Tag: Transubstantiation

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Sermon Notes – June 2, 2024 – “We Walk the Talk”

“We Walk the Talk”

Father Peter Fitzgibbons

June 1 – 2, 2024

Gospel: Mark 2:23-3:6

Now, we Catholics are funny people, strange people, according to some. Do you know why some people think we are weird, exotic, and other less attractive adjectives?  Besides the yard sales, bingo, and all of that, we believe what Scripture says.  We are a bible-believing and bible-practicing Church.  “But, Father, a lot of churches are bible-believing.”  Really?  “Well, you don’t know what Scripture says.”  We existed before Scripture was ever written down.   The first scripture was written three years after the fact, and the last one – the Book of Revelation – was written 60 years later.   Catholics put the New Testament together in the 4th Century.  So, we should know what it means.  We see the words and do what the words say.  I’ll give you a few examples: 

 1)    In his epistle, Saint James says, “Is any among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord; and the prayer of faith will save the sick man, and the Lord will raise him up; and if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven” (Jas. 5:14–15).  Saint James is referring to the Last Rites, which I have given a couple of times this week.

2)    In the Gospel of Luke, there is veneration and devotion to our Blessed Mother.  In her Magnificat, the Blessed Mother said, “From now onwards, all generations will call me blessed” (Luke 1:48).   That is a command in the black part of Scripture if you care to look it up.  So why are we the only church that does that other than Orthodox?  “All generations will call me blessed.”  That is called a task; it’s not a choice.

 3)    Our Lord breathed on His apostles, and He said to them: “Receive the Holy Spirit. For those whose sins you forgive, they are forgiven; for those whose sins you retain, they are retained” (John 20:22).  That’s what we do in Confession.  Nobody else does that.  We are celebrating the Solemnity of Corpus Christi, which is also known as the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ.   Transubstantiation changes the bread into the Body of Christ and the wine into the Blood of Christ for the salvation of souls.  “Oh, transubstantiation is such a big word!”  Yes, and first graders learn it; you’ll be fine.  This happens when, during the Mass, the priest, acting in the person of Christ, says, “This is My Body,” “This is the chalice of My Blood.”  Jesus said, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of man and drink his blood, you have no life in you” (John 6:53).  After that, everyone but the 12 Apostles left Him.  Wordsmiths say, “Well, He meant that metaphorically.”   First, the word “metaphorically” never appears anywhere in Scripture.  Second, the original word means “eat, chew, or masticate.  That’s why His disciples thought He was talking about cannibalism.   

How many of you will go home tonight after Mass, and instead of making dinner, willread a cookbook?   Would that fill you up?  “Oh, my gosh, I am so full.  I cannot read another bite!”  Really?  When you have a headache, do you go to the medicine cabinet, read the label on the aspirin bottle, and put it back on the shelf?  “Oh, I feel much better now.”  No.  Medicine does you no good if it’s still in the bottle on the shelf.  Jesus said, “Eat My flesh and drink My blood. Otherwise, you have no life in you.”  You must take the celestial medicine our Lord has offered us and take it internally for it to have a healing effect.  We read the words He says and follow them.  We’re kind of funny that way.

4)    We believe that God made male and female.  “A man will leave his father and mother and cling to his wife, and the two of them will become one body” in marriage for life (Genesis 2:24).  That’s what it says in the black part of Scripture, so that’s what we do. 

5)    If someone is not Catholic or is not in a state of grace, they cannot take Holy Communion.  “But that’s cruel.”  Jesus said it.  In his letter to the Corinthians, Paul said, “Whoever eats and drinks the body and blood of Christ unworthily is guilty of His death” (1 Corinthians 11:27).  That’s also in the black part of Scripture. 

This is what we believe.  “Oh, you have too many rules.”  Not really.  They are guidelines for our own well-being and salvation.  Some are precautionary so you don’t step off a cliff thinking you can fly.  Besides, all these so-called RULES are what God said.  This is our Faith, and it is what we have believed from the beginning.  We are a bible-believing and bible-practicing Church.   We do as Scripture tells us to do, and by doing so, we have life. 

 If you visit the Catacombs in Rome and go into some of the tombs of the saints, there are pictures of grapes and wheat . . . ancient symbols of the Eucharist and the Real Presence.  Those pictures aren’t just artwork, they reflect the saints’ belief in the Real Presence.  This is why we are silent in the presence of the Blessed Sacrament and during the Mass.  We are in the presence of the actual Body and Blood of Christ.  God Himself is here. 

Father’s Reflections . . . Lonnie, a patient at the VA Hospital, was a glider soldier on D-Day.  I said to Lonnie, “Soon, it will be the anniversary of your walking tour across France and Germany.”  Another soldier told me he got to Normandy on June 6th, D+2.  He said the water was still red from all the blood, and he had to step over bodies on the beach to get to where he needed to be.

