DEADLINE for the May 21 edition of The Valley Catholic is Friday , May 3 .
6 April 23 , 2013 SPirituality The Valley Catholic
Fr . Brendan McGuire is pastor of Holy Spirit Parish and School and co-pastor of Our Lady of Refuge in San Jose . He is also one of the Vicars General of the Diocese of San Jose and responsible for the implementation of the Diocesan Pastoral Plan . Before being ordained a priest in 2000 , Fr . Brendan was an executive in a technology company and still loves to use technology to reach people as a priest . He is a regular speaker throughout the country and one of his more popular sessions is on forgiveness .
Sunday , May 5 , 2013 Taproot Of Christ Jesus
Nature has a wonderful way of reflecting God ’ s design . For example , the great white oak tree has roots that go deep down into the soil ; they spread wide and deep . The main root , which is called the taproot , goes straight down in almost a mirror image of the trunk above . When an acorn of a white oak starts its growth , it will have no growth above the surface for at least one year until the taproot goes straight down into the soil . The white oak is known , in the Midwest , to withstand not just storms but even tornadoes . Tornadoes will come and take houses away but not the white oak tree .
As Christians , we are called to have a root system much like the white oak . We are called to be an oak tree that provides shelter for others . To do so we must go deep down into the soil of our lives and allow our taproot to reach deep for Christ . We have to allow Christ Jesus to be the main root and the source of our nutrients in life .
The Lord did not promise a storm-free life . Indeed , we know the storms will come . Those storms of pain and suffering ; when we lose a loved one ; when we suffer illness or any of the multitude of things that may happen to us in our lives . The only way we will survive and thrive is if our taproot is in Christ Jesus .
If we remain in Christ and allow his Spirit to dwell fully within us , then we will remain solid and nothing will blow us down . We may lose a couple of branches here and there but we will stay solid in faith .
A good family is like a good root system . It provides a solid system that is deep and wide and enables us to remain stable . Often the taproot in a family is a mother ’ s love because it reaches deep into our hearts and solidly roots us forever . No matter what storms come our way , we seem to be able to weather them when we have a mother who has given us solid love and faith . On May 12 we will celebrate Mother ’ s Day and we will look to mothers as examples of that faith and love . We honor them and thank them for their love that keeps us grounded .
There is nothing more wonderful than to know that you are rooted in love . There is a great inner peace that comes from that love . This is the peace that the Gospel refers to today . Christ talks about the peace , not as the world gives , but as he gives .
The ultimate taproot for all of us is Christ . We are called to root ourselves in Christ and to follow his commandments of loving one another . Mothers do a great job and we thank them . But we must then become the examples of love and faith to others .
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Sunday , April 28 , 2013 Love is More Than What We Do
Cindy had been diagnosed with breast cancer and her surgery was successful . She had completed several sessions of her chemotherapy and now her hair was beginning to fall out . Her heart was broken because she had beautiful long hair that she treasured as a gift from God . She knew she would have to shave her head but she was horrified by the thought of going into one of the beauty salons where they would unceremoniously shave her head .
So she went to her husband and said , “ I want you to shave my head . Right now .” He paused and said , “ Sure . You mean right now , now ?” She said , “ Yes . Right now . Let ’ s get it over with .” He stuttered and stumbled and said , “ Okay . Are you sure you want to do this tonight ?” She snapped , “ Yes . I want to get it over with .” She brought a chair into the bathroom , sat down and he put his hand on her shoulder and he slowly and gently shaved her head , pausing occasionally asking , “ Are you okay with this ? Are you doing okay ?” She gently said , “ Sure .” As the tears started to drop down from her face .
At the end of it , Willie , her husband , said , “ That doesn ’ t look too bad !” “ Oh stop it !” she said , “ I look like a chicken neck .” They laughed together as he put his hands on her shoulder , massaged her shoulder and neck and said , “ But you are my chicken .” He kissed her on her exposed head . Then Cindy got up from the chair to clean up the mess on the floor , but Willie gently took her hand and asked her to please let him do it . She sat back down in the chair and watched her husband gently catch all her beautiful hair from the floor .
Cindy writes in her memoirs , “ In that moment I realized that this action gave my husband great joy . He was finally able to do something for me . In these last months he had felt so helpless in the midst of the diagnosis and the treatment . This was something he could do for me with tenderness and love . This was perhaps the most spiritual and romantic evening of my life since my wedding day .” 1
Love and loving is more than what we do ; it is how we do it . It is how we reach out to those who are desperately in need , with a gentle touch , a caring word , a simple gesture that can penetrate not just the skin but all the way deep into our hearts .
In today ’ s Gospel we hear the continuation of the Last Supper Discourse . Jesus has just washed the feet of his disciples . He now tells them : “ I have a commandment : Love one another .” It wasn ’ t just any type of love ; he was talking about the love of serving one another . And he had just demonstrated the humble service by washing their feet . So may we love and serve one another .
( Endnotes )
1 “ Cindy Williams Newsome , in Spirituality & Health , January-February 2010 as quoted in “ Connections ” ( Mediaworks , Londonderry , NH : May 3 , 2010 )
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DEADLINE for the May 21 edition of The Valley Catholic is Friday , May 3 .
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