Daily Reflection – The Spirit in Us Compels Us to Love
Feed Your Soul – What Gets in the Way of Love
The #1 Thing That Gets in the Way of Love
THIS WEEK’S GOSPEL IS JOHN 13:31-35
Love is impossible without freedom. And what do we all want more than to love and be loved?
Yet, we seem to entertain all kinds of slaveries in our lives, don’t we? We embrace the chains of distraction, selfishness and unforgiveness—and hold ourselves back from experiencing the fullest kind of love.
Today, Matthew explores how Jesus helps us overcome what gets in the way of love.
Daily Dose of Mindfulness – Day 1 – New, Deep, and Real
New, Deep, and Real
Catholic mindfulness is all about understanding God’s real mercy and love. This comes as a surprise to most people. Dr. Bottaro unpacks how this surprising reality is the most important thing we can learn in our spiritual lives.
Click on link to play video:
Sermon Notes: October 1 – 2, 2022 – “Would You Rather Have a Colonoscopy?”
“Would You Rather Have a Colonoscopy?”
Father Peter Fitzgibbons
October 1 – 2, 2022
Gospel: Luke 17:5-10
5 The apostles said to the Lord, ‘Increase our faith.’ 6 The Lord replied, ‘If you had faith like a mustard seed you could say to this mulberry tree, “Be uprooted and planted in the sea,” and it would obey you. 7 ‘Which of you, with a servant ploughing or minding sheep, would say to him when he returned from the fields, “Come and have your meal at once”? 8 Would he not be more likely to say, “Get my supper ready; fasten your belt and wait on me while I eat and drink. You yourself can eat and drink afterwards”? 9 Must he be grateful to the servant for doing what he was told? 10 So with you: when you have done all you have been told to do, say, “We are useless servants: we have done no more than our duty.” ‘
As a priest I hear a lot of things, and some are more interesting than others. I’ve heard this many times when I ask people why they don’t go to church: “When I was young, I went to church all the time. I prayed all the time. I even ate fish on Fridays.” Eating fish on Fridays was not mandatory. You couldn’t eat meat on Fridays, but fish was not mandatory. “Well, I’ve paid my dues, and now I don’t have to go.” And I say, “Really? You know, when I was young, I took a lot of showers and brushed my teeth a lot. Does that mean I don’t have to do it now?” That’s the attitude of some people. They will give you a laundry list of all the things they’ve done for the church and how great they are. But there is no love there. It’s like you’ve done this huge favor for our Lord by responding to the invitation to Mass and showing up. But where is the “thank you” for the many gifts, God has given us? Where is the gratitude for all the bad things God has prevented from happening to us? I shouldn’t be here. I should be dead. My business locations were interesting, so I should not be here.
The way we talk about religious acts, “I’ve got to go to Mass.” It’s like saying, “I’ve got to get a colonoscopy.” Participating in the Mass is a great act of love for our Savior. Are you really in love with our Lord or are you here so you won’t have to worry about eternal hell fire? Love does not keep track of what it does for the Beloved. Love only regrets it could not have done more.
Father’s Reflections. . .
Some of you have asked how my vacation was and if I had fun. My vacation caused me to have some deep thoughts. I wondered whether I’m getting old or if I’m just getting good at what I do because I didn’t need bail money while I was gone. But my vacations are always…interesting. I’ll give you one story besides the one about the woman who threw up in the aircraft on the flight back – we had a flight and a show, so what the heck – we got it all. It really wasn’t a bad flight. If you have ever flown on a military aircraft there is what’s called a “map of the earth,” and it’s a lot of fun. It’s like riding in an airplane on a roll-a-coaster. You learn to keep whatever you’ve eaten down…or not. Anyway, one morning I was eating breakfast at the diner like usual and I was talking a lady I know, Cindy, who is a paranormal or ghosthunter. She told me about a very old cemetery across the street which dated back to the Revolutionary War. But she was scared to go there. She was once at this cemetery in the daytime, and she heard a voice say, “Get out!” She felt a presence, so she picked up her dog and ran out of the cemetery. I said, “Really! I’ve been all over that cemetery and haven’t encountered anything.” She asked me if I was afraid. I said, “Do you know Who I work for? Are you talking to me? I know a Guy.” She asked me if my sister-in-law and I would go there with her so she could show us the spot. So, we went to the cemetery and she took us to a spot and said, “Right here. This is where it happened.” So I walked behind the gravestone and found another one that was flat and black. I looked down and it was the grave of a young guy who was a member of a biker club. I said, “It might be him. He probably left the planet a little unhappy. It could be him, but who knows.” This is some of the fun that I have. What do you do for fun while on vacation? Something you probably wouldn’t do, but that is just me.
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”
You-Do-You
Have you ever heard the slogan “You do you”? Dr. Sri discusses the negative connotations of this statement and how we are called to live and love in a much greater way.
