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Sermon Notes – October 15, 2023 – “Evil Must be Converted or Destroyed”
“Evil Must be Converted or Destroyed”
Father Peter Fitzgibbons
October 14 – 15, 2023
Gospel: Matthew 22:1-14
I’ve been here with you for many years, so you know that I know a guy. Actually, I know a couple of guys, and those guys know a couple of other guys. So, I have sources of information that you may or may not have. As the song goes, I have friends in low places. I know people on the dark side. Over the years, I have queried my sources on several topics, and they have been most helpful. There is one query in particular that all my sources gave me the same answer. So, I have it on good authority that Mother Teresa was never a member of Hells Angels. You can take that to the bank. I heard she liked to ride, so why was Mother Teresa never a member of Hells Angels? Because she didn’t want to be. Why not? She had the greatest of all things in her heart which is Jesus Christ. Over the years, through many trials, tribulations, and great suffering, she survived with joy because she always kept Christ in her heart. No matter how great her difficulties were, she found peace in the person of Jesus. The world will only find peace when they have Jesus in their hearts.
Just this week, I received a phone call from the diocese. They told me that I have to migrate my emails to another location. Yeah, what are the odds of that happening. I’ll give you a clue as to where they can migrate them. Many years ago, the diocese called my former secretary and said, “Father’s email account is full. He’d better delete some of them or we are going to close the account.” My secretary said, “Father has been in Iraq for the last eight months.” I tend to ignore these requests. Let me put it this way; we built Catholic hospitals, Catholic orphanages, and Catholic universities. We Christianized the world by bringing God’s love to it and all without computers or the internet. When I was in seminary, I used an old-fashioned manual typewriter. People actually wrote books using those things.
There are evil people in the world. A small percentage are evil because they are mentally ill. Some of them are over at FU (Felon University; i.e., the prison). Most people are evil because they have satan in their hearts. They are not evil because they don’t have fresh plumbing or a smartphone. Do you realize that we have saints who didn’t have flush plumbing? “Oh, people are bad because they don’t have stuff. If they just had flush plumbing, a smartphone, or more bandwidth, they would be okay.” It has been proven over the years that giving people stuff does not work. My parents grew up poor, and they weren’t sociopaths. My uncle did go to prison, but he was a correctional officer and got to go home at night. It’s not the lack of stuff that makes people evil. It’s what is lacking in the heart. I’ve been with men all over the world, and we didn’t have stuff other than what we could carry. None of us were sociopaths. They would die for me, and I would die for them. Sociopaths may not have had stuff, but they certainly didn’t have Christ in their hearts and so they are evil.
There is no negotiating with evil. It would be like negotiating with cancer. “Hey, Cancer, we’ll let you have the gall bladder, but you cannot go anywhere else.” “Okay, you can have the appendix, but don’t touch any of the survivors.” No! You have to eradicate cancer by putting pharmacies into people to kill every cancer cell in the body to make sure it doesn’t come back. Would you be happy if your doctor told you that they got most of the cancer? Would you be happy with that? No, you wouldn’t. Cancer is evil in the body. Sin is evil in the soul. You cannot make friends with evil, and you cannot negotiate with it. It must be converted or destroyed.
In the synod on synodality, they are promoting openness while people are being butchered and babies are being decapitated in the Holy Land. They have no conception of reality. “Well, we all believe in the same god.” No, we don’t. “But we are all Christians, so we believe in the same god.” No, no, no! I’m throwing the BS flag on that one too. All religions are not equal. So, you cannot say that we are all Christian. My Christian God doesn’t think that killing babies in the womb is a really good idea. Decapitating babies or making excuses for those who do is pure evil and satanic. My Christian God also doesn’t think that washing our hands of mom and dad when they get a little too old to care for is a good idea. “Sorry, Mom and Dad. We need the bed. Bye-bye!” No! Our God does not do that. But the Nazis did. Life unworthy of life was a Nazi designation for segments of the population which, according to the Nazi regime, had no right to live. Know what happened after the war? We tracked every one of them down and we hung them. A little neck stretching exercise courtesy of the U.S. Army.
