Tag: Holy Sacrifice of the Mass

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Sermon Notes – December 8, 2024 – “We Have Christmas Every Day”

 “We Have Christmas Every Day”

Father Peter Fitzgibbons

December 7-8, 2024

Gospel:   Luke 3:1-6

I heard confessions on Monday night in Statesville and Thursday night at St. Lukes.  On Monday night, we were invited to dinner at Outback.  One priest had never heard the phrase “circling the drain.”   My gosh!  Where have you been all your life?  You haven’t spent much time in hospitals and around nurses, have you?   On Thursday night, I had to educate one of the older priests when he said, “Well, the patient’s mother and wife wanted him to be given Last Rites, but the patient wouldn’t take it, so I left without giving it to him.”   I told this priest I’m a trained hospitalist, and this is how you handle that situation.   You wait until you see the nurses go by with the medication cart.  Then, have a cup of coffee and, after about ten minutes, go back into the patient’s room while he’s bombed and ask him, ‘Would you like Last Rites now? Oh, I thought you might say ‘yes.’”   Or you could ask the nurses when the patient will be medicated again and wait about ten minutes after that to ask him if he wants Last Rites.  Get the mission done, Father.   But God takes care of that anyway.  That’s just my bed-snide manner.  That night at dinner, Father Rossi ordered some hors d’oeuvres.  He asked me if I would like some tuna ahi.  It looked like undone roast beef.  I said, “That’s very kind, Father.  Would it get me any time off purgatory?”   No?  In that case, they don’t make a pharmaceutical strong enough to make me eat that thing.   I don’t eat fish.  I have a rule. 

In 17 days and a wake-up, we will celebrate the incarnation of God.  Our good Lord became incarnate in the womb of the Blessed Mother and made visible on Christmas.  We do not have to ask what love looks like because we can see it.  It’s a wonderful day.  God becoming incarnate was a great act of love by God.  But was it His greatest act of love?  No.  His greatest act of love was the crucifixion.   People say, “I wish we could have Christmas every day.”  You do!  I don’t get cookies every day like I do at Christmas, but God comes to us every day in the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. 

Jesus, as the 2nd Person in the Blessed Trinity, was hard to see under the veil of human flesh and blood.  He is also hard to see under the veil of bread and wine in the Mass when it becomes His Most Precious Body and Blood.  But this is our faith.   His human nature was united with His divinity in what is called hypostatic union.  In the Mass, that happens when I put a drop of water into the chalice of wine.  That is His human nature being assumed into His divine nature.  At every Mass, God becomes flesh again.  He is incarnate in the Most Blessed Sacrament in every Catholic church in the world.  So, we have Christmas every day but without bad music like, “I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Clause” and “Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer.”  Shut up!  Those songs make me want to rip out the loudspeaker. 

God is present in our world.  On His ascension, Jesus took the flesh that he received from the Blessed Mother and brought it to Heaven.  But He did not leave our world.  He didn’t say, “I’m going up to Heaven, and when it’s time, I’ll come back to get you and take you home.”  God is made present in our world every day in the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass.  It was hard for the Apostles to see our Lord and believe He was truly God.  Because of our fallen human nature, it is also difficult for us because we see with the eyes of our bodies instead of the eyes of our souls.  The trouble is our vision.  I appreciate all the hard work my eye doctor, Dr. Billingsly, has done for me.  He has saved me from walking around with a stick and a dog.  But the ability to see with the eyes of faith is most important to me. 

We have God’s physical presence every day, just like the Apostles.  We have Christmas every day.  Isn’t that wonderful?  It truly is.  Granted, we don’t have cookies and baked goods every day.  I will leave my back door open if anyone would care to make a donation.  I would be most grateful; just don’t tell my doctor.    We have Christmas every day without the bad music, wreaths, trees, and lawn statues, but that is unimportant.  What is important is what resides in the Tabernacle.  God came into the world, and He never left. 