Click on link:
https://embed.podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-harm-of-you-do-you/id1272460524?i=1000556271771
What St. Francis and Lepers Can Teach Us About Love
Click on link:
//All Things Catholic//
Sermon Notes – September 11, 2022 – “God Loves Them More Than You Do”
“God Loves Them More Than You Do”
Father Peter Fitzgibbons
September 10 – 11, 2022
Gospel: Luke 15: 1-32
The other day I was making my rounds at the VA hospital, and one of the nurses told me that there was a new addition to Hospice. I said “Okay” and I went in to the patient’s room. He didn’t look good at all and won’t make it through the weekend Although they gave him two years in the original diagnosis, his doctors helped him get six years beyond that. He got eight years when he was supposed to have two. That shows you how well medicine works. But now he was on his way to see the Savior. I was talking to his wife and his sister-in-law was also there. Very nice and sweet people. I told them that I needed to ask them some questions because I have to do a Chaplain’s Spiritual Assessment for every patient who comes in. Mostly, it’s creative writing on my part. One of the questions is “Do you have any end-of-life issues?” So how long have you had this chaplain gig? End-of-life issue means end of life. Yeah, I’ve got a real issue with that! Are you crazy? But they want something in the file, so I create a narrative of what’s happening with the patient to make the hospital happy. If they don’t see it, they get a little antsy. So, I asked his wife if he had any particular religion. She said no. Did he go to church when he was able?” No. He was a very interesting man, and I wish I had met him before he became so ill. I may have crossed paths with him in the first Gulf War. His job was explosive ordinance disposal and he disassembled mines and bombs. He wasn’t exactly the nervous type before that – maybe afterward – but not before. He was pretty good at his job because he survived it. And he was blessed because he got a disease – none of us know when we will contract one – and he lived well beyond the original diagnosis. You never know. I told him and his family that I would come back to visit on my afternoon rounds. So, I continued my rounds, visiting other patients. I ran into the nurse practitioner for Hospice, and she asked me if I had seen the new Hospice patient and given him Last Rites. I said, “No, he’s not Catholic. His wife said he is Christian.” She said, “Well, according to our records, he’s Catholic.” Okay. So, after lunch I went on my afternoon rounds, and the wife and sister-in-law were not in the room. I looked around to make sure the coast was clear and gave the man the Last Rites. And just as I was finishing, his wife and sister-in-law walked in. Whew! I snuck that one in! I accomplished the mission. . .by any means necessary. I told the nurse manager what I did, but it was never written down because we didn’t want to cause any more problems. I’m a real certified weasel, but I’m a weasel for Christ.
This is how much God loves us. I have people come up to me all the time, and rightly so, asking for prayers for family members, loved one, needs, worries, fears, and all sorts of troubles we are prone to. I’m happy to pray for them, but I try to tell them, if I remember, that no matter how much you love this person, God loves him or her much more. That’s why God created them in His image and likeness. That’s why He suffered and died for them. That’s why He is constantly running after them to beg them to embrace Him and His love. God never gives up. Read the “Hounds of Heaven,” a poem by Francis Thompson. God is always running after us, so much is His great love, that even at the moment of death if we say we are sorry for our sins just because we are afraid of dying and the eternal fires of hell and not because we are particularly sorry for them, God forgives us. That is sufficient and God will forgive us. Remember the 6th prayer from the Cross: “Father, forgive them for they know not what they do.” One of the greatest experiences of God’s love is His mercy.
Saint John Vianney, known as the Curé d’Ars, is the patron saint for parish priests. God’s gift to him was that he could read souls. One day, he was walking along a road in France in an area where his parish was located. A woman approached him and said, “Curé, you know my husband died.” Father Vianney said, “Yes.” The woman said, “He fell off a bridge and drowned. He’s in hell, isn’t he?” Saint Vianney said, “I don’t know.” The woman yelled, “You can read souls! Why don’t you know? He beat me, he drank, he gambled. . .“ She had a whole laundry list of how bad her husband had been. “So, he’s in hell, isn’t he?” Saint Vianney replied, “I don’t know. There’s a long time from when he left the bridge and when he hit the water.”
Even in that short span of time, he could have said, “I’m sorry,” and that would have been sufficient. Perfect contrition is if you say “I’m sorry” because you love God. Imperfect contrition is if you said it because you don’t want to go to hell. Even so, that is sufficient to receive God’s forgiveness. So much does He love us. He sees all our trials, worries, and concerns about those who are near and dear to us. But remember, God loves them more than you do, and He will never, ever give up on them as long as they have a breath in them.
Father’s Afterthoughts. . .
My day is never dull. There is always something interesting going on here. Today, I had a wedding, and the bride came up in a carriage drawn by horses. I got to pet the horses. I love horses! I’m still six years old. Quoting Sir Winston Churchill, Doctor Eddins, a local physician, said, “There is something about the outside of a horse that is good for the inside of a man.”
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”
Err on the Side of Love
//Contemplative Monk//
“Intense Love does not Measure” – Saint Teresa of Calcutta
Minute Meditation – Love Changes Us
Love changes the way we know things. Love is not blind affection or mere satisfaction. Rather, love is the highest good that seeks and desires the highest good in another. To love is to know the good in another without questioning the good of the other or trying to understand the good of the other. The wise person is one whose knowledge is shaped by love and who sees the world through the eyes of love. Such a person lives from a deeper center within. Rooted in the heart, the wise person is rooted in the world and sees the world in its truth and beauty.
One sees from the center of the beloved; thus one sees the world unafraid of the vision. The wise person is one who has the freedom to remain empty in the face of encounter and to allow the experience of encountering the new, whether a new person, creature or idea, to enter one’s life and change one’s capacity to love.
—from the book Compassion: Living in the Spirit of St. Francis
by Ilia Delio, OSF