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SPIRITUALITY
April 24, 2018 | 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 [email protected].
April 30, 2018 - Bear Fruit For God
Sometimes, we want to blame somebody else for the mess we get ourselves
into. Other times we look upwards and blame God for it.
The reality is that bad things happen and sometimes bad things happen to
good people. Life can be really difficult sometimes. We wonder, “Where is our
God who claims to love us?” We don’t feel so connected to that vine. We feel often
like branches without a vine. However, the Lord assures us that if we remain in
him, he will remain in us.
God never leaves us. God is always with us and it is always our choice to re-
main in him. If we look at our lives through those eyes of faith, then we come to
understand that maybe this is the time of pruning in our life.
God does not send these bad things to test us. He does not cause us to lose
health so he can test our faith. Our God does not so capriciously. All those things
do happen and they are allowed by God, yes. But then he comes and he prunes
those dead things away so that we can produce even more fruit. A dead branch
cannot produce fruit. He prunes those things off us but we have to allow it to hap-
pen. We have to sometimes allow the very painful process of being pruned. When
we do, we produce even more fruit than we did before. It is a painful process but
when we produce the fruit, we understand the greatness of God’s ways.
We have to remain in him and him in us for us to bear fruit. God cannot bear
fruit in this world without the branches, without you and I allowing ourselves
to be fruitful. Fruit does not grow on the vine, it grows on the branches. God
needs us to produce the good fruit in this world; it is through us that he chooses
to produce the good fruit. St. Teresa of Avila’s famous statement that: “Christ has
no body in this world but ours. He has no hands, no feet in this world but yours
and mine. He has only our eyes and our hearts to show compassion We are the
hands and the feet of Christ.”
It goes back to the second reading from the Letter of John which says it is not
enough just to say words, we have to do it in deed and actions. We have to believe
and then act. That is the process of bearing the fruit.
Who can I be the hands and the feet of Christ to; who can I be the eyes of Christ
to; who can I be the compassionate heart of Christ to because if not us then who?
We are the ones who claim his name. If not us, then who? Today, not only do we
celebrate the gift of being part of Christ the vine, God the vine grower and we are
the branches. But we must bear fruit in our lives by acting like Christ to others.
Sunday Homilies
May 6, 2018 - Unequal Parts
“Love one another as I have loved you.”
Three years ago, I had the great honor of presiding at the funeral of my own
Mother. It was a wonderful occasion for us to celebrate the long, happy life of our
Mother. All twelve of the children were able to come back and be there.
It was a great celebration of her life and of our love and respect for her. There
were a couple of special moments but the funeral recession from Church stands
out. As priest I led the casket out and I was the youngest, and my eldest brother
with my two sisters were at the back of the casket; then my eight other brothers,
four on either side, carried Mom on their shoulders.
It was a very powerful moment as all 12 children surrounded their Mother
and walked her out of the church bound together in love. A beautiful moment
of unity of love and of respect for my Mother for the many years of having given
her life to us in service.
Someone asked afterwards, “Which of your children did she love the most?” My
brother reminded us all that she would often say to such a question, “Whichever
one needs it.” That summed up mother’s life, she loved whoever needed it the most.
In today’s Gospel, Jesus tells us, “Love one another as I have