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Breathe
This Holiday Season, Let’s Pray that Love Replaces Hate . . .
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Light Candles this Christmas
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Love Will Win
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Sermon Notes – November 12, 2023 – “Love Banishes Fear”
“Love Banishes Fear”
Father Peter Fitzgibbons
November 11 – 12, 2023
Gospel: Matthew 25:1-13
Jesus told His disciples this parable: “The kingdom of heaven will be like ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom. Five of them were foolish and five were wise. The foolish ones, when taking their lamps, brought no oil with them, but the wise brought flasks of oil with their lamps. Since the bridegroom was long delayed, they all became drowsy and fell asleep. At midnight, there was a cry, ‘Behold, the bridegroom! Come out to meet him!’ Then all those virgins got up and trimmed their lamps. The foolish ones said to the wise, ‘Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out.’ But the wise ones replied, ‘No, for there may not be enough for us and you. Go instead to the merchants and buy some for yourselves.’ While they went off to buy it, the bridegroom came and those who were ready went into the wedding feast with him. Then the door was locked. Afterwards, the other virgins came and said, ‘Lord, Lord, open the door for us!’ But He said in reply, ‘Amen, I say to you, I do not know you.’ Therefore, stay awake, for you know neither the day nor the hour.”
In the Gospel, it sounds as if they were having a midnight wedding. People don’t have weddings during the day in the Middle East. Know why? Because it’s hot! You don’t want to look like a sweat hog coming down the aisle, do you? No!
Now, I’m willing to bet, without taking a poll, that you all want to go to Heaven. I’m also willing to bet that none of us are looking forward to the trip. According to my research and experience, you have to die first. A while ago I was making my rounds at the VA’s emergency room, and I recognized a couple whom I had met previously. I asked them why they were back. Were they back for lunch? Did they miss us? The man said, “No, I just came in for pain management.” We talked for a bit, and the man said, “Chaplain, may I ask you a question?” Sure. He said, “I want to stop the chemo. Is that okay?” I looked at his wife and asked her, “Are you okay with that?” And she said ‘yes.’ So, I looked at the man and said, “It’s okay to stop the chemo.” He’s only in his early 40s, but it was time. He’d had enough.
We all know we are going on a trip, but we know not the day or hour. During the years that we are blessed with life, know that they are growing shorter. We are not looking forward to the trip because of fear. We were never meant to die. The sin of our first parents caused that. Our sins after baptism and the sins committed against us increase that fear. But love casts away fear. The more we grow in holiness, the more and more that fear subsides. We can look forward to being with the Person we have loved all our lives and never to be separated again by sin. We don’t know what is on the side. However, it’s not a ‘what’ that is on the other side. That’s a blasphemous statement because on the other side is a ‘Who.’ That ‘Who’ is always with us as we make our journey to Heaven. So, we are not alone. Now, there is a little doodoo fairy that sits on our shoulders and is always telling us that God is not with us otherwise we wouldn’t be afraid and that we would be perfect, etc. “Oh, God doesn’t love you.” Just like everything else he fills our heads with, that is a lie. God is always with us. We tend to forget that our guardian angel is always with us too.
Will we always have some fear? Yes. But our fear of death will decrease as we grow in holiness, and we will look forward to going to our Savior. That doesn’t mean we want to leave our loved ones in this life. But we will be going home to our Almighty God. Now when we get to Heaven, we won’t be just sitting around. It won’t be snooze time. As Saint Therese of Lisieux said, “I will spend my eternity in Heaven doing good on Earth.” That’s what we will be doing in the presence of our Lord, God. We will have God’s ear and will be able to pray more effectively than ever before for all the loved ones we left behind. So, our dying is not exactly the worst thing that could happen to us. But dying and being separated from God is.
I was doing Mass over at the women’s maximum-security prison in Troy. That’s always fun. I’m ready for Mass, and we played “Stump the Priest.” One of the women said, “Father, when I get out, I’m going to visit you.” Well, I’m looking forward to that day! She said she was very upset, and I asked her why. She said, “I read in the paper that everybody dies, and they all go to see Jesus.” I said, “That’s true.” She didn’t like that answer, so I said, “When we die, we all will see God. Some stay for only a cup of coffee while others get to stay longer.” How long we stay depends on how we live. In the Gospels, from the Book of Matthew to Revelation, are the final exam questions. We don’t know when our good Lord will come for us. Looking at myself in the mirror, combing my hair doesn’t take that long anymore. That’s just age. So, my meeting with our Lord is approaching sooner and sooner.