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 – June 11, 2023 – “I Can and I Did”


I Can and I Did

Father Peter Fitzgibbons

June 10 – 11, 2023

Gospel:  John 6:51-58

Jesus said to the Jewish crowds: “I am the living bread that came down from Heaven; whoever eats this bread will live forever; and the bread that I will give is My flesh for the life of the world.”  The Jews quarreled among themselves, saying, “How can this Man give us His flesh to eat?” Jesus said to them, “Amen, amen, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you do not have life within you. Whoever eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise him on the last day. For My flesh is true food, and My blood is true drink. Whoever eats My flesh and drinks My blood remains in Me and I in him. Just as the living Father sent Me and I have life because of the Father, so also the one who feeds on Me will have life because of Me. This is the bread that came down from Heaven. Unlike your ancestors who ate and still died, whoever eats this bread will live forever.”

I have heard this many times, and you probably have too – “Father.”   Yes.  I can already hear the tone.  “Father.”  Oh God, here it comes.   “Got a minute, Father?”   Please, no!  “Can we talk?”   No – you want to talk while I listen.  “The Church has an awful lot of rules.”   Well, so does Christ.  I mean, I read the book, and He has a lot of rules.  Christ said, “If you love Me, keep My Commandments.”   Our rules are His rules.  “Well Father, why are there all those rules about Communion?”    Well, the rules about Communion are Scriptural.    Church laws are like Jersey barriers . . . they keep you on the road instead of driving over a cliff.   They help keep you safe.  Church law helps keep us on the right path . . . they keep us from becoming too liberal or too conservative. 

The central mystery of our Faith is transubstantiation.  At the Mass, Christ is present in the bread and wine, and He gives us His Most Precious Body and Blood just as He did in the Upper Room.  This is the central mystery of our Faith.  Only we and the Orthodox churches believe in transubstantiation.  All the other churches rejected the doctrine of Real Presence.  That’s why there’s no possibility of Communion, that, and the other moral things they have rejected.

The scriptural penance for receiving Communion unworthily is that you are guilty of Christ’s death.  That’s a rule that has been passed down by the apostles.  I can’t change that.   You may be willing to take the rap for it, but I’m not.   The central mystery of the Faith is that Christ is physically present in the Blessed Sacrament and made present on the altar.  This is our Faith.  This is His gift . . . the gift of Himself.    You receive the whole Christ no matter the form in which you receive Him.   You receive all of Christ, and it is blasphemy if you say, “Receiving both species is more meaningful.” 

Some people cannot receive both species.  I knew someone who was undergoing cancer therapy.  He could not chew or swallow.  So, one day at Mass, I took a syringe, filled it up, capped it, and put it underneath my sleeve.  After Mass, I gave him the Most Precious Blood of Christ through his      G-tube.  Did he receive the fullness of God?   Of course, he did.   I told this story to some priests, and they said, “Oh, you cannot do that!”   I can, and I did.   I said, “Guys, that was one day I stayed awake in class.  Look it up.”   To their credit, they later told me I was right.  No kidding.  I’m a hospitalist.  That’s what I do. 

This is the mystery . . . we receive Christ Himself.   Only a priest or a deacon is supposed to touch the Sacred Vessel.  The Sacred Vessel holds Christ.  Priests are consecrated by the bishop before ordination.  At the Ordination Mass, the Bishop ordains the priest and presents him with a chalice which is consecrated and filled with the Most Precious Blood.  The chalice is kept locked away.  I went to one church to do some vicar work so that I could maintain my big title.   In this church, they had displayed old chalices that other priests had left there.   Na–na-na-na – No!   “What do you mean?”  Did I stutter?  Chalices are not objects of art.  They are supposed to be preserved and under lock and key.   

Only a priest or deacon is supposed to give Holy Communion except under extraordinary circumstances.  Every Sunday is not an extraordinary circumstance – it comes 52 times a year, so you knew it was coming.  One of the exceptions happened at the Dachau Concentration Camp.  There was a whole area for priests.  The priests used to smuggle the Blessed Sacrament out under the wire so that laity could give it since the priests couldn’t.   That’s the type of extraordinary circumstance I’m talking about.  This is such a precious gift – the gift of Christ Himself.  You will be fed if you are able.  If not, come see me and we will work it out.  Just like the apostles, you will be fed Christ Himself by the priest in persona Christi.   And you can do that every day except on my day off or you can go to Concord.  Driving a few miles is a fair trade to receive the great gift of Christ Himself just like the apostles.  There’s no difference except for time and place.  “Well, Father that was over 2,000 years ago, and this is Albemarle not Jerusalem.”   God is everywhere and time is always in the present to Him.  When you say things like that, you are denying the nature of God.  But because of original sin and sins committed by us and to us after Baptism, we lose sight of Him.   

We experience the fruits of Christ’s redemption by receiving Him in the Most Blessed Sacrament.  The Real Presence is the greatest gift.  Are there rules?   Yes, there are rules.   However, the rules are aids for our salvation.  They keep us focused on the One who is truly here and Who wishes to give Himself to you.

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