Spiritual desire is the longing of the heart for relationship with God that brings happiness and peace. Francis of Assisi was a passionate person, a dreamer, a lover and a person of desire. When he felt his desire filled in hearing the gospel, he found the answer to his deepest longings and changed his life accordingly. He became a follower of Christ. Francis’ life shows us that we must be attentive to our desires if we are to find the fulfillment of our lives in God.
I want to tell you about my evil twin brother, Paul. While I was on vacation, I went to the local diner where it’s like Cheers with food, and everyone knows your name. If you are a regular, you pour your own coffee and bus your own table. The owner told me that my brother was the happiest when he could do something for someone else. That was very nice to hear.
I have good news and bad news for you today. The good news is about the latest that I have read about Covid. It’s 99.5% survivable. Now, that’s really good news! The bad news is that life is 0.0% survivable. None of us are getting out of here alive. One day the doctor is going to tell us that our birth certificate has been canceled. When I was in Gitmo, I was outside the hooch one night with Father Seamus, a Norbertine father, while he was having a cigar. This Air Force doctor walked by and said, “You know, Padre, that’s going to kill you.” Father Seamus took a drag on his cigar and said, “And what are you planning on dying of doctor?” We are called in the 5th Commandment to take all moral and prudent means to protect our health.
We are also called to prepare ourselves to meet Christ and to grow daily in holiness. This dispels the fear that the devil creates about our passing whenever that will be. Sometimes it will be like Dorothy Strube at age 96, and sometimes it will be much sooner. There was an announcement in the obituaries about a gentleman who was 46 when he passed away. We don’t know when it will happen, but constant communion with Him in this life will make us happier and make those around us happier. It will dispel the fear of transitioning from this life to the next…hopefully to heaven, if you do it right.
I read about this one man who committed murder in France and who was sentenced to death. His conversion in prison was so great and so amazing, that he was nominated for sainthood for being a servant of God. He did go to the block…the French took their heads off in those days. So, he was executed, but he was nominated for sainthood for such was his transition even in that small window. My point is this: Why wait for that small window?
We are called to grow closer to God. Drawing close to Him will provide peace for our souls. That moment of death will not be tragic. Instead, it will be a fulfillment of our love. Two hearts who love each other so tenderly will be together for all of eternity and never separated by sin. I say that to the dying. I say, “Make your peace with God and go meet your savior. You will never lose Him again.” That’s where we are all headed…to have peace so that we can become holy.
Do not let your crosses, whatever they may be or how many you may have, cause you to think you aren’t doing something right. “If I were doing it right, my crosses would be much lighter, and I wouldn’t fall so often.” All of that is “bravo sierra” from the devil. Saint Teresa of Avila said, “If this is the way you treat your friends, no wonder you have so few.” Conversely, the more crosses you seem to have, the greater the love Christ has for you. So, carry your cross, if not for yourself, for others and drawing them to salvation and away from the suffering of the world. The devil uses many things – he is the father of lies – and he may make you think you are not drawing closer to God when, in fact, you are. Be prudent about your health in all things. Also, realize that no matter how many things there are to triumph over, there will be a moment when God will call you from this life to another. And, He will ask you, “Did you love Me?”
How will you apply this message to your life? Are you taking all moral and prudent means to protect your health as we are asked to do in the 5th Commandment? Are you preparing to meet Christ by growing in holiness?
You can read all of Father Fitzgibbons’ sermons by going to 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). Sermon notes can also be found on the church Facebook page by Googling “Facebook Our Lady of the Annunciation Albemarle”
“The fruit of silence is prayer, the fruit of prayer is faith, the fruit of faith is love, the fruit of love is service, the fruit of service is peace.”— St. Mother Teresa of Calcutta
A good meal will get you out of a hangry (hungry + angry) mood, but it takes more than a basket of chicken tenders to get you back to truly being the-best-version-of-yourself. The truth is — the next meal or purchase or thing isn’t going to solve the problems that keep you up at night. So maybe it’s time to switch your focus. Maybe it’s time to start feeding your soul instead…
You’re not fully you when you’re spiritually hungry. That’s why we created the Feed Your Soul Gospel Reflection program with Matthew Kelly and Allen Hunt! These free weekly videos were created just for you – so feed your soul and prepare for Sunday in a powerful way.
Franciscan prayer, lived to its full, is to set the human heart on fire. It is to transform one’s body into a body of love and one’s actions into actions of love. In this transformation is the fire that can set the earth ablaze — the fire of light, peace, justice, unity and dignity. It is to see the wounds of suffering humanity and bind them with mercy and compassion. It is to see and feel for all creation — to love by way of self-gift. It is to live in the mystery of Christ, the mystery of God enfleshed.
Always it is the same: You suddenly realize that God has been there all along, that yes, God is present in your life. And the words of praise and thanksgiving rise to your lips, perhaps after great sorrow or suffering or that darkness of mind which seems endless and terrible when it is upon you. And what is it that brings that realization of God’s all-loving presence? Isn’t it that something changes inside you that cannot be explained by anything you did or anyone else did to you or for you? Often something you have been hoping for or praying for just happens. Perhaps you wake up one morning and something is different. You accept what you couldn’t before, or you look in the mirror and laugh at yourself. And peace seeps through your whole being, and everything seems good again in spite of pain or sorrow or loss.
“Everybody today seems to be in such a terrible rush, anxious for greater developments and greater riches and so on, so that children have very little time for their parents. Parents have very little time for each other, and in the home begins the disruption of peace in the world.”— St. Mother Teresa of Calcutta
