Tag: Heart

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Sermon Notes – May 2, 2021 – His Sacred Heart

“His Sacred Heart“

Father Peter Fitzgibbons

May 1 – 2, 2021

Gospel:  John 15:1-8

I was talking to one of my fellow chaplains with whom I share an office at the VA.  We call it the cell.  So, I said to my cell-mate, “Hey Gary, you’re a bright guy, even though you went into the Air Force, you’re a bright guy.”  He was too old for Girl Scouts, but he does have a master’s degree in Divinity.  “Where are the green pastures that our Lord, the Good Shepherd, leads us to give us repose?”  Gary said “Heaven.”  That’s true.  Then, I said, “Would you say that, before we get there, He leads us to heaven on Earth…to a place in His Sacred Heart?”  That is Heaven.  Our Savior’s heart beats with love for us, and our two hearts will beat as one in Heaven.  The Good Shepherd calls us, not just to follow Him, but to be part of His Sacred Heart and to take our rest there.  It is in our Lord’s Sacred Heart that we will find peace and rest for our souls. 

Our Lord said in Matthew 11:30:  “…my yoke is sweet and my burden light.”  The sweet yoke is our crosses that are just for us and not for anyone else.  In that lovely green garden and pasture where He gives us repose, He also gives us strength, courage, and consolation as we carry our cross.  We carry our cross with the Good Shepherd, if we let Him, so that we are able to carry it for our redemption and the redemption of others.  And sometimes, but not nearly often enough, we will find joy in it.  We will find joy in carrying our cross. 

The Good Shepherd would like to lead us to His Sacred Heart.  Saint Augustine said, “Our heart is restless until it rests in thee.”  We will find peace for our souls which is what our souls need, but we try to fill it with every person, place, or thing.  In His Sacred Heart, we will find rest.  We will find strength, and we will find contentment.  We walk with our Lord by the way of the Cross.  First He leads us to His Sacred Heart, and then He walks with us all the way through to our passion and death.

How will you apply this message to your life? Will you let Him help you carry your cross for your redemption and the redemption of others?

Father’s Afterthoughts: 

I had a meeting with the Bishop the other day.  Sadly, I’m still not a monsignor.  I had to drive 50+ miles to hear that bad news.  Anyway, I felt safer in Iraq while driving to Charlotte on Hwy 485.  Those people are crazy!   I was never so glad to see Walmart in Locust and Mecklenburg County in my rear view mirror.  One thing we discussed at the meeting is that, in the next couple of months, the Bishop will probably reinstitute the Sunday Mass obligation.  When he does, the Mass will be a bit longer than those I’ve been giving. 

I really don’t like the word “obligation.”  Are you are obligated to remember your mother’s birthday or remember her on Mother’s Day?  If you have to be told that, you need to be taken outside with a few of the guys for a chat.  We come here out of love.  If we say, “Oh, I’m too tired” or “I’m too whatever,” we lose the opportunity to grow in love. 

Also, keep in your prayers, Father Michael Kottar.  He’s 57 years old and a great priest.  Father Kottar has been diagnosed with bovine spongiform encephalopathy or Mad Cow Disease.  There is no treatment, so please keep him in your prayers. 

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

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Meditation of the Day – Hope in God

“The freshness of a living hope in God fills the soul with such energy and resolution, with such aspirations after the things of eternal life, that all this world seems to it—as indeed it is—in comparison with that which it hopes for, dry, withered, dead, and worthless. The soul now denudes itself of the garments and trappings of the world, by setting the heart upon nothing that is in it, and hoping for nothing that is, or may be, in it, living only in the hope of everlasting life. And, therefore, when the heart is thus lifted up above the world, the world cannot touch it or lay hold of it, nor even see it. The soul then, thus disguised and clad in the vesture of hope, is secure from its second foe, the world, for St. Paul calls hope the helmet of salvation. Now a helmet is armor which protects and covers the whole head, and has no opening except in one place, where the eyes may look through. Hope is such a helmet, for it covers all the senses of the head of the soul in such a way that they cannot be lost in worldly things, and leaves no part of them exposed to the arrows of the world.”
— St. John of the Cross, p.175

//The Catholic Company//

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Meditation of the Day – Walk in His Footsteps

“No one who follows Me will ever walk in darkness (Jn 8:12). These words of our Lord counsel all to walk in His footsteps. If you want to see clearly and avoid blindness of heart, it is His virtues you must imitate. Make it your aim to meditate on the life of Jesus Christ. Christ’s teachings surpasses that of all the Saints. But to find this spiritual nourishment you must seek to have the Spirit of Christ. It is because we lack this Spirit that so often we listen to the Gospel without really hearing it. Those who fully understand Christ’s words must labor to make their lives conform to His.”— Thomas á Kempis, p.15

//The Catholic Company//

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Meditation of the Day – Have You Really Met Jesus?

