The Valley Catholic May 27, 2014 | Page 10

Spirituality May 27, 2014 10 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, June 1, 2014 Witness What We See “Be witnesses to the Gospel.” If we think for a moment of a car accident, to be a witness there are certain expectations. 1) The person must have been there. 2) The person must have seen the accident. 3) The person must be willing to tell what they saw. One could be at an accident and still not have seen what happened. But one could also have seen what happened but not willing to talk about it. To be a witness, then, one must be there, see it and tell of it. Being there, seeing and testifying. In the Gospel of Sunday, June 1, we are called to be witnesses of Christ, the Risen Christ. But how are we to be witnesses to the Risen Christ if we have never seen him? The disciples have seen him. We have not. So, then, how can we be called to be witnesses? We have to see with eyes of faith. When we see with eyes of faith we really can see God in our lives and therefore can witness to it. However, we have to be willing to look at certain situations and lay claim to the presence of God. This is faith seeking understanding. The first-hand disciples struggled as they doubted what they saw. Sometimes we see God at work but also doubt exactly how it is happening. We know it is not enough just to be there but we need to look again with eyes of faith; we need to look at what is going on in our life and not to question “if” God but “where” is God in the midst of all this. If there is darkness you say, “I know God is here; I may not see him right now, but I know God is here.” Once we have seen and believe what we have seen, then comes the witnessing. Most of the time that telling or witnessing comes through action. I experience the love of God through forgiveness, then I witness by forgiving others. This is hard work. The disciples found it hard, too, and so are we going to find it hard. That is why we go to Mass every Sunday: we have to come back every week to receive strength from the Lord directly in the bread and wine now transformed into the Body and Blood of Christ, but also from each other, recognizing that in this house, that is full of people who are trying to work it out, who have not “got it” but are on the way to “getting it.” Just like the disciples, we see, we believe, but we doubt. Today, we come to the table to be renewed in the Christ Jesus ascended and we choose to believe once again. We come to see, to believe and to witness. T he Valley Catholic Sunday, June 8, 2014 Gardeners Not Curators In 1959, Saint John XXIII called the Second Vatican Council and he used a vivid metaphor. He said we are called not so much “to be keepers of the museum as we are called to be gardeners of the world.” Pope Francis has used a similar call for change with different metaphors. It is true that certain portions of our Church even today tend to look at the role of the Church as curators of a museum, holding onto those treasures, the antiquities of the past, to make sure everything is where it is meant to be so that everybody can come and view it. Instead Saint John XXII asked us to look at the Church as if we were a “gardener.” Lest we think that the work of a gardener is easy, anyone who has done any work in a garden knows that it can be quite hard work. Not only to prepare it but also to keep it weeded as well as to ensure the plants get the best environment possible in which to grow. On Sunday, June 8 we celebrate the Feast of Pentecost and it is considered to be the beginnings of the universal Church. We recognize the beginnings over 2,000 years ago when the Holy Spirit breathed upon the apostles and they were told to go forth in the name of Christ to build up the Church so we could have a living reality of God in our world. The good news is the Spirit is alive in our diocese and we are growing. In so many places around the country, the Catholic Church is shrinking but we are growing. We need to listen to the signs of the times within our County of Santa Clara. But it is not growing evenly. It is growing in the east and south of our Diocese and shrinking in the north and west. We must be creative in our approach to build and start new parishes. We are trying something very new and need your help not only in effort, in time, talent and treasure, but also in your prayers. Two years ago we opened a new parish called Our Lady of Refuge and it already has five mostly full Masses each weekend. What a great success! Congratulations to Msgr. Francisco, Fr. Truyen and all their staff for their hard work there. We need to pray this community continues to thrive. Yes, we need to be more than curators of the museum. We need to get our hands dirty and be ready to be gardeners for new communities. We need to be ready to help grow the Church as a gardener would a garden. Today, we celebrate the Church’s beginning in history and we also celebrate the beginning of a new parish in Our Lady of Refuge because we are together in Christ; one Church, one body of Christ in one Lord and one baptism. www.darlingandfischer.com • www.losgatosmemorialpark.com Garden Chapel [phone] San Jose FD -557 Campbell Memorial Chapel [phone] Campbell FD-898 Chapel of the Hills f th Hill [phone] Los Gatos FD-940 L Gatos Memorial Park Los G t M [phone] San Jose In Loving Memory Francesco Chimien B