The Valley Catholic February 7, 2017 | Page 12

12 spirituality

February 7 , 2017 | The Valley catholic

By Father Brendan McGuire

pastor of Holy Spirit parish , San Jose , and Vicar General for special projects , Diocese of San Jose . Email him at bmcguire @ dsj . org .

Sunday Homilies

Just Feed One Sunday , February 5 , 2017

Imagine for a moment a person sitting in complete darkness in an unfamiliar room . What that person needs , and desperately seeks , is light , the light to know where they are and maybe to shine a way out of the darkness . What is not helpful is a lecture on the value of darkness and the value of light . It is not helpful to explain how valuable light could be in the midst of darkness or what the attributes or forms of different light are . All the person needs at this moment is light ; they do not want to talk about it or understand it ; they just want light so they can see .

Therein lies the danger for us as Christians . Sometimes we would rather talk about the good we should do ; we would rather have a conversation about the different attributes for doing one good thing over another good thing . When in fact all people need in their time of troubles is help . If they are hungry , they want food ; if they are homeless , they want a home . It is no more complicated than that .

Today ’ s first reading from the Prophet Isaiah speaks that simplicity to the core . He warns the Israelites that their future depends on how they act now . That whatever little they have they are called to share . And that will define who they will become in this new land they travel to . He tells them the simple thing is feed the hungry , give to those who are thirsty , give to those who are oppressed , reach out to those in need , and never turn your back on your own .

In the Gospel , we are called to be that light in the midst of the darkness . We are called to give light ! Talking about it does not give light . The only thing that gives light is actually doing good for others .

We have been blessed with so many gifts , and I understand that often we do not feel so rich or so abundant or have lots of surplus , but neither did the Israelites ; the Israelites were still in exile , and they didn ’ t have anything at all . They heard this same message that we hear today : reach out to the needy .

That is how we become light in the world . Our words will be empty without those works of charity . That is what we must do ! And we must do it today ! We must do it immediately because the Gospel calls us to action today !

Whatever way that we are called , that we feel we know we are called , today we act as Christ to others . As St . Theresa of Calcutta says , “ If we cannot feed 100 people , then just feed one .” Just feed one . May we do that one act of kindness this week : one act of charity toward somebody , somewhere , in some place in the name of Christ .

110 % Goal Sunday , February 12 , 2017

Recently a couple came to my office with their teenage son whose grades were slipping , and they were asking me to help . Reluctantly I agreed to meet with them . The first conversation did not go well ! Every response from the boy was a grunt of some form . “ Hmmm , dunno ; hmmm , maybe .” God bless parents ! I was ready to quit after the first session , but I invited them back for a second .

This time I had a box of sand and a small jar , and I said , “ I want you to take a handful of sand and fill the jar .” He grunted and poured a small handful into the jar , filling it half way . “ But I said fill the jar .” Irritated , he grabbed as large a handful as he could and poured it into the jar . This time it was three-quarters full . “ You still did not fill the jar !”

“ I can ’ t !” he snapped . “ I don ’ t get it . What you are trying to tell me ?” He said , “ I can ’ t fill it with just one hand . I need both hands .” I said , “ Did I tell you that you couldn ’ t use both hands ?” Then he scooped with both hands and filled the jar .

I asked , “ What are you trying to get out of school ? What grade are you looking to earn ?” He said , “ 75 % or so .”

I looked at all three and said , “ The problem is not that he is not succeeding ; in fact , he is succeeding and reaching his goal . The real problem is that he set the wrong goal . He is not actually trying for 100 %.” After that meeting , he set a higher goal and succeeded in reaching it .

In the Gospel , the Pharisees and the Scribes come to Jesus asking about the law and the 613 precepts . They wanted Jesus ’ disciples to observe them . Jesus said not only do we have to observe all of them , we also have to observe those plus some more . Not just 100 %. Jesus wants us to strive for 110 %. He says , “ I do not want you to just not take the Lord ’ s name in vain ; I do not want you to swear at all . I do not want you to just not kill ; I do not want you to have anger in your heart .”

If we do not strive for the higher goal , we will never achieve it . And even if we try really hard , we still may not make it all the time . But there is one sure thing : if we do not have the goal , we are most definitely never going to reach the higher place .

Often we settle for a handful of Christianity . 50 % full is enough for us . Then we wonder why it is not working ! We are just making a handful of effort in our life .

We are called to choose good over evil ; to choose life over death ; to choose Jesus Christ – all in with 110 %. We are called to commit , both hands , the whole way , to fill the jar of life .

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