416 N 2nd St, Albemarle, NC, 28001 | (704) 982-2910
“Have patience with all things, but chiefly have patience with yourself. Do not lose courage in considering your own imperfections, but instantly set about remedying them, every day begin the task anew.”
— St. Francis de Sales
//The Catholic Company//
“I earnestly admonish you, therefore, my brothers, to look after your spiritual well-being with judicious concern. Death is certain; life is short and vanishes like smoke. Fix your minds, then, on the passion of our Lord Jesus Christ. Inflamed with love for us, he came down from heaven to redeem us. For our sake he endured every torment of body and soul and shrank from no bodily pain. He himself gave us an example of perfect patience and love. We, then, are to be patient in adversity.”— St. Francis of Paola
//The Catholic Company//
“Leprechauns Are Not Real“
Father Peter Fitzgibbons
April 3 – 4, 2021
Gospel: John 20: 1-9
How do you know someone is alive if you don’t see them? I’ve taken a clue from the sheriff detective…there is fresh evidence. For instance, you may not see a family member for a day, but you know they are alive, right? You see dirty plates right where they left them. You see your husband’s dirty socks right where he left them. I guess he figured the Molly Maid Service would come by and pick them up. You may not see the person, but you see fresh evidence that they’ve been there and that they are alive. They may have left a note for you. They may have cooked dinner for you. You know they are alive even though you may not have touched them or laid eyes on them. Likewise, we have not touched the resurrected Christ, but we know that He is alive. We see the evidence.
From the very beginning, the Chief Priests bribed Roman soldiers to lie and say that disciples stole the body of Christ. That must have been one big bribe. The Romans knew quite well what betrayal meant. It meant instant death. The Romans did not refer anyone to defense counsel. If you failed in doing your duty, you were duly executed in a very brutal way. The Roman army did not play. No bail. No defense attorney. You were executed. So, it had to be a pretty big bribe. Even back then, there was fake news. “Christ wasn’t resurrected.” “His body was stolen.” You don’t steal a body after a couple days in Palestine. Trust me on this one. Ask any police officer or nurse. Nobody steals a body after that length of time. That’s fake news. Sound familiar? As scripture says, there’s nothing new under the sun. All through the centuries, people have claimed that Christ is dead or He was just a nice guy or He was the same as Muhammad and Buddha. None of them claimed that He was God. They try to relegate religion to just old wives tales. But, as much as they tried, the Chief Priests couldn’t keep a lid on the news of Christ’s resurrection even with the use of armies and the threat of persecution. That’s because it’s true. If it wasn’t, why would they spend all the time, money, and energy to say it’s not?
Why do people complain about the Catholic Church and its teachings? It’s the message of Christ. If it’s not true, why do they bother? If it’s not true, why do they care? They can go live their lives and do other stuff. They complain, because they know it is true. Our Lord proved Himself to all those detractors. They are gone, but we are still here. We have evidence through the centuries that Christ is still alive. Look at what our Catholic Church has done. We have built universities and hospitals. These are the things we do best. What was the cause of all those centuries of good works? It was the love of Christ in us. The living love of Christ is still evident today. You know it’s true, because you are here today. You have faith in the resurrection, and you have faith in Jesus Christ. You are here to be touched by the love of God and to draw closer to Him. Is there some fear in all of us? Of course there is, just as there was for the women at the tomb. But, you overcome your fear through your faith. That’s why you are here today. By your presence, you proclaim the resurrection of Christ, and that He is not dead. He’s not a footnote in history. He wasn’t just some really nice guy. By your faithful attendance at Mass and participation in the Sacraments, you are making your profession and belief in the resurrection and that Christ lives. One day you will share His life. Most of us won’t be around for the end of the world; as far as I know.. I haven’t gotten any phone calls. On that day, we too will go to the tomb just like Mary Magdalene and the women did on Good Friday morning.
As you look through the history of the Church, God has never been unfaithful to His followers. Never…not once. In seminary I learned a lot of stuff, well they think I did, but I was supposed to learn a lot of stuff. We studied Thomas Aquinas and the five proofs of God. I will prove to you that God exists and also how faithful He is. I guarantee that if you pray for this it will happen on your way home. Guaranteed. Pray for patience. “Lord, I want to grow in patience, I want to be meek, humble, and understanding,” Pray that prayer, and I guarantee that you will find five nitwits who will irritate the living heck out of you and try your patience on the way home. Patience is an acquired virtue that you get by practice. Ask for patience, and our good Lord will say, “Great! You got it.” He will send all those nitwits to help you grow in that virtue. That’s the quickest way to prove that God exists. The quickest proof that God listens to your prayers and answers them. God is alive and active. We have 2,000 years of proof. We see His results. Do we see them as often as we’d like? No. He hides in our human nature.
We believe in the resurrection of Christ. If it wasn’t true, why have so many people for over 2,000 years kept saying it’s not true? You can see that God is alive. We do not see Him directly, but He is alive. He is working in us. He is working through you. He took the humanity that He received from the Blessed Mother to His sacred Passion and resurrection and then to Heaven. He uses His humanity to make His love present and known to the world. He does that for us. Each of us, in our own vocation, are to prove to the world that God’s love is alive. The grave could not hold Him. God promised that we will imitate His resurrection. So, for those who follow Him, the grave will not hold us. We will be like Him. We will suffer probably, in one way or another, and we will rest in our graves until the day of our own resurrection. That is not defeat…that is victory.
