“We are God’s Hands and Feet”
Father Peter Fitzgibbons
May 23 – 24, 2026
Gospel: John 20:19-23
Last week, I told you about how Jesus took His human nature from the Blessed Mother, which was assumed into His divine nature and taken to Heaven. Do you remember that? You do? Good, because otherwise my feelings would be hurt. I’m very sensitive. But that begs the question: who is going to carry out His mission? He is gone, so who is going to carry on His work? We are men, not angels. “Well, I am spiritual.” Really? Just because you read a cookbook doesn’t mean you are full. You need food. So, our Lord takes our human nature and uses it to continue His ministry on Earth. Remember what He said to Paul in the Book of Acts: “Paul, Paul, why are you persecuting Me?” He didn’t say “My church” or “a small Christian community.” He said, ‘Me.’ We are Christ’s humanity. We are His hands, His feet, and His head extending down through time to continue His mission of sanctification, redemption, and evangelization.
God is alive. His spirit is alive, and He is active in the world. Your vocation is to make God present in the world according to whatever talent He has given you and the place He has put you in the Body of Christ. He takes our human nature and uses it to proclaim His love. How do we proclaim God’s love? Is it by the babbling of tongues? No. If you start babbling in tongues, we are going to call somebody to take you to 3 North. That place has locks, and you cannot get in or out. We proclaim God’s love by visiting the sick and taking care of them. That is Christ doing that. Did Christ cure everybody? No. People still died. I feel for Lazarus. He rose from the dead, which meant he had to die again. Come on, Lord! That’s not fair.
So how do we reach all people at all times? As Saint Francis said, “Proclaim the Gospel whether convenient or inconvenient and use words if necessary.” We preach love by our actions. That is how people come to know Christ. The German and Japanese soldiers who were captured were shocked that we fed them as well as we fed our own soldiers. They were shocked that we did that. This is the language we speak, and it is also evangelization. This is Christ’s healing hands displayed down through the generations. “God is still healing?” Yes, Phyllis is sitting right there. Phyllis used the talent God gave her, studied hard, and brought comfort and healing to many people. Christ heals through the doctors and nurses. We have police officers here. God watches over us through their protective care. God teaches us through His priests. He nurtures us through our mothers and grandmothers. He protects us through our fathers and husbands.
Christ reaches down through the ages using our human nature to proclaim His love and His living presence in the world. You see it in the Mass and the Sacraments. But we proclaim it in a language that everyone can understand, whether they are from Oakboro or not. I have been here a long time – God help you – that will take time off in purgatory for you. But I know you, and you speak the universal language of love. When I was in high school, I studied two languages, French and Latin. My French teacher, Mademoiselle Martel did not like the French I learned at home, and not just the bad words. The French I learned at home was Canadian-French. My ancestors were from Canada, and my mother was a fifth-generation American and spoke French. She spoke English at home because my grandfather made it mandatory. So, I spoke Canadian-French. But I am not skilled at speaking other languages. If you want to hear me babble, come to the 12:15 Spanish Mass. They say I speak Spanish with a French accent. Sometimes, if I get lost, I switch to Latin. It is an interesting experience.
We are meant to proclaim God’s love by cooperating with the Holy Spirit and making Christ present by living holy lives. People will see the love of God in you. You don’t have to stand on a street corner screeching. Live a good, holy life, and people will see the spirit of God within you. They will ask, “What do you have and how can I get it?”
Father’s Reflections:
Memorial Day is on Monday, and it occurred to me that I could save a lot of money this weekend by buying a mattress or a car. Why? Because of Memorial Day sales. Is this a day when we honor all our veterans? No. Veterans Day is November 11th. Memorial Day began in the South during the Civil War as Decoration Day, when they honored fallen Confederate soldiers. In the North, the Grand Army of the Republic adopted the idea and began honoring its fallen soldiers. It was made into a national practice and eventually passed into law. We honor those soldiers who have died while in service to our country. There’s a movie called “Taking Chance.” Friends of mine saw it and told me, “Oh, you have to see this movie! It’s so good. We cried.” It’s about a Marine major who was working at the Pentagon, perfecting his cappuccino recipe, as we like to call it. He decided to get in the game and wanted to work on an escort detail for a fallen Marine killed in action. The movie was pretty accurate. My friends insisted I needed to see this movie, but I said, “That was part of my day job. I did that every day.” I also did the notifications. I was accompanying a colonel to make a notification. The colonel said, “I’ve never done this before. What do I say?” I told him that he wouldn’t need to say anything. We knocked on the door, and when the family saw two uniformed military officers standing there, they started screaming and slammed the door. The colonel looked at me, and I said, “That went pretty well.” On Memorial Day, we call to mind the sacrifice all those soldiers made in our wars. I have had to bury some of my own soldiers. We take care of our own. It calls to mind the loved ones they left behind. Sometimes it takes a long time for soldiers to die from the wounds they received in war. Ted Kupsick is one who comes to mind. The doctors saved his life while in the field, but his life was shortened. There was a man I used to see at the VA who had Agent Orange poisoning. Twenty years after the fact, the war killed him. I went with my cousin to put my uncle’s Purple Heart on his tombstone. It also took him a long time to die from his wounds. So, today, in the midst of going to all the sales, remember a high price was paid for that. Sometimes you just need to say, ‘thank you.’
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.”
