Tag: Elijah

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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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Sermon Notes – August 6, 2023 – Busy is Not Your Friend

Busy is Not Your Friend

 Father Peter Fitzgibbons

August 5 – 6, 2023

Gospel:  Matthew 17:1-9

In today’s Gospel, the transfiguration happened about 10 days before our Lord’s Passion.   The Lord gave Peter, James, and John this great gift to show them His power so that they would be strengthened and fortified for the scandal of the Cross . . . the Passion.  He showed them who He was. . .  true God and true Man.  Our Lord lowered the veil of His humanity to show them His divinity.   His face became like the sun.  The three apostles had a foretaste of Heaven.  They saw Moses and Elijah there.  And it begs the question . . . How did they know it was Moses and Elijah?   This happened thousands of years before Facebook, and there were no pictures.  So, how the heck did they know?   Their minds were enlightened in the presence of God.  Moses, Elijah, and others were discussing with our Lord events that were still to come so we will have knowledge of the future.  Remember, Heaven is outside of time.  There is no time in Heaven.  Everything is in the present at once because God is.  They heard the voice of God the Father call out, a theophany or the manifestation of God.  “This is My beloved Son. Listen to Him.”   Peter offered to build three shelters – one for Moses, one for Elijah, and one for the Lord.  Peter said he wanted that moment to go on forever, but it didn’t.    Do you know what is interesting?  If you go back to the Old Testament, Moses disobeyed God when he struck the rock two times.  And the Lord said, “You are not entering the Promised Land.”   And where was Moses that day?  He was in the Promised Land which means there is forgiveness after death.  So, Moses made it to the Promised Land. 

The great spiritual consolations our God gives us are never lasting even though we want them to be.  They only last in Heaven.   Now this is a grave thing about the spiritual life or spiritual direction.  I was thinking about laypeople who say, “I’m a Spiritual Director.”  Uh-huh.  I’m Doctor House because I have watched every show.  That qualifies me, right?  If you say this prayer and do this, you will always be happy.  Really?  Check with a qualified medical professional about adjusting your meds.   We are never always happy.  Remember in the Book of Acts, the apostles were thrown into prison.  Prisons back then were very different.  One, they didn’t have cameras; and two, guess what happened to them . . . they got what we call “an attitude adjustment.”   They had the living you know what beat out of them.  But they rejoiced because they were found worthy to suffer for the Lord.   Our Lord said, “You will suffer for Me.”  He prophesied that we would have many trials and tribulations.  Look at Saint Paul’s letter to the Corinthians.   He was shipwrecked three times, stoned, and scourged.  “Hey God, if this is the way you treat your friends, it’s no wonder you have so few!”   He did not have an easy time of it, but he kept going. 

There is a great temptation when our time to suffer comes and everything seems to go bad.  We don’t feel our prayers, we aren’t being listened to, and it’s the same darn thing day after day.  So, the spiritual life is not always marvelous.  It is more like “Oh, if only I could see God.”   How many of the apostles were in the Garden of Gethsemane?   Only one was at the foot of the Cross.  Yet, in three years they saw all the miracles – at least three risen from the dead.   Think about all the miracles our Lord did.  “Oh, if I had just one big spiritual moment, I’d never doubt again.”  That’s not true.  We are no better than the apostles.  Our good Lord’s consolations to us, His appearances to us, and His gifts to us come not when we want them, but when our Lord decides we need them or as a free act of love to let us know He is always there.  But we tend to forget.  We get wrapped up in our daily lives and events, and the crushing work of staring at the coffee pot and microwave willing them to work faster.    Sometimes, we are so busy that we overlook the obvious.  “I didn’t see the police officer sitting there.”   It’s a big black car marked “State Police.”  How could you miss it?   We have tunnel vision while driving.  Father Adrian van Kaam reminds us in his book that many times we are too busy and tend to overlook our Lord’s consolations.  Our Lord reminds us of His presence and His care in the ordinary, mundane, and trivial events in our lives.  That’s why it’s so important at the end of the day to do an examination of conscience.  Take some time to look back over the day, not to see what you did right or wrong, but to see what our Lord is trying to say.   “Hi.  I love you!  It’s Me.  I’m here.”  We overlook it all. 

A couple of years ago, I was going out to visit someone in the hospital.  As I was walking upstairs, a nurse was coming down them.  She asked, “Are you a priest?”   Yeah.   “I was just going to call you.”  Well, I saved you a dime.  “There is someone upstairs in ICU who is dying.”   I told the family that it was just by chance that I was in town and that I was in the stairwell when I met the nurse.  God loves this person who was passing so much that I just happened to be there to give them Last Rites.  It’s tiny little things like that which show how much God loves us, but we are so busy that we overlook them. 

God gives those moments to us because He knows how fragile we are.  The apostles were always filled with fear, and we are no different.  God always gives us reminders of His love.  Not huge ones because that would scare the you know what out of us, but tiny, little reminders and consolations that we often overlook.  Consoling moments sometimes just show up when we least expect them. God speaks to us about the most ordinary things.  Thank Him for them.  He is aware of our strengths, our pain, and our fear.  He has not left us. 

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 – 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.

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Minute Meditation – Your Shining Life is the Best Proof

Let’s try to talk about the Transfiguration here—although surely in vain, since this is one of those passages that refuses to be “talked about,” as Jesus himself commands when they descend from their mountaintop experience. The stage is fully set for encounter and for divine intimacy. The “apparition” includes the two symbolic figures of Judaism—the law and the prophets—and the two halves of life—Moses and Elijah. Then Jesus appears between them “in dazzling white” that is always the inclusion of everything, all colors, as it were. After this awesome and consoling epiphany, there is clear mention of “a cloud that overshadows” everything. We have what appears to be full light, yet there is still darkness. Knowing, yet not knowing. Getting it, and yet not getting it at all. Isn’t that the very character of all true Mystery and every in-depth encounter?

The verbal messages are only two: “Beloved Sonship” and “Don’t talk about it.” Clearly Peter, James, and John experienced Jesus’ beloved sonship, but also their own—in being chosen for such a mountaintop moment. Peter’s response is the response of everyman and everywoman, “How good it is to be here!” yet it also expresses an emotion that is described as being “overcome with fear or awe”—exactly what Lutheran theologian Rudolf Otto called the “mysterium tremendum,” wondrous fascination and attraction together with a stunning sense of one’s own littleness and incapacity, both at the same time! That is what holy moments always feel like: I am great beyond belief and I am a little dot in the universe. This experience only needs to happen once, just as it did for Peter, James, and John. That is enough. It will change everything. It is available to all, and I believe, offered to all, at one time or another. You cannot program it, but you can ask for it and should expect it. You will never be able to talk about it, nor do you need to. Your ordinary shining life, different now down in the valley, will be its only and best proof. 

—from the book Wondrous Encounters: Scriptures for Lent
by Richard Rohr, OFM

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