“The Wonder of His Love”
Father Peter Fitzgibbons
September 7 – 8, 2024
Gospel: Mark 7:31-37
31 Returning from the territory of Tyre, He went by way of Sidon towards the Lake of Galilee, right through the Decapolis territory.
32 And they brought Him a deaf man who had an impediment in his speech; and they asked Him to lay His hand on him.
33 He took him aside to be by themselves, away from the crowd, put His fingers into the man’s ears and touched his tongue with spittle.
34 Then looking up to Heaven He sighed; and He said to him, ‘Ephphatha,’ that is, ‘Be opened.’
35 And his ears were opened, and at once the impediment of his tongue was loosened and he spoke clearly.
36 And Jesus ordered them to tell no one about it, but the more He insisted, the more widely they proclaimed it.
37 Their admiration was unbounded, and they said, ‘Everything He does is good, He makes the deaf hear and the dumb speak.’
I was at the VA hospital in Salisbury, and when I visited the Memory Loss Unit, I heard that this one patient had a very distinctive accent. So went into his room and said, “Hey! You from New York?” He said, “Yeah!” I said, “You know a guy?” “Yeah!” I said, “I know a guy. We may know the same guy!” He laughed and then went back into his confusion, which is how it is with people with memory loss. Sometimes, you can say the magic word and bring them out of their confusion for a moment. I visited a lady in a local nursing home who was also in a memory loss unit. She was staring at the wall, and my gosh, she was very proficient in medical/military language, which I cannot repeat here. I was very impressed, but I yelled, “Mom! Stop!” And just saying that magical word got through to her. I saw another patient who was in bed, and one of the staff was feeding him. So, I went in and was talking to them, and I asked the nurse, “You know, while you are taking care of him, do you ever think that when you are looking down at him, you are seeing the face of God smiling back at you?”
In the Gospel today, Jesus performs miracles. There are two kinds of miracles – extraordinary and ordinary. Jesus sighed and groaned, and that groan was for all eternity from the beginning of time to the end times. He took all the pains of our illness upon Him like He did on the Cross. We were never meant to die or be sick. Our illness is a result of Original Sin and the sins we committed after our baptism. Our Lord Jesus took them upon Himself. Did He know pain? Yes. Think of the pain He endured on the Cross. Throughout Scripture, our Lord performed extraordinary miracles, such as raising the dead to life. There were also what are called ordinary miracles. Do you know what they are? You can find them at Atrium Hospital – they are the geniuses in white coats whose job it is to make us well. You can find them in psychologist offices, in 12-step meetings, and in families where love is restored and relationships healed.
Ordinary miracles happen all the time. God is still active. One thing about all those miracles, the physical and spiritual acts of love God does for us, what is the reaction of all those He cured? Well, one person came back and said, “Thank you.” Our Lord said, “Do not tell anyone.” What did they do? They told people because they had joy. The more our Lord told them not to tell anyone, the more they proclaimed what He had done for them. That comes from the joy of receiving the gift of God’s great love. That is the key to evangelization. The key to evangelization is telling people about the good things the Lord has done for us. And they are innumerable when you think about it. Just in my short, uneventful life, I’ve been saved from an accident when a car ran over me. Oops! I guess I wasn’t meant to be a stunt double. He kept me safe during my exotic travels, including trips to Oakboro, when things got a little harried. He helped me during my illnesses. And those are just the things I am aware of; I am not aware of those things He preserved me from. I will only know that when I see Him in Heaven – at least on Judgement Day; hopefully, I will get to Heaven.
There are so many gifts our Lord has given us to tell people about. As for me: 1) My parents had me baptized, which took away Original Sin; 2) I went to Confession, and my sins were forgiven; 3) I received the Most Precious Body and Blood of our Lord at Holy Communion; 4) I received the Holy Spirit at Confirmation; and 5) I received Holy Ordination. There is so much to tell people about the love of God. God forgives my sins, and He gives me His Most Precious Body and dwells in my soul. Those are the great joys you can tell people about. Joy is a fruit of the Holy Spirit which is the key to evangelization.
We should always be joyous about God’s gifts. Some of His greatest gifts to us are ones we hate. Do you know why? Because we see them as crosses. But He gives us those gifts to keep us humble. I know many people who are very gifted and who have heavy crosses so that they remain humble. God is the source of all gifts. Those gifts are given to take care of the obligation for justice and to build up the Body of Christ. So whatever cross you have and whatever crosses I have – you have to buy the book because I’m not giving that away for free – they are gifts. They are opportunities for us to stay humble – I’m not doing a great job at that. But they are also opportunities for us to do penance for our sins. Sometimes we don’t realize the great gifts He has given us. This is how we evangelize – spreading the good news about our Lord’s love. We evangelize by telling people about the wonders of what He has done for us.
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.”
