tvc.dsj.org | June 11, 2019
COMMUNITY
5
Homily of Bishop Cantu’s 25th Anniversary Mass...
Continued from page 4
This experience helped me to value all
the more my own education.
I am happy to support the recent
creation of a diocesan-wide scholarship
fund for Catholic schools. This fund is
intended to benefit our families who
desire a Catholic education for their
children, but who need help paying the
tuition, as my family did forty and fifty
years ago. I will do all in my power to
help the Guardian Angel Program to
grow, so that we can help families have
the opportunities that my siblings and
I had so many years ago, and which
have served us well – and the people
that we now serve!
As I look to the near future, I hear a
call to action in three ways.
A Culture of Vocations:
While society has changed dra-
matically over the past few decades,
the human heart continues to seek
God: to seek what is true, love what is
good, and yearn for what is beautiful.
God continues to knock at the doors of
our hearts, even today. He calls us to a
loving and graced relationship. Among
the panorama of vocations, God calls
most of the faithful to the beautiful
and challenging vocation of marriage
and family life. How important it is
that we see this as a call – for our mar-
riages and families are strengthened
and deepened by the acknowledged
presence of God. Yet, others are called
to the single life, in which one can be
engaged in a variety of opportuni-
ties for service to the church and the
wider community, sharing what God
has given to them. And yet others
are called to consecrated life, in a life
of prayer and witness for the Gospel,
while some are called to ordained min-
istry as deacons and priests. My great
desire is that we intentionally create a
culture of vocations in our homes, in
our parishes, in our youth groups, in
our classrooms, and social gatherings.
Let us all plant the seed of God’s call
and water it with prayers. This new
initiative, which I call, “Creating a
Culture of Vocations,” will allow us
not only to pray for vocations, but to
dialogue as families and in classroom
settings about the reality of God’s call,
and how we might attune our hearts to
hear and respond to his call.
A Culture of Encounter:
Pope Francis has called us to cre-
ate a “culture of Encounter.” This is
a call to go to the periferies of our
experiences and to encounter those
we don’t normally encounter: those of
other cultures, other faiths, other socio-
Bishop Cantú gives a crucifix to student representatives of Holy Spirit School.
economic groups. It is moreover, a call
to encounter the “small people,” the
sometimes “invisible” people, begin-
ning with the unborn, the homeless, the
immigrant, the refugee, the troubled,
the poor and the elderly – those who
have no voice.
As Pope Francis puts it, “They all
have something in common with us:
they are images of God, they are chil-
dren of God.”
When I was first assigned as a pastor
in Houston, it was to my home parish,
where I was baptized and grew up. My
mother was still a parishioner, so I had
the experience of having her correct my
homilies on a weekly basis!
As I was unpacking boxes in my
office, a parishioner knocked on the
door, entered and simply handed me
an envelope, saying, “this is yours,”
and then turned around and left. I was
puzzled. I knew the gentleman, Mr.
Gonzalez, a well-respected long-time
member of the parish. I grew up with
his children, went to school with them,
played basketball with them.
The envelope was yellowed from
age. I opened it and took out the let-
ter. It was dated, July 17, 1968. It was
addressed to the St. Vincent de Paul
Society of Holy Name Parish. It was
type-written, in Spanish. [I translate:]
“To whom it may concern:
By means of these lines we wish
to express to you our gratitude, since
recently and on two occasions, we have
been blessed from that Society with the
sending of groceries which have been
of great use to us, since we are presently
undergoing a period of stretching our
resources, caused by illness and sur-
gery, and your assistance as we already
mentioned arrived in a most opportune
moment and has resolved our present
difficulty.
May God continue to bless the mem-
bers of this Society for the great work
that you do.”
I recognized the signature at the
bottom: Ramiro and Maria Cantú, my
parents.
Fifty years ago the Church went to
the margins to bring the Gospel mes-
sage and work. It happened to be my
family that was on the margin at the
time; I was the most recent member of
the family at 18 months of age.
We never know who we are reach-
ing when we go to the periferies, we
can be assured that they will always
bear the image and likeness of God.
And some day, they may be serving us.
Culture of Innovation:
That brings me to my final challenge:
a culture of innovation. Silicon Valley is
known as a place of innovation. Once
we have encountered each other as chil-
dren of God, can we then challenge this
Valley to put its ingenuity and skills of
innovation to solving some of society’s
most pressing problems?
Learning little by little about the di-
ocese, I read the news daily and weekly,
and have followed with great interest
and concern the housing crisis and
its effects. I have seen a tremendous
socio-economic disparity that hits at a
fundamental level: the ability to sur-
vive in this valley. Many families have
been forced to move out of the county
and even out of state. Along with many
others, I am concerned about the val-
ley’s ability to house teachers and fire-
fighters, service industry workers and
police officers. How can working class
families survive in this valley? These
are persons and roles necessary for the
functioning of any society.
I am concerned that for many, Sili-
con Valley has become a “dark valley”
of desperation. The Good Shepherd is
most desperately needed here. Jesus,
the Good Shepherd, shares shepherd-
ing duties with those in key positions:
parents shepherd their children, teach-
ers shepherd their students, public ser-
vants can shepherd their constituents,
the public can shepherd and help shape
public policy, private industry leaders
(especially in Silicon Valley) can use
their ingenuity not only for technology
but for humanity! I am anxious for a
conversation at which stakeholders can
solve this crisis and create a culture of
innovation for the good of humanity,
for the good of society, for the good
of our families, for the dignity of the
human person.
We must also use our ingenuity to
protect the first gift that God gave us:
creation. With ingenuity and courage
we can preserve and protect the natural
resources that God gave us to care for
and use well. This, in fact, was the first
commandment that God gave us – to
till the soil, that is, to care for creation.
These specific initiatives and pro-
grams are part of a wider concern and
reach of the local church to witness to
Christ in our lives, to preach in season
and out of season. They are part of a
wider effort that we might encounter
Christ anew and fall in love again with
our God. They are part of larger effort
to proclaim the dignity of the human
person from the womb to the tomb. We
are concerned for children in the womb
and children at the border, for mothers
who are frightened, whether pregnant
in the solitude of their apartment or at
the border escaping violence in their
countries of origin. We reach out to
victims and their families and stand
for the right to life and redeemability
even of the guilty. We promote the
availability of mental health services
and the accessibility of health care. We
are grateful for the tremendous and
often quiet work of Catholic Charities,
that helps to house the homeless, re-
settle refugees and victims of traffick-
ing, assist the immigrant, counsel the
troubled, and feed the poor and elderly.
They do this in our name: we are proud
and grateful.
In the past 25 years, I have dedi-
cated my life to service in the church:
preaching and teaching, leading wor-
ship, guiding parishes and dioceses to
walk humbly with our God. Today, I
dedicate myself anew to serve you, the
local church of this blessed valley. May
we all help create a culture of vocations,
participate in a culture of encounter,
and embrace a culture of innovation
for the good of humanity. May the
Santa Clara Valley become, through the
concerted effort of all of us, the Valley
of the Soul’s Delight!