I went to Ms. Dottie’s 99th birthday party. When I knocked, she came to the door holding a big glass of wine. Cool! Dottie is now 101. My aunt was 98 when she pulled the plug on herself. Time to go! Another aunt passed at 93. My mother was an underachiever and died at the age of 77. I may not make it to 77, but it doesn’t matter. It’s not about age but rather our state of love and living a perfect life until our good Lord comes for us. I tell patients in hospice who have made their peace with God, that soon, and I don’t know when, but soon, they will see the good Lord coming for them. He will have a smile on His face with His arms open. Put a smile on your face, open your arms, and run toward Him. Have that embrace which is Heaven. You will be one with your Maker.
Before you go to bed at night, always pray the Prayer for a Happy Death. With that Sacrament, we will be assured, in the same way Christ assured the Good Thief on the Cross, “Today you will be with Me in paradise.”
Prayer for a Happy Death (Ven. John Henry Cardinal Newman)
O my Lord and Savior, support me in my last hour in the strong arms of Thy Sacraments and by the fresh fragrance of Thy consolations. Let the absolving words be said over me, and the holy oil sign and seal me; and let Thine own Body be my food, and Thy Blood my sprinkling; and let my sweet Mother, Mary, breathe on me, and my Angel whisper peace to me, and my glorious saints and my own dear patrons smile upon me, that, in them all and through them all, I may receive the gift of perseverance, and die as I desire to live, in Thy faith, in Thy Church, in Thy service, and in Thy love. Amen.
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.”
Minute Meditation – Living from Hope
“Consult not your fears but your hopes and your dreams.”—St. John XXIII
Change in our lives can be difficult. Reflect on some of the major changes in your life and what you’ve learned about yourself from them.
—From the book Guided by the Saints: A 30-Day Journal for Inspiration and Direction
by Susan Hines-Brigger
How Your Greatest Fear is Affecting Your Relationships
You may be afraid of flying, spiders, heights, and snakes, but there is one fear that dominates the human experience. We all have it. It’s our greatest fear. It sabotages relationships. It produces existential loneliness.
We’re afraid that if people really knew us, they wouldn’t love us. That’s our greatest fear.
The real tragedy is that by pretending to be the person we think other people want us to be, we destroy our chances at really being loved. Because when someone does come along to say, “I love you” there’s a little voice in our head that says, “No you don’t. You love the person you think I am.”
This is how people end up desperately lonely in a relationship.
Hugh Prather observed, “Some people are going to like me and some won’t. So I might as well be myself, and then at least I’ll know that the people who like me, like me.””
Minute Meditation – Spilling Good
Spilling good brings clarity, maybe especially in times of uncertainty. Because sometimes, life can feel too big. Too precarious. Times that break us, undo us. Times when the labels we give our limitations make our anxiety or fear feel bigger than life itself. And sometimes (if I’m honest), I’ve got nothing to give. But I’m a storyteller, and I take consolation in stories about our human capacity for recovery and renewal. When I focus on what is missing, I do not see my capacity for enoughness, inside.
The ordinary moments of every day (even those that confuse us, unnerve us, or break our hearts) are hiding places of the holy. Where the sacred is alive and well. Where hope grows. Anxiety and vulnerability are real, yes. But the answer is not to chase vulnerability away. It’s the opposite. My vulnerability is the signal that I am human, with the capacity to be stretched, to give my heart, to be broken, to cry with those who break, to spill good. And I don’t ever want to lose that.
—from the book Stand Still: Finding Balance When the World Turns Upside Down,
by Terry Hershey, page 45
Fear Not
Sermon Notes – October 24, 2021 – “There’s Nothing to Fear but Fear Itself”
“There’s Nothing to Fear but Fear Itself”
Father Peter Fitzgibbons
October 23 – 24, 2021
Gospel: Mark 10:46-52
I was having my car washed the other day because I’m lazy and old. I always go to the same place, and while I was at the carwash, I saw one of the workers who I’ve met a few times. The man said, “Hmmm…you served in the Army?” Yes. “You were in the 101st Airborne?” Yes, for about three years. . . He must have seen the 101st sticker on my car. The man said, “I saw a movie about them when they were in Vietnam. I couldn’t do what they did.” Well, they weren’t Superman; they were just boys from the neighborhood. However, we had been convinced that we were Superman, and we certainly acted like it with a big red “S” on our chest and thinking we could do anything. I wanted to ask the man at the carwash who had told him that he couldn’t do it. I mean, I’m not Schwarzenegger, and I made it. So, who told you that you couldn’t do it?
