Tag: Love

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Sermon Notes – March 31, 2024 – “He is Risen”

“He is Risen”

Father Peter Fitzgibbons

March 30 – 31, 2024

Gospel: John 20:1-9


People say, “Women have no power in the Church.”  No, but women have more courage.  Look at the Gospels and the courage of women.  Can you imagine how the women who went to the tomb felt?  That is the transforming power of faith.  Now, I know we have law enforcement here.  We also have medical people, the fire department, and combat veterans.  They can tell you what would happen to a dead body after three days in the Palestinian heat especially one with open wounds.  You aren’t going to want to be near it.  Whew!  There is no amount of Vicks Vapor Rub or Febreze that will cover up that stench.  But their love for Christ triumphed over their natural reluctance to do what we would say is disgusting.  Their love for the Lord gave them the courage to overcome their reluctance to go to the tomb and anoint the Body of Jesus.   I’m sure they knew exactly what they were getting into.  During that time, life was a lot more brutal and harsher than it is today.  We live a much cleaner life.   That’s what faith does.  Faith can transform our fear into love.  The women were going to the tomb to do a proper work of mercy for our Lord.  They didn’t have to, but they did.   And because of their love, these women were the first to behold the empty tomb and the resurrection.  Afterward, they brought Peter and John to the tomb, and Peter went inside. 

I’m old enough now to hide my own Easter eggs.  As time passes by, you realize that your celestial discharge is approaching.  We have a natural fear of death.  We were never supposed to die.  Our first parents are responsible for that; however, we have helped with the sins we have committed after baptism.   Sin brings fear, and sins committed after baptism increase that fear.  But the love of God can transform that fear and turn it into a longing, not to leave our loved ones behind, but to go be with the Beloved.   God wants us to be with Him, and He offers His love to transform our fear into love.  In the Gospel of Saint John, Jesus said, “I am going now to prepare a place for you, and after I have gone and prepared you a place, I shall return to take you to myself, so that you may be with me where I am” (John 14:2-3).  We will go to join our good Lord, all those who wait for us, and all the saints who prayed for us. 

I had an interesting episode of God’s Mercy last Thursday while doing my rounds at the hospital.  We have a new hospice chaplain, and when I saw him, I wanted to say, “I was here before you came, and I’ll be here after you leave.  You’re the sixth hospice chaplain I’ve seen come through here.”  I’ve been at the VA hospital for quite a while.   But he’s a great guy, and he told me there was someone for me to see in the hospice unit.  I said, “Okay.”  So, I went in to talk to the patient.  He was in very bad shape and did not make it to the weekend.  He had been in Vietnam.  He had been Baptist, became a Catholic, became a priest, left the priesthood, was laicized, and got married.  I’m not sure where the lady was, and I didn’t bother to ask.  But he made his peace with God.  Father Elkhart from Sacred Heart came over and heard his confession.  I talked with him for a while, or as much as I could because he was in such discomfort.  I gave him the Apostolic Pardon because I take care of my own.  He was a soldier, and I was a soldier.  That is God’s mercy.  He wants us to be at peace. 

The resurrection is true, and its power is still alive and active.  Our Lord offers us His life.  If the resurrection wasn’t true, then all of this would be worthless.   He gives us the gifts to change what we have caused by sinning.   Even sin cannot compete with God’s plans.  All He asks for is our cooperation to draw ever closer to the Sacred Heart of His Son so that we can be transformed.  Those fears we have, and we all have fears, of leaving this life and going to God will be changed.  The transforming power of God’s love elevates us above and beyond our natural fears and limitations. The resurrection is true.  His power is still active.   Christ is risen.

