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March 11, 2014
Spirituality
Fr. Brendan McGuire is pastor of Holy Spirit Parish in San Jose and a Vicar
General of the Diocese of San Jose. As Vicar General, he is responsible
for special projects such as the recently launched Saint Katharine Drexel
Initiative to revitalize Catholic Schools in the Diocese. Before being ordained
in 2000, Fr. Brendan was an executive in a technology company and still
loves to use technology such as Facebook, podcasts and YouTube to bring
people to a deeper relationship with Christ. Email him at [email protected].
Sunday, March 23, 2014
I and Thou
In 1923, the Jewish theologian Martin Buber wrote his famous book called “I and
Thou.” His main point is that there are two ways of relating to other people in our lives:
As objects —what Buber calls the “I—it” relationship; Or people having feelings, dreams
and needs like our own —what Buber calls the “I—thou” relationship.
In his memoirs, Buber tells the story of how he came to this theory. When he was a
professor of philosophy at a university in Germany, a young student came to see him
with a problem. The student had received his draft notice to serve in the German army in
World War I. He was a pacifist by nature and did not want to kill in battle, but he was also
a fiercely loyal and patriotic German. He asked Buber what he should do: serve his country
and go against his conscience or claim conscientious objector and perhaps another young
man would be killed in his place.
Buber was in the midst of writing a difficult theological-philosophical treatise, and
was rather upset at the interruption. He snapped at the young man, “Yeah, that’s a serious
dilemma; do what you think is right.” Then went right back to his work.
The young man, in despair for lack of guidance, committed suicide. For the rest of his
life Buber felt a measure of guilt for not being more present to the young man in need,
for seeing him only as an interruption and not as a human soul in torment. Buber felt he
had sinned against the image of God in that young student by treating him as an object
without needs or feelings.1
It is so easy to treat others as objects, to measure their worth not by who they are but by
what they are able to do for us. We can often see this in the way we treat waiter/waitresses
at restaurants, or those who clean our homes. We can also see it in the way we treat our
spouses, parents, children, or coworkers.
The Samaritan woman in today’s Gospel is one such victim. Her religious background
and her nationality made her a non-person in the eyes of Judaism. Her lifestyle made her
despicable in her own town. But instead of treating her as an object, Jesus treated her as
a human being and offered her living water of life, calling forth from her a sense of faith
and joy. In this faith and joy she was able to face her own life and she immediately shared
the joy and faith with others. Seeing this extraordinary gift of faith, others from the town
came to believe in Jesus for themselves.
We too are called to be bearers of the joy of Christ’s mystery. We are called to share our
faith and joy with all we meet each day, whether the store clerk, janitor, gardener or family
member. Remember we will be judged on how we treat the least of our brothers and sisters.
May we not treat others like objects that serve our purpose, whether it be store clerk,
waiter or family member, but instead treat them as humans with feelings. Today we share
our faith and joy by bringing the living water to all we meet.
(Endnotes)
1
“Connections” (Mediaworks, Londonderry, NH: February, 2005)
www.valleycatholiconline.com
T
he Valley Catholic
Sunday, March 16, 2014
In the Quiet God Whispers to us
Once we had the renowned liturgical music composer from Ireland, Fr. Liam Lawton,
give a concert here at our diocese. In one session he explained a song he wrote in honor
of the September 11th victims called, “In the Quiet.” He said that we have become increasingly busier each day yet there is a greater need to search for a deeper meaning in our
lives. There is so much noise that hinders our yearning to listen to that gentle voice of God.
There are times when we yearn to hide away in quiet places to hear that quiet whispering.
In today’s Gospel we hear Jesus invite Peter, James and John to the quiet space on the
top of a mountain, a place to spend some time with God in prayer. Jesus often spent time
away from everyone alone in prayer with his heavenly Father. He teaches his disciples
the way to pray while also revealing his true identity as the Son of God. On the mountain
top, the disciples have such a powerful experience that Peter wants it to last forever —he
wants to build a tent for Jesus, Moses and Elijah. Christ was the fulfillment of both the Law
(Moses) and the Prophets (Elijah). Peter did not want the experience to stop.
Yet Jesus showed them that they must go back down and be busy with the work of the
Lord, serving others. Nonetheless, the experience forever marks their life. They realize
that they must seek God in the quiet.
We too should realize that we must seek God in the quiet. In this Lenten season we are
called to pray and search for a place of silence in which to pray. Maybe it is at the beginning of the day before we head off to work or our da