“I worry some of you still have not really met Jesus—one to one—you and Jesus alone. We may spend time in the chapel—but have you seen with the eyes of your soul how He looks at you with love? Do you really know the living Jesus—not from books but from being with Him in your heart? Have you heard the loving words He speaks to you? Ask for the grace; He is longing to give it. Until you can hear Jesus in the silence of your own heart, you will not be able to hear Him saying ‘I Thirst’ in the hearts of the poor. Never give up this daily intimate contact with Jesus as the real living person—not just the idea.” — Saint Mother Teresa, p.129-30

//The Catholic Company//

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Saint of the Day – April 11 – Saint Gemma Galgani

St. Gemma Galgani (1878-1903) was born in Italy, the fifth of eight children born to a prosperous pharmacist. When she was young, Gemma’s mother and three of her siblings died of tuberculous. When she was 18 her father died as well, leaving Gemma to help care for her younger siblings. She rejected two marriage proposals and became a housekeeper while trying to enter the religious life as a Passionist. She was rejected due to her poor heath, and later became a Tertiary member of the order. Gemma developed spinal meningitis but was miraculously healed, which she attributed to the Sacred Heart of Jesus through the intercession of St. Gabriel of Our Lady of Sorrows and St. Margaret Mary Alacoque. Throughout her life she united herself with the Passion of Christ and experienced great suffering as a result, but not without receiving many remarkable graces as well. She experienced many mystical visions and was often visited by her guardian angel, Jesus, and the Virgin Mary. For this she was known as a great mystic, and, according to her spiritual director, developed the stigmata at age 21. After a selfless life of love given to God for the conversion of sinners, she died on the Vigil of Easter at the age of 25. She is the patron saint of pharmacists, loss of parents, back illnesses, temptations, and those seeking purity of heart. Her feast day is April 11th.

//The Catholic Company//

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Saint of the Day – April 7 – Saint John Baptist de La Salle

Saint John Baptist de La Salle (April 30, 1651 – April 7, 1719)

Complete dedication to what he saw as God’s will for him dominated the life of John Baptist de La Salle. In 1950, Pope Pius XII named him patron of schoolteachers for his efforts in upgrading school instruction. As a young 17th-century Frenchman, John had everything going for him: scholarly bent, good looks, noble family background, money, refined upbringing. At the early age of 11, he received the tonsure and started preparation for the priesthood, to which he was ordained at 27. He seemed assured then of a life of dignified ease and a high position in the Church.

But God had other plans for John, which were gradually revealed to him in the next several years. During a chance meeting with Monsieur Adrien Nyel, he became interested in the creation of schools for poor boys in Rheims, where he was stationed. Though the work was extremely distasteful to him at first, he became more involved in working with the deprived youths.

Once convinced that this was his divinely appointed mission, John threw himself wholeheartedly into the work, left home and family, abandoned his position as canon at Rheims, gave away his fortune, and reduced himself to the level of the poor to whom he devoted his entire life.

The remainder of his life was closely entwined with the community of religious men he founded, the Brothers of the Christian School (also called Christian Brothers or De La Salle Brothers). This community grew rapidly and was successful in educating boys of poor families, using methods designed by John. It prepared teachers in the first training college for teachers and also set up homes and schools for young delinquents of wealthy families. The motivating element in all these endeavors was the desire to become a good Christian.

Yet even in his success, John did not escape experiencing many trials: heart-rending disappointment and defections among his disciples, bitter opposition from the secular schoolmasters who resented his new and fruitful methods, and persistent opposition from the Jansenists of his time, whose moral rigidity and pessimism about the human condition John resisted vehemently all his life.

Afflicted with asthma and rheumatism in his last years, he died at age 68 on Good Friday, and was canonized in 1900.

Reflection

Complete dedication to one’s calling by God, whatever it may be, is a rare quality. Jesus asks us to “love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength” (Mark 12:30b, emphasis added). Paul gives similar advice: “Whatever you do, do from the heart…” (Colossians 3:23).

Saint John Baptist de La Salle is the Patron Saint of:

Teachers

//Franciscan Media//