Tag: Hyperbole

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Sermon Notes – September 17, 2023 – “We Cannot Give What We Do Not Have”

“We Cannot Give What We Do Not Have”

 Father Peter Fitzgibbons

 September 16 – 17, 2023

Gospel:  Matthew 18:21-35

This sermon has been felon-approved by the folks at FU (Felon University; i.e., the prison).  Remember, I have often told you that to study scripture you have to study it in the language and culture in which events occurred.  Otherwise, you won’t understand the extreme significance of our Lord’s words.  For example, consider the question, “Lord, if my brother sins against me, how often must I forgive him? As many as seven times?”   Now, if you have a family like mine, before their number was reduced considerably, sometimes they can really tick you off.  When my brother would make me mad, I’d wonder if it was the sixth or seventh time and if I should forgive him.  But our Lord said, ‘”I do not say to you seven times, but seventy times seven.”  Catholic school math tells me that is 490 times that I must forgive.  I could reach that number at a family reunion! 

In Aramaic, seven is a perfect number – it is zero, a perfect circle, and so it is infinite.  Our Lord said, “seventy times seven” or beyond infinity.  Why did He use that language?  Because while most modern languages today have comparative and superlative tenses, Aramaic and Hebrew did not at the time.  Remember when spies were sent to the Promised Land?  When they came back, they said that the people there were as numerous as grasshoppers and as tall as giants.   No, they weren’t.   There were just so many people that the spies couldn’t count them all, and the people were huge.  When Jesus fed the 5,000, not counting women and children, do you think the apostles were doing a head count?  1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7. . .   No.   It’s like when the diocese asks how many people were at church.  Well, the church was full, so there were 300.   The numbers are hyperbole. . . a number beyond counting.   

Our Lord used that hyperbolic phrase, “seventy times seventy” because that is how great God’s mercy is.  God’s nature is mercy and love.  So to deny everlasting mercy would be to deny Himself.   No matter how badly you think you’ve sinned, He absolutely forgives and forgets.  The only thing God cannot forgive is our not asking for forgiveness because He will not violate our free will.  We can keep things to ourselves although He already knows.  So, don’t think you are keeping anything from Him.  It is our choice to love Him or not.  Receiving His mercy is one of the greatest experiences of God’s love.  And that experience of God’s love enables us, as Saint John Paul II said, to go from the Sacrament of Penance which is the Sacrament of His mercy and love to the Sacrament of Holy Communion and Mass.  We can have a deeper appreciation, bond, and love for the Sacrament of Penance which leads to other Sacraments.  When someone says, “Father, I don’t need to go to confession,” I tell them that they also don’t need Holy Communion.  “What do you mean, Father?”   Did I stutter?  (My new favorite phrase.)  Then I ask a series of questions.  Who do you see in Holy Communion?  “Jesus Christ.”  Very good.  Who is Jesus Christ?  “The Savior.”   What does He save you from?  “Sin.”  And if you have no sins, you don’t need Mass and you don’t need to receive Holy Communion.   We all need a Savior. 

We cannot give what we do not have.  Likewise, we cannot forgive others if we have not experienced forgiveness.  Because of our diminished intellect and fallen nature, we tend to judge our spiritual nature by our feelings.  When we are called to forgive others, we might say, “I don’t feel like forgiving that person.”   However, Jesus used a declarative sentence when He said, “Forgive.”  Nowhere in the Gospels did He ever ask, “How do you feel about that?”   Our Lord doesn’t care how you feel.  Forgiveness is an act of the will.  Our feelings are diminished and don’t always lead us in the right direction.  The right thing to do goes beyond our feelings and inclinations.   When I eat fish – Eugh! –  I do not feel like eating fish!  I hate fish!!  Damn doctors!   But I have to eat it.  Did the doctor ask if I like fish?  No!   Did he tell me to eat it?  Yes.  Quack!   For many years, I thought bacon was a health food.  God really has a way of laughing at us.  But eating fish is the right thing to do, so I reluctantly choke it down. 

