Tag: Prayer

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Sermon Notes – July 2, 2023 – Looking for Love in All the Wrong Places  


Looking for Love in All the Wrong Places  

Father Peter Fitzgibbons

July 1 – 2, 2023

Gospel:  Matthew 10:37-42


When I prepare couples for marriage, I don’t ask them if they have learned how to talk to one another.  No . . . I’m not Doctor Phil.  I wanted to be Doctor House, but I’m definitely not Doctor Phil.  The whole basis of marriage, a vocation, is love of God.  Be holy and perfect and all things will be given to you.  Our Lord tells us being holy is first and foremost because you cannot give what you do not have.   When we are united with the Source of love, we can give that love to others.  All love comes from the Father because He is love itself.  And that is what I tell couples.  If you want to have a marriage that lasts and survives the rotten times, be holy.  However, good times can be rotten too, and you should be wary of them.   

I also tell couples to pray the Rosary together every night.  “Father, what if they are not Catholic?”  Well, the good news is that they are praying the Rosary.  The bad news is that it ain’t going to hurt a bit.  There is no downside.  If you pray the Rosary together, you can talk to each other about anything.  I got that from Bishop Sheen by the way.  I’m not that bright.  You need to be united to the Source of life.  “But Father, you are not married.”   I could not do that to a woman although my brother did, and he had a Mensa card.    

Each vocation is manifested in love to the Sacred Body of Christ – the Church.  In my 39 years of priesthood, I have seen so many priests and religious leave the vocation because they do not, and will not, give themselves totally to God.  “My work is my prayer.”   No, it’s not.   Those are two different words.  I know because I went to Catholic school.  They are spelled differently and mean different things.  Both can be acts of love, but you cannot give what you do not have.  So, you must return to and be united with the Source of love.  Remember, in Scripture, Christ said, “Come away and spend time with God.”   The religious and priests become disheartened, and they leave.  They go looking for love in all the wrong places.   They look for love in people, places, and things.   Some do come back, which is tough because they don’t want to admit their mistakes.  But that Love they once touched won’t give up and follows them.  The faithful are united with the source of God’s love and seek Him by immersing themselves in His love through the Sacraments.  This is where we get the strength to do what God asks of us – to do corporal and spiritual works of mercy. 

We always like it when people thank us for our good works, but most people don’t.   “Well, Father, you do good works.”  I hope so; I’m going to be judged on that.  “So, people must thank you a lot.”   No, not really.   I’ve performed a lot of funerals and weddings and did not even get a thank you note.  Doing weddings is like negotiating with terrorists.  They come in with a list of nonnegotiable demands.   This is my Church, and I appreciate your desire to have your wedding here, but we don’t do that here.  “Well, father so and so does it.”  That’s nice.  Here are the rules straight from the Church’s rulebook.   Many people don’t say “thank you.”   Although we do it for Christ, I would love to get a “thank you” especially for the staff here who work so hard.   

Our feelings get hurt when people don’t say “thank you” and appreciate the enormity of our stooping down from our greatness to help them.   However, we humbly do it for Christ, and people see Christ in our human natures.   It’s tough sometimes.  Because you are hurt, you really want to say some good old Anglo-Saxon words that shouldn’t be used in polite company.  But Christ says, “You gave a gift of love to Me, and I will repay you according to My nature.”   So do not worry about it.  Bring Me your sorrows.  Bring Me your rejections.  Bring Me your feelings of being unappreciated.   Bring them to Me and stay awhile.  You will learn how unappreciated I am for My gift of love.  I offer Myself to the world in the Blessed Sacraments and look at how few show up.  Look at how few say, “thank you.”   People haven’t finished singing my praises and they begin leaving the church.  Whoa!  Did I dismiss you?  No!  They can’t wait to leave even though there’s not much going on in Albemarle at 10:30 in the morning. 

