“The Blessed Virgin endured a long and cruel martyrdom in her heart for our sakes, and for love of us. Frequently, and with feelings of tender love, contemplate her standing at the foot of the Cross, and join her in bewailing and weeping over sin, which, by causing the death of Jesus, rent in twain the heart of Mary. Pledge your heart to this Mother of sorrows, by some habitual act of devotion and mortification, in remembrance and in honor of her bitter sufferings. Also, endure something for love of her, imitating her patience, resignation, and silence.”— Fr. Ignatius of the Side of Jesus, p. 259
“I do not know whether [Jesus] is a sinner or not, I only know this much, I was once blind, and now I see.”—John 9:25
“I came into the world to divide it, to make the sightless see and to reveal to those who think they see it all that they are blind.”—John 9:39
Our lack of self-knowledge and our lack of wisdom make humans do very stupid and self-destructive things. Because humans cannot see their own truth very well, they do not read reality very well either. We all have our tragic flaws and blind spots. Humans always need more “light” or enlightenment about themselves and about the endless mystery of God. Here are some themes from today’s Gospel reading.
• The “man born blind” is the archetype for all of us at the beginning of life’s journey.
• The moral blame game as to why or who caused human suffering is a waste of time.
• The man does not even ask to be healed. It is just offered and given.
• Religious authorities are often more concerned about control and correct theology than actually healing people. They are presented as narrow and unloving people throughout the story.
• Many people have their spiritual conclusions before the facts in front of them. He is a predefined “sinner” and has no credibility for them.
• Belief in and love of Jesus come after the fact, subsequent to the healing. Perfect faith or motivation is not always a prerequisite for God’s action. Sometimes God does things for God’s own purposes.
• Spirituality is about seeing. Sin is about blindness, or as Saint Gregory of Nyssa will say, “Sin is always a refusal to grow.”
• The one who knows little, learns much (what we call “beginner’s mind”) and those who have all their answers already, learn nothing.
“God of all Light and Truth, just make sure that I am not a blind man or woman. Keep me humble and honest, and that will be more than enough work for you.”
A lot of people quote scripture in their arguments, and that’s very good. It’s what you should do. However, when you do, you have to know and understand scripture. You have to be accurate, because good intentions can lead to very bad things. People say, “The death penalty is immoral, because in the Old Testament it says, “Thou shalt not kill.” So, we cannot have capital punishment, and we cannot go to war? Look at the laws of Israel; they had the death penalty on the books. So, you are saying that they got it wrong from the time of Moses for a 1,000 or so years before Christ came? They went to war all the time. “But, God said, “Thou shalt not kill.” He said thou shall not murder or take life unjustly. Under the 4th and 5th Commandments, you have an obligation. Under the 4th Commandment, you have the right to self-protection, and under the 5th Commandment you have a moral obligation to protect those who cannot protect themselves. If you want to get the living you-know-what beat out of you, be my guest. Be a conscientious objector…it’s your right. However, you have no right to aggregate that right to someone else. “Oh, I don’t believe in violence, so I’m going to watch you get the living you-know-what beat out of you.” No, no, no. That’s a grave sin.
Now, I have lulled you into a false sense of security, I’m going to give you a pop quiz. What makes this building special…besides the collection? It’s not a “what” that makes it special; it’s a “Who.” Who resides in this place that makes it so special? It’s the physical presence of our Lord Jesus Christ in the Most Blessed Sacrament. That’s what makes this place special. This is His house. He is physically present here. This is where God resides in every Catholic Church which is the new temple. The temple is the Presence of God and the Holy of Holies. We are blessed, because when we come here, we can speak to God face-to-face like Moses did…as one person speaks to another. At the old temple, the Arc of the Covenant, inside the Holy of Holies, only a priest at a certain time could go in there. Jesus said, “You have forgotten what this place is. Yes, you have the sacrifice as required by law. But, you didn’t have to bring it inside the temple.” That defiled the temple. That’s why our good Lord went crazy and decided to do a little church renewal. I heard someone say that Jesus preached nonviolence. I don’t think so. He kicked behind. He went in to the temple and drove out a lot of people. He said, “Get out of My House. My house is a house of prayer.” Our souls, too, as much as the temple was, and the Church is, are meant to be God’s house of prayer. And, until God is present in our souls, we will never be happy.