Our Lord gave us a way to deal with all those feelings and resentments we have for others.  He said, “Pray for them.”  Pray for those who hate and persecute you.  One, they may be wrong; and two, they may be right, and we really are jerks.   Who knows.  But we pray for them, and we pray for ourselves so that we can get our distorted feelings and emotions back in check.  People say, “Father, you must hear lots of juicy things during confessions.”  Not really.  After the first week of hearing confessions, it’s like being stoned to death with popcorn.  If you have a sin I’ve never heard, I’ll name it after you.  Some people come to confession very upset, and I ask them what they have done.  “Well, I did this.”  Sometimes the hardest thing about hearing confessions is not laughing.   Really?  You are definitely pole-vaulting over mouse droppings here.   But what I hear while being stoned to death with popcorn is their great love.  I hear what people say and what they don’t say.  They realize they have sinned and have cut themselves off from God’s love.  They love God and want to come back and open their souls up to receive God’s love.  That’s what I hear, and I really do listen.  You aren’t going to sneak one in on me.  “Father, I talk cruelly to my dog and my cat.  I did some speeding.  I killed two people and umm…”  Whoa!  That’s called an Oreo confession.  But besides that, I hear the love for God.  And that’s what priests are listening for.

Father’s Reflections . . .

On Friday, I was doing my ACLS or CPR recertification, and I was working on a very expensive and sophisticated mannequin that would tell me if I needed to go deeper, faster, slower, or move my hands.  And all of a sudden, the mannequin went “de-de-de Woo-Bunk” and completely shut down.     So, I did the only thing I could . . . I pulled the sheet up over the mannequin, turned out the light, and closed the door as I left.  I’m a hospital chaplain; I’ve done this before.

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 – February 26, 2023 – “Writing Checks Does Not Change Hearts”

“Writing Checks Does Not Change Hearts”

Father Peter Fitzgibbons

February 25 – 26, 2023

Gospel:   Matthew 4:1-11

Remember when reading scripture, you must consider the culture.  Forty days and forty nights in Hebrew means a long time.  They used hyperbole.   Just last week a minister took Jesus at His word literally, and he fasted for forty days and forty nights.  He didn’t even come close to forty days before he died.   “Jesus will save me from having no food and no water.”   Not from being stupid He won’t.   Jesus prepared Himself for His public ministry by going a long time without food or water.   Forty days may not be accurate, but then again, He is God.  So, there is that to consider.  

The temptations of Christ all lead, in their own way, to what He came here to do . . . to suffer, die, and open the gates of Heaven for us if we imitate Him.  If we want to be with Him, we have to imitate Him.  The temptations of Christ are the same temptations we will face.   He endured everything as we do because He was true man but without sin.  We will have those same temptations.   “People are bad because they don’t have stuff.”   That’s not true.  How about that murderer in South Carolina.  He was a rich man and brilliant.  You can’t get through law school on your looks.   He had money, so what happened to him?  How many millionaires wind up in prison?  A lot.  If you do something stupid and get caught, that’s what happens.  “People need a computer.”   Not so much a computer anymore because that’s old school.  They need an iPhone, iPad, or whatever.  But it’s not a lack of stuff that makes us sinful.  It’s willfully turning our backs on Christ.   Is everyone at Felon University (a prison) there because they didn’t have access to an Android cell phone?  No.  They are there because they chose to be evil.  Being poor doesn’t cause you to be bad.  Not having the latest Android phone won’t cause you to rob a bank or inhale cocaine.  Those are self-inflicted wounds.   You are choosing something instead of Someone.  Our faith is centered around a Person and in a Person – Jesus Christ. 

Almsgiving covers a multitude of sins but after the almsgiving you must have Jesus.  You cannot make people better by simply writing checks.  Look at the Church which has become Church, Inc.  Recently, I received a nice brochure from the Office of Planned Giving.   It said, “Father, talk to your people.  Encourage them when they die to leave their estates to the Church and the Foundation of the Diocese in Charlotte.  Are you kidding me?   All this money we send them is for the magnificent buildings and tons of staff they have.  “Oh, we all work for the poor.”   Ah, have you been to Albemarle?  We are poor.   “Can you leave us some money for the DSA, priest retirement, and administrative expenses?”   Really?  I’d be better off working with Tony Soprano.  At least there I’d get some protection if I paid Tony 10%. 

