Tag: Schizophrenic

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Sermon Notes – July 14, 2024 – “That’s All I can Stands, I can Stands No More”

“That’s All I can Stands, I can Stands No More”

Father Peter Fitzgibbons

July 13 – 14, 2024

Gospel:  Mark 6:7-13


On Thursdays, if I remember, I go to the IDT (Inter-disciplinary Team) meetings.  Doctors, nurses, psychologists, social workers, physical therapists, dieticians, and chaplains attend this meeting to discuss Hospice patients.   We were discussing this one patient who is 47 years old and who is refusing treatment.  With treatment, he could be cured, so his doctor wasn’t sure what to do.  To complicate matters, this patient is also schizophrenic.  He was trying alternative holistic medicine, such as crystals, which was not working, and he was getting progressively worse.  The staff was trying to get him to talk to the oncologist.  I asked the psychologist, “Do you think that perhaps he is afraid?”  Nobody hears anything after doctors say “cancer.”  They shut down, and the conversation is over.  Although it could be stage 1, after they hear the “C” word, they stop listening.  That is especially true if you have another condition like schizophrenia.   He was afraid and stopped taking his medicine.  He could only control what he could control.  When you are a patient in the hospital, everything is out of your control, and privacy is a joke.  That is the nature of the business. 

We have to be careful about what we say.  Paul said, “Only speak of what builds people up.”  Be good to people.  The sin of slander is akin to murder in Scripture.  In the hierarchy of sins, slander and murder are equal.  We have to be very careful about what we say because we have no idea of the fragility of people.  They could be a lot more fragile than we think they are.  Sometimes they have the “Popeye” syndrome.  Do you know what that is?   “That’s all I can stands, I can stands no more.”   Someday, when they’ve had just one thing too many happen, they go postal.   We don’t know, so say good things that will help people and not evil things.   All that evil speech comes from inside the person saying it.  Speak words of kindness and love, not evil. 

In the Gospel, our Lord sent the Apostles out without any money, food, or anything, and all I could think was, “Are You kidding me?  Lord, do You have any idea what you are asking them to do?”   People who went to college and studied the dictionary would call that counterintuitive.  No – it’s stupid!  But our Lord wouldn’t tell us to do things that are impossible.  That goes against His nature.  The Apostles did what the Lord asked them to do.  Our Lord gives us these things to do so that we can show our love for Him.  “If you love Me, you will keep my Commandments.  My Commandments are not burdensome.”  Oh, I don’t think so.  My lack of faith in eating fish is just terrible.  What a terrible cross I have!  I have to obey my doctors.  That’s the Fourth and Fifth Commandments, by the way.  “I know the commandments.”  I don’t think so . . . but keep learning.  Remember what John Wayne said, “Life is tough; it is tougher when you’re stupid.”  “The Commandments are too hard.”  Not really.  Otherwise, our Lord wouldn’t have said, “My yoke is easy and My burden light.”   It may be unpleasant, but when we start saying the Commandments are hard, how are the young supposed to remain pure?  How are the old supposed to remain pure?  Have you ever heard about the Villages?  Do some research on that.   Ask any police officer, and they will tell you there is a lot of stupid out there manifesting itself.   We have the King Baby Syndrome; “I want what I want when I want it. So, I will change the Word of God to justify what I want to do.”   Our Lord tells us what to do and gives us the means to do it.   He does not tell me to do Misfit work because I’m incompetent.  I don’t fly airplanes for a reason – because I don’t have the ability.  But God doesn’t require that of me.  God gives me the means to do what He requires of me for my vocation as He does for us all.  He offers that to us all. 

So, the hardship of keeping God’s Commandments is negligible.  “Oh!  Do you mean I have to go to Mass every Sunday?”  Well, you catch all the Panthers games, don’t you?   Oh yeah.  Keeping His Commandments is not as hard as we think because He gives us the tools to do so.  The devil on our shoulders tells us how hard it is and how much we will miss the great side of life.  No, you won’t.  You will not miss the Four Horseman:  guilt, fear, shame, and remorse. 

I see people all the time who walk in misery and sadness.  We don’t always have to like what our Lord asks us to do.  I never saw a time in which He asked for someone’s opinion about one of His Commandments.  He said to keep His Commandments.  You don’t have to like them.  Just do what you are told, and it will work out well.  It worked out for the Apostles, and it will work out for us.  We are not the newest kids on the block or the brightest bulb in the box, but our Lord told us exactly what we need to do to have the greatest amount of happiness possible in this life and eternal happiness in the next.  All we have to do is what He tells us to do and to use the means He gave us.  Our lives would be so much better.  Perfect?  No.  I always have to pay for my pizza.  So, perfect?  No.  But it would be so much more hopeful, joyful, and peaceful.   

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 – Schizophrenic?

“Schizophrenic?”