Father’s Afterthoughts: 

We had a new patient in hospice.  He’s 91 years old.  So, I went into his room and started talking to him to see if he was oriented to time and place.  He was pretty “gah-gah.”   My final question was, “Do you remember the branch of service you were in?”  He said, “Marines!”   That question always gets through.

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 – March 3, 2024 – “The Mass is Not a Celebration”

“The Mass is Not a Celebration”

Father Peter Fitzgibbons

March 2 – 3, 2024

Gospel: John 2: 13-25

13 When the time of the Jewish Passover was near Jesus went up to Jerusalem, 14 and in the Temple He found people selling cattle and sheep and doves, and the money changers sitting there. 15 Making a whip out of cord, He drove them all out of the Temple, sheep and cattle as well, scattered the money changers’ coins, knocked their tables over 16 and said to the dove sellers, ‘Take all this out of here and stop using My Father’s house as a market.’ 17 Then His disciples remembered the words of scripture: I am eaten up with zeal for Your house. 8 The Jews intervened and said, ‘What sign can You show us that You should act like this?’ 19 Jesus answered, ‘Destroy this Temple, and in three days I will raise it up.’ 20 The Jews replied, ‘It has taken forty-six years to build this Temple: are you going to raise it up again in three days?’ 21 But He was speaking of the Temple that was His Body, 22 and when Jesus rose from the dead, His disciples remembered that He had said this, and they believed the scripture and what He had said. 23 During His stay in Jerusalem for the feast of the Passover many believed in His name when they saw the signs that He did, 24 but Jesus knew all people and did not trust Himself to them; 25 He never needed evidence about anyone; He could tell what someone had within.

One of today’s readings is from the Old Testament, and I was reminded of this one gentleman I was helping prepare for death.  We were going through the General Confession and when we got to the Fifth Commandment, I asked him, “Have you ever killed anybody?”  He said, “That didn’t need killing?”  Okay!  He’s got a point.  I forgot that he had worked in Special Operations.   The correct translation of the Fifth Commandment is that “You shall not take a life unjustly.”  You have the right to protect yourself and others if someone is about to be killed.  In fact, you have a moral obligation to protect yourself and others.   “But He said, ‘Do not kill.”  No, no, no.  He said, “Do not take a life unjustly.” 

Today’s Gospel says that there were sheep and oxen in the church.  I’m thinking that Abigail who cleans the church is lucky we don’t have sheep and oxen.   She’s got enough to deal with already.  You would be shocked at the stuff people leave in the pews like fingernail clippings, dirty Kleenexes, and the worst of all – sparkles from dresses.   Sometimes she has to wear a hazmat suit to clean the church.  This church is just as precious as the temple.  Where you are sitting, like God told Moses, is a holy temple because it contains the very presence of our Lord – Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity – in the Most Blessed Sacrament.  Here we have presented the Holy Sacrifice of Christ which is always before the Father in Heaven pleading on our behalf.  His holy sacrifice is made present during the Mass.  That is why we ask for reverence and silence.   I’ve been trained by professionals in hurting people’s feelings.  Because of how sacred this is, if someone walks away with the Eucharist, I will stop them and embarrass them if I have to.  I vowed to protect the Blessed Sacrament with my life.  It’s one of those vows we take that most people don’t know about.  That’s how holy this is.  

When I was a young priest, people wanted to celebrate Catholic Schools Week during the Mass to which I said, “On its face, that’s blasphemous and at its worst heretical.”  We don’t celebrate anything at the Mass.  “Woohoo!  We’re celebrating somebody’s life!”   It’s not a party followed by dinner, and with my family, the police would show up after that.  The Mass is the prayer of Christ.  During Catholic School Week they would bring up books and basketballs.  No – no – no.  Did you see that at the foot of the Cross?  No.  Did you see that at the Last Supper?  No.  So, they are not a part of it. 