We don’t negotiate with evil. It is either converted or it must be destroyed. You cannot negotiate with evil. Jesus said, “Let your Yes mean Yes and your No mean No. Anything else is from the Evil One.” (Matthew 5:37). He didn’t say to negotiate. The danger for us is that they use all these fancy words that actually mean nothing. I have a degree in philosophy. I hear all these fancy words, and it’s academic bravo sierra. We would use all those big words to fill up a term paper, so it looked like we’d actually done some work. It’s a game. Congress said, “We’ve come to an agreement.” Nah. The only way to have peace in the world is to have Jesus constantly in our souls. Evil is in the world because satan, and not Jesus, is in our hearts.
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.”
The Measure of Your Life Will Be the Measure of Your Courage – [Courage Series Part 3]
“Who are the people you most admire from history? Take a moment to wander through the pages of history— your family’s history, your nation’s history, human history—and extract from those pages the men and women you most admire. What would they be without courage?
Abraham Lincoln, Charles Darwin, Albert Einstein, Jane Austen, Ada Lovelace, Martin Luther King Jr., Christopher Columbus, Amelia Earhart, Rosa Parks, Oscar Schindler, Anne Frank, Mother Teresa, Henry Ford, Mark Twain, Shakespeare, DaVinci, Newton, Jobs, Churchill, Galileo, Mandela, Mozart, Edison, Van Gough, Gutenberg.
Who would they have been without courage? How would their lives have been different without courage? How would our lives be different if they had lacked the courage to embrace their destiny? How would the world be different?
Their lives can be measured in courage and yours will be too. The measure of your life will be the measure of your courage.
Nothing worthwhile in history has been achieved without courage. Courage is the father of every great moment and movement in history. And courage will give birth to the next great season of your life.”
How to Change the World
Sermon Notes – July 30, 2023 – The Most Important Thing
The Most Important Thing
Father Peter Fitzgibbons
July 29 – 30, 2023
Gospel: Matthew 13:44-52
The last time I took a vacation up north, I was listening to the radio to catch up on the local news, and there was a news item about Taylor Swift. I have no idea who she is, but apparently, she’s a performer and a good one. One father bought tickets for his daughter to go see Taylor Swift for $2,500. Really? Haven’t people heard of a thing called “radio”? How many CDs would that buy? I’m just saying! People are paying $2,500, and that’s just for tickets, but they also have to pay for parking and food. People like to go to Carolina Panthers games, paying hundreds of dollars for the privilege, and that’s usually in the “nosebleed” section. Hmmm. How much does it cost to come to see the Second Person in the Blessed Trinity, Christ Incarnate, present here in the Tabernacle? Let’s do a cost/benefit analysis on that one, shall we? God, Himself, is here in the Tabernacle – for free – but not many people show up. You get to look at God and God gets to look at you. And it’s better for you. Now, if you have the money and want to spend it, that’s up to you. Enjoy yourself . . . that’s your right. But don’t forget Who is most important. If you lose Christ, that is a price beyond measure.
I had a baptism, a wedding, and a wedding preparation session yesterday . . . all in a foreign language – Spanglish. My Saturdays are never dull. “Don’t worry, Father – your Spanish is very good.” Spanish is my fourth language. Actually, it’s my fifth language – I speak Army proficiently. So, it’s my fifth language, although I’m not very good at my first. People think I’m bright – but I’m not. People want to come in and decorate the church and have a big rehearsal. And that’s wonderful. Priests say that they would prefer ten funerals to one wedding. Funerals are easier to manage, but they are even beginning to get out of hand with the nonnegotiable demands of families. The decorations in the church are important, although I wish the brides would wear more modest dresses. I’m a hospital chaplain. I’ve seen more body parts in 40 years than you will ever have. Believe me . . . it’s not a thrill. The most important thing that happens at a wedding is the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass . . . the presentation of our Lord’s constant sacrifice before the Father in Heaven. His greatest act of love which will continue until the end of time for our salvation.
The second most beautiful thing in a wedding is a man and a woman responding to the love of God. By saying their vows, they are saying “yes” to Almighty God, and they receive a new vocation. Their love for God makes them confident enough to say “yes” to Him and to procreate according to the Law of Nature. Then they are taken up into the Holy Sacrifice and offered to the Father. That’s the most beautiful thing. Uniting themselves to God gives meaning to everything. By focusing on all the other stuff, you are missing what is truly beautiful – the Real Presence of Christ in the Tabernacle. That’s the most beautiful thing and the one on which we should focus.