Father Peter Fitzgibbons

September 12-13, 2020

Scripture: Matthew 18: 21-35

During the 4th year of theology, theologians take a course on penance. It’s a very interesting class, but, if you don’t pass it, you cannot hear confessions. It’s like medical school…if you don’t pass anatomy, you don’t get to practice medicine. Go figure. The penance class gave us the opportunity to apply what we had learned in Moral Theology, or immoral theology as we liked to call it. Everything we learned in theology, we now got to apply to souls.

So, how many types of sin are there? Two? Mortal and Venial…right? There is actually a third type of sin called Material Sin. All sin is evil, but not all sin is deadly as scripture tells us. An example of Material Sin is if someone suddenly cuts you off on the highway and you make a spontaneous burst of commentary about his or her parentage. Is this a sin against charity and a bad example for other people inside the car? Yes, but, it’s not culpable. There was no thought to it. It was just a spontaneous action. The action itself was sinful, but carries no guilt. I was actually awake that day in class 40 years ago.

Sin has levels of gravity. For example, there’s a difference between taking a poke at me which I most richly deserve and taking one at a child. Wouldn’t you say there is a difference in gravity? Some sins are so bad that they carry certain remedies. There are five sins specifically reserved for the Holy Father and that only he can forgive. The good news is that you can commit only one of them…by physically attacking the Pontiff. If you try to stab the Pope, I cannot forgive that. The other four sins are reserved for the clergy, and only the Holy Father can forgive those. There are also sins that only bishops can forgive because of the gravity of the sin. One of the sins reserved for bishops is the forgiveness of the sin of abortion. In the military, bishops gave their priests the authority to forgive the sin of abortion, and Bishop Jugis has given me the same authority. I can forgive that sin in the Sacrament of Penance, because the gravity of the sin is so great. The most helpless of all human beings is a child in the womb. But, it’s a grave sin not only for the person who had the abortion performed, but for those who performed it and for those who enabled it to be performed. It’s also a grave sin for those who voted for it, for those who gave money to politicians to keep it legal, and for those who cooperated with it. Why? Because you are helping to make abortion available. If you drive someone to go rob a bank – guess what, you are guilty of robbing a bank. “But, I didn’t go in the bank!” “I didn’t know!” You are still guilty. If you drive someone so that they can shoot and kill another person, you are guilty of murder. You’re going to need a good lawyer. When you get to prison, I hope you enjoy the bologna sandwiches and fried fish. By enabling people to commit the sin, you are culpable for the sin.

You cannot believe something in private and something else in public. You cannot say, “Personally, I’m against it, but I don’t want to force my beliefs on anybody.” We call those people schizophrenic, and there’s a lot of them out there. As Jesus tells us in the Gospel, when we say “yes” it must mean “yes” and when we say “no” it must mean “no.” Otherwise, it’s schizophrenic and goes against the Gospel.

The penalty of abortion is excommunication. Excommunication, according to Cannon Law, means you are cut off from the Sacraments of the Church, and if you die, you will lose your mortal soul. All of these penalties sound drastic and severe. People who don’t know theology say, “Oh! Excommunication is so punitive!” They have no idea what they are talking about. The Church has no punitive penalties. All of these penalties have evolved in Cannon Law and are medicinal remedies. They are meant to warn people that they are in danger of losing their mortal souls. These penalties are like having a 2×4 up the side of the head…it’s a wakeup call.

Sin is bad, but God’s love is greater. During confessions, some people will say “Father I plead guilty to every sin in the book.” Well, I don’t think so, because there are actually two books on Moral Theology. So, did you commit bestiality? “No!” Well, there goes one chapter. Were you a paratrooper? “No!” There goes another chapter. We are certainly narrowing down the chapters. Did you marry your cousin? “No! Oops! There goes another chapter. Were you a Marine? “No!” Well, there goes another chapter. So, just what have you done then?

God’s love is so great that even a defrocked priest can forgive sin when there is danger of death…regardless of the sin. Even Mr. McCarrick, formerly Cardinal McCarrick, can forgive sin when there is a danger of death. How great is God’s love for us that He will use imperfect and sinful people such as myself to forgive sin. His infinite mercy is boundless. Now, to acquire mercy, what must you first do? You have to plead guilty. If we go to court – I’m not a lawyer, but I’ve seen one on T.V… – and we tell the judge we need mercy, the judge will say “for what?” So, you plead guilty and then throw yourself on the mercy of the court just like the good thief who was on the Cross alongside Jesus. The good thief admitted his guilt and asked the Lord to remember him in His kingdom. Our Lord responded, “Today you will be with me in paradise.” (Luke 23:43)

The most beautiful thing about our Lord has to do with His nature. God has no memory. What is memory dependent upon? The passage of time. But, if you read scripture, how does our Lord define Himself? “I am.” Not “I will be” or “I was,” but “I am.” God’s eternal love is boundless. He forgives and He forgets, no matter how grievous our sins.

How will you apply this message to your life? Are you enabling people to commit sin? When you say “yes”, do you mean “yes” and when you say “no” do you mean “no”? Or, do you say one thing in private and something else in public?