Tag: Holy Spirit

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Sermon Notes – June 2, 2024 – “We Walk the Talk”

“We Walk the Talk”

Father Peter Fitzgibbons

June 1 – 2, 2024

Gospel: Mark 2:23-3:6

Now, we Catholics are funny people, strange people, according to some. Do you know why some people think we are weird, exotic, and other less attractive adjectives?  Besides the yard sales, bingo, and all of that, we believe what Scripture says.  We are a bible-believing and bible-practicing Church.  “But, Father, a lot of churches are bible-believing.”  Really?  “Well, you don’t know what Scripture says.”  We existed before Scripture was ever written down.   The first scripture was written three years after the fact, and the last one – the Book of Revelation – was written 60 years later.   Catholics put the New Testament together in the 4th Century.  So, we should know what it means.  We see the words and do what the words say.  I’ll give you a few examples: 

 1)    In his epistle, Saint James says, “Is any among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord; and the prayer of faith will save the sick man, and the Lord will raise him up; and if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven” (Jas. 5:14–15).  Saint James is referring to the Last Rites, which I have given a couple of times this week.

2)    In the Gospel of Luke, there is veneration and devotion to our Blessed Mother.  In her Magnificat, the Blessed Mother said, “From now onwards, all generations will call me blessed” (Luke 1:48).   That is a command in the black part of Scripture if you care to look it up.  So why are we the only church that does that other than Orthodox?  “All generations will call me blessed.”  That is called a task; it’s not a choice.

 3)    Our Lord breathed on His apostles, and He said to them: “Receive the Holy Spirit. For those whose sins you forgive, they are forgiven; for those whose sins you retain, they are retained” (John 20:22).  That’s what we do in Confession.  Nobody else does that.  We are celebrating the Solemnity of Corpus Christi, which is also known as the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ.   Transubstantiation changes the bread into the Body of Christ and the wine into the Blood of Christ for the salvation of souls.  “Oh, transubstantiation is such a big word!”  Yes, and first graders learn it; you’ll be fine.  This happens when, during the Mass, the priest, acting in the person of Christ, says, “This is My Body,” “This is the chalice of My Blood.”  Jesus said, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of man and drink his blood, you have no life in you” (John 6:53).  After that, everyone but the 12 Apostles left Him.  Wordsmiths say, “Well, He meant that metaphorically.”   First, the word “metaphorically” never appears anywhere in Scripture.  Second, the original word means “eat, chew, or masticate.  That’s why His disciples thought He was talking about cannibalism.   

How many of you will go home tonight after Mass, and instead of making dinner, willread a cookbook?   Would that fill you up?  “Oh, my gosh, I am so full.  I cannot read another bite!”  Really?  When you have a headache, do you go to the medicine cabinet, read the label on the aspirin bottle, and put it back on the shelf?  “Oh, I feel much better now.”  No.  Medicine does you no good if it’s still in the bottle on the shelf.  Jesus said, “Eat My flesh and drink My blood. Otherwise, you have no life in you.”  You must take the celestial medicine our Lord has offered us and take it internally for it to have a healing effect.  We read the words He says and follow them.  We’re kind of funny that way.

4)    We believe that God made male and female.  “A man will leave his father and mother and cling to his wife, and the two of them will become one body” in marriage for life (Genesis 2:24).  That’s what it says in the black part of Scripture, so that’s what we do. 

5)    If someone is not Catholic or is not in a state of grace, they cannot take Holy Communion.  “But that’s cruel.”  Jesus said it.  In his letter to the Corinthians, Paul said, “Whoever eats and drinks the body and blood of Christ unworthily is guilty of His death” (1 Corinthians 11:27).  That’s also in the black part of Scripture. 

This is what we believe.  “Oh, you have too many rules.”  Not really.  They are guidelines for our own well-being and salvation.  Some are precautionary so you don’t step off a cliff thinking you can fly.  Besides, all these so-called RULES are what God said.  This is our Faith, and it is what we have believed from the beginning.  We are a bible-believing and bible-practicing Church.   We do as Scripture tells us to do, and by doing so, we have life. 