There is a policy book on what to do and not to do regarding decorations in the church. I had a wedding in a Quonset hut in Korea in the Demilitarized Zone with a broken-down organ. The American soldier’s parents were there, and they looked worried. Yeah, if something happens, we’re all dead. Don’t worry about it. When I arrived in Korea, I received a briefing from the base commander who said, “Gentlemen, our orders are to die in place.” I have gone to bed with happier thoughts. No female soldiers were allowed where we were. One came by accident, and when it was discovered that the soldier was female, she was gone in less than an hour. But I remember vividly that wedding and the couple exchanging their vows in a Quonset hut built by Marines in 1953. Yet that moment was cosmic because the couple found the Pearl of Christ in their vocation . . . the vocation of God. Everything else in life would take its proper place and have more meaning. Their personal wants and desires were all sacrificed for one goal . . . building up the love between them by first building up the love of God.
This is what I tell couples during marriage preparation, and it’s what I told the couple yesterday. Pray together every day, especially the Rosary. Bishop Sheen said that. They didn’t teach that in seminary. I went to seminary during a very bad time, but I also learned from the ancient masters. Pray the Rosary every night out loud and not the way the French do. They really need to take some Valium and slow down. It’s French – not “mumble.” Let God hear it. Words have meaning.
We are given the pearl of Christ at Baptism, and it can be disguised as all sorts of things we encounter in the world. He becomes a part of us in Holy Communion and in all the Sacraments to give us purpose, to give us strength, to give us hope, and to give us consolation. This is what He offers us. Once our focus is on Him, everything else falls into line appropriately. When the people we encounter, whether it’s on the highway or in the supermarket, aren’t exactly nice, we tend to go haywire. “They don’t like me! They were so mean to me!” First, look at what Christ puts up with. And second, those people who were mean to you may be having problems. “I think everyone should be nice to me because I’m a really nice guy. Oh wait, I’m supposed to forgive the faults of others out of love for Him.” Right. By the way, this lesson will be repeated over and over again. Mother Teresa and the Sisters of Charity spend a minimum of two hours a day in the presence of the Blessed Sacrament. They get their strength through the Mass and prayer.
The church is open every day. God is waiting here for us. I have plenty of room at Mass, and I am not overburdened with confessions. I wish I were. The pearl of Christ wants to come into your soul.
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.”
Sermon Notes – February 5, 2023 – “We Are in Combat”
“We Are in Combat”
Father Peter Fitzgibbons
February 4 – 5, 2023
Gospel: Matthew 5:13-16
13 ‘You are salt for the earth. But if salt loses its taste, what can make it salty again? It is good for nothing, and can only be thrown out to be trampled under people’s feet. 14 ‘You are light for the world. A city built on a hill-top cannot be hidden. 15 No one lights a lamp to put it under a tub; they put it on the lamp-stand where it shines for everyone in the house. 16 In the same way your light must shine in people’s sight, so that, seeing your good works, they may give praise to your Father in heaven.
When I was overseas, every day felt like Ground Hog Day. I was the Catholic priest for the Logistical Command and the area around it. It was a large area. We were in the rear with the gear. A couple of times a w eek, I would do a daytrip up to the war front. I had to drive up there, do my thing, and drive back. So don’t complain to me about your commute to Charlotte. Anyway, I was in my office and a soldier walked in. He was rather filthy as most soldiers are. The soldier said, “I was told to report to the chaplain.” Well, you found him. Good for you! Come on in and let’s have a chat. So, he was telling me about what had happened. He was infantry, and he and his friends had to take care of business up in the north. He was upset that he had been sent back to be a convoy guard. He wanted to stay with his buddies. I told him that I would feel the same way. But they want one of the best to be one of their guards. They are driving around and trying to avoid IED’s and all sorts of other nasty stuff on the road. They want one of the best to keep an eye out for them so that they can go home too when this is all over. The soldier said, “Yeah, okay . . . sir.” I asked him how long he would be here, and he said three days. Okay . . .for the next three days, I want you to sleep, get some ice cream and pizza, see a movie, and go to the pool. And those are not suggestions. “Yes sir.” Before you leave come back to see me. Three days later, the soldier came back to see me, and he looked totally different. . .so much better. I asked him if he was ready to go back, and he said, “Yes, sir.” I told him he had done a good job and to keep his eyes open so we could all make it home. The soldiers said, “Yes, sir” and thanked me for talking to him. The change in him was phenomenal. A smart officer where he had been saw that this soldier had combat stress or fatigue and sent him back to the rear. A classic way to deal with combat stress is to take three days of rest and refresh (R & R) and go back. He would have less problems in theater, be able to keep his mind in the game, and have less problems when he returned home. The Army would take soldiers out of the field so that they could rest. No matter how hard we trained them, they had to come out of the game to rest.
