Tag: Easter

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Sermon Notes – May 26, 2024 – “All Gave Some, Some Gave All”

“All Gave Some, Some Gave All”

Father Peter Fitzgibbons

May 25 – 26, 2024

Gospel: Matthew 28:16-20

16 Meanwhile the eleven disciples set out for Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had arranged to meet them. 17 When they saw Him they fell down before Him, though some hesitated. 18 Jesus came up and spoke to them. He said, ‘All authority in Heaven and on earth has been given to Me. 19 Go, therefore, make disciples of all nations; baptise them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and teach them to observe all the commands I gave you. And look, I am with you always; yes, to the end of time.’

Technically, the Easter season ends today.  Now, the Trinity is a hard topic to talk about, so I wanted to do some research.  I have the perfect book on the subject, but I couldn’t find it.  I searched for five or six days, and I just couldn’t find it.  The book I was searching for is “The Fundamentals of Catholic Dogma” by Father Ludwig Ott.  In that book, there is a chapter on the Trinity.   So, I thought that maybe Lori took it to brush up on some things, but I forgot to ask her to bring it back to the church.  It dawned on me too late that I could have borrowed Liz’s copy of the book.  So, I’ll preach on it next year. 

I do have some thoughts about Memorial Day weekend.  During this weekend of sales, I am sure you can get some great deals on mattresses and cars.  There might even be a good deal at My Pillow; I don’t know . . . You’ll have to check their website.   But this weekend, we commemorate those who have fallen in service to our country.  We pray for their souls and the families they left behind.  Have you ever seen the movie, “Taking Chance”?  It’s about a Marine who was killed in action (KIA) overseas and the process of bringing him home for burial.   My friends said, “Oh, you should see it!  We cried!”  I said, “That’s my 9-to-5 job. That was part of my day job when I worked for Uncle Sam.”  Oh.  

Usually, when a priest dies, his coffin is carried to the grave by his brother priests.  While I was still serving, I hung around some very bad places; it was the nature of the business I was in.  I had an agreement with my commanders that if I got whacked while serving in their unit, I would be carried to my grave by my fellow soldiers.  I would have, and have, done it for them, and they would do it for me.  I still wish it to be that way, but I retired, so that won’t happen.

We all know someone who was killed.  I knew a very special soldier who was one of Darby’s Rangers.  President Reagan called them the “Boys of Pointe du Hoc.”  On June 6, 1944, these elite soldiers scaled the cliffs at Normandy to silence the guns during an invasion in World War II.  These soldiers were the toughest of the tough.  This one man who served in that unit was not the man I knew but another.  He was the radioman or the RTO.  Now, of all the jobs in the Army, that’s the one you don’t want because you’re the one who gets killed first.  The enemy knows that the radio guy is the one who calls in the bad stuff on them, and that’s the first one they go for.  Nancy’s brother was a radioman in Vietnam, and he was killed.  Bill Peak was a radioman, but he was lucky.  But that man climbed the cliffs at Normandy.  His unit went all the way to Germany and opened the gates of Buchenwald.  He survived the war.  Nonetheless, 20 years later, on June 6, 1964, that soldier took out his service weapon and committed suicide.  Sometimes, it takes soldiers a long time to die of their wounds.  General Pershing said, “The tombstones silently speak more than words could ever say. 

Father’s Reflections . . . I have seen two of my doctors this week and got good reports from both.  One of the doctors I’ve been seeing for a couple of decades asked me, “When are you going to retire?”  I said, “I think my retirement letter will probably be my obituary.”   

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 – April 24, 2022 – I Love Chocolate Bunny Ears

“I Love Chocolate Bunny Ears“

Father Peter Fitzgibbons

April 23 – 24, 2022

Gospel: Jn 20:19-31


This past week ends the octave of Easter.  People say, “We wish you Easter joy.”  Thank you!  Can you define Easter joy?   Is it the day for biting the ears off Easter bunnies?  You barbarians!   I love chocolate bunny ears.  I’ll be a real man and say it. . . I love chocolate bunny ears!  Anyone who wants to make fun of that, I’m a real man and can take it.  However, I don’t do the hard-boiled egg thing.  Is Easter joy about having lamb with mint jelly?  You know what I had for Easter dinner?  A peanut butter and jelly sandwich.  You know why?  I was out of SpaghettiOs.  Welcome to bachelor living!  

So, what is Easter joy?  Easter joy exists on two levels. . .intellectually and internally.  We can have it on an intellectual level by knowing that our dear Lord suffered and died for our sins and then rose again.  In doing so, He opened the doors of Heaven for us so that we might have eternal life.  We all now have a chance to get to Heaven, and He showed us the way.  He also gave us the means to get there.  What are the means in which we can get to Heaven?  Through the Sacramental Life of the Church.   The source of our internal joy is the gift of the Sacraments and by taking advantage of the gifts He gave us by His sacrifice, death, and resurrection.  From His wounded side, the one that Saint Thomas touched, flows the Blood and Water to the Sacramental Life of the Church. 

