Tag: Promised Land

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Sermon Notes – February 25, 2024 – “A Glimpse of Heaven”

“A Glimpse of Heaven”

Father Peter Fitzgibbons

February 24 – 25, 2024

Gospel: Mark 9:2-10


2) After six days Jesus took Peter, James, and John and led them up a high mountain apart by themselves. And He was transfigured before them, 3) and His clothes became dazzling white, such as no fuller on earth could bleach them. 4) Then Elijah appeared to them along with Moses, and they were conversing with Jesus. 5) Then Peter said to Jesus in reply, “Rabbi, it is good that we are here! Let us make three tents: one for You, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.”  6) He hardly knew what to say, they were so terrified.  7) Then a cloud came, casting a shadow over them; then from the cloud came a voice, “This is my beloved Son. Listen to Him.”  8) Suddenly, looking around, they no longer saw anyone but Jesus alone with them.  9) As they were coming down from the mountain, He charged them not to relate what they had seen to anyone, except when the Son of Man had risen from the dead.    10) So, they kept the matter to themselves, questioning what rising from the dead meant.

We learn what Heaven is like by the transfigurations in the Gospel.  I could preach for hours on that subject.  Would you like me to preach for hours?  Before you respond, the pious answer is “Yes, Father.”   But I know what you are really thinking: “Come on old man.  I’m starving here!”  So, what is Heaven like?  Heaven is being in the presence of Jesus.  It’s not a place.  It’s a Who.  It is the presence of God.  Moses and Elijah were in the presence of God.  They talked about what would happen in the future, so they had knowledge of the future.  Remember that in Heaven everything is in the present.  God is always in the present because He is not subject to His own creation of time, the past, or the future.   Everything is present to God at once.  All time is present.   

How did the Apostles know they were talking to Moses and Elijah?  There was no Facebook back then.  There were no cameras or photographs.  So, like Moses and Elijah, their minds had been enlightened by a gift from God.  They knew Moses and Elijah.  They knew they were talking to Jesus.  So, what does that tell us about death?   It tells us there is forgiveness after death.  What did God say to Moses after he struck the rock three times?  “Because you did not believe in me. . . therefore you shall not bring this assembly into the land which I have given them” (Num. 20:6-13).   Moses was not allowed to enter the Promised Land, but where was he that day?  He was in the Promised Land.  So, there is forgiveness after death. 

Purgatory is the full expression of God’s love and mercy.  The Apostles wanted this joy to continue; however, Heaven is later and not here on Earth no matter what any bishop or Church deacon tells you.  “If we have just one more collection or one more ministry, we’ll have Heaven on Earth, and everybody will be happy.”  No.  We will never have Heaven on Earth.  That’s akin to a government official saying, “If we pass these great budgets and everything else, we’ll be all set, and everybody will be happy.”  Ahh, no.  You won’t have Heaven on Earth.  Heaven comes later.  If we are holy, we will have as much happiness as possible in this life.  However, full happiness does not come until we are with our Savior forever. 

Holiness has its own crosses.  Bishop Sheen had a television show.  He was a handsome man, eloquent, learned, and gave a great presentation.   Do you know what his daily diet consisted of?  Boiled chicken, graham crackers, and milk.  His stomach was that bad, but nobody knew.  Saint Theresa of Calcutta experienced “interior darkness,” but she was joyous.  Never mind all the crosses Saint John Paul II had as the Holy Father, but he was also shot.  Doctors say that the blood transfusions he received caused his Parkinson’s disease.  However, he suffered joyously for the salvation of souls.  One story about the Holy Father . . . he was a huge lover of classical music.  So, they had a world-renowned orchestra come in with some of the best maestros in the world.  After they finished playing one of his favorite pieces, the maestro turned around to look at the Holy Father and hoped that he liked it.  “Please like it!”  His Holiness was shaking and drooling because of his Parkinsons, but he gave the maestro a thumbs-up. 

Ten days before the Passion, God gave Peter, James, and John the great gift of consolation to prepare them for the scandal of the Cross.   God has given us consolation many, many times to help us endure our sufferings.  Consolations are a glimpse of Heaven.  Some consolations He gives us before we have great trials and some after.  And some just because God likes to give them to us because He loves us.  During that time when we are experiencing great trials and suffering, we don’t experience the consolation of Christ.  That’s hogwash.  “Oh!  I’m struggling!  My goodness!”  Grow up!  Just because we don’t feel the consolation of God and His presence, doesn’t mean He isn’t with us.  You cannot prove a positive with a negative. 

