Tag: satan

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Sermon Notes – April 5, 2026 – “It’s 5 o’clock Somewhere”

“It’s 5 o’clock Somewhere”

 Father Peter Fitzgibbons

April 4 – 5, 2026

Gospel: John 20:1-9

It’s wonderful to see so many people here.  I don’t think I’ve ever seen the church this full.  Holy Mother Church asks priests to mention that when it is time for Holy Communion, only practicing Catholics may receive the Blessed Sacrament.  As one great Italian theologian said, “It’s nothing personal. It’s just business.”  

Do you know why we tend to believe lies?  They tell us what we want to hear.  They may not be true, but we like to hear them.  Every cardiac patient wants to hear, “You can have bacon. It’s good for you. It’s the other white meat.”  No, but we like to hear what we want to hear.  Our human nature wants us to believe the lies of satan.  If we believe that death is the end, then we can deny our Lord and do whatever we wish.  “I can do anything I want, and God will still love me.”  Yes.  He loves you so much that He wants to bring you to Heaven.  Unfortunately, we will all die.  However, that’s not a bad thing because it is only by dying that we reign with Christ.  Death is just a transition, and the closer we draw to God, the less the fear of death will have a hold on us.  Yes, sometimes the way we have to go to Heaven is not especially pleasant.  Last week, I talked about a man I knew, Mike Way, who had cancer of the esophagus.  But thank God for modern medicine, because our suffering is much less than it has been in the past.  In his last days, Mike said, “He suffered that for me. I will suffer this for Him.” 

The happiest people are those who go to church.  Are they always overjoyed?  Oh, heck no.  I am not allowed to eat bacon.  So, tell me your problems.  But you will survive, and you will be rewarded in Heaven.   Our Lord holds out the reward, not only for me, but for every one of His children.  One day, sooner for some and later for others, He will come and take you to Himself.   Now, whether you get to stay with Him depends on how you respond to His love.   Did you return His love?   Do you know how we prove that love?  It’s not putting extra money into the collection basket – although if you did, I would appreciate it.  We prove our love for God by taking up our cross every day.  If we want what He is offering, we must do what He did by taking up our cross and following Him to Calvary.  That we will reign with Him forever is not a promise but an assurance.   

In the last few days, we have held tributes to Holy Thursday, Good Friday, and Holy Saturday.  On Holy Thursday, our Lord gives us the means to achieve Heaven through the Sacraments.  On Good Friday, He shows us the nature of sin and how much He loves us.  Today we know the results.  We will rise, and we will see Him.  On the last day, we will get a glorified body, which will be united with our soul.  The soul is incomplete without the body, and incompleteness cannot last in His presence.  But He taught us the way.  “If you wish to be My disciple, take up your cross and follow Me.”  Do exactly what He did, and you will get what He offers.  All participants in 12-step programs want to get sober and clean.  I ask participants, “Do you have a sponsor, someone who can teach you the steps and help you to understand them?”  Yes.  Then I’ll ask them, “Do you want to be like them?”  Yes.  “Then do what they did.”  Do you remember what I told you about walking through a minefield?  Do not take a step unless you see a footprint in front of you.  Otherwise, things will turn out very badly and very quickly for you.   That’s what we do – we follow in Christ’s footsteps. 

Now progress, not perfection, is what we should strive for because our Lord said, “Take up your cross every day and follow Me.”  We can never reach perfection, so we struggle along with whatever crosses we have.   By the way, does anyone need more crosses?  I’m just asking.  I think we all have enough.  Sometimes it seems like God is piling on.  Saint Teresa of Avila once said, “Lord, if this is how You treat Your friends, no wonder You have so few.”  But we struggle along with our crosses, our own Calvary, and then one day we will ascend our final cross and pass from this life.  Our bodies, like Christ’s, will lie in a tomb.  However, our souls, if we have been faithful, not perfect but faithful, will be with Christ in Heaven.  We will get our perfected body back on the last day.  This is the joy and the hope that no matter how many failures we have had, no matter the mistakes we have made, Christ will forgive us, and there is a place in Heaven for us that has been reserved since the beginning of time.  Everyone can achieve it. No matter how bad you think you are or what you have done, there is a place for you in Heaven if you take the means to do so. 

