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SPIRITUALITY

November 7 , 2017 | The Valley Catholic

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 .

Be Prepared , Be People of Prayer Sunday , November 12 , 2017

Beavers or Humans ? Sunday , November 19 , 2017

One of core teachings of St . John of the Cross is that all life has a center created by God . He calls it “ profundo centro ” ( profound center .) In this place , God speaks to our heart . We need to become aware of that interior center of ourselves for that is where God gives us the wisdom for life .

In the Gospel today , Jesus tells us that we are called to prepare to receive wisdom as we await Christ ’ s return . We need to learn how to seek that profundo centro within ourselves .

St . John of the Cross would say that there is no substitute , that we must do it , as he says , in soledad ; in solitude . That does not mean loneliness but rather the we must retreat from the busyness of our lives . There is a lot of stuff we could do , there are lots of places we can be , but we need to temper our lives and spend some time in soledad , in solitude , with our God . In that moment , we need to be still in the Lord ’ s presence and to listen to his wisdom with our own heart . I plead with you , please take the time to pray for ten minutes minimally each day alone with the Lord seeking and finding that profundo centro in your life .

I promise you that any minutes you spend in prayer each day will be given back to you thirty , sixty , a hundred-fold with the wisdom and the patience and the kindness you will receive in those few moments in quietness and stillness with the Lord . I know it is hard with our busy lives but I know of no other way to overcome the difficulties of our lives . When we seek and find that profundo centro within ourselves , the darkest night is never dark , the worst pain is never bad enough that we cannot get through it , the hardest loss is never too much to overcome when we know our God is inside with us each and every day . It is like a light that burns within our own heart that no darkness can ever overcome . That light is within every single one of us but we must be willing to spend some time in soledad y templanza , in solitude and temperance seeking and finding the God of wisdom , the God who is Christ , the God who is within us in the profundo centro of our lives .

Beavers are the most industrious little animals ! They form packs or families and build dams out of fallen-down trees . And if there are not enough fallen trees , they chop more down with their very sharp front teeth . They pack the dams with clay so that both underneath and on top , the water easily dams and forms ponds . In the center of the pond , they create what is known as a lodge ; on the surface it looks like trees gathered up but underneath it is actually like a pyramid and the only entrance is underneath the water .

These devices are protection against predators such as the coyotes because they cannot chase them under water . Also , after they dive into the water , they become slippery and difficult to catch . It is also a defense mechanism . However , it is not very good for the ecology of the neighborhood because once the beavers dam-up the water little to no fresh water goes downstream . 1

They build the dam for themselves , not for others . That is the whole point . It makes no difference what happens downstream , they are just taking care of themselves .

We Americans can act a lot like beavers ! We get an abundance of water coming from upstream ; an abundance of goods ; an abundance of wealth . We even say that every person needs to help themselves ! Let ’ s look at some statistics . we are the wealthiest nation in history . Our consumption rate per capita is the highest that has ever existed in the history of the world . It is predicted that if every human being were to consume at the rate of the average American , the world ’ s resources would be depleted in just seven years .

But we are not beavers . We are humans . We are meant to care about the ecosystem of the world . We are meant to care about those downstream .

In today ’ s gospel , we hear Jesus tell his disciples how God gives and what God expects . God tries to break open our thoughts and to have us think in the mentality of abundance . A talent was a form of weight and it was about 100 pounds ; so that would be 500 pounds of gold , or 200 pounds of gold ; or 100 pounds of gold . Now even by today ’ s standards , 100 pounds of gold is worth a lot of money . The servant buried $ 1 million !

The absurdity is clear ! We do not bury $ 1 million , we find a way to invest $ 1 million ; we find a way to bring a return .

If we understand that the water that comes downstream is God ’ s love . We have done nothing to deserve it . We just get the flow of water of God ’ s love . We have no right to stop that flow . In fact , what keeps the water fresh is passing that love on to others . We receive without merit and so we must give without merit . This not only motivates us to share materially but it also then calls us to share spiritually .

We are not beavers ; we do not want to hoard the water of life that God gives us ; we are humans who are called to care for the whole of God ’ s creation .

( Endnotes ) 1 “ Homily Helps ,” ( St . Anthony Messenger Press : Cincinnati , OH , November 16 , 2014 )

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