Nobody but the servers and I should be inside the altar area.  None of the junk from Hobby Lobby should be inside the altar area.  This is a sacred spot, and nobody but the sacristans and the priest are supposed to be here.  Nobody but the sacristans and the priest are supposed to touch the Sacred Vessel.  That’s how sacred this is.  The Mass is not a high school play where everyone runs around doing stuff.  That is foreign to our tradition.   In documents on the liturgy, someone said, “The faithful could participate in the Mass where each fulfills their proper role.”   That is correct to a point.  Your proper role is to offer yourself to the priest who functions In persona Christi (in the person of Christ) and to be emulated on the altar in the sacrifice.  It is not your role to run up and down the aisles doing stuff.  No.  Nada.  I have had Mass in a lot of different places, and we didn’t have all that.  Know what?  It worked just as well. 

Some of the Masses have been interesting.  I was doing a Mass at the hospital and one of the vets who was under-medicated said, “I’m a saint.”  Not yet, but soon!  Another vet said, “My wife died.  I’m going to be a priest.”  Alright.  I’ll write a letter for you.  You have to be flexible when you are offering Mass in hospitals and nursing homes.  Active participation doesn’t call for physical participation.  Active participation is interior participation . . . it’s the sacrifice.  When I say Mass at nursing homes, most of the people are snoring.  Are they actively participating?  Yes, interiorly.   Maybe not exteriorly.  Active participation is interior devotion. 

Saint Pierre-Julien Eymard wrote a wonderful series of books on the Eucharist.  His books were filled with such beautiful meditations on the Eucharist and our Lord’s presence at the Mass.  Saint Eymard wrote about there being four elements of the Mass; however, I remember five elements:  adoration, worship, petition, expiation, and thanksgiving.  Those are the elements of the Mass, and that is what we do here.  Adoration before God, worship, expiation, sacrifices offered for forgiveness of our sins, petition – asking for forgiveness of our sins, and thanksgiving which is probably the most overlooked one.  The Mass is not our prayer; it is the prayer of Christ.  Each of us, according to our vocation, can be made part of that sacrifice.  I, as the priest, become In persona Christi (in the person of Christ) and offer the sacrifice.  You, as the people of God, become part of the sacrifice just like the Blessed Mother, Mary of Clopas, Mary Magdalene, and John the Apostle.

This is why we don’t change things like having eulogies at funerals.  There are no eulogies in the Mass.  None at all.  Ah-Ah-Ah.  Not allowed.  The Mass is a prayer of Christ.  This place is sacred.  When you go to the cemetery in Salisbury near the hospital, it’s all on camera.  So, if you start doing something stupid, you are going to meet a couple of big guys with a gun and a badge.  They are not going to be amused because that place is sacred.  The bodies of heroes and heroines are buried there, and they are not amused with people acting stupid.  So, if we can be so particular about behavior in a cemetery, how about during the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass?  People are in the very presence of God Himself in the Most Blessed Sacrament.  This is our faith.  That’s why you are all here, and it’s why so many others come to Mass and behave with such devotion.  It’s inspiring to me.  This is God’s house, and we are all His children.  We have a lot of non-Catholics here, and they are God’s children.  They belong here.  This is God’s house, and you are all His children. 

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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The Catechism in a Year – Day 185 – Thanksgiving, Memorial, Presence

Together with Fr. Mike, we continue our examination of the sacrament of the Eucharist. Fr. Mike takes us back to the Book of Genesis, the sacrifices of Cain and Abel, and the Book of Exodus, the story of Moses and Pharaoh. He emphasizes that the point of freedom in life is to be led to the freedom to worship God and that it matters to God that we freely choose to attend the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. Today’s readings are Catechism paragraphs 1356-1361.

https://youtu.be/FocyAQTKTO8

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Sermon Notes – March 6, 2022 – Where is the Love?

 “Where is the Love?”