This is our opportunity to respond to His great gifts with acts of faith, hope, and love knowing that He is always with us.  Our guardian angel is always with us.  Mine is tired.  Just because we don’t feel consolation doesn’t mean anything.  This, indeed, might be a chance for us to console God.  How many of us have sinned so grievously against Him and don’t care?  We do not enjoy the times between consolations.  I would love to have them all the time.  But that’s not reality, and it’s the danger of a lot of spiritual programs.  “Pray this way while holding your mouth just right and standing on one foot, and you will receive consolation every time you pray.”  But that’s not true at all.  Look at Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane.  God is never, ever away from us.  Between consolations, we make our act of faith that God is with us; our act of hope that He will bring us safely through our trials; and our act of love by turning our trials into acts of love for others.

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’s Facebook page at ola.catholic.church.  Click on “Groups” and then “Sermon Notes.”

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Sermon Notes – August 6, 2023 – Busy is Not Your Friend

Busy is Not Your Friend

 Father Peter Fitzgibbons

August 5 – 6, 2023

Gospel:  Matthew 17:1-9

In today’s Gospel, the transfiguration happened about 10 days before our Lord’s Passion.   The Lord gave Peter, James, and John this great gift to show them His power so that they would be strengthened and fortified for the scandal of the Cross . . . the Passion.  He showed them who He was. . .  true God and true Man.  Our Lord lowered the veil of His humanity to show them His divinity.   His face became like the sun.  The three apostles had a foretaste of Heaven.  They saw Moses and Elijah there.  And it begs the question . . . How did they know it was Moses and Elijah?   This happened thousands of years before Facebook, and there were no pictures.  So, how the heck did they know?   Their minds were enlightened in the presence of God.  Moses, Elijah, and others were discussing with our Lord events that were still to come so we will have knowledge of the future.  Remember, Heaven is outside of time.  There is no time in Heaven.  Everything is in the present at once because God is.  They heard the voice of God the Father call out, a theophany or the manifestation of God.  “This is My beloved Son. Listen to Him.”   Peter offered to build three shelters – one for Moses, one for Elijah, and one for the Lord.  Peter said he wanted that moment to go on forever, but it didn’t.    Do you know what is interesting?  If you go back to the Old Testament, Moses disobeyed God when he struck the rock two times.  And the Lord said, “You are not entering the Promised Land.”   And where was Moses that day?  He was in the Promised Land which means there is forgiveness after death.  So, Moses made it to the Promised Land. 

The great spiritual consolations our God gives us are never lasting even though we want them to be.  They only last in Heaven.   Now this is a grave thing about the spiritual life or spiritual direction.  I was thinking about laypeople who say, “I’m a Spiritual Director.”  Uh-huh.  I’m Doctor House because I have watched every show.  That qualifies me, right?  If you say this prayer and do this, you will always be happy.  Really?  Check with a qualified medical professional about adjusting your meds.   We are never always happy.  Remember in the Book of Acts, the apostles were thrown into prison.  Prisons back then were very different.  One, they didn’t have cameras; and two, guess what happened to them . . . they got what we call “an attitude adjustment.”   They had the living you know what beat out of them.  But they rejoiced because they were found worthy to suffer for the Lord.   Our Lord said, “You will suffer for Me.”  He prophesied that we would have many trials and tribulations.  Look at Saint Paul’s letter to the Corinthians.   He was shipwrecked three times, stoned, and scourged.  “Hey God, if this is the way you treat your friends, it’s no wonder you have so few!”   He did not have an easy time of it, but he kept going. 