How will you apply this message to your life? Will you help prove to the world that God’s love is alive?
Father’s Afterthoughts…
Now part of my Irish cultural heritage is the belief that leprechauns are real. I think it’s because we drank a wee bit too much ale. You never hear anyone complain about leprechauns. But, they don’t exist. If you see any, I can get you some help. I know people. You will feel much better.
You can read all of Father Fitzgibbons’ sermons by going to https://annunciationcatholicalbemarle.com/ and clicking on “Blog” then “Categories” and then “Sermon Notes. From a cell phone, click on “Blog” then “Menu” and then “Categories” (located at the end of page). There is also a search box if looking for a specific topic.
“Let nothing disturb you, let nothing frighten you. All things pass. God does not change. Patience achieves everything. Whoever has God lacks nothing; God alone suffices.”
— St. Teresa of Avila
//The Catholic Company//
| When Waiting Feels Unbearable DAY 2 | Psalm 130 I wait for the Lord, my whole being waits, and in his word I put my hope. —Psalm 130:5 One of my favorite pastors used to warn, “Never pray for patience; you will not like how God teaches you.” Most people are not very good at waiting, whether it’s for food to be served, a traffic light to change, or test results to arrive. In our fast-paced world, waiting is usually an irritating inconvenience. As a child, I eagerly anticipated Christmas. As a teen, I counted down to graduation and leaving the nest. As an adult, the longest weeks I ever experienced were those leading up to the announcement that I was accepted into a three-year clinical trial for treatment of my second bout with cancer. My life depended on it. When the psalmist writes that his “whole being waits,” perhaps you—like me—can relate to that feeling. His heart and soul long for a sign from God, a flicker of light while hanging out in the depths of darkness. He wanders back and forth between calling out to God and reminding himself of the goodness and faithfulness of God. Fear creeps into our waiting when there’s a possibility of bad news—and that can make the situation feel unbearable. Like the psalmist, we must keep our eyes fixed on God, the source of hope for this life and forever. There is no outcome that God will not help us handle.  Dear Lord, we cautiously pray for patience as we deal with irritating little things and major, life-altering, fearful things. Thank you for your infinite mercy. Infuse us with unshakable hope in your Word. Amen. |
Today is one of a family of programs from: |
To think that a mere forty days of Lent once seemed an arduous journey.
Who could have guessed at the outset of Lent 2020 how long the desert sojourning would last? That those forty days would be followed by forty more, and forty more, and so on and so forth until . . . Lent x 10. By my calculations—yes, I’m counting—by the time Easter arrives, it will have been about 400 days since the end of the world as most of us knew it.
Patience worn out by the journey, anyone? Disgusted with the wretched sickness and death? Starving for face-to-face conversations . . . shared meals . . . meetings that are not virtual? Longing to hold a newborn, tickle a toddler, give your grandparents a hug?
From this vantage point, we might wonder if the Israelites were too quick to classify their desert complaining as sinful. After all, our friends the psalmists had no problem loudly sharing their every thought with God. If complaint and lament are where we are at, shouldn’t we be honest with God? Trusting that somehow, we know not how, God can take it.
We know not how? Let’s be honest. Where did we begin this Lenten journey? And with whom? In the desert. With Jesus. He gets it.
Long and painful as the road to Jerusalem was, his undying words are soothing balm: The one who sent me is with me. He has not left me alone. Jesus spoke this way, and we believe him.
Deep into this present and seemingly continuous Lent, Easter is on the horizon. Honest to God, we are not alone. Never have been and never will be.
“Many try to fly away from temptations only to fall more deeply into them; for you cannot win a battle by mere flight. It is only by patience and humility that you will be strengthened against the enemy. Those who shun them outwardly and do not pull them out by the roots will make no progress; for temptations will soon return to harass them and they will be in a worse state. It is only gradually—with patience and endurance and with God’s grace—that you will overcome temptations sooner than by your own efforts and anxieties . . . Gold is tried by fire and the upright person by temptation. Often we do not know what we can do until temptation shows us what we are . . . This is how temptation is: first we have a thought, followed by strong imaginings, then the pleasure and evil emotions, and finally consent. This is how the enemy gains full admittance, because he was not resisted at the outset. The slower we are to resist, the weaker we daily become and the stronger the enemy is against us.”— Thomas à Kempis, p. 32-33
//The Catholic Company//
“The Blessed Virgin endured a long and cruel martyrdom in her heart for our sakes, and for love of us. Frequently, and with feelings of tender love, contemplate her standing at the foot of the Cross, and join her in bewailing and weeping over sin, which, by causing the death of Jesus, rent in twain the heart of Mary. Pledge your heart to this Mother of sorrows, by some habitual act of devotion and mortification, in remembrance and in honor of her bitter sufferings. Also, endure something for love of her, imitating her patience, resignation, and silence.”— Fr. Ignatius of the Side of Jesus, p. 259
//The Catholic Company//