Tag: Isaiah

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Sermon Notes – January 26, 2025 –  “Catholic Calisthenics”

                                   “Catholic Calisthenics”

                                  Father Peter Fitzgibbons

                                  January 25 – 26, 2025

Gospel:  Luke 1:1-4, 4:14-21

People say, “You Catholics move around a lot in church.”  Yeah, we try to keep fit.  We call it Catholic calisthenics.  Do you know what that is?   During the Mass, we sit, we stand, we kneel, and we repeat.   Do you know why we do that?  Because man is composed of three elements – body, soul, and spirit.  We pray with our whole body.  That’s why we kneel during petitions.  We kneel during Adoration, and we stand out of respect.  Do you know why we do that?  They are positions of prayer, and we stand out of respect.   

When I was in the Officer Basic Course, as part of my training, I was required to read the officer manual.  Do you know what it said?  The Army didn’t take anything for granted.  It said that when a lady comes into the room, you stand.  I remember thinking, “Were some of these guys raised by wolves and not by women?”  The Army had broad experience in dealing with stupid.  So, we stood up for women.  During the Mass, we also stand up for the Gospel reading.  These are the words of Christ, and we stand up out of respect.  When the priest proclaims the Gospel, he is acting in the person of Christ, so it is like hearing the words from Christ’s lips just as it was 2,000 years ago.   We stand to show reverence for the words of God. 

During prayer, we kneel in supplication. We pray with our bodies.  Sometimes it gets a little out of hand.  Praying with arms raised is a priestly gesture called orans posture.  Imitating the actions of a priest has venial sin attached to it.  Sometimes people are overly zealous.  In some churches, everyone holds hands during the Lord’s Prayer.  Now, unless you are a nurse trying to take my pulse, if you grab my hand, you are a dead man.   Why?  Because that is just made up.   There was this man at my parish in Statesville who was a little off-center.   I served with his son overseas.  When I would say, “The Lord be with you,” he would
yell back, “AND ALSO WITH YOU, SIR!!”   Thanks, appreciate it.  You have to admire the guy’s zeal; he was a few pills short of a good day.

In the ancient church, people prayed the Our Father flat on their faces, prostrated, as a sign of humility because it is the words of the Lord Himself and was given to us to teach us how to pray.  Praying the Our Father while prostrated showed great humility, respect, love, awe, and wonder.  We, too, should pray with great awe and not in a sing-song way.  We should also pray on Sunday, the day our Lord set aside for relaxation and enjoyment.  That lesson is in the Old Testament in the Jewish Midrash.   If you want to be Catholic, be a Jew first so that you understand why we do these things.  During Midrash, we are supposed to taste and enjoy so many things to give a hundred blessings to Almighty God.  That’s in the Old Testament.  Indeed, as we pray with our whole body, we praise God for all His blessings. 

Today in the Mass, the words of Isaiah are so true.  The prophet proclaimed that he had been anointed by the Lord to bring good news: “The spirit of the Lord God is upon me because the Lord has anointed me; He has sent me to bring good news to the afflicted, to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and release to the prisoners (Isaiah 61:1).   Priests have the means to restore sight to those who have been blinded by sin and to free them from the prison of sin.  This is the good news.  This is what our good Lord announced as the way to be free in soul, mind, and spirit.  Remember, the “way” is not a “what;” it is a Who.  We have the means to have a divine life.  Our Lord tells us how and gives us the means to achieve eternal life.  We all struggle with daily crosses as we follow Him to Calvary and to the empty tomb.  Unfortunately, you cannot get to the resurrection without going through Calvary.  You cannot go around it.  This is a wonderful day.  The words of the prophet Isaiah are fulfilled.

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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Minute Meditation – Back to Ground Level

The prophet Isaiah is the voice and spirit of the Advent season. In the eighth century before Christ was born, his words encouraged a people dejected and torn from their homes by soldiers of a foreign power. The people of Israel were carried off to Assyria, exiled from their homeland, driven out of the Promised Land. While God’s prophets, including Isaiah, had warned them time and time again that this would happen, until they were living the reality of the exile, they didn’t see the need to change their ways. But once the worst had happened, he changed his tone and his words brought comfort and hope to an afflicted people. He continued to call them to change their lives and turn again to their God, but he did it with gentleness and encouragement, with reminders of how very much God loved them, even in the midst of their suffering.