We are all in combat. We are fighting the devil constantly. We all need to take time out for our ourselves and to pray. That’s the most important thing. Jesus took His disciples aside and said, “Come away and pray.” We all need time to be alone with our Lord. We pray to refresh. The priest who preached at my first Mass said, “You will spend more time on your toes like a boxer, if you spend more time on your knees.” You cannot give what you do not have.” Mother Teresa’s sisters, who I had the pleasure of working with in Guantanimo Bay, spent at least two hours a day in prayer plus Mass. That’s how you keep your Savior near. It’s how people will see Christ in you. “Well, I work on Sundays.” “If I do a good deed on Sunday, do i still have to go to Mass?” If you are on your way to Mass and get called to an emergency, you have an excuse. But you cannot use that excuse every week. And I’m sure that people don’t have a health crisis every Saturday at 5:00 and Sunday at 9:30 and 12:15. No. “Well, I watch Mass on television.” Well, I watch cooking shows on television and I’m still hungry. I watch golf shows on television and I still stink at the game.
During marriage preparation, I give couples the key to a happy marriage. “What’s that, Father?” Pray the Rosary together each night before you go to bed. I didn’t get that on my own. . .I’m not that holy or bright. I got it from Bishop Sheen. I also advise couples to practice their faith. When couples come to me with marital problems, the first question I ask is, “Do you pray together?” “Do you go to church together?” Yeah, that’s the same reaction I get. You are carrying a cross that is heavy, and you can become weary. We think we are a lot tougher than we really are.
All of us have our crosses, and we all get weary. We need to spend time in prayer. . .lots and lots of time. Your work is not your prayer. Believe it or not, I have a degree in Philosophy. I learned in Philosophy 101 that work is not a prayer. Know why? They are different words with different letters. Work is not prayer. Work is a vocation. Work can be part of your prayer life, but prayer is different. Prayer is an act of love. Work is an act of love too, but it’s different. I know a priest who once said, “My work is my prayer.” Well, say goodbye to your vocation. I cannot give what I do not have, so I need to spend a lot of time in prayer.
We look for comfort in things that are not of God. Maybe it’s in a bottle, a pill, people, places, or things. It is important to spend time in prayer. I don’t care how busy we think we are or how important. One day I’m going to be heavy into real estate in a tiny house and another priest will be here. I won’t be cold in my grave, and another priest will be here to take my place.
Husbands, wives, mothers, and fathers take the crosses of everyone upon them besides their own. It’s called transference. In Scripture, when our Lord healed what did He do? He sighed and groaned as He took their pain upon Himself. You see the pain of everyone and their sins there on the Cross. You do that with your family and friends. You do that with the crosses people place upon you. This is why prayer is so necessary. It’s why the Sacraments are so necessary. We cannot do it by ourselves. We will fall and we will destroy ourselves. You must take the time, and that time is the best investment in yourself and those you love. It’s how you keep your edge. It’s how people will see Christ’s light in you. And by taking that time out, you will keep the flame alive.
We are the salt of the earth, and we can lose our Savior very quickly. Sometimes it happens slowly and more quickly at other times. That time away in prayer is so important. Never minimize it. Never say, “I have to go to work.” If you pray and become holy, your work will go much better and faster. So, tune out all the distractions to pray and to be alone with God.
Father’s Reflections. . .
I heard from reliable sources, and I have authenticated the message, that next Sunday is the Super Bowl. I’m thrilled about it. . . actually, I don’t care. I don’t want to watch millionaires play for millions of dollars. That really doesn’t excite me. “These guys are great! They are stars!” Really? If you were not at Terri Campbell’s funeral yesterday and you didn’t talk to the family, you wouldn’t know that Terri’s brother-in-law was a hero in the true sense of the word. Now you probably wouldn’t give this guy a second look. He has white hair and is beginning to get a stoop. But he was an F-4 fighter pilot in Vietnam. That alone is quite impressive. However, he was shot down over Vietnam and spent six years in the Hanoi Hilton. There is a real hero.
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.”