Tag: Last Rites

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Sermon Notes – May 14, 2023 – Grace Builds Upon Grace

Grace Builds Upon Grace

Father Peter Fitzgibbons

May 13 – 14, 2023

Gospel: John 14:15-21

In Latin, the word “Sacrament” means “mystery.”  So, why does God give us the Sacraments?  Through the Sacraments, He gives us the fruits of His suffering, death, and resurrection for the life of our souls.  The Sacraments (Baptism, Marriage, Holy Orders, Last Rites, Confirmation, Holy Communion, and Confession) are given at various times.  In Eastern Rite churches, Confirmation is called chrismation and is given at birth along with baptism.  I prefer it that way.  It’s like giving children all their shots early so they don’t get sick.   

The Sacrament of Confirmation is a strengthening Sacrament and helps you fight temptations if you use it.  To use it, you must practice your faith. . . . Mass on Sundays, Confession at least once a year, and prayer.  Now, I am a man of no talent while my brother had many talents.  I enjoy people who have talents, and I wish I had them.  Frankie has a wonderful talent.  She reads a foreign language called music.  That is totally foreign to me.  I took some music appreciation courses in college because they were easy A’s.  To get as good as Frankie is, she had to practice constantly; otherwise, she would lose her talent.  It’s just like your muscles; if you don’t use them, they atrophy.  It’s the same for the grace God offers us for our souls.  God gives you the gift of Himself to help you in this world and to keep you holy.  By staying holy, you evangelize.  For example, when you say to people, “I don’t do that” and they say “Why not?  Everybody else does it.”  And you say, “Because it’s not right.  It’s not Christ-like.”  That’s evangelization.  That’s someone who has a Christian backbone and stands up to what’s not right.   God gives you this grace which is fortified by prayer.  You never lose it.  If you commit a grave sin, it becomes dormant because sin drives God out of your soul.   But He is always willing to come back.  That’s the beauty of God’s love.  He never writes any of us off.  At the VA, I don’t ask patients if they want Last Rites because they are going to get it whether they want it or not.  I’m not going to ask.  They will have Last Rites because it’s a sign of God’s love.

God gives Himself to us so that we may have eternal life.   When we receive the Sacraments for the first time like Baptism, First Communion, Confirmation, and Marriage, it’s so exciting.  However, after the first or second time, Confession kind of feels mundane or ordinary.  But it’s not ordinary.  Just because it’s not like the first time doesn’t mean it’s not as good or that you aren’t doing it right.  In fact, it’s just the opposite.  It means you are doing it right, because one grace from the Sacraments builds upon another and strengthens your will.  Grace builds upon grace. 

When you cooperate with the grace from the Sacraments, you grow in God’s love.  A word of caution- when we draw closer to God, it catches the devil’s attention, and he will really come after us.  Now, do you always feel yourself growing closer to God?  No.  For example, many of us are on blood pressure medicine.  You really don’t feel it working, but it’s easy to find out by using a sphygmomanometer.  Thunk!   Just because you don’t feel it, doesn’t mean it’s not working.  That’s a temptation of the devil.   What that lack of sensory excitement means is that your love for God is becoming deeper and more ingrained.  You know what the happiest day of a married couple should be?  The day that one leaves to see Jesus.  Not because you want to see Jesus – although that’s a good idea – and not because you are rid of them – till death do us part is not a hope and prayer.  It’s because that love should have kept on building over all the years and becoming deeper.  It is deeper because the love you have as a 40-year-old is not the same as when you were first married in your 20’s.  It is deeper.  Hopefully, you’ve changed by growing in holiness.  Saying the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass is a lot different for me than it was 38 years ago when I was a young priest.  I’ve said Mass in some unusual places.  I got to say Mass at the cathedral with the bishop.  Woo-hoo!   But each Mass was deeper than the earlier ones.  So, you mustn’t give into the devil’s temptation by saying, “Oh, I’m not getting anything out of the Sacraments.”   Of course, you are.  You may not feel it, but you are.  Otherwise, you are denying His power.  In the Gospel, Christ said, “And I will put my spirit within you.…” (Ezekiel 36:27).  How does His spirit come within you?   It comes through the Sacraments.  So, if you say you’re getting nothing from the Sacraments, you are denying the Gospel.  If you say, “I get nothing out of the Mass,” that’s okay – you aren’t supposed to.  You come to give of yourself.  You give yourself into my hands, and I, acting in the person of Christ, emulate with you Christ’s sacrifice on the altar as an offering to the Father.  You are united to His suffering, and I give you back your life in Holy Communion. 

I want to thank all the teachers who helped with Faith Formation this year.  It was a wonderful year.  It’s hard to do because we live in a very un-Christian society.  I appreciate the sacrifice; I really do.  Never think that your sacrifice goes unnoticed.  You will be repaid for anything you do for the love of God.   But you’ll never know when.  He will reward you for any small act of love you do for Him.  Give of yourself totally in the Mass.  Everybody has problems and they bring them here.  Make an intellectual prayer:  “I offer myself totally to you.”  And with that offering, you become part of Christ’s sacrifice.   From that offering, you give back to yourself.  More than that, He gives Himself to you.  