The Sacraments are the life of the Church.  Our Lord ordained the apostles on Holy Thursday and later gave them the power to forgive sins.  We still hold to that tradition in the Church.  I’m ordained a priest, and I said my first Mass with my bishop.  After that, in the sacristy, I received a document called “faculties” which gives me permission to absolve people from their sins.  Only a priest and a bishop can act in the person of Christ.  They celebrate the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass and therefore, have the power to administer the Sacraments of the Church which are the fruits of our Lord’s Passion and death. . .the Holy Sacrifice.    Only a priest or bishop can do that.  Remember what is said during the Mass?  “This is My body.  This is My blood.”  I don’t say “This is Christ’s body. This is Christ’s blood.”   During the Sacrament of Penance, I act in the person of Christ.  I don’t say “Christ absolves you.”  I say, “I absolve you” . . .not the “Church absolves you” or “We absolve you” but “I absolve you” while acting in the person of Christ.   The words are very important so that we can have that joy inside of us, and so that we may have the joy of Easter and the fruits of it. 

Through our Good Lord’s Passion, death, and resurrection, we are strengthened so that we can follow Him.  It is through our own Calvary’s and our own resurrections that we can be with Him forever.  Pop quiz:  When do you receive the Holy Spirit?  At Baptism.  “I baptize you in the name of the Father, the Son, and Holy Spirit.”  When is the second time you receive the Holy Spirit?  Penance.  Penance comes before Holy Communion.  One happens before the other.  During Holy Communion, you receive the Savior.  What does He save you from?  Our sins.  If you aren’t sick, there’s no need to see a doctor, and you’re just wasting the doctor’s time. 

In the Sacraments, you see the full Divinity. . .all of It.  The Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.  You may be thinking, “In Confirmation, you also receive the Holy Spirit.”  I like it when I get asked that question.  Yeah, that’s true but we don’t subdivide God with a little slice here and little slice there.  When you receive the Sacraments, you receive all of God, not just parts of Him.   This is how we internalize and experience the joy of Easter, especially the joy of the forgiveness of our sins.  And the joy of receiving our Good Lord like the apostles did from His own hands.  That’s why I am the only one who gives Holy Communion.  I am the priest acting in the person of Christ, so I give you Communion by my own hand.  It’s not that I think that much of myself – I really do – but it is Christ who feeds you.  I am a symbol of Christ, acting in the person of Christ, so it is He who feeds you the Body of Christ.  It is the fruits of our Good Lord’s suffering, death, and resurrection. 

That’s how we experience Easter joy.  It’s not from all the beautiful Easter flowers – we got a great deal on them by the way.  It’s not from how beautiful the church looks – and it does.  True Easter joy comes from experiencing God’s love.  Love that was forsaken by sin and rejected by sin.  But that’s not the end of the story.  Most people are happy when they see their loved ones.  In my family, we were happy when they left . . .but, that’s just us.  Aren’t you happy when you have your loved ones with you after being separated from them before their visit?  So too is our Lord.   We have Easter joy by God coming down and infusing His very self into our souls for our salvation.  That is true Easter joy. 

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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Feast Day – April 11, 2021 – Divine Mercy Sunday

From ancient times the Easter octave, culminating on the 8th day, has been centered on the theme of God’s mercy and forgiveness. The final day of the octave celebration of Easter is meant to be a day of thanksgiving to God for his goodness to mankind through the Paschal mystery, that is, the Passion, death, and Resurrection of our Savior Jesus Christ. The Second Sunday of Easter was named Divine Mercy Sunday by Pope St. John Paul II following a request from Our Lord in his private revelations to St. Faustina Kowalska. On this day Jesus promised to open the floodgates of his inexhaustible mercy and shower abundant graces on those who participate in this feast day. A plenary indulgence is granted (under the usual conditions of sacramental confession, Eucharistic communion, and prayer for the intentions of the Holy Father) to the faithful who, in any church or chapel, in a spirit that is completely detached from the affection for a sin, even a venial sin, take part in the prayers and devotions held in honor of Divine Mercy, or who, in the presence of the Blessed Sacrament exposed or reserved in the tabernacle, recite the Our Father and the Creed, adding a devout prayer to the merciful Lord Jesus. 