There is a story about Bishop Sheen, now Venerable Bishop Sheen and soon-to-be Saint Fulton.  He went one night to a hospital, and there was this guy who did not want to make his peace with God.  Bishop Sheen told the man he had brought a friend.  He took out a pyx, which holds Holy Communion, and said, “I have our Lord here.”  But this guy did not want Him, so eventually Bishop Sheen left.  But later that night, the man was crying for the Lord of the Cross.   Theresa de Lisieux heard about a murderer named Henri Pranzini.  He had been sentenced to death by guillotine – the big axe.  Saint Theresa kept praying for him and praying for him.  Up until the end, he refused everyone.  “Go away from me!”  Later, before they laid him on the guillotine for the final chop, he screamed, “The Cross, the Cross!”  The priest approached him with the crucifix, and the man kissed it.  Was that enough to achieve eternal salvation?  I bet it was. 

So, take up your cross every day, and if you fall, get back up.  Remember, as a famous theologian once said, “It’s 5 o’clock somewhere.”   You can start your day over again whenever you decide to.  Pick up your cross and follow Christ, imperfectly as we all do, because Christ has a place for each of us in Heaven. 

Father’s Reflections:

I used to go to the female prison in Troy, and we would play “Stump the Priest” before I started Mass.   It’s sort of like “Stump the Chump.”  This one female felon, who always asked lots of questions, said, “Father, I have a question.”  You could see the other women rolling their eyes.  I asked this woman what her question was.  She said, “I read in the paper about people who die, and they all go see Jesus.”   I said, “That’s true.”  She was shocked.  I told her, “We will all die, and we will all go see Jesus in Heaven.  Some get to stay long enough for a cup of coffee, and others get to stay for eternity.”  That’s true.   

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.”

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Sermon Notes – January 28, 2024 – Don’t Send a Boy to Do a Man’s Job

“Don’t Send a Boy to Do a Man’s Job”

Father Peter Fitzgibbons

January 27 – 28, 2024

Gospel: Mark 1:21-28

As a priest, I have been asked to bless many things.  I have blessed homes, boats, and cars.  I have blessed women before childbirth and after childbirth.  There is a whole list of things that priests can bless.  And that’s a good thing.  Sometimes people tell me, “Father, I need an exorcism of my house.”  So, I go bless the house after which I tell them to get rid of the Buddhist statues, and if they hear anything else, let me know.  Also, if you start spitting up pea soup and your head starts spinning around, call me.  Occasionally nurses will ask me to bless hospital rooms, and I always ask why.  The reasons can be interesting.  “Well, the call light has been going off a lot recently.”  So, that means somebody needs a nurse.  I realize our veterans can be real pains in the butt sometimes but come on!  “But Father, there’s no patient in that room, and some weird stuff has been happening.”  So I go into the room, bless it, say a prayer, and sprinkle holy water.  A couple of weeks later, I asked the nurses if they were having any more problems in that room.  They said, “Oh, no problems at all.  Thank you, Father, for what you did.”  No problem.  I was happy to do it.    One of the nurses had a sheepish look on her face and said, “Father, we asked a Protestant chaplain to bless that room.  He went into the room and said some prayers, but it didn’t work.”   I said, “Don’t send a boy to do a man’s job.” 

The Church has power over satan through the grace of Jesus Christ.  He gave bishops and priests the power over satan to expel demons.  It’s called the Rite of Exorcism which is not as uncommon as you might think.  I cannot confirm or deny that I’ve done any of that.  If I told you, I would have to kill you.  Remember the movie “The Exorcist” where the girl spits up pea soup and her head spins around?  I met that exorcist, and it’s all true.   Satan is very real and can take possession of people.  If you have to go somewhere that is sketchy and you are concerned, arm yourself with prayer.  When I visit very sick people, I go in with gloves and a mask like Darth Vader.  “I am your father, Luke.”   It’s not as if after the first century satan said, “Okay I’m done.”  He is just as active now as he was then.  But so is Christ.  And that’s the good news.  Stay away from things like Ouija Boards, horoscopes, and all that stuff.   “But I want to see what my future is.”   Well, your long-term future is at Hartsell’s Funeral Home.  What happens to your soul after that is up to you. 