 If you visit the Catacombs in Rome and go into some of the tombs of the saints, there are pictures of grapes and wheat . . . ancient symbols of the Eucharist and the Real Presence.  Those pictures aren’t just artwork, they reflect the saints’ belief in the Real Presence.  This is why we are silent in the presence of the Blessed Sacrament and during the Mass.  We are in the presence of the actual Body and Blood of Christ.  God Himself is here. 

Father’s Reflections . . . Lonnie, a patient at the VA Hospital, was a glider soldier on D-Day.  I said to Lonnie, “Soon, it will be the anniversary of your walking tour across France and Germany.”  Another soldier told me he got to Normandy on June 6th, D+2.  He said the water was still red from all the blood, and he had to step over bodies on the beach to get to where he needed to be.

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 – May 19, 2024 – “The Language of Love”

“The Language of Love”

Father Peter Fitzgibbons

May 18 – 19, 2024

Gospel: John 20:19-23

Last week we celebrated the Ascension of our Lord and 10 days after that we have Pentecost.  At the Ascension, Jesus took the body and human nature He received from the Blessed Mother to Heaven.  The human nature He suffered with, taught, healed, died, and rose with was taken up to Heaven.   So, He needed a new body because the one He took from Mary was in Heaven.  He uses the human nature we received at our Baptism to teach, to heal, and to console down through the ages to make His love known to all the world.  Whatever your vocation, He uses your human nature as a part of His new Body.  Sometimes people call the Church an “it.”  No.  The Church is a “Who.”  Scripture says that.  In the book of Acts, when Saul was persecuting Christians, Jesus asked him, “Why are you persecuting me?”   He did not say, “Why are you persecuting an organization, club, community gathering, or Christian group.”  He said, “Why are you persecuting Me?”  It is His Body that people persecute. 

Now, we are our Lord’s human nature.  We are His arms and legs depending on what part of the mystical body we occupy because of our vocations and the Sacraments.  Throughout the ages, He has used our human nature to bring His love to everyone.   He takes our human natures and uses them as His own to proclaim His message, to teach, and to heal.  We are the Body of Christ in Stanly County.  People heard the Apostles speaking in every tongue.  Now, if you come to the 12:15 Spanish Mass, you can listen to me speak in every tongue.  It’s very charismatic.  You will hear me speaking Spanglish with a French accent.  I can order in a Mexican restaurant and the people I’m with are usually very impressed, “Oh wow!  You speak Spanish.”  But the wait staff just shake their heads.  I’m not great with languages.  I barely made it through Canon Law because you needed to know Latin.  Latin was pretty easy for me since I always had a dictionary. 

At Pentecost, our Lord sends the Holy Spirit Who gives the gift of tongue to proclaim His love.  How do we proclaim His love?  Do we have to learn every language on the planet?  What is the universal language?  How do we reach all these people?  That’s easy.  God gives us the ability to do that.  “Oh wow.  You speak in other tongues?”  Yes, and no.  That’s part of the lawyer in me.   I speak, or try to speak, one language.  “What’s that?”  I’ll give you an example.  When I was the pastor in Statesville,  I received a call from a Hospice nurse who said, “Father, so and so has died. Would you go speak to the family?”  I said, “Sure!”  I went, and I got there before the Hospice nurse and funeral director.  So, I talked to the family and said a prayer over the body.   When the funeral director and the nurse arrived, I helped them take the body to the car.  Then the nurse and I stripped the room and put everything back in its place.  The one thing you don’t want is for the family to come into the room and see the bed linens where their loved one had been.  So, we stripped the room and put it back to how it was originally before their loved one got sick.  The nurse took some of the medication and flushed them.  However, some of the drugs were unopened and OTC (over the counter).  Technically, the nurse was supposed to take them back to Hospice, but she said, “Father, do you know anybody who could use them?”  She wasn’t supposed to do that.  I told some priests that story and they said, “Well, we’d never do that!”  Yeah, I know.  Chumps.  But because I helped that nurse, I got to help other people with the medicine.   That’s the universal language and how you reach people by acts of love.  When I helped that nurse, it was spontaneous and not a part of my job, but I did it because it had to be done.  Show that love.  It can be understood in any language.  Here’s another example:  Years ago, I was going through the hospice unit making my rounds.  Two paramedics came in with a stretcher and a new patient.  The nurses were busy as they always are.  One of the paramedics said, “Where do you want him?”  Not “Hello” but “Where do you want him?”   I said, “Room 3.”  I went with them, and one took the side sheet, another one had the head, and I had the legs.  1 – 2 – 3,  and we got the patient onto his bed.   And because I did not have gloves on and had touched the patient’s skin, I went to the sink and washed my hands.  One of the paramedics approached me and said, “Thank you, Father.”  When we do what is right, other people see it.  You don’t do it because you will be noticed or thanked; you do it because it shows God’s love.   

