Tag: Original Sin

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Sermon Notes – December 28, 2025 – They Always Said “Yes”

They Always Said “Yes”

Father Peter Fitzgibbons

December 27 – 28, 2025

Gospel: Matthew 2:13-15, 19-23

Today is the Feast of the Holy Family.  What made the Holy Family holy?  They were holy because they had Christ in their family.  How did they bring Christ into their family?  They were obedient to God’s Word.  Keeping the Lord’s Commandments are works of love.  What was Mary’s response when the angel said to her, “Oh, by the way, you are to conceive a child without a husband.  Are you good with that?”  That would have been a death sentence in Israel at the time.   But Mary loved God so much that her response was, “Okay, that sounds like a great idea, God.  I’d love to.”   Neither Mary nor Joseph was read into what was going to happen in the fullness of God’s Revelation.   They did not know.  God just asked them, “Will you do this?” and they always said, “Yes.”  Joseph’s faith was strong, and he did a lot of work.   “Hey Joseph.  Mary is pregnant, but you are going to marry her anyway.”  “Okay.”  He was also told to take Mary to Bethlehem in the middle of the night using the shoe leather express.  Now, nobody walks around Palestine in the middle of the night.  First of all, it’s freezing, and it’s also very dangerous.  When our military was there, the only time we ventured outside at night was with heavily armed soldiers with nasty attitudes. 

When the Holy Family returned from Bethlehem, Joseph was told to take her all the way to Egypt, again by the shoe leather express.  When they returned from Egypt, Joseph had to take Mary and the Baby to Jerusalem for Christ’s presentation in the temple, still again by the shoe leather express.  When Christ was 12 years old, they had to make that same trip.  Joseph did a lot of walking.   Did he have an explanation for why?  No.  Did he understand any of it?  No.  The angel did not deem it necessary to enlighten him because Joseph lacked the necessary divine security clearance.  He did it because God asked him to.  Love dwelt in that family because they were obedient to God.  The Blessed Mother and Joseph proved their love for God by their obedience.  What did Christ say?  “If you love Me, keep My Commandments.”  By the way, there are more than ten Commandments.  If He asks, always say “Yes.” 

When priests are ordained, they take three vows:  poverty, chastity, and obedience.  The hardest vow for priests to keep is obedience.  “Who the heck does that clown with the funny hat think he is?”  Some of us are educated far beyond our abilities.   Obedience has two parts: objective and subjective.  Objective obedience is external.  Subjective obedience is internal assent to a superior’s will and is the most challenging form of obedience.   The marvelous thing about Mary and Joseph’s obedience is that it was both exterior and interior.  While in the military, when I gave a soldier an order, most of the time they would say, “Yes, Sir. I’d be happy to,” and then they would carry out the order.   However, sometimes soldiers really didn’t want to do what I had ordered, although that was irrelevant because I could literally put someone in prison for disobedience.   Those soldiers followed my orders even though they didn’t want to, but in the back of their minds, they were probably thinking, “You are such an idiot!”   

Subjective or internal disobedience resulted in Original Sin by our first parents: “I will not serve. I will not do what God says.”  Obedience is always a struggle.  You say that you love God, but sometimes your internal assent may be like, “Oh, I gotta go to Mass.”  “It’s a Holy Day, so I have to go to Mass.”  “I have a hard time receiving Jesus.”   If you find it difficult to become a part of God’s sacrifice and receive Holy Communion, you really need to think through those objections.  Does that even make sense to you?  No.  But because of our fallen nature, we want to rebel: “I don’t like being told what to do!”  When God knocks on the door to our hearts, if Christ lives within us, we will open it and invite Him inside to sit and eat with us.  If our hearts are hardened when God knocks, we will say, “No thanks. I’ve got this.”  Even at the end of people’s lives, I have had some refuse the Sacrament of Last Rites.   Usually, I wait until they are in a sweet state of reasonableness, which occurs about ten minutes after the drug cart has come by and they are bombed out of their ever-loving minds.  It’s a spiritual tool that I have used many times. 

Interior obedience is the most challenging struggle each of us faces because of Original Sin and the sins committed after Baptism.  But it is our obedience to God’s commands that enables us to become like the Holy Family.   Obeying His commands is how we increase in His love, to ensure the maximum happiness we can be afforded in this life, and to have life eternally.  You think obedience is hard?  Think about the Baby in the Manger, the 2nd Person in the Blessed Trinity, whose Father sent Him into the world.  Jesus obeyed two of His creations, and you think you have trouble being obedient.  Imitate the Christ Child, Who was obedient to His parents, Divinity being obedient to His creatures who were obedient to God.  What a wonderful example of internal assent.   

If you wish to be holy, you have to be obedient. Obedience to God is not always fun.  Each day, I have to say the Divine Office, which takes about 20 minutes, and on really slow days, about 25 minutes.  “Oh, it’s so hard to do!”  Really?  “Father, come down from the Cross; we need the wood.”  It’s only hard for those who don’t want to love.  There is no sacrifice in love.  If there is, the sacrifice itself is love.  To become like the Holy Family, we must follow their example by saying “Yes” to God.  Jesus Christ said ‘Yes’ to God, and as a result, we have Him in the world as our Savior and Redeemer.  He gave us two perfect examples to follow: Mary and Joseph.

Father’s Reflection: Someday, tomorrow will start without 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.”

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Sermon Notes – September 8, 2024 – “The Wonder of His Love”

“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.”

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The Catechism in a Year – Day 70 – The Immaculate Conception

The Catechism introduces us to Mary’s Immaculate Conception and explains why God preserved her “immune from all stain of original sin.” Fr. Mike answers a common question asked in response to this revelation: “Why didn’t God just preserve us all from original sin?” His answer might surprise you. Today’s readings are Catechism paragraphs 490-494.

Click on link to play video: https://youtu.be/oU-SgH76K9s