Jesus preached violence against sin. Remember when He said, “If your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away….And, if your right eye offends you, pluck it out.” Yes, that’s hyperbole. However, we are called to use violence on our souls. We are not called to maim ourselves like having an extra piece of chocolate cake…you don’t need it. That would be a sin against both the 4th and.5th Commandments. However, we are supposed to use that same level of violence to protect from defiling the temple that we carry within us which is our souls. Oh, by the way, now you know why I ‘shush’ people who are talking in church, chewing gum, using their cell phones, and everything else. The Presence of God is here. This is His resting place. This is where He wants to come to us. We are supposed to do violence to anything that would impugn or impede His presence in us and drive Him from our souls…whether a person, place, or thing…the three sources of temptation. We are supposed to do whatever is necessary to rid of ourselves of anything that threatens His presence in our souls.
The Law of Physics says that two objects cannot occupy the same place at the same time. So, God cannot abide in our souls at the same time sin is there or the attraction or affection for sin. We are supposed to use violence against ourselves to preserve the beauty of our souls. Not physical violence, although that has been done. Saint Francis of Assisi was tempted by impurity, so he rolled himself down a hill of thorns. So grave is the abhorrence of sin, that he went to that extreme. So be violent against sin. Realize the great gift of His presence that we have. If you are having trouble with that, come see me in Confession, and I’ll get rid of that stuff for you, and you’ll be all set.
People complain about so many things in the world. “Oh, people don’t have a computer.” “Oh, people don’t have this or that.” You know, it’s been that way since the beginning of time. What people need is God. Mother Teresa didn’t have a computer. She had one change of clothes. She seemed like a pretty happy woman, didn’t she?. She had nothing else except God in her soul. Our souls are meant to be ready for God’s presence. Like the temple in the Old Testament and like our beautiful church which is a testimony, by the way, of your great love. Everything here is your love for our good Lord made present. We must do what is necessary to make our souls a resting place for Him to come and dwell within us. Realize the gift of Him that dwells in your soul. The same Him who dwells in the Blessed Sacrament. The same Him who dwells in the temple. The same Him who dwells in Heaven. And, when you realize that gift, and achieve the constant realization of that gift, you will do anything to preserve it.
How will you apply this message to your life? Will you rid your soul of whatever hinders God from residing there?
You can read all of Father Fitzgibbons’ sermons by going to https://annunciationcatholicalbemarle.com/ and clicking on “Blog” then “Categories” and then “Sermon Notes. From a cell phone, click on “Blog” then “Menu” and then “Categories” (located at the end of page). There is also a search box if looking for a specific topic.
“Temptation to a certain sin, to any sin whatsoever, might last throughout our whole life, yet it can never make us displeasing to God’s Majesty provided we do not take pleasure in it and give consent to it. You must have great courage in the midst of temptation. Never think yourself overcome as long as they are displeasing to you, keeping clearly in mind the difference between feeling temptation and consenting to it.”— St. Francis de Sales
The gift of the Holy Spirit must be accompanied by our free choice to follow His inspiration and guidance. If we do not choose to resist sin, the Spirit cannot help us, for He will not violate our freedom. However, if we make even a weak resolve to struggle against temptation and sin, the Holy Spirit can rush into us and fortify that weak resolve, giving us enough strength to resist the deadly sins with greater effectiveness.
— Fr. Robert Spitzer, S.J. from his book Escape from Evil’s Darkness
“It almost always happens that interior sentiments of pride precede the commission of grievous sins. Peter was not aware of his own weakness. He preferred himself before others; he trusted in himself as though he were incapable of sinning, boasting that no temptation would separate him from Jesus. He would not even believe the assurance of his Divine Master, that he would deny him thrice. Deceived by this vain confidence in his own strength, he neglects to pray, and to have recourse to God; and God, in His justice, permits him to fall, in punishment of his pride. There is nothing more dangerous than to confide in our own strength, and trust to feelings of fervor. We are full of malice, and capable of committing the most enormous crimes, unless God supports us.”
