“The Sound and Smell of Love”
Father Peter Fitzgibbons
April 12 – 13, 2025
Gospel: Luke 23:1-49
Holy Mother Church instructs her priests to proclaim a short sermon after reading the Passion. So, this will be short, but very good.
In the Passion, we see the frailty of human nature. Some say, “If we only had power, we could make everything right.” Pontius Pilate had absolute power as the Roman governor. He had a Roman legion of 12,000 soldiers at his command. So when the crowd began to rebel, on Pilate’s order, the soldiers could have killed everyone without any repercussions for him. They could have taken care of business, and nothing would have happened. But Pilate caved even though he had absolute power. Five days later, the Jews were calling for his crucifixion.
People say, “I love God.” Then why don’t you go to church? What about your sin? “Well, when I sin, I only hurt myself.” Really? Sin hurts a lot of people. I would like everyone to search for “Jesus Christ Superstar” on YouTube. It’s an old Broadway play, and in one part, there is the scourging of Jesus. Listen to the flogging of Jesus. How brutal it was. Listen to Pilate counting the 39 strokes. They couldn’t give him 40 because that would have been illegal.
If you read and listen to the Passion and meditate on it, you hear the story of love freely given, even though we didn’t deserve it. In “Jesus Christ Superstar,” there is a part on the soundtrack when our Lord is on the Cross, and if you listen carefully, you hear the drip, drip, drip of blood. Police officers, EMTs, and medical folks will tell you that blood has a smell. It has a copper smell that makes some people sick. But when we listen, and if we think about it, we can say that love has a smell. It is God’s love. I was thinking about that earlier this morning – the house I grew up in smelled like apple pie. Love has a smell, and it also has a sound. Listen to the track of “Jesus Christ Superstar” and listen to the drops of blood. It is love being poured out one drop at a time for us.
When you hear the Passion proclaimed, you hear the effects of our sin. All sin – mortal, venial, and material – is an alienation of God. Yet when you read the culmination of the Passion, you cannot deny one statement of fact – that God loves us. Look upon the Crucifix and know that God loves you. In the next-to-last words our Lord said in this life before He was resurrected and went to the Father to open the Gates of Heaven, was a prayer for us. “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do!”
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.