Father Peter Fitzgibbons

 March 5-6, 2022

Gospel: Luke 4:1-13

One of the great temptations that snares a lot of people because it sounds really good, besides bacon, is to do things for other people out of compassion.  There is a lot of false compassion out there.  “If you love me, you will do this for me.”  “Oh, doctor, I hurt really bad.  May I have some OxyContin?”  That’s false compassion.  Saint Luke recounts our Lord’s first three temptations.  There are others, but these are the first three.  With the first temptation of Christ, which happens to us in one form or another, the devil used false compassion.  “People are bad because they lack stuff.  They lack food.  They lack education.  They lack computers.  They don’t have Facebook.  They are poor, and they need stuff.  If they had stuff, they wouldn’t be bad.”  None of that is true.  How many rich people have had abortions?  In my own life, my mother’s family was very poor, and none of them went to prison.  I take that back – my uncle went to prison, but he worked there.  He was a Correctional Officer.  The State of Massachusetts had him on work release for thirty years and finally told him he was too old and gave him his pension.  He was from the Joe Cutrone School of Correctional Officers.  He was a nice guy, and the murderers liked him.  Give them some cigarettes, and they were happy.  My cousin Philip was murdered, and they sent his murderer to the prison my uncle retired from.  The inmate state employees there knew who he was.  “We’ll take care of it as a favor.”  They were going to take care of some business for him.  My uncle told them, “No, no.  Don’t do that.”  That’s false compassion.  Now, I go out to our local FU (Felon University), and there are doctors there, people with medical degrees, and lawyers.  There are people there with advanced degrees and people with no degrees.  There are rich people and poor people.  People choose evil.  If they don’t have a choice, they are put into a state hospital.  They choose evil because they choose satan over Christ.  It’s not a lack of anything.  It’s a choice.  Fat people go to prison.  And believe it or not, inmates get fat in prison. So, it’s not a lack of anything.  People are using false compassion when they say, “Let’s give all this charity to poor people, and they won’t be bad.”   We have spent nine trillion dollars on various charities, but we don’t tell them about Jesus.  Instead, we tell them how to work on a computer.  I don’t have much computer knowledge, so I’m lucky that I know people.  

The next temptation was all about power.  Do you know who the most powerful person in the Church was?   Saint Theresa of Calcutta.  She wasn’t zealous for power, nor did she flaunt it.  But look at the power of this little nun.  She weighed about 120 pounds soaking wet with lead weights in her pocket.  Which of our cardinals ever went up to the sitting president and vice president wagging their finger about abortion? Which one?   Which one could have an audience with the Pope anytime she wanted?   Which one spoke at the United Nations?  Which one taught us how to love by living that love?  Saint Theresa was the most powerful person in the Church.  It’s not about getting into office, being ordained, having big titles after your name, or anything like that.  I have titles after my name and some before my name.   Whoopee!  They mean nothing.  They don’t even get me out of tickets anymore with these atheist cops down here. 

There is power in love.  It’s not political power, and it’s not power in the Church.  “Oh, I have a position in the Church.  I’m so and so!”   Shut-up!   Where is your love? When you are sitting with a sick person about to die, where is your love?  “I’m in charge of programming.”  You come with me, and we’ll see how that love in action does.  I’ll have you throwing up in about an hour.  That’s love in action.  Come and take care of the sick.  Sometimes, they’ll make it just inside the door before they catch a whiff of the smell. Ugh!  What?  Love is action.  It’s not a position.  

We don’t need to change any laws.  We have more laws than we know what to do with.  We can’t even incarcerate people because there’s no room for them.  People want to change the Mass.  They want to change the Sacraments.  If you can do it better than Jesus, let me know.  Now, husbands and wives . . . has your spouse ever told you they love you?  I would hope so.  Does that ever get old?  Does it need to be changed?  Does it need to be updated?  Does it need to be made more relevant?  Do you need a praise band going on there?  Do you want some dancing down the hallway?   We don’t need to change the Mass or the Sacraments.  The Holy Sacrifice of the Mass is a divine act of love, and it doesn’t get old.  What gets old is our pride when we think we can make it better.  During the Sacrifice of the Mass, what is Jesus saying?  He is saying, “I love you. This is how much I love you.”  That never gets old.  It only gets old if you don’t have room in your heart to say to Jesus, “I love you too.”

How will you apply this message to your life? 

You can read all of Father Fitzgibbons’ sermons by going to  http://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”