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May 7, 2019 | The Valley Catholic
THANK YOU BISHOP MCGRATH
Mass of Thanksgiving
Cathedral Basilica of Saint Joseph, San Jose, California
May 1, 2019
Jeremiah 1:4-9
Psalm 42
1 Corinthians 12:31-13:13
John 21:15-19
Aging seems to be highly overrated.
It is not great growing old...or being
old, once you have arrived there. I now
know why people retire - so they have
time to visit their doctors.
“When you grow old,” as we just
heard...
“when you grow old, you will
stretch out your hands, and someone
else will dress you and lead you where
you really do not want to go.”
I have had some experience of that
lately!!
But to stop there, with this descrip-
tion of Peter’s helplessness, would ob-
scure the real message of this passage
For when Jesus had said this to Peter,
Jesus quickly added: “Follow me.”
Follow me! This is the call heard
by the bewildered Jeremiah, who pro-
tested that he was too young.
It is the call echoed by the Apostle
Paul, the call of the Lover to the beloved:
“Love!” And in loving, we follow.
From the first biblical stories of
Adam and Eve, all the way to the New
Creation that is in Christ, the Lord,
through the ordinariness of nature and
the extraordinariness of super-nature,
through all of this, our Lord has invites
us – and all of humanity – to follow, and
so to be with Him.
You and I have been initiated into
this by our birth and by our baptismal
birth, sharing membership in the hu-
man family and, as sisters and brothers
in the Lord, in the family of the Church.
We have been strengthened by the
fruit of field and farm, by the Living
Word, and by the One Whose Body and
Blood nourishes and sustains believers
for the journey to unending life.
And we have been encouraged to
become what we receive, to become
what we eat: The Body and Blood of
the Lord.
In joy and hope, in grief and anxi-
ety, like the clarion call in calm and in
tumult, the Lord has wanted only that
we follow Him, by the nature of our
baptismal lives and our ministry, to be
living signs and instruments of God’s
peace at work in our world. And God
knows we need that peace today.
Yes, each of us has, at one time or an-
other, felt like Jeremiah...too young and
inexperienced, inadequate for the task.
But resistance, as they say, is futile.
If we walk the Lord’s path, we need
not blaze a new trail, but only remain
faithful to the one that he sets before us.
And we have felt like Peter...a denier
and, seemingly, a failure...yet still lov-
ing the Lord.
Those who honestly face their own
weaknesses are better able, I believe, to
appreciate forgiveness and love.
We do not rejoice in our own good-
ness, but in the good that God is work-
ing in each of us.
Our lives are not about blowing a
horn to display our virtues, to invite
the praise of others...
Young or old, or in between...the
challenge and opportunity is to be
neither a resounding gong nor clashing
cymbal, but to put on Christ, to put on
love that is not jealous, not pompous,
not inflated, not rude, nor self-seeking,
quick-tempered or brooding. Rather,
love is patient, kind, believing, hoping
and enduring.
My episcopal motto, “Together in
Christ,” has always been for me more
than a catchy slogan or a tag-line for
the Annual Diocesan Appeal. And God
knows it has been used for that!
But in truth I believe that in our
togetherness, in the common life we
share as the People of God, we allow
ourselves to be led by the Lord Jesus.
Coming “Together in Christ” is
possible only in the bond of charity,
which puts the needs of others before
our own, placing as central in all of our
efforts the compassion, love, and self-
emptying of the Lord. To be together in
Christ is to put on Christ in a way that
it is truly He who lives in us.
Being “Together in Christ” urges us
in ways of civil dialogue, even when we
agree about absolutely nothing, giving
due consideration to the opinion of the
other and the dignity of that person,
especially when you believe how com-
pletely wrong they are.
And being “Together in Christ”
means that “Zeal for the Lord’s House”
consumes us and will continue to do so,
God willing, for many years to come.
You and I have a new Bishop, a new
shepherd.
Since I first knew of his appointment
last July, I have given thanks to God for
Bishop Oscar Cantú, in whom I have
come to know a loving, thoughtful,
wise and caring pastor who will lead
this local Church with integrity and
fidelity to the Lord.
Last midnight, Bishop Oscar became
the Third Bishop of San Jose.
I congratulate him...and you...I
pledge to him my support as I know
that you will do the same.
Pray for our new Bishop...and please
continue to pray for the old one, who
will always be praying for you.
And May God bless us all, now and
always.
Amen.