It was the same thing that told our first parents they were naked. God asked Adam and Eve, “Who told you that you were naked?” Why did God create us? What’s the first question in the old Catechism? By the way, the Catechism is the best teaching tool we have in the Church. God made us because He loves us and so that we can be with Him forever. He is always calling us to everlasting life. The Gospel tells us, “Go to Him. He is calling you.” Our Lord calls us to Him. Bartimaeus did not take time to think about his fears, and even though he was blind, he went to Jesus. Which is interesting because it doesn’t say that somebody helped him…he just ran to Jesus. Ask a blind man to go somewhere without help. But he did. It is possible. So, don’t say, “I can’t do it.”
Our Lord calls us to holiness. And what is holiness? It’s a return to our original state. The original state of man and the state we are called to is not sin. The original state of man and the one that Jesus wants to transform us to is the state of Adam and Eve before the fall. It was the state of the Blessed Virgin Mary. They were truly human. It is sin that makes us less than human. Sin was never supposed to be in our souls.
The saints prove it is possible to return to holiness. . .to strive for holiness and to achieve the greatest amount of holiness we can in this life and perfection in the next. The saints prove it is possible, and they were just like us. They weren’t supermen or superwomen. They were just like us, but they took advantage of the graces that God offers. God calls us, no matter our state or vocation, to offer us the grace we need to return to holiness. He doesn’t ask us to do the impossible. He offers us the necessary grace to do it, but we must reach out and take that grace and cooperate with it.
Each time we come to Mass and receive Holy Communion or go to Confession, we grow in faith, hope, and charity which are what we call the Theological or infused virtues. We do not get them by prayer or works. They are infused in us through worthy reception of the Sacraments and are activated by works and prayer. Go to Mass. Go to Confession. Acquired virtues you get by doing works. Acquired and Theological virtues give us the power to turn away from sin and live for God. Use the virtues you have. An example is the virtue of music that Frankie has by reading that coded musical language that nobody understands. She has the gift of being able to play the organ and piano so well, but if she stops playing, she will lose the gift. We must exercise our gifts…we have to use them. When you do, don’t be afraid by the lack of results or reception. We are doing it for God Himself. Do not fear. He is calling you. Run to Him.
We take counsel of our fears, and we should never do that because fear is always a lie. The worse thing I ever lived through never happened. We are afraid we might lose something, that it will be too hard, that we can’t do it, or that we won’t have any fun. Anybody can do brain surgery if you are willing to go to medical school. Take it one step at a time. You won’t be asked to do brain surgery on the first day. You’ll have to wait six or seven years before you can. Do not be afraid. The Master is calling you. He is calling us to share in the blessings and joys of heaven. “Does He know all my faults?” Yeah, I’m pretty sure He does. “Does He know I’m not perfect?” Yeah, I’m pretty sure He knows that too. He wants to help make you perfect. We become perfect in heaven. We progress each day taking up our cross and following Him. . . Each day by bearing our sufferings. . .Each day by asking for the grace we need to carry our cross.
Remember the spiritual lie: “Oh I’m good…my relationship is good.” Did you know that’s the worse spot to be in? You have too much confidence in yourself, and that’s when you should be very afraid. Self-satisfaction is saying, “I’m fine just the way I am.” The good Lord will say, “Fine.” Come back when you’re not.” Grow ever closer to Him. We have nothing to fear. Get up and go to Him. In our fallen state, just like Bartimaeus, we will be restored to the way we are supposed to be. So, in the words of Gospel, “You have nothing to fear from Him. Get up. He is calling you.”
Father’s Afterthoughts:
I don’t recommend anyone imitating my style. It is particular. I give some people nicknames like “Face” that just come to me. I really should up my meds. On Friday I was up at the VA. I knocked on a patient’s door and called out to him. The patient, Tommy, had been asleep and grumbled as he was trying to wake up. So, in my most commanding voice, I said “On your feet soldier!!” That got Tommy’s mind right. It snapped him right back to the old days. With other patients, you can’t do that, but with Tommy I can. You know Congress made me an officer and a gentleman? Never, ever trust those people!
How will you apply this message to 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.” Sermon notes can also be found on the church Facebook page by searching for “Facebook Our Lady of the Annunciation Albemarle”