The third and last point I’ll make is that the Holy Spirit comes to unite all human natures into one body.  Not different bodies but one body to reverse what sin has done.  What does sin do?  Sin divides.  Remember the Tower of Babel?  They all spoke different languages and could not communicate with one another.  It separated humanity.   The Holy Spirit calls us to unite in one faith.  In the military, Protestant chaplains were in awe of Catholic chaplains because they looked at our congregation which was similar to what I see here, and they saw people from almost every continent in the world.  There were some whose English was not that good.  It worked out great for me because there were these Korean ladies who would make vegetable Yaki Mandu.  Oh yeah!   It was killer.  I didn’t realize it was fried, but it was wonderful.  When I was sent to Gitmo for my Spanish lessons – it didn’t work out well, but I went – and other chaplains were amazed at how much the people there loved me.  First, they didn’t know me; give them credit for that.  But they loved me because I was their priest.  “Do they understand what you are saying?”  Some did because they were very educated.  The chairman of my “parish council” was a brain surgeon who trained in Russia.  I asked our doctors if the Cuban doctors were any good and if I should let them touch me.  “Oh, they are very good.  They trained in Russia.”  

We are all one.  In the last 30 – 40 years, there has been a tendency to separate the Church to make it more relevant and meaningful.  You cannot make Christ more meaningful, okay?  You cannot make the Mass more meaningful; that’s blasphemy.  We have a bad habit of hyphenating people.  “I am Spanish-Catholic.”  “I am Irish-Catholic.”  Really.  Did you come from the Old Sod (Ireland)?  “No.“  Do you like ‘Danny Boy’?   “Oh yeah.”  Well, first of all, you haven’t been in church for 50 years so shut up.  And second, I hate that song!!  People wanted to play it at funerals and the bishop said, “No!”  We are not of different faiths only country of origin.  There is no different faith for Vietnamese-Catholics.  They are Catholic.  “I am Canadian-Catholic.”  It’s colder there; I’ll give you that, but you are still Catholic.  Are we Albemarlian-Catholics?  Are we Stanly County-Catholics?  Are we Oakboro-Catholics?  No!  We are all Catholic.  They seek to break up the Faith.  We have to have a different Mass for each language.  That’s why Latin was good because it united everybody which is why we should go back to it.  We are all one faith; there is no such thing as hyphenated-Catholics.  That’s a sin and it’s blasphemy.  The Holy Spirit came to do the exact opposite . . . to unite us all.   It’s like soldiers – there are no hyphenated soldiers – we are all soldiers.  I remember one chaplain who got up and said, “We need more black chaplains.”  I said, “Excuse me.  When did the Army go color-coded with chaplains?”   He couldn’t answer.  He was a colonel but not my colonel so I couldn’t have cared less.  Little bigot. 

We are not color-coded or area-coded.  We are all Catholic by the grace of the Holy Spirit Who unifies the Church and by that unification, Christ continues His teaching and ministry.  We have one Faith, one Church, and one Lord.  To say otherwise is denying the gift of the Holy Spirit.  What evidence do we have of the Holy Spirit?  By babbling, “I have the gift of the Spirit”?  No.  The fruits of the Spirit are works of love.

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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The Catechism in a Year – Day 342 – Trinitarian Prayer

What is the significance of praying to the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit? As we explore the path of prayer, the Catechism elaborates on the concept of trinitarian prayer and underscores the importance of establishing a relationship with each member of the Holy Trinity. Fr. Mike emphasizes that Christ is the focal point of Christian prayer, and he underscores the profound power of invoking the name of Jesus, as it represents his very presence. Today’s readings are Catechism paragraphs 2663-2672.

