Tag: Saint John Vianney

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Sermon Notes – January – 14, 2024 – “Heart Speaking to Heart”

“Heart Speaking to Heart”

Father Peter Fitzgibbons

January 13 – 14, 2024

Gospel: John 1:35-42

 I visit a lot of different groups.  Remember the song, “The In Crowd”?  We’re all old enough to remember that song, right?  I have two different groups that I’m “in” with . . . the shut-ins and the lock-ins.  This sermon has been approved by my lock-ins at the gated community whom I saw on Wednesday.  In the gospel, Jesus said, “You are Simon the son of John; you will be called Cephas” – which is Greek and translated as Peter” or “Rock”  (John 1:35-42).  This was a big deal.  Go back to the Old Testament when God called Abram.  What did God do?  He said, “You will be called Abraham, and you will be the father of My holy people.”  God wasn’t like me who gives people nicknames.  This was a dramatic shift.  However, He had reasons for changing people’s names.   

 What is the secret to prayer?   In the Gospel, Samuel said, “Speak Lord for your servant is listening” (1 Samuel 3:10).  That is the whole secret to prayer.  I am guilty of speaking so quickly that most times my mind has to catch up with my mouth.   I don’t often see a prayer like the one to Saint Jude for hopeless causes.  Sometimes I read in the newspaper that if you pray a certain prayer nine times for nine days, you’ll get what you want.  Over the four years of seminary, I was probably sick for a day or two.   But I never heard about celestial extortion.  Really?  “I’ve got the secret to prayer. Light a candle and put on a prayer shawl.”   Why?  Are you cold?    Do you honestly think God doesn’t know what we need?  He knows what we want and desire.  But He keeps us alive by saying “no” sometimes to our prayers even if they are perfect.   If He gave us everything we want, we might not stay close to Him.  Probably the reason I haven’t made Monsignor after 40 years is to keep me humble.  Well, that didn’t work.  We come with our prayers and rattle them off.  Of course, I say mine very quickly, and I have a whole laundry list of things to tell God.  Whew!  I’m done with my prayers.  But apparently, God isn’t listening because I asked Him about this yesterday, and it’s still not done.  He has fallen down on His job.  Maybe He forgot.  I know He’s busy but come on!  I’m a busy guy too, and I have things to do!   If He would just do what I ask, things would be so much better.  It’s good to get all these things off our souls by telling Him what we need, what we want, and what we think He should do.  He laughs.  You have to admit when we tell God what He needs to do, with His divine sense of humor, it cracks Him up.  “Oh, I hadn’t thought of that.  Thanks a lot; I really appreciate it.” 

 So, what is prayer?  Bishop Sheen said prayer is heart speaking to heart.  Prayer is not a monologue.  It is not a one-way conversation.  It is two-way communication.  You can’t communicate with someone who won’t shut up.  Hey!  Zip it!  We must listen, and listening is the hardest part.   Listening takes different forms through meditation, quietness, and being interiorly open.  We need quiet inside and out.  Do you know who is perfect at listening?  Nobody; not even monks and religious sisters.  It takes a lot of practice.  We may be sitting there with our minds racing.  Look! Squirrel.  But let the other heart speak to you on the other heart’s terms.   God speaks to us in ordinary ways at His choosing, in His way, and in His own time.  When you tell God what you want, He says, “Thank you very much, Sir.  I’ll get right on that order.”  No.  You’ve got the flow chart on how it works all wrong.   It’s a conversation.  We should sit and listen, which is the hardest part.  It takes time.  When you go to Mass at other churches, they may have a prolonged silence after the readings.  You know, they didn’t go to school, and if they did, they need to get their money back.  A good and proper meditation takes 20 minutes.  We did that in seminary.  We had nowhere else to go, so why not?  We must learn how to quiet ourselves and to listen.  It’s tough because we are all so busy.  Sometimes when we listen, we really don’t like the answers.  However, He knows what is best for everyone, and He loves us more than anyone.  When you receive an answer, be sure to authenticate it because satan will tell us stuff just to make us go off the deep end.  “Well, God told me to do this.”  Uh-Huh.  A friend of mine was a chaplain at a prison in Louisiana.  One of the inmates told him that God had called him to preach.  Really?  Aren’t you the guy who sexually abused his granddaughters?  You might want to rethink that.  You always have to make sure the answer is coming from God.  He does not contradict Himself or what He revealed in Jesus Christ. 