Once I had a funeral here, and it was on a day like this.  After the funeral, we got into the car to drive to the cemetery.  We drove at a funeral pace, so we were not traveling very fast.  I had the robes on, and I was very thirsty.  But when you are in a hearse and in a funeral procession, you really can’t ask the driver to stop at a gas station so you can grab a Coke.  That would be in poor taste and really frowned upon.   I got to the church – and it was a beautiful church – if you don’t know where it is, you’ll never find it.  It’s up over a hill and back.  I got out of the hearse and began walking to the grave site.  And there was this big, old man in bib overalls coming toward me with a cup in his hand.  He said, “I thought you might like this.”   It was a cup of ice-cold water.   He is now resting with his family in the back of the church grounds.  It was such a great act of love.  How he knew that I would need it or if it was a simple act of courtesy and kindness, I don’t know.  He did not know me, and I did not know him.  As I talked to him, I realized that he was related to some of the parishioners here.  But such as that.  Always remember, when we do things for others, we are doing them for Christ. 

Father’s Reflections . . . I looked at the calendar today, and I was reminded that 21 years ago I received an interesting letter.  Know who it was from?  The AARP.  Know what made it so interesting?  They sent it to me while I was in Iraq.  So, we have geriatrics protecting our country.  Great!

How will you apply this message to your life?  ________________________________________

You can read all of Father Fitzgibbons’ sermons by going to annunciationcatholicalbemarle.com and clicking on “Blog” then “Categories” 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 Facebook page at ola.catholic.church.  Click on “Groups” and then “Sermon Notes.”

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Minute Meditation – Is This Not The Fast I Wish?

An early follower of Francis was not able to sustain the extreme fasting that Francis himself practiced. Rather than shaming the man, Francis broke his own fast so that his hungry brother could eat. Religious practices can never become more important than the end to which they lead: love of God and love of neighbor. Jesus makes this point again and again in the Gospels. It’s a good lesson at the beginning of Lent. What we do for Lent is far less important than why we do it. The time-honored traditions of prayer, fasting, and almsgiving are less to benefit us than to draw us closer to God and improve the lives of those around us. 

—from the book Lent with St. Francis: Daily Reflections by Diane M. Houdek

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Saint of the Day – August 30 – Saint Fiacre

St. Fiacre (d. 670 A.D.) was born in Ireland and was raised from childhood in an Irish monastery. There he grew in knowledge as well as holiness, and became a priest. He retired to a hermitage to live in prayer and solitude, but men began to flock to him to imitate his way of life and become his disciples. To escape them, Fiacre left Ireland to establish a new hermitage in France. He went to the bishop and asked for land to plant a garden to grow food as well as herbs for medicinal healing, a science which he studied in the monastery. The bishop agreed to give Fiacre as much land as he could entrench. Fiacre picked a plot of land and walked around its perimeter, dragging his shovel behind him. Wherever his spade touched the ground, the land was miraculously cleared and the soil became entrenched. St. Fiacre lived a life of great mortification in prayer, fasting, vigils, and manual labor in his garden. Disciples gathered around him again, and soon formed a monastery. St. Fiacre then built an oratory in honor of the Virgin Mary, a hospice in which he received strangers, and a cell for his own dwelling. His fame for performing miracles became widespread, and his garden became a place of pilgrimage for centuries for those seeking healing. St. Fiacre is best known as the patron of gardeners, florists, and cab drivers. His feast day is August 30th.

St. Fiacre, pray for us!

//Catholic Company//

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Sermon Notes – November 20, 2022 – “You Can Create Your Own Chapter in the ‘Lives of the Saints’”

“You Can Create Your Own Chapter in the ‘Lives of the Saints’”

Father Peter Fitzgibbons

 November 19-20, 2022

Gospel:  Luke 23:35-43

35 The people stayed there watching. As for the leaders, they jeered at Him with the words, ‘He saved others, let Him save himself if He is the Christ of God, the Chosen One.’  36 The soldiers mocked Him too, coming up to Him, offering Him vinegar, 37 and saying, ‘If you are the king of the Jews, save yourself.’  38 Above Him there was an inscription: ‘This is the King of the Jews’.  39 One of the criminals hanging there abused Him: ‘Are you not the Christ? Save yourself and us as well.’  40 But the other spoke up and rebuked him. ‘Have you no fear of God at all?’ he said. ‘You got the same sentence as He did, 41 but in our case we deserved it: we are paying for what we did. But this Man has done nothing wrong.’ 42 Then he said, ‘Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.’  43 He answered him, ‘In truth I tell you, today you will be with Me in paradise.’


