SPIRITUALITY tvc . dsj . org | November 29 , 2016 9
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
Good Fruit from Good Word Sunday , December 4 , 2016
I have done a lot of traveling over the years and consider myself a seasoned traveler experiencing my fair share of turbulence in the air . It takes a lot to unhinge me . On a recent trip the pilot gave the standard warning about turbulence asking all the flight attendants to return to their seats . But this was some turbulence ! We were dropping 20 feet constantly . People got frightened because we started to nose dive at one point . We could hear the engines really strain . I must confess I got a little scared myself when I heard the sound of that engine . It lasted like for 30 minutes ! You might not think 30 minutes is a long time but when you are there , believe me , it is a very long time !
Yet as fast as it had started , it just stopped . We were flying normal again . It was really weird . Our landing was flawless without even a bump . As soon as we landed , everybody took out their cell phone and immediately started calling : “ You can ’ t believe what happened …” Every conversation I overheard ended the same way , “ I love you ; tell the kids I love them ; I miss them .” I was deeply touched by it .
Everyone had smiles on their faces as they were coming off the plane . One would think that after having that experience , they would be grumpy but they were happy . Maybe they were just relieved to be alive and on solid ground again . But I think something else happened . They realized the importance of their lives and who was important in their lives .
At one level I was deeply touched by everyone ’ s phone calls and by the smiles on their faces but then I thought to myself how deeply sad it is that it requires something as drastic as a near accident to get us to smile ! It is a bit like getting cold water thrown in your face . We get kind of shocked into focusing on what is important .
In today ’ s Gospel , John the Baptist is preaching to those around him and he is , in a sense , like that throwing of cold water on everyone around him . He is saying , “ Look , the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand . The reign of the Kingdom is now . It is right here at hand . Repent .” Those who heard it immediately reacted . They refocused on what was important — listening to God . But he warned them that it is not just about repentance but adding good works . He warns the Sadducees and the Pharisees about how we need to show us the fruit of our repentance .
What would it take for us to wake up from our own slumber ? We all get a little bit busy and distracted by life , especially at Christmas . Who are the most important people in our lives and how can we make sure they know it . Today we are called to repent and focus on good works . Help not only our family but those most in need .
Actions Point to Words that Point to Christ Sunday , December 11 , 2016
Your words , whether written or spoken , have tremendous power . The right word said at the right time has the ability to lift somebody ’ s spirit on a bad day or moment . Equally , a badly chosen word at the wrong time can tear somebody down from the height of a great day . We can rip people down or lift them up ; most of us know the power of words ; even just a slight whisper can slash down or lift up .
It is amazing to see how we often we are oblivious to the power of words . We see it among school children in what they do or not do for each other . We also see it among ourselves ; we certainly see it play out on the television or even in the newspaper of how easy words , whether done with intention or not , can do great damage or be great help . We can certainly acknowledge that this election season has seen more than it ’ s fair share of words , one way and the other !
Words are incredibly powerful indeed . There have been times in most of our lives when somebody said the right words to help us ; or maybe we have used those words . Sometimes those words have hurt us or others .
But there is something even more powerful than words . It is when the words are matched by actions . When the actions back up the words then the power is phenomenal . We can see that in the life of Nelson Mandela ; his words of forgiveness led to a nation inspired but his actions of reconciliation led to the real truth and reconciliation commission that brought their nation to an unfathomable peace that we never could have considered possible .
The person who has the most power is Jesus Christ because his words were more than just words ; he had the actions that matched every single word . It wasn ’ t that he just gave words of healing ; he also gave actions of healing . It wasn ’ t just words of reconciliation ; he gave reconciliation from God . He embodied his words in totality .
As we get closer and busier with Christmas , how do we catch ourselves when we are about to use words that we know are not going to be helpful ? How do we catch ourselves when we know we are going to do something that goes against what we believe and what we profess ?
We need to be people of prayer . It is not enough to catch ourselves and reflect just once a week . We have to be able to catch ourselves every day and we have to pray every day about the events of that day .
The challenge is to not let the impatience of the season get upon us but to remain patient waiting for the Lord ; to look for opportunities ; to bring our words into action . We need to look for opportunities to be people of kindness and forgiveness . We need to look for opportunities to be a the loving presence of Christ .
Today , we put into action the very words of Christ in all we say and in all we do . And we hope we point to Christ .
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