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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Sermon Notes – March 24, 2024 – “The Sound and Smell of Love”

“The Sound and Smell of Love”

Father Peter Fitzgibbons

March 23 – 24, 2024

Gospel: Mark 14:1 – 15:47

We have a young man in our parish who is in his fourth week at Paris Island, and you know, I may be enjoying it a bit too much!  “Oh, Father, it’s so hard there!”  No, not really.  It’s unpleasant, but it’s not that hard.  Your worst day at Paris Island is infinitely better than your best day in Vietnam, Iraq, or Afghanistan.  It’s not that bad.  You won’t get hurt unless you do something extremely stupid.  However, never underestimate the power of people to be stupid.  We can become, what one writer says, overly sensitive, which is a grave character defect.  We are sensitive about some things but not sensitive about others.  I get these emails at the Veterans Hospital (VA) about proper pronoun usage.  “Oh!  You called me by the wrong pronoun!”   Well, I thought ‘jerk’ fit you pretty well.  Do you know what I’ve been called in my life?  In the military anything soldiers said that was prefaced with ‘sir’ and that ended with ‘sir’ was appropriate, and I would take it.  “Sir, you are a bleeping idiot, Sir.”  Understood.  Very good.  Carry on. 

“Oh, oh, the opera of anxiety!”  Really?  All that drama with the psychiatric condition you have.   Really?   We are highly sensitive about the wrong things.   Today you heard a short recitation of the Passion of our Lord Jesus Christ.   For the Roman soldiers, this was just another day at the office.  They did this all the time.  They were trained professionals, just ask Saint John.  There was nothing special about Jesus’ death except that the Roman soldiers recognized it at the end.  Until then, Jesus was just another schmuck who had been sentenced to death, and they were just doing their job.  They did three that day; it wasn’t a big deal.  But we are here, and we are sensitive to His Passion. 

Now, I’m old, and I’m lucky to be so because a lot of people have wanted to kill me during my life and not just my family.   Go to YouTube and watch “Jesus Christ Superstar.”  One part of the story is about Pilot counting the lashes that were inflicted on our Lord during the scourging at the pillar.   One thing about lashing – when you are hit with a belt, it stings.  However, the Romans used a flagellum that had nail spikes attached to each cord which would dig into and rip away the flesh.  As a result, the wounds would not coagulate with the blood, so the bleeding would continue.  Eventually, you would die of suffocation because you lacked the strength to hold yourself upright.  That was one of the things the Romans inflicted upon people, and it was not a fun way to go.  That is suffering.  It’s not when someone hurts our feelings, “Oh, my goodness!  I’m so hurt!  They didn’t call me by my proper pronoun!”  Grow up!   You have no idea about hurt and about pain.  If you read the Passion, and I especially like ‘Jesus Christ Superstar’, you get an idea of what happened and begin to understand the pain that Christ endured.  After our Lord’s Passion, we cannot say, “My sin only hurts me.  I don’t hurt anyone else, just me.”  Uh no.  “I have no sin.”  Then you don’t need to come to church.  Don’t anybody start running for the doors! 

Love has a sound.  Think about the Passion and meditate on it.  The sound of love is the drip, drip, drip of blood that flowed from the sacred wounds of our Lord on the Cross and onto the ground.   That is the sound of love being poured out for us.  Mary was the first one to be washed in the blood.  Love also has a smell.  It is the smell of blood.  At our Lord’s Passion, they smelled, they heard, and they saw divine love.  This is the price of sin that we try to minimize so much.  Not only the white lies – the color coded sins which I never studied – but any sin.  This is how much God loves us. 

Look at the Passion, and you will see the price of love.  All that misery translates into what we need . . . His love for us, and the love to restore us to God’s friendship.  Do you have any idea of the agony He endured?  The Romans were pretty good at their jobs and intentionally prolonged death.  Think about the agony our good Lord endured when He didn’t have to, but He did so out of love for us.  Look at the Crucifix and that is how much God loves us.  It’s what our sins have caused.  That’s the price of sin that our Lord paid for us because we could not.  Think about how much we have taken for granted the depth of our sins and the magnitude of His love. 

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.”