One of my favorite things to read about is the lives of the saints because it gives me great hope.  The saints cover a wide range and multitude of vocations, lifestyles, and difficulties.  That gives me hope that someday I also might be a saint.   I was reading about one this week.  During World War II, a bomber pilot was flying a mission over Italy and was about to release his bomb when he saw a flying monk – not the flying nun – at 17,000 feet in the air.  The monk was pointing at something.  The boom window opened, and the bombs dropped but not where they were supposed to drop.  Later, when the pilot did his after-action report, he told the commanding general what happened.  The general said, “That’s nice.”  The pilot was put in the Army’s “nut hut” for a while.  He’d been on one too many flights.  But other pilots kept seeing the same thing and also missing the target for their bombs.  Finally, an Italian general, an ally, saw the flying monk.  After the war, he went to that tiny Italian town and while he was there looking around, he saw the monk that he had seen while flying at 17,000 feet.  You know who that was?  Padre Pio.  The general, who was Protestant, became Catholic.  Padre Pio was given the gift of bilocation (the ability to be present in more than one place at the same time).   Padre Pio promised his people that the allies would not bomb the town . . . and they didn’t.  Saint Martin de Porres, a Dominican brother from South America, was also given the gift of bilocation.   I had the gift of bilocation, a twin, but that usually just got us into trouble.  Before I’d go home, I would ask my twin brother, Paul, if he had ticked anybody off.  I was getting too old to smack people around.  But there have been all sorts of saints.  They had extraordinary gifts given to them.  Saint Teresa of Avila levitated while in prayer.  Saint Junípero Serra was known as the flying priest.  Saint Therese de Lisieux and Saint Francis of Assisi both saw their guardian angels.  These great gifts were given to the saints, and they are wonderful.  The temptation of the devil is for you to think, “Oh, I can’t be like them.”   Yes, you can.  We have the same means they had to achieve what they did.  They were given all these great graces – the ability to levitate, bilocate, and to fly at 17,000 feet – but they were given to them for the good of others and not as a reward or an “atta boy.”    So how did they achieve those graces that they would bring to others?  Through a life of prayer. 

One of the greatest gifts we have is our gift of suffering.  Our sufferings can be our greatest prayer.  Suffering can be transformative and be conduit of God’s gifts to others like the saints.  And as we gain the gift of old age, we have even more sufferings.  Our minds write checks that our bodies cannot cash. I was talking to a marine the other day was sick and in the hospital.  He didn’t want to ask for help because he believed that demonstrated weakness.  I told him, “No it takes courage to ask for help when you need it.”   When I had Covid, I told myself, “I’m going to say my prayers and say the Rosary while I walk.  I’m going to walk at night in the church and walk before Mass.  That didn’t work well.  It hurt, and I almost passed out several times.  But I rubbed the 101st patch and was determined to do it.  No.  It is not a sign of weakness to accept help.  Covid was my prayer.  Did I sit in my office every day?  No.  I couldn’t concentrate because I hadn’t been sleeping.  That suffering became my prayer. 

The saints suffered too.  They spent a lot of time in prayer.  They experienced a great deal of suffering which, again, can be transformative.  Look at the Good Thief on the cross.  He had a bad life and was sentenced to capital punishment.  Remember, later they broke his legs…not a fun way to go.  Yet he still went to Heaven through his sufferings.  Heaven was once stolen, and it can be stolen again.  God gave the saints great gifts – for others and not for themselves … because God’s love is in us not only to transform us but for the salvation of other souls. . .to transform them to be with Him and to cooperate with Him. 

I miss all the fun I had in the military. . . all the travel, the strange, exotic lands, all the excitement.  There’s nothing like being in 136 degrees and a sandstorm wearing a flak vest and helmet.  Those were the days!  It was very slimming.  But that experience now helps me with my work with veterans because they can talk to me.  I can help them understand.  There is no other priest in the diocese who can do that.  Although they are holy, veterans won’t talk to them unless they have the credentials.  So, your suffering is a good way to open up other souls to you and bring them to God.  No other person can talk to an alcoholic other than a recovering alcoholic, or to a drug addict by a former drug addict.  And the only one who can talk to sinners is a recovered sinner. . .one who is recovering each day by taking up their cross.