Click on link: https://youtu.be/u7HXWC2w5aM?si=FDI_YdquYXd9x5yt

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The Catechism in a Year – Day 340 – Scripture and the Liturgy

How do we pray? Prayer is essential for our relationship with the Lord. The Catechism teaches that we must study the Scriptures, learn how to pray, and have the will to pray. Fr. Mike shares two different sources of prayer: the Word of God and the Liturgy of the Church. He explains how the Holy Spirit guides us in prayer and teaches us how to speak with God. Today’s readings are Catechism paragraphs 2650-2655.

Click on link: https://youtu.be/7cLcQTkLrXM?si=mfgpvdO-80v-Uq-b

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The Catechism in a Year – Day 261 – Justification

What does it mean to be justified? The Catechism teaches us today about the grace of the Holy Spirit and its power to justify us. Fr. Mike explains how justification detaches us from sin and purifies our hearts. We learn that justification brings about a marvelous inward transformation that bears witness to God’s great mercy. Today’s readings are Catechism paragraphs 1987-1995.

Click on link: https://youtu.be/7wI8VAchhG8?si=mX_GMDlMhGBgmdHH

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The Catechism in a Year – Day 245 – Gifts and Fruits of the Holy Spirit

As we end our exploration of the virtues, we learn about the gifts of the Holy Spirit. These gifts perfect our virtues and increase our ability to respond to God’s guidance and inspiration. The fruits of the Holy Spirit perfect us, are signs of a life lived in the Spirit, and are “the first fruits of eternal glory,” as the Catechism tells us. Our cooperation with the Holy Spirit sustains and perfects our moral life, enabling us to live a more full and joyful life. Today’s readings are Catechism paragraphs 1830-1845.

Click on link: https://youtu.be/v88TP_B42mg?si=fjMYgYfuebuc7M4O

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Sermon Notes – May 28, 2023 – Love is the Language of the Holy Spirit

Love is the Language of the Holy Spirit

Father Peter Fitzgibbons

May 27 – 28, 2023

Gospel:  John 20: 19-23

Remember last week I talked to you about the Ascension and how the human nature our good Lord took from the Blessed Mother was assumed into His divine nature.  It’s the same nature that He suffered with, healed with, died with, was resurrected with, and took to Heaven.  So, if Christ’s human nature is in Heaven, how does He continue to do His work in the world?  Fair question.  Well, He takes our human natures and uses them.  Through the Holy Spirt, He takes all our human natures and forms His new Body which is the Church.   With His new Body, He continues to teach, sanctify, heal, and bring His love to the world.  His new Body will continue for generations until the end of the world.   In the Book of Acts, our Lord says, “Paul, why are you persecuting Me?   He didn’t say, “the church” or “a Christian Group.”   He said, “Why are you persecuting Me?”   He said, “Me” personally because we are a part of His body.   

All those who are baptized are baptized in Christ.  You are part of His new body extended throughout the Ages.  That’s why it’s blasphemy when someone says, “Oh, I am reconciled to God but not His Church” or they say, “I love God but not the Church.”  Absolute blasphemy.  You love the head but not the body.  That makes no sense.  You cannot love one without the other.  It’s a whole Person . . . a package deal.  Christ takes our human natures which are offered by us or by our parents at our Baptism.  He assumes our human natures into His new Body to become whatever part of His Body that represents our vocation to bring God’s word to others, to heal, teach, and sanctify.  Whatever the vocation, Holy Orders, Religious, married life, or lay life – whatever part of His Body – we are called to build it up. 

Christ uses our human nature to reach out and to bring His love to the world . . . to speak the universal language   At Pentecost, Peter spoke to the crowd, and everyone heard him in their own language.  Everyone hears the language of Christ.   Now, I am not gifted in tongues.  If you have ever been to the 12:15 Mass, you know that I do not have that gift.  I speak Spanish with French accent.  French is my second language.  Believe it or not, I took Intermediate Conversational French in college, but my aunt who is 95 years old corrects my French.   I had to relearn French because my family was French Canadian and did not speak the French you learn in books which is Parisian.  While I cannot speak many languages, I know a priest who speaks five of them.  We are all called, and we are all able, to speak the most important language – a language nobody hears – and that’s the language of love and of Christ living in the world.  Whatever vocation and whatever circumstance in which you find yourself, bring Christ in.   Be the Good Samaritan.   Everybody sees that love.  Everybody can translate that language . . . . the universal language of Christ. 