At different times in our lives, we find ourselves beaten down by circumstances—some beyond our control and some the consequence of bad choices on our part. We’re embarrassed by the number of times people have warned us that we were going the wrong way. We feel consumed by regret and remorse. At times such as these, we need to hear the word of God through the prophet Isaiah, reminding us that God is merciful, that God loves us just as we are, that in spite of our weakness and sin, God is always ready to welcome us home, to bring us back to level ground. If you’ve reached one of these valleys during this holiday season, don’t beat yourself up for the way you’re feeling. Remember that our resolutions to do better, our commitment to repentance and turning our lives around, all happen with God’s help.

— from the book Simple Gifts: Daily Reflections for Advent
by Diane M. Houdek

//Franciscan Media//

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Minute Meditation – The Servant of the Servant of God

“He shall bring forth justice to the nations. But he will not cry out or make his voice heard in the street…until he establishes justice on the earth…. I, the Lord, have called you for the victory of justice…to open the eyes of the blind, and to bring out prisoners from confinement.” —Isaiah 42:1–2, 4, 7 

In Isaiah we have the first of the rightly named “Servant Songs,” which will continue throughout the week. In these four accounts hidden away in Isaiah, one either sees a foretelling of Jesus in brilliant analysis, or one wonders if Jesus was “modeled” to fit these lovely descriptions. The correlation is uncanny, at any rate. In the Gospel from John we have a woman acting as the “servant” to Jesus. (Maybe this is the connection?) We have Mary of Bethany again taking the fervent disciple’s role instead of the hostess role of Martha. She anoints Jesus’ feet with expensive nard, which is the anointing oil for death. My interpretation of this from all three varied Gospel accounts is that Mary is accepting the inevitability and necessity of death for Jesus (which Peter and the male inner circle cannot do!). “The whole house is filled with the fragrance.” Judas is the spokesman in the story, and he pretends to prefer the poor to a simple act of love. That is the clear point. It is forever a judgment on what we might now call “ideology on the left,” a good balance after the text has heavily criticized the ideology of religious zealots and Pharisees on the “right.” Jesus’ response appears to be directly from Deuteronomy: “There will always be poor in the land. I command you therefore, always be open-handed with anyone in the country who is in need or is poor” (15:11). Unfortunately, only the first phrase is quoted in the Gospel text, with the sad result that people have used this story to teach that religious piety is more important than social justice. As Paul will insightfully say later, “If I give away all that I possess, piece by piece, or even if I give away my body to be burned, but do not have love, it is useless” (1 Corinthians 13:3). As always, love of Jesus and love of justice for the neighbor are just two different shapes to the One Love. 

“God of love and justice, let me know and live that they are not separate. Loving people will do justice, and just people will do their work with love and respect.”

— from the book Wondrous Encounters: Scriptures for Lent

by Richard Rohr, OFM

//Franciscan Media//

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The Bible in a Year – Day 192 – The Prophet Isaiah

Today we begin reading the book of the prophet Isaiah and the book of Tobit! Fr. Mike helps us understand the historical context of Isaiah’s ministry to Judah, and the themes of condemnation and consolation present in his writings. As we enter into the book of Tobit, Fr. Mike emphasizes Tobit’s virtuous character. Today we read Isaiah 1-2, Tobit 1-2, and Proverbs 9:7-12.

Click on link:
https://youtu.be/xEOlzZfroPg

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The Bible in a Year – Day 194 – Holy is the Lord

Fr. Mike zeroes in on Isaiah 5-6 today. He emphasizes the literary masterpiece of the parable of the vineyard in Isaiah 5 and how it represents the story of Israel. He also shows us how Isaiah 6 is full of rich symbolism that points to the sacred realities of the Mass. We are reminded that God is truly holy and deserving of our praise. Today’s readings are Isaiah 5-6, Tobit 5-6, and Proverbs 10:1-4.

Click on link:
https://youtu.be/weiDPkNuLs0

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The Bible in a Year – Day 196 – Destruction of Israel

Fr. Mike talks about the destruction of Israel and explains how Jesus becoming man is the fulfillment of this prophecy we hear in Isaiah. He also points out the importance of God’s anger with the Assyrians destroying Israel, even though he will bring the greatest blessings out of the worst circumstances. Today’s readings are Isaiah 9-10, Tobit 10-12, and Proverbs 10:9-12.

Click on link:
https://youtu.be/c98r3mpAbiw