon them when they were struggling or having a bad day, or maybe they had just gotten some bad news.  There are all sorts of reasons, culpable and inculpable, but we are called to pray for them all.  By doing so, you are helping them carry their cross.  Even if we do something nice for them, and they don’t thank us…boy, that ticks you off, doesn’t it?   You do something nice for someone, and they don’t thank you?  Oh, baby!  I need a thank you note for that dinner or that Christmas gift!  But, be thankful to have been found worthy to suffer for Him.  Say, “Thank you, Jesus for allowing me to suffer for the sake of your name.” 

Father’s Afterthoughts…

Alcohol is very good for COVID, but only if used externally

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.”