tvc.dsj.org | November 5, 2019
By Father Brendan McGuire
Pastor of Holy Spirit Parish, San José, and Special Advisor to the Bishop,
Diocese of San José. [email protected].
SPIRITUALITY
9
Sunday Homilies
Sunday, November 17, 2019
Accept the Present Gift from God Sunday, November 24, 2019
Seek the Neutral Ground of Christ
There once was a young, very happy boy and he had a dream. He had a dream
and he said to the Lord: “Lord, when I grow up, I want to be successful. I want
to have a big house with a large porch in the front and a big back garden. I want
two big dogs, guarding our house. I want a beautiful wife, who is tall and dark
haired with beautiful eyes and who can sing and dance beautifully. I want to
have three young sons and I want them to be strong so I can play football with
them. I want one to be a great scientist; one to be a senator; and another to be a
football quarterback. I want to be able to travel the world. I want to sail the seas
and climb to the top of the mountains. I want to be able to drive around in a red
Ferrari. I never want to have to pick up anything after myself.”
And the Lord said to him: “That is a beautiful dream. I want you to be happy.”
But the young boy was involved in a very serious football accident and was no
longer able to play sports. He walked with a limp as a result.
He invented medical devices and formed his own company. It was a small
company, but he did fairly well. He had a small house with a small balcony and
no backyard. His house was not big enough for a dog, so he had a small, fluffy
cat. He didn’t have three sons but had three beautiful daughters and the loveliest
and the smartest of them, the youngest, was in a wheelchair for most of her life.
They were happy children. He never traveled the oceans or climbed to the top
of many mountains. He drove around in an ordinary minivan.
One night, he cried to God, “God, I don’t understand. I had that beautiful
dream.” God said: “Yes. It was a beautiful dream.” “Then why didn’t you give
me everything that I wanted?” God said: “I could have but I thought I would
surprise you with something even better. I gave you three beautiful daughters.
I gave you a wife that loves you like no one else. I gave you a limp so that you
would not fall off the mountain tops and wouldn’t take too many risks. Why
weren’t you happy with what I gave you?”
That night the man had another dream and he was happy with what he had.
He woke up and became happy with his life.
In our lives, we often have dreams and dreams are good. Sometimes our
dreams something are different from what God has in store for us. God often has
something even better for us. We need to pause in our life and take into context
what we do have and how blessed we really are where we are at today.
These may not be the dreams we hoped for but God is still in control. God
needs us to be his active hands and feet in this world; to be people of love, not of
hate; to be people who are willing to be kind to others; to forgive others. In a small town called Macon in Georgia, there are two First Baptist churches
that are separated by only 50 yards at most; a small park sits between them. They
used to be one community; one black and one white. The slaves in one church
and the slave owners in the other. They walked to church together and they went
each to their own church. That was 180 years ago. Unfortunately, it still persists
today; black in one and white in the other.
Several years ago, the two individual pastors were struck by a thought that
it didn’t seem right and so they went out for lunch. They meet in a neutral place
and they chatted. They came up with an idea that maybe they should start being
one church again.
Bear in mind, several years ago the climate in America was not much better
than today when it comes to black and white. There were arrests around all that
town just as much as anywhere else. They knew what they were taking on. They
started at the best place; they started with the children.
Every year both churches had an Easter egg hunt each at a different time in
the same park that separated them. This year, they said, “Let’s have one Easter
egg hunt together.” So, they did. The kids had a blast and the parents were sur-
prised. Soon they had a function here and a function there and a luncheon here
and then one day, just a couple of months ago, they went into each other’s church.
Each congregation was shocked because the design inside was identical. It was
the exact same church that had been built twice. They had never been inside each
other’s church in 180 years; the same First Baptist community.
When they shared their first liturgy, each was in tears because it had been
long coming and long wanted for they had no divide; they had no ill will in their
hearts against each other. They wanted unity. A couple of years ago, they vowed
together to be one church with common services. Unity in Christ. That is Church!
It takes a brave soul to walk into the neutral ground to meet the other in neu-
tral ground. That is the bravery that only comes with conviction in Christ; that
is when we have truth on our side and we believe that Christ wants us to be one.
We celebrate the feast day of Christ the King, King of the Universe, not just of
our world. Now more than ever, we need someone to unify us. Unify us in civil-
ity. Unify us in truth and life. Unify us in holiness and grace. Unify us in justice,
love and peace. Unify us in boldness to seek peace and reconciliation.
As long as we continue to focus on our own singular needs, we will never, ever
be united in Christ because Christ always sought the broken, the needy, the home-
less, the elderly and the orphaned. He is the one who gave voice to the voiceless.
If we want to be one in Christ, we must be bold enough to walk into the neutral
ground and stake a claim for Christ our King and say “Here is where I put my
stake–in the neutral ground that is only held by Christ.”