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December 11, 2018 | The Valley Catholic
SPIRITUALITY
Sunday Homilies
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].
Sunday, December 16, 2018
If Not Now, Then When?
“And what should we do?” his disciples asked. John the Baptist answers them “Those of
you who have two cloaks, should share with the person who has none. And those who have
food should likewise.”
Over the last year, we have heard about the homeless in Santa Clara County. We
have over 7,000 homeless in the county and over 4,500 of those are in our own city
of San Jose. We have the highest number of unsheltered homeless in the country,
here in our own Silicon Valley, one of the wealthiest counties in the wealthiest na-
tion of all time. We have also learned that they become homeless for many different
reasons. Sometimes because of things that have happened to them and sometimes
because of the poor choices that they have made in response. Sometimes because
of their inability to make good choices they end up in a bad situation.
We all need somebody to believe in us just for a moment so that we can believe
in ourselves. When you hear the stories of people experiencing homelessness, we
realize that there is not much difference between them and us. There was somebody
in our life that loved us where we were and because of that we made good choices.
Sometimes, we made bad choices but we were covered by their love and we had
room to make mistakes. For them, they did not have as much opportunity of love
in their lives and the poor choices seem to compound their situation.
What should we do? That has been the question that has been asked for every
disciple of every generation. Several years ago, in consultation with the school lead-
ership and all the parish leadership councils, Holy Spirit Parish opened our church
to those experiencing homelessness. We call it Village House.
Each year, we operate a rotating shelter with 15 other churches to provide shelter
for 15 women experiencing homelessness. Each Church operates the shelter for one
month. They arrive at 7 p.m. in the evening. We host a hot meal and then we bring
them to our Church where we give them cots, sheets and blankets. They sleep there
until 6:30am, at which time they receive a hot breakfast. At 7 a.m., they leave for the
day with a packed lunch and head off to the day shelter at another church partner.
We hope to stabilize their needs. They will have shelter and they will have food. It
is our hope we are able to create an environment where they can start to think and
strategize for permanent solutions in that period of time. We hope that this will be
successful and that others will follow. The question is what should we do? I ask
you this: If not us, then who? If not now, then when? Remember at the end of our
lives we will be judged not on how well we have lived but on how well we have loved. This
is our opportunity to share that love with someone else.
Sunday, December 23, 2018
Coincidence or Providence?
Think for a moment about how you met your spouse or best friend. Do you ever
wonder if that was a coincidence or Providence? The number of things that could
have happened did not happen and then you ended up meeting this person and
some 25 years later, here you are.
In today’s Gospel, Mary goes to visit Elizabeth and on the sound of her voice
it says “the infant in the womb leapt for joy.” People who do not have faith would
say, “Ah, it was a kick in the womb; that is what babies do, they kick.” One could
say it was just coincidence. As people of faith, we do not see it as coincidence, we
see it as Providence; that the child in the womb, John the Baptist, even before he
was born, was able to recognize and know the voice of the Mother of the Lord,
so he leapt in the womb. The phrase “leapt” would be probably better translated
“danced” in the womb. That is what faith does; faith allows us to see with different
eyes; to hear with different ears. Sometimes we get carried away, even we, people
of faith, do not see what we are called to see; do not hear what we are called to
hear. It is not because it is not happening; it is because of something inside of us.
We are just too busy; too distracted; too consumed with so much of our own lives.
Many years ago, I met Michael and his dog Spooky who were experiencing
homelessness in Portland. It changed my life and the life of Holy Spirit Parish as
we have since opened up Village House, a shelter for women experiencing homeless-
ness. I have often wondered how many other Michaels I passed by on the streets
but never, ever noticed? It haunts me somewhat because it has meant that I have
not seen Providence in my life. I have not accepted the invitation from God for
deeper conversion.
Advent, especially the last week of Advent, is one of a great challenge for us
because we get so busy with Christmas preparation, with the parties, the gifts,
the cards and you know the way it goes. My fear is that we lose all opportunity
to see Providence in our life and things go right by us.
I suspect I still miss lots of opportunities where God’s invitation is put out to
us. Sometimes, it is the meeting of a new person; sometimes it is the meeting of a
person we have known for a long time, who we are invited to ask certain questions;
sometimes it is a joy that has happened to us, something new; something wonder-
ful; sometimes it is something painful; sometimes something awful has happened
to us and we have to dig deep to find God’s Providence in the midst of the pain.
Today, may we not put things down to coincidence. May we recognize the mo-
ment of Providence; God is breaking through.
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