//The Catholic Company//

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Minute Meditation – No Fear of Joy

“We need to overcome the fear of joy; we need to think of the many times that we are not joyful because we are afraid. In my homeland there is a saying that goes like this: when someone gets burned by boiling milk, he cries when he sees the cow. The disciples, who were burned by the drama of the cross, said: no, let’s stop here! He is in heaven, that’s excellent, he is risen, but may he not come back again because we can’t handle it!” —Pope Francis

On the surface, we might be tempted to scoff at the pope’s claim that we’re afraid of joy. But how often have we become so used to crisis and dread in our lives that we can’t relax and enjoy a moment of peace, a time of no stress? How often do we manufacture a crisis just because we know how to solve a problem or fix something that’s broken? Easter joy takes some getting used to. We love the rigors and the austerities of Lent. We’re not as familiar or comfortable with the joy of Easter. One reason for this is that the kind of joy Jesus brings comes from living fully in the present. We are so much better at looking back to past pain or dreading the uncertainty of the future. Living in the present, the eternal now, requires both gratitude and grace. 

— from the book The Hope of Lent: Daily Reflections from Pope Francis,

by Diane M. Houdek

//Franciscan Media//

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Minute Meditation – Love is Stronger Than Death

“Love has triumphed over hatred, life has conquered death, light has dispelled the darkness! Christians, by the grace of Christ, dead and risen, are the seeds of another humanity, in which we seek to live in service to one another, not to be arrogant, but rather respectful and ready to help. This is not weakness, but true strength!… May there echo in your hearts, in your families and communities, the announcement of the Resurrection, along with the warm light of the presence of the Living Jesus: a presence which brightens, comforts, forgives, gladdens. Jesus conquered evil at the root: he is the Door of Salvation, open wide so that each person may find mercy.”—Pope Francis

One of the ironies of the liturgical year is that we often find it easier to enter into the rigorous practices of Lent than to celebrate the joy of Easter and the Risen Lord. We know with our minds this great mystery of our faith. But we don’t always experience that joy in our hearts. It goes so far beyond our human experience that we have nothing to compare to it. At the heart of the story on Easter Sunday is the empty tomb. The stories of the appearances will come later, unfolding the mystery of the resurrection. But the first message to the apostles is that the tomb is empty. Somewhere in the darkness of the Easter Vigil and the pale dawn of Easter Sunday, each of us must confront the empty tomb and discover for ourselves the Risen Christ. Pope Francis reminds us that our joy in the Risen Christ calls us to a quiet love and service, wrapped in the awareness that our life in Christ needs no trumpets or pomp and earthly glory. We have a peace in our hearts that is stronger than death itself. All our hope lies in that promise. 

— from the book The Hope of Lent: Daily Reflections from Pope Francis,

by Diane M. Houdek

//Franciscan Media//

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Today’s Feast Day – April 3rd – Holy Saturday

On Holy Saturday the Church mourns in prayer and fasting, meditating on Christ’s Passion and Death. There is no Mass during the day as Jesus is still in the tomb. On this day Jesus descended triumphantly into Hades (called the “harrowing of hell”) and brought salvation to the righteous souls held captive there who awaited their promised Messiah, as recited in the Apostle’s Creed. On the night of Holy Saturday the Church celebrates the Vigil of Easter Sunday, the celebration of Christ’s resurrection from the tomb, the traditional time when the Sacraments of Initiation are given to new members of the Church.

//The Catholic Company//

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Today’s Feast Day – Holy Thursday

On Thursday of Holy Week (Maundy Thursday) the Church celebrates the three pillars of the Catholic Church instituted by Jesus Christ at the Last Supper: the priesthood, the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, and the Holy Eucharist. This is the traditional day for priests to gather with their bishop at the Chrism Mass, to receive oils blessed by the bishop and to publicly renew their priestly promises. In the evening the Church celebrates the Mass of the Lord’s Supper. After this Mass the altar is stripped bare and the Blessed Sacrament is removed from the Tabernacle and processed to a separate altar of repose. Here the Blessed Sacrament is adored until late in the night to commemorate the time Jesus spent in Garden of Gethsemane in agonizing prayer, the start of his Passion. The Blessed Sacrament is then taken away and hidden until the Easter Vigil in memory of Our Lord’s death and burial.

//The Catholic Company//

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Feast Day – March 21st – Passion Sunday

The 5th Sunday of Lent is historically known as “Passion Sunday” which ushers in the final two weeks of Lent, called “Passiontide.” Passiontide is characterized by a heightened celebration of Lent as Easter approaches, reaching its peak during Holy Week. During this period the faithful redouble their Lenten penances. It is also customary on this day to shroud all the sacred images in the churches with purple cloths, except the Stations of the Cross.

On Good Friday the crucifixes are unveiled, while the other sacred images are unveiled on the afternoon of Holy Saturday in preparation for the Easter Vigil. This imagery calls to mind how Christ hid his Divinity during his Passion and death, no longer performing miracles until his Resurrection from the dead. Likewise, the holy images are veiled in imitation of their Lord, their glory being unveiled with the joy of the celebration of Easter.

//The Catholic Company//