The second temptation of Christ was to throw Himself down and have the angels support Him.  Religion is not a show.   “Give them a show and they will come.”   Remember Herod?   Jesus came to him and said, “Herod, what. . . no show?  Nothing?”  We want a show even at Mass.  “We come to Mass, and it’s the same boring stuff.”  How you can call Christ boring is beyond me and is kind of blasphemous. I was about to have Mass in Statesville when somebody came up to me and said, “Father, we can’t start Mass.  We don’t have a reader.”  It will be alright; I’ve been doing this a long time.  “But we need someone.”   I’ve got this.  It’s not a big problem.  “Father, we have no music.”   That’s alright . . .they didn’t have a band at the Last Supper either.   And I’m pretty sure there also wasn’t one at Calvary.  You’ve got me and the elements.  That’s all we need.  If you go to other churches, they sing six verses of songs.  I believe that’s sinful because Church Law says that music should not interfere with the progress of the Mass.  I offer Mass at Felon University (the prison), hospitals, and nursing homes and there is no music, and nobody sings.   Although at the hospital I get some pretty odd reactions.   I was saying Mass one day and this one guy said, “Father, so-and-so said I could be a priest.”   Another said, “I’m a saint.”  Well, not yet but you are headed toward it.  The first step to sainthood is death.  When I say Mass in nursing homes, they fall asleep . . . just like you.   So, I’m used to it.

We all want a show.   Instead of focusing on the Blessed Sacrament, we focus on the process and who does what.  Some of the guidance I’ve received is silly.   “People must take their proper role at the Mass.”  Well, we have people, and we have Christ.  Perfect.  That’s all we need.  There is nothing else.  We cannot give greater meaning to Christ.  Whether it is holding your hands up during the Our Father (a priestly gesture and should not be done) or joining hands, it is all made up stuff.    It doesn’t make anything more meaningful.  You cannot put more meaning into Christ.  We can only receive Him with greater love through the Sacraments, prayer, and mortification.  The Holy Sacrifice of the Mass is not a show – it’s an act of love.            

We need to talk to everyone and be part of the political system.”  No, you don’t.   Everything can become political fodder.  For example, I’m curious about why the Vatican has a representative at the United Nations, and I’d like to ask a few questions.  “Excuse me.  How much does that cost?  Who pays for that?”   If you are so concerned for the poor, knock it off.  I don’t know if you have heard about it, but these days we have something called email.  So, I think we can get the message out.  We don’t need someone physically present in a dress to talk to people who don’t care for them.  How many converts are you getting there, Bishop?  Are you getting as many as Saint Theresa by tending to lepers in their disgusting condition?  They don’t smell like they do on television.  Ask any nurse.  There’s not enough Lysol to cover that smell. 

“We are called to be holy.  By being holy, we can change things.  We don’t change people by creating more laws.  We have more laws than we know what to do with.  It’s not that we have bad laws.  We have laws we cannot enforce.  I love reading the sheriff’s blog in the newspaper.  “Felon caught with a gun.”  Don’t you think they know they’re not supposed to have a gun?   I don’t think they bought it legally at Walmart.  Shocking!   Don’t you think they know that possession with intent and a laundry list of other crimes is bad?  “Oh!  I didn’t know selling heroin was bad.”   Public schools!   We don’t change laws – we change hearts.  We change hearts by Christ and not by someone with a badge and a gun.   

It’s not about a show.  It’s not about political power.  It’s about the power of Christ.  You do not change society by changing laws.  We have more laws than we can possibly enforce and too many for lawyers to remember.  But we can change society by first changing our hearts and then changing the hearts of others.  True power in this world is not gained by holding a political office.  It comes by having Christ in our souls and being holy.  Then we can change things because we are changed.  We bring that agent of change which is Christ to others.  When our own hearts are changed, then we can influence others.   We change hearts that way and not by changing laws.  It can be very difficult when we try to do the right thing, and sometimes people won’t appreciate us.  That’s okay.  They didn’t appreciate Christ either.  But you are “worthy to suffer for the name.”   And just as they tempted Christ, they will tempt us.  When you are tempted, say, “Hey, I must be doing okay because I’m being tempted like Christ was.  Jesus came to change hearts.  He did not create one piece of legislation.  He did not call for conferences or senates.  He called us to holiness and communion with Him.  To walk with Him, to be one with Him and, especially during this season of Lent, to be one with Him on the Cross. 

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 facebook.com/ola.catholic.church.  Click on “Groups” and then “Sermon Notes.”