When you come to church, be like the French farmer.  Saint John Vianney was the pastor of a church in a small town in France.  He came to the church to hear confessions.  He saw this little guy sitting there in front of the Blessed Sacrament.  Oh good!  He heard some confessions and when he came back, the guy was still sitting there.  Priests are trained to notice the unusual.  So, Saint John asked the man, “My son is everything okay?”  The man answered, “Yes, Father.”   Saint John said, “My son you’ve been here for hours. What are you doing?”  The man answered, “I am looking at God and God is looking at me.”

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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Saint of the Day – August 4 – Saint John Vianney

Saint John Vianney’s Story (May 8, 1786 – August 4, 1859)

A man with vision overcomes obstacles and performs deeds that seem impossible. John Vianney was a man with vision: He wanted to become a priest. But he had to overcome his meager formal schooling, which inadequately prepared him for seminary studies.

His failure to comprehend Latin lectures forced him to discontinue. But his vision of being a priest urged him to seek private tutoring. After a lengthy battle with the books, John was ordained.

Situations calling for “impossible” deeds followed him everywhere. As pastor of the parish at Ars, John encountered people who were indifferent and quite comfortable with their style of living. His vision led him through severe fasts and short nights of sleep.

With Catherine Lassagne and Benedicta Lardet, he established La Providence, a home for girls. Only a man of vision could have such trust that God would provide for the spiritual and material needs of all those who came to make La Providence their home.

His work as a confessor is John Vianney’s most remarkable accomplishment. In the winter months he was to spend 11 to 12 hours daily reconciling people with God. In the summer months this time was increased to 16 hours. Unless a man was dedicated to his vision of a priestly vocation, he could not have endured this giving of self day after day.

Many people look forward to retirement and taking it easy, doing the things they always wanted to do but never had the time. But John Vianney had no thoughts of retirement. As his fame spread, more hours were consumed in serving God’s people. Even the few hours he would allow himself for sleep were disturbed frequently by the devil.

Who, but a man with vision, could keep going with ever-increasing strength? In 1929, Pope Pius XI named him the patron of parish priests worldwide.

Reflection

Indifference toward religion, coupled with a love for material comfort, seem to be common signs of our times. A person from another planet observing us would not likely judge us to be pilgrim people, on our way to somewhere else. John Vianney on the other hand, was a man on a journey, with his goal before him at all times.

Saint John Vianney is the Patron Saint of:

Diocesan Priests
Parish Priests

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Sermon Notes – September 11, 2022 – “God Loves Them More Than You Do”

“God Loves Them More Than You Do”