The most important thing we can do is to cooperate with God’s Will and allow God to use us through our sufferings, our talents, and our abilities to show His love so that others may come to know our Good Lord working in us.  Whatever field or time of life we may be in, this is our mission.  And it is how we create our own chapter in the lives of the saints.

How will you apply this message to your life? _____________________________

You can read all of Father Fitzgibbons’ sermons by going to annunciationcatholicalbemarle.com and clicking on “Blog” then “Categories” then “Sermon Notes.”  On a cell phone: click on “Blog” then “Menu” and then “Categories”

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Sermon Notes – October 16, 2022 – God is Not a ‘Snowflake’

“God is Not a ‘Snowflake’”

Father Peter Fitzgibbons

 October 15 – 16, 2022

Gospel:  Luke 18:1-8

1 Then He told them a parable about the need to pray continually and never lose heart.  2 ‘There was a judge in a certain town,’ He said, ‘who had neither fear of God nor respect for anyone.  3 In the same town there was also a widow who kept on coming to him and saying, “I want justice from you against my enemy!”  4 For a long time he refused, but at last he said to himself, “Even though I have neither fear of God nor respect for any human person,  5 I must give this widow her just rights since she keeps pestering me, or she will come and slap me in the face.” ‘  6 And the Lord said, ‘You notice what the unjust judge has to say? Now will not God see justice done to His elect if they keep calling to Him day and night even though He still delays to help them?  8 I promise you, He will see justice done to them, and done speedily. But when the Son of Man comes, will He find any faith on earth?’

I’m going to save you some time and money.  There’s no need to go to a conference or buy a book to learn how to pray.  So, what is the secret to prayer?  The secret to prayer is praying.   You have to do it.  That’s it.  That’s the whole thing.  What is prayer?  It is “cor ad cor loquitor” or heart speaking to heart.  That’s what your prayer is.  I’ve been in some interesting places, and I have prayed that He get me the heck out of wherever I was.  Your prayers don’t have to be Shakespearean, but they have to be from the heart.   Sometimes during prayer, our minds drift off. . .”Oh!  Look, squirrel.”  Just bring your mind back.  Prayer is an act of love.  Prayer is an act of faith because you believe that Someone who loves you will hear you.   Prayer is an act of hope because you believe that Someone who loves you will give you what you ask.  So, you are exercising three theological virtues when you pray. 

I remember talking to this one lady who was praying in one specific way.  She was going to claim it, she was going to pray in the right name, and she was going to do this and that.  I said, “Really?”  Do you think that all the parents waiting outside the children’s hospitals in Charlotte and Concord didn’t pray correctly, and therefore God killed their kids?  Do you think, “Oh, you didn’t mention the correct name.  Your kid is going to die because you screwed up.”  Do you really think so?  Love is over time.  God is not a cosmic gum-ball machine in which you can flip in a quarter and “Boom” get whatever you want anytime you ask.   That’s called “name it and claim it, love it and grab it.”  Now, we may not have gotten what we wanted, but lots of times we get something far better.  That’s what our Lord does.  So never feel defeated or disconsolate by prayer.  If you are thinking, “It’s all the same and I’m talking to a wall,” that’s a temptation from satan.  God always hears our prayers.  God always answers our prayers in His own time and in His own way. 

Prayers do not change God. . .prayer changes us.  It makes us more receptive to the Will of God.  Maybe we are asking for something too small.  Sometimes though, we have to take “no” for an answer.  Now, I have been ordained for 38 ½ years, and I’m still not a Monsignor.  I think I’m going to stop asking and move on to more important things other than my personal prestige.  But prayer changes us and draws us closer to God.  By the way, if you happen to get very upset with God and use some very earthly, Anglo-Saxon words in your prayers, it’s okay.  God is not a “snowflake.”  He does not take offense; rather, He adores your passion.  You can only get mad at people you love because you expect better.  As Saint Teresa of Avila said, “Lord, if this is how you treat your friends, no wonder you have so few.”  The secret to prayer is what?  Doing it.

How will you apply this message to your life? ________________________________