Father’s Reflections . . . Yesterday was kind of fun.  People were all dressed up for Confirmation although that’s not a requirement.  They really looked good.  Even Tom Adams looked like he was ready for Hartsell’s Funeral Home.  Last night, we had 14 Confirmations and one First Communion.  It was an interesting day.   I administered five of the seven Sacraments.  If I had performed a marriage ceremony, it would have been six Sacraments.  The remaining sacrament is Holy Orders which only a bishop can administer.   Finally, I am sad to announce that Ms. Dottie is retiring after almost 50 years of teaching Faith Formation.  We’ll leave the light on just in case she changes her mind.  She will be missed. 

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.”

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Sermon Notes – September 18, 2022 – “You are Rich Beyond Measure”

“You are Rich Beyond Measure”

Father Peter Fitzgibbons

 September 17 – 18, 2022

Gospel:  Luke 16:10-13

Jesus said to His disciples: “The person who is trustworthy in very small matters is also trustworthy in great ones; and the person who is dishonest in very small matters is also dishonest in great ones. If, therefore, you are not trustworthy with dishonest wealth, who will trust you with true wealth?  If you are not trustworthy with what belongs to another, who will give you what is yours?  No servant can serve two masters.  He will either hate one and love the other or be devoted to one and despise the other.  You cannot serve both God and mammon.”

In all 12 step programs, the same steps are used from the original 12 Step Program for how to get sober.  The fourth step is to take a fearless, moral inventory of ourselves.  That is the fourth step in every 12 Step Program, and you must do it to get sober, clean, or recover from whatever the addiction.  When people take a moral inventory, it’s usually an immoral inventory.  The next step is to tell someone, and I’ve heard a number of them recount all the bad things they’ve done.  And that’s good so they don’t have to use whatever they are addicted to kill their conscience. 

So, where did this idea originate?  They got it from the Catholic Church.  We make an examination of conscience before going to Confession.  I was taught in Catholic school to make an examination of conscience at the end of each day.  In our nightly prayers, we said the Act of Contrition.  And that’s so important to do.   Also, make a moral inventory.   Why are you are saying that you are sorry?   Because of the great gift that you have, the gift of Catholic Faith that was given to you by God.  Perhaps because of the auspices of your parents, family, others who came later, or free will, you have the gift of God.  You have the beautiful gift of the Catholic Faith that brings hope and joy to this life.  This is the reason for rejoicing.  He gives you joy, and no matter how much you have in your bank account, you are rich beyond all imagination. 

The gifts offered to you can bring happiness and peace.   It’s not found in a bottle.  It’s not
found in a big bank account.  It’s found in a Person.  If I had a big bank account, I would know where to shop.  I know where the Bentley dealer is. . .it’s over in High Point.  I know a good real estate agent and if I were rich, I could buy a house in Martha’s Vineyard for about $4.5 million.  But that doesn’t buy happiness.  Once you have a Bentley, you worry about keeping people away from your car.  If you have a house at the beach, you’ve got to take care of it and pay taxes on it.  Then there are the relatives who want to come stay with you.  It ain’t worth it!  The happiness you have is the hope in following the precise steps for how to get to Heaven.  You come here to participate and to offer yourselves in the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass.  And if you are able, to receive the Most Precious Body of our Lord Jesus Christ in Holy Communion by the hand of Christ which is the priest. 

What did we do to deserve that?  When we fall from the weight of our crosses, due to our imprecision in following the steps of Christ, what do we have?  We have the Sacrament of Penance in which He forgives and forgets all our sins.   We have the Sacrament of Confirmation which strengthens us in carrying our cross and fulfilling our primary vocation which is to become saints.  Did you know that?  I have given the Last Rites twice in the last two days.  When we are raised up onto our final cross to endure our own Passion and death with Christ – during the last three hours or so of our lives – Christ’s consoling love, strength, and forgiveness is granted to us.  The Apostolic Pardon is a full pardon for all of your sins and a plenary indulgence that wipes it all away and gives you a totally clean slate.  I hope you get it.  There are things in my 201 file that may be a little sketchy.  But we have hope.  Plus, we have the gift of faith, and we are never alone. 

People ask me to pray for them, and I do.  But you have to realize that the whole Catholic Church is praying for you 24/7.  That’s over one billion people.  Listen to the words of the Mass.  They are always in the plural.  The whole Church is praying for you during the Sacrifice of the Mass.  Not only the entire Church on Earth, but the entire Church in Heaven, which is countless, is always praying for you.  You belong to the Body of Christ which is present throughout the world.  This is not just some little church or faith community.  You belong to the Body of Christ present throughout the world.  If you wanted to get married at the Vatican in Rome, and you have the money and the time, I could give you the paperwork to do that.  That is your church.  It belongs to you.  Italians in white robes are just caretakers of it for you. You are not alone.  By the gift of Catholic Faith, you are united with all God’s people who are praying for you. 

Such are the great treasures we have, and too often we forget to say, “thank you.”  We reduce them to something almost like play-acting in church.  This is not playacting.   We have lost the sense of wonder and awe.  This great prayer you have come to offer is one in which you come to offer yourselves in the sacrifice of Christ.  How wonderful is our Faith.  That is the greatest gift.  People ask for forgiveness of their sins, and that’s what we should do.  But we should also say, “thank you.”  Thanksgiving is one of the ends of the Mass.  So, realize how rich you are.  You are rich beyond your wildest dreams.  Embrace that richness, as clear as your bank account, and everything else will find its proper place.

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”