People aren’t bad because they don’t have stuff.  My parents and grandparents were poor, and they weren’t felons.  They didn’t steal, and they didn’t hurt anybody.  People choose to be evil.  Those people who are certifiable and do not have the free will choice to be evil or not should be locked up in a nice state institution where they can’t hurt themselves or anyone else.   People choose to be evil.  They choose satan who promises temporary happiness but never delivers it.   Saint Peter said, “Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. Resist him, standing firm in the faith” (1 Peter 5:8-9).   So, unless Peter is a liar, satan is very active and looking for people.  Satan can appear under a nice cloud resembling something good like New Age Spirituality.  I read this in an article, “Father was so busy he barely had time to light the prayer candle and go to prayer.”   Really?  Father needs to get his head out of his “bleep.”  Jesus is here in the church in the Most Blessed Sacrament.   Hey Father, throw the candle out and see the Lord.  “I’ve got my prayer shawl.  I’m so spiritual.”  No, you’re not.   None of that adds to spiritual development.   Stay away from New Age stuff and anything else that appears to be evil because it is a portal for satan.  Jesus laid out very specific ways in which to return His love. 

I love shows about ghost hunting because they always ask the wrong questions.  I know a psychic back home who does this.  She once went into this house that was built before the Revolutionary War.  She went into a room that was very cold.  The homeowner asked her why it was so cold in the room, and she said, “That’s when you know ghosts are here.  They don’t know they are dead.”   Then they heard a voice say, “I’m dead?”  Nobody got the word to you, huh?   On some of the shows when they are cleansing the house of spirits, they put burnt sage all over the house.  So, the devil is powerless over burnt plant matter?  I don’t think so, otherwise he would stay out of everyone’s kitchen because something is always getting burned there.  “My house had a bad feeling about it, so I took some sage, burned it, and spread it around.”  Really?  Why didn’t you light up a toke too?  What the heck!  You might as well have some fun while you’re at it.  Burning sage to exorcise a house is sinful because it denies the power of Christ.   Instead, ask a priest to come bless the house.  Christ did not give His power to a plant; He gave it to His Church.   

Satan can come in by all sorts of less obvious means such as our entertainment, what we hear, what we see, and what we wear.  Hey, sweetheart, cover-up.  I’ve been a hospital chaplain for 40 years.  I’ve seen more body parts than you’ll ever have.  Okay?  It’s not a thrill.   The latest craze is Stanley tumblers.  You’ve got to get a certain drink cup because that’s cool.  Is your ego so fragile that your whole life will be much better because you have one particular cup?  Really?  I know a doctor who will give you some help.  I’ve got a summer camp you can go to that will give you some help, and they will even pay you to go.   You probably wouldn’t like it, but it would be good for you.  But think about that kind of thinking.  “I’m better if I have this or I have that.”   Really?  You are trying to fill an infinite hole with finite objects.  The hole in our soul can only be filled up with Christ.  

Remember, our Lord’s plan for us is peace and not affliction.  He loves you so much that He sent His only Son.  He loves you so much that He allows this sinful priest to act in the person of Christ so that you might have life and have it to the fullest; so that you may receive the Most Precious Body and Blood in Holy Communion; and so that your soul can be washed clean by His Most Precious Blood in the Sacrament of Penance.   Even if a priest who, God forbid, is in a state of mortal sin, the Sacrament is still efficacious.  Even if a priest has been chucked out of the priesthood, what we call defrocked, he is still able to give Last Rites if someone is in danger of death.  So much is God’s great love for us.  Hopefully, my time for getting Last Rites is a bit further down the road.   

Satan tempts us just as he did Adam and Eve.  We have the power over ourselves and our world.  “But if I had just one more thing, I would be perfect.”  That’s true.  You need one more thing to be perfect and that is Jesus.  Satan is always active in the world.  “Oh, women who have abortions have psychological problems.”  Really?  One of the doctors I served with was a combat infantryman, a Ranger, and a West Point graduate . . . a pretty hard-core guy and not exactly milk toast.  He said, “A baby is not a tumor.  A baby is not Pancreatic Cancer.  A baby is life.”   So, be very careful.  Stay sober and alert because the devil is roaming the world seeking the ruin of souls. 

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.”