I’ve told you this story before.  I don’t have that many years left as a priest, so I’ll share with you the stories I’ve got.  One day I was making my rounds in hospice at the VA, and two EMT’s wheeled in a patient.  They wanted to know which room the patient was going in.  The nurses were busy, so I told them and went down to the room with them.  To transfer a patient onto the bed, it really takes three people. One to grab the sheet, another to hold the head, and another to hold the feet.  Since there were only two EMT’s, I helped transfer the patient by holding his feet.  After we moved him, I went to the sink to wash my hands since I hadn’t used gloves.  One of the EMT’s who had been fairly rude to me earlier came over and said, “Thank you, Father.”   It was a big change from when they first came in even though I hadn’t done anything special.  One time a nurse asked me if I would help clean out a trachea tube which is not a real fun thing to do if you don’t have a strong stomach.  Sure.  “What did you do after that, Father?”  Lunch.  Cleaning the trachea tube didn’t bother me, and a man’s got to eat.  Anything you do to help someone, those acts of love, will be noticed.   They are things we do instinctively and perhaps with no forethought at all.  Something as simple as helping somebody with their shopping cart at Walmart by putting the cart back in its proper place so that it doesn’t go careening through the parking lot.  People will see those little acts of love.  It truly makes a difference because nowadays it’s so unusual.  But we are all called to do this as members of Christ’s Body. 

We are called to teach, evangelize, and to build up His Body which is His Church.  You were given the gift of tongue in Baptism because you were brought into the Body of Christ.  The gift of tongue is not a bunch of babbling.  Get some medicine, and you’ll be fine.   You don’t have to be a linguist . . . you have to be holy.  The gift of tongue is the gift of love by which we bring Christ’s love to the world.  God can work through even such a sinful creature as I am to bring Christ’s love and goodness to people.  You are no different than me – except better looking – God’s grace enables us to speak that one beautiful language of the Holy Spirit which is Christ and love.  And when people ask you how you can do that, you can tell them the reason is your Faith.  By the way, the reason is a Who and not a what.  So do those small acts of love; they always have an effect.  You never know.

Father’s Reflections . . . 

I learned from a highly placed, confidential source that things are crazy at Walmart.  It is Memorial Day weekend, and you can get great deals on all sorts of stuff like cars, mattresses, linens, appliances, and furniture.  It makes me so proud that I fought for our country!

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” then “Menu” and then “Categories.”  Sermon Notes are also available on the church Facebook page at ola.catholic.church.  Click on “Groups” and then “Sermon Notes.”

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Minute Meditation – Endless Light

It was the light she remembered. Even now, in all this darkness that attends aging, it is the light she remembers. The light. It is without horizons and yet most of the time it seems just beyond the horizon, the invisible presence that though it is inside her, is just beyond the horizon she became when the Holy Spirit overshadowed her. It is her hope, this light, especially in the deepest night. The memory of it now as then, just after the angel’s light, the words like the static of lightning disappearing and light remaining like a gentle rain falling, the room as quiet as before, the silence returning as light.

The closeness of the dark night. The memory of yesterday’s dawn making the dark light, the light dark, all because of that other Light out of the invisible, the place of the angel’s arrival and departure.

— from the book Nourishing Love: A Franciscan Celebration of Mary
by Murray Bodo, OFM

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The Catechism in a Year – Day 149 – The Holy Spirit Recalls Christ’s Mystery

Fr. Mike examines how the Holy Spirit recalls the mystery of Christ. We explore how the Holy Spirit both inspires the Word of God and recalls the Word of God. Fr. Mike emphasizes that it is the Holy Spirit that helps us hear and understand God’s Word. It is the Holy Spirit that helps elicit a response of consent and commitment within us. Today’s readings are Catechism paragraphs 1099-1103.

Click on link to play video: https://youtu.be/snd59NNDR-k