“Thus sin renders the soul miserable, weak and torpid, inconstant in doing good, cowardly in resisting temptation, slothful in the observance of God’s commandments. It deprives her of true liberty and of that sovereignty which she should never resign; it makes her a slave to the world, the flesh, and the devil; it subjects her to a harder and more wretched servitude than that of the unhappy Israelites in Egypt or Babylon. Sin so dulls and stupefies the spiritual senses of man that he is deaf to God’s voice and inspirations; blind to the dreadful calamities which threaten him; insensible to the sweet odor of virtue and the example of the saints; incapable of tasting how sweet the Lord is, or feeling the touch of His benign hand in the benefits which should be a constant incitement to his greater love. Moreover, sin destroys the peace and joy of a good conscience, takes away the soul’s fervor, and leaves her an object abominable in the eyes of God and His saints. The grace of justification delivers us from all these miseries. For God, in His infinite mercy, is not content with effacing our sins and restoring us to His favor; He delivers us from the evils sin has brought upon us, and renews the interior man in his former strength and beauty. Thus He heals our wounds, breaks our bonds, moderates the violence of our passions, restores with true liberty the supernatural beauty of the soul, reestablishes us in the peace and joy of a good conscience, reanimates our interior senses, inspires us with ardor for good and a salutary hatred of sin, makes us strong and constant in resisting evil, and thus enriches us with an abundance of good works. In fine, He so perfectly renews the inner man with all his faculties that the Apostle calls those who are thus justified new men and new creatures.”— Venerable Louis Of Grenada, p. 46
“God cannot cease to love me. That is the most startling fact that our doctrine reveals. Sinner or saint He loves and cannot well help Himself. Magdalen in her sin, Magdalen in her sainthood, was loved by God. The difference between her position made some difference also in the effect of that love on her, but the love was the same, since it was the Holy Spirit who is the love of the Father and the Son. Whatever I do, I am loved. But then, if I sin, am I unworthy of love? Yes, but I am unworthy always. Nor can God love me for what I am, since, in that case, I would compel His love, force His will by something external to Himself. In fact, really if I came to consider, I would find that I was not loved by God because I was good, but that I was good because God loved me. My improvement does not cause God to love me, but is the effect of God’s having loved me.”— Fr. Bede Jarrett, p. 51
You’ve heard me tell you many times that if you are going to study scripture, you must first study it as a First Century Jew. You must go back to the first century, to the beginning, when Christ first came so that you can understand and get a greater sense of the impact of His works and His culture. Certain words will scream out at you – very important words – words that won’t need much explanation. Our Lord was setting up His plan for redemption which, in theology, is called the Economy of Salvation. We are to continue His work of redemption throughout the generations. Our Lord introduced two new words and a whole new concept. The Jews understood them and it was if they had been smacked in the face with a baseball bat. So, if you study scripture, you have to learn how to study it in the original language it was written – whether in Greek, Latin, or Aramaic. I have to tell you…it’s not a whole lot of fun and giggles. My advice is to get a good Catholic Bible.
Our Lord took the apostles aside and said, “Simon bar Jonah (Simon son of John), you are now Peter” (in Greek: Petros, meaning the rock). If you were a Jew, you immediately understood that as going back to Genesis in the Pentateuch. In Genesis 17:5, God said, “Abram, you are now Abraham and the father of holy Jews. In Deuteronomy 28:9, He introduced the Greek term, “qahal” meaning a religious assembly. He said, “I will make you a holy people.” In ancient times, holy people were called qahal, but now they were the holy people of the Church…not a small Christian community and not a body of believers, but the Church. In Matthew 16:18, our Lord uses another Greek term that had never been used before in scripture – “ecclesia” meaning church. “You are My church. I will build on you My church.” He was speaking to Peter directly. The original Greek word used for “you” was singular.
In English, our words are not very precise like other languages, and the word “you” can be singular or it can be plural. “Upon you, I will build my church.” Was he talking to all of the apostles? No, he wasn’t. You have to read it in the original Greek. If you learned French, remember the variation of the word “you” is “tu” and “vous.” “Tu” is used to address a particular person, and “Vous” to address a crowd. “You are Peter, and upon this rock I will build My church.” He wasn’t talking to the other apostles or anybody else there. He was speaking to Peter. “Upon you, Peter, I will build My church. I will give you the keys to the Kingdom of Heaven. Whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in Heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in Heaven.” The other apostles may have been thinking, “Whoa, I’m brighter than that bozo; why is he getting all the praise!”
“Whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in Heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in Heaven.” So, what does this binding and loosing authority include? It includes forgiveness of sin, governance of the Church, and discipline. However, even with this binding and loosing power, we cannot change the Commandments as almost every other Christian organization has done. No matter who the Pope is, he cannot change Divine Law. He cannot change the word of God. He can only change Disciplinary Law. That is all. We cannot marry a male to a male or a female to a female. We cannot change the Commandments. We will bestow mercy, but we cannot change the Word of God. The binding and loosening authority is meant only for the well-being of the Church and not to change Divine Will. Disciplinary laws such as fasting promote the building up of the Church. They provide guidance to the faithful, preservation from sin, and the increase of virtue.
Our Lord talked about the power of sin and God’s forgiveness. He bestowed the great gifts of His grace and His consolation. He provided the means of salvation to all who came and who wanted to hear. Although we were not born in the First Century, Our Lord wants to make sure we have the same opportunity for salvation as the people who lived during His lifetime. His words shocked the Jews when they heard them. They were awestruck by His teaching, as we all should be.
How will you apply this message to your life? Are you awestruck by the teachings of Christ?