There is a great temptation when our time to suffer comes and everything seems to go bad.  We don’t feel our prayers, we aren’t being listened to, and it’s the same darn thing day after day.  So, the spiritual life is not always marvelous.  It is more like “Oh, if only I could see God.”   How many of the apostles were in the Garden of Gethsemane?   Only one was at the foot of the Cross.  Yet, in three years they saw all the miracles – at least three risen from the dead.   Think about all the miracles our Lord did.  “Oh, if I had just one big spiritual moment, I’d never doubt again.”  That’s not true.  We are no better than the apostles.  Our good Lord’s consolations to us, His appearances to us, and His gifts to us come not when we want them, but when our Lord decides we need them or as a free act of love to let us know He is always there.  But we tend to forget.  We get wrapped up in our daily lives and events, and the crushing work of staring at the coffee pot and microwave willing them to work faster.    Sometimes, we are so busy that we overlook the obvious.  “I didn’t see the police officer sitting there.”   It’s a big black car marked “State Police.”  How could you miss it?   We have tunnel vision while driving.  Father Adrian van Kaam reminds us in his book that many times we are too busy and tend to overlook our Lord’s consolations.  Our Lord reminds us of His presence and His care in the ordinary, mundane, and trivial events in our lives.  That’s why it’s so important at the end of the day to do an examination of conscience.  Take some time to look back over the day, not to see what you did right or wrong, but to see what our Lord is trying to say.   “Hi.  I love you!  It’s Me.  I’m here.”  We overlook it all. 

A couple of years ago, I was going out to visit someone in the hospital.  As I was walking upstairs, a nurse was coming down them.  She asked, “Are you a priest?”   Yeah.   “I was just going to call you.”  Well, I saved you a dime.  “There is someone upstairs in ICU who is dying.”   I told the family that it was just by chance that I was in town and that I was in the stairwell when I met the nurse.  God loves this person who was passing so much that I just happened to be there to give them Last Rites.  It’s tiny little things like that which show how much God loves us, but we are so busy that we overlook them. 

God gives those moments to us because He knows how fragile we are.  The apostles were always filled with fear, and we are no different.  God always gives us reminders of His love.  Not huge ones because that would scare the you know what out of us, but tiny, little reminders and consolations that we often overlook.  Consoling moments sometimes just show up when we least expect them. God speaks to us about the most ordinary things.  Thank Him for them.  He is aware of our strengths, our pain, and our fear.  He has not left us. 

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’s Facebook page at ola.catholic.church.  Click on “Groups” and then “Sermon Notes.”

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Minute Meditation – Back to Ground Level

The prophet Isaiah is the voice and spirit of the Advent season. In the eighth century before Christ was born, his words encouraged a people dejected and torn from their homes by soldiers of a foreign power. The people of Israel were carried off to Assyria, exiled from their homeland, driven out of the Promised Land. While God’s prophets, including Isaiah, had warned them time and time again that this would happen, until they were living the reality of the exile, they didn’t see the need to change their ways. But once the worst had happened, he changed his tone and his words brought comfort and hope to an afflicted people. He continued to call them to change their lives and turn again to their God, but he did it with gentleness and encouragement, with reminders of how very much God loved them, even in the midst of their suffering.

At different times in our lives, we find ourselves beaten down by circumstances—some beyond our control and some the consequence of bad choices on our part. We’re embarrassed by the number of times people have warned us that we were going the wrong way. We feel consumed by regret and remorse. At times such as these, we need to hear the word of God through the prophet Isaiah, reminding us that God is merciful, that God loves us just as we are, that in spite of our weakness and sin, God is always ready to welcome us home, to bring us back to level ground. If you’ve reached one of these valleys during this holiday season, don’t beat yourself up for the way you’re feeling. Remember that our resolutions to do better, our commitment to repentance and turning our lives around, all happen with God’s help.

— from the book Simple Gifts: Daily Reflections for Advent
by Diane M. Houdek

//Franciscan Media//

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The Bible in a Year – Day 314 – My Beloved Son

Fr. Mike elaborates on the significance of the Baptism of Jesus in the Jordan River. He points out that the location of the Jordan River is particularly noteworthy because it’s the same river that Joshua crossed over to lead the Israelites into the Promised Land, signifying that Jesus will bring about a new exodus. Additionally, it’s the lowest spot on the planet, symbolizing Jesus’ humility. Finally, Fr. Mike emphasizes that when we are baptized, we are adopted as beloved sons and daughters of God because what belongs to Jesus by his nature is given to us by God’s grace. Today we read Luke 3-5 and Proverbs 25:27-28.

Click on link: https://youtu.be/R2fNUca2HAw