Father Peter Fitzgibbons

 September 10 – 11, 2022

Gospel:  Luke 15: 1-32

The other day I was making my rounds at the VA hospital, and one of the nurses told me that there was a new addition to Hospice.  I said “Okay” and I went in to the patient’s room.  He didn’t look good at all and won’t make it through the weekend Although they gave him two years in the original diagnosis, his doctors helped him get six years beyond that.  He got eight years when he was supposed to have two.  That shows you how well medicine works.  But now he was on his way to see the Savior.  I was talking to his wife and his sister-in-law was also there.  Very nice and sweet people.  I told them that I needed to ask them some questions because I have to do a Chaplain’s Spiritual Assessment for every patient who comes in.  Mostly, it’s creative writing on my part.  One of the questions is “Do you have any end-of-life issues?”   So how long have you had this chaplain gig?  End-of-life issue means end of life.  Yeah, I’ve got a real issue with that!  Are you crazy?   But they want something in the file, so I create a narrative of what’s happening with the patient to make the hospital happy.  If they don’t see it, they get a little antsy.   So, I asked his wife if he had any particular religion.  She said no.   Did he go to church when he was able?”   No.  He was a very interesting man, and I wish I had met him before he became so ill.  I may have crossed paths with him in the first Gulf War.  His job was explosive ordinance disposal and he disassembled mines and bombs.  He wasn’t exactly the nervous type before that – maybe afterward – but not before.  He was pretty good at his job because he survived it.  And he was blessed because he got a disease – none of us know when we will contract one – and he lived well beyond the original diagnosis.  You never know.  I told him and his family that I would come back to visit on my afternoon rounds.   So, I continued my rounds, visiting other patients.  I ran into the nurse practitioner for Hospice, and she asked me if I had seen the new Hospice patient and given him Last Rites.  I said, “No, he’s not Catholic.  His wife said he is Christian.”    She said, “Well, according to our records, he’s Catholic.”   Okay.  So, after lunch I went on my afternoon rounds, and the wife and sister-in-law were not in the room.  I looked around to make sure the coast was clear and gave the man the Last Rites.  And just as I was finishing, his wife and sister-in-law walked in.  Whew!  I snuck that one in!  I accomplished the mission. . .by any means necessary.  I told the nurse manager what I did, but it was never written down because we didn’t want to cause any more problems.  I’m a real certified weasel, but I’m a weasel for Christ.   

This is how much God loves us.  I have people come up to me all the time, and rightly so, asking for prayers for family members, loved one, needs, worries, fears, and all sorts of troubles we are prone to.  I’m happy to pray for them, but I try to tell them, if I remember, that no matter how much you love this person, God loves him or her much more.  That’s why God created them in His image and likeness.  That’s why He suffered and died for them.  That’s why He is constantly running after them to beg them to embrace Him and His love.  God never gives up.  Read the “Hounds of Heaven,” a poem by Francis Thompson.  God is always running after us, so much is His great love, that even at the moment of death if we say we are sorry for our sins just because we are afraid of dying and the eternal fires of hell and not because we are particularly sorry for them, God forgives us.  That is sufficient and God will forgive us.  Remember the 6th prayer from the Cross: “Father, forgive them for they know not what they do.”  One of the greatest experiences of God’s love is His mercy.

Saint John Vianney, known as the Curé d’Ars, is the patron saint for parish priests.  God’s gift to him was that he could read souls.  One day, he was walking along a road in France in an area where his parish was located.  A woman approached him and said, “Curé, you know my husband died.”  Father Vianney said, “Yes.” The woman said, “He fell off a bridge and drowned.  He’s in hell, isn’t he?”  Saint Vianney said, “I don’t know.”   The woman yelled, “You can read souls!  Why don’t you know?  He beat me, he drank, he gambled. . .“  She had a whole laundry list of how bad her husband had been.  “So, he’s in hell, isn’t he?”  Saint Vianney replied, “I don’t know.  There’s a long time from when he left the bridge and when he hit the water.”

Even in that short span of time, he could have said, “I’m sorry,” and that would have been sufficient.  Perfect contrition is if you say “I’m sorry” because you love God.   Imperfect contrition is if you said it because you don’t want to go to hell.  Even so, that is sufficient to receive God’s forgiveness.  So much does He love us.   He sees all our trials, worries, and concerns about those who are near and dear to us.  But remember, God loves them more than you do, and He will never, ever give up on them as long as they have a breath in them.

Father’s Afterthoughts. . .
My day is never dull.  There is always something interesting going on here.  Today, I had a wedding, and the bride came up in a carriage drawn by horses.  I got to pet the horses.  I love horses!  I’m still six years old.  Quoting Sir Winston Churchill, Doctor Eddins, a local physician, said, “There is something about the outside of a horse that is good for the inside of a man.”

How will you apply this message to your life?  ________________________________________

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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”