[Scenes from Capernaum: Notice the Octagonal Church (upper left picture)- the octagonal ruins (lower right picture) over which the church was built; the synagogue; the Red Roof Greek Orthodox Church and how close everything is to the Lake of Gallilee. Tap - tap with your mouse cursor on any picture to get a bigger view of the specific picture.]
UNDERNEATH
INTRODUCTION
The title of my homily is, “Underneath.”
You never know what’s underneath. You can’t judge a book by its cover. You can’t tell a person by the color of their hair – or the number of their teeth or the look of their car. Get a second, third or fourth opinion.
Today I’m challenged by the old Indian saying we’re all very familiar with, “Don’t judge your neighbor till you walked a mile in his or her moccasins.”
To get to that theme, let me first take you on another bus ride.
TODAY’S GOSPEL
Last Sunday’s gospel began, “Then they came to Capernaum….”
They go the synagogue and Jesus heals the man who screams out, “I know who you are – the Holy One of God.”
Today’s gospel begins, “On leaving the synagogue Jesus entered the house of Simon and Andrew….” and Jesus heals Peter’s mother-in-law.
In January of 2000 I went to Israel with 20 priests. It was a great deal. An old Redemptorist priest in his 80’s always wanted to go to Israel – but he needed someone to carry his bags. “Here I am Lord, send me.” If you ever get a chance to see Israel, go for it. It really gives you an interesting take many times when you read the Bible.
We got off the bus in Capernaum. We walked through a gate – into an enclosed area – maintained by the Franciscans. We walked to the ruins of a 4th century A.D. synagogue – built on top of the synagogue mentioned in last Sunday and this Sunday’s gospel.
Father Stephen Doyle, a Franciscan, was our guide. It was more like a retreat than a tour. We sat down on the stone seats on both sides of the roofless synagogue and he read last Sunday’s gospel to us. Then he gave us a half hour of quiet prayer to reflect upon the story and where we were. It was wonderful. After the half hour, he said, “We’re now going to walk to Peter’s mother-in-law’s house – but because there will be a lot of tourists there, let me now read the next gospel story in Mark.” It was today’s gospel. Neat.
That house became an early Jewish Christian community church. Then it was lost – fell apart – disappeared underneath soil and rocks.
Sometime after 1968 it was rediscovered by the Franciscan archaeologist Father Virgilio C. Corbo. A modern church was built over the ruins and dedicated on June 29, 1990.
One walks up the steps to this octagonal church and inside it has a see through glass floor – which enables one to see the excavations of Peter and Andrew and Peter’s Mother-in-law’s house below – which then became an early Christian church. It’s quite an experience standing there – looking at what is underneath one’s feet.
After finishing seeing the church and the ruins underneath, we went to the gift shop. They always have a gift shop. Then, just before we were to head back to our bus, Father Stephen Doyle said the most significant thing of the day for me. He told us to look to the distance. He said that’s a Greek Orthodox church over there – the one with the red roof. It was maybe two football fields away. There were five seasons of excavations there on the Greek Orthodox Property from 1978 to 1982. He added, “Notice the lumps and mounds of earth. Someday underneath all that earth they are going to discover all sorts of things.”
I heard the word “underneath”. Underneath all that earth were future discoveries.
I had bought the guidebook “Recovering Capharnaum”* by Stanislaus Loffreda in the gift shop and read it on the bus and that night when we got back to our hotel. I discovered what we saw that day was a total mess for centuries – well over 1000 years and then some. I read that an American scholar, E. Robinson, visited the area in 1838 and wrote, “The whole place is desolate and mournful. A few Arabs of the Semekiyeh were here encamped in tents, and built up a few hovels among the ruins….” (p. 11)
I also read that the Franciscans in 1894 had acquired from the Bedouins the ruins of the synagogue and a large area of ancient Capharnaum. They fenced and walled the area off and began digging and discovering – but it took a long, long time.
We benefited from their work and our bus ride to see Capernaum.
UNDERNEATH
My thought for today is the theme of “underneath”.
How many times in our lives have we been superficial?
How many times in our lives have we misjudged others and their motives?
How many times have we been misjudged and we never got a chance to tell others what was underneath our comment or behavior?
How many times in our lives have we been surprised – when we heard the real story or the rest of the story?
How many times in our lives have we ever really listened to what’s buried underneath the face and skin of another?
How many times in our lives have we been taken back when we discovered what was underneath?
EXAMPLES
A corporate lawyer recently said he would like to retire in his mid-fifties – and then when asked what he would like to do after that said, “I would like to work for the poor.”
A retired guy recently said off hand, “I want to talk to so and so who is very good at bridge – because I’ve always wanted to learn to play bridge.”
A priest in his late 50’s, whom I worked with, once told me that he wanted to play the banjo when he was in his late teens and early 20’s but never did. Well, he took up the banjo big time in his late 50’s – and surprise, there he was up on stage jamming away – if jamming away is the word banjo players use.
A 56 year old woman, Jennifer Figge, just finished swimming the Atlantic – from the Cape Verde Islands off Africa to Trinidad in the Caribbean. It was her dream for a long time. She was the first woman to do it – swimming 700 miles.
James Harrison of the Steelers was cut from the Steelers and the Ravens, made some bad mistakes in his life, was resigned by the Steelers 4 times – got his life a bit better, won a Super Bowl Ring a few years back and helped win the Super Bowl for the Steelers again this year and is going to the Pro Bowl. He said he almost quit to become a truck driver like his dad.
Billy Crystal was bumped from the first Saturday Night Live show – and said, “Good thing I didn’t give up.”
While preaching in a small town in Ohio I met a lady who went to college for art – and when asked to do a self-portrait – her teacher and the other students made fun of as well as some tough comments about her painting. She left college – went home – got married to a part time farmer – who worked for Cooper Tire as his regular job. On the side when their kids were in school, this lady told me she started doing craft pieces – and came up with a furry type animal doll. A friend saw some of her pieces and said, “I’m going to a craft show next Saturday – bring your dolls with you and people will gobble them up.” She brought them and she was sold out of them in a half hour. Well, in three years she made a small fortune on her creations. They changed a barn into a work place. And her husband was laid off just in time to manage the business.
You never know what’s underneath. Who would believe Jesus is in us? Who would believe Jesus is in bread and wine? Who would believe that Jesus is God and he helps mother-in-laws and uncles and aunts – swimmers and bus drivers, doll makers, lawyers, comedians and would be banjo and bridge players - and us?
You never know what’s underneath.
Maybe someone here didn’t hear a word from today’s second reading, today’s gospel, or this sermon. They were still thinking about today’s first reading. They were wondering: “What would get someone to say what Job says in today’s first reading? That’s pretty pessimistic stuff.” So they go home and read the whole book of Job to get underneath his story. Then they read everything they can find on Job – including the play JB by Archbald MacLeish – and wow are their eyes opened to what was underneath the text.
CONCLUSION
Underneath.
You never know what’s underneath.
Since this is Black History Month I think of Langston Hughes’ poem, “Dream Deferred.”
What happens to a dream deferred?
Does it dry up
Like a raisin in the sun?
Or fester like a sore--
And then run?
Does it stink like rotten meat?
Or crust and sugar over--
like a syrupy sweet?
Maybe it just sags
like a heavy load.
Or does it explode?
Start dreaming. Start digging. Start getting in touch with your deferred dreams. Start exploding.
Take a bus, a tour, better make it a holy quest, to your ground. It’s Holy Ground. You own your own heart and mind – even if you have a fence around it. Remember there’s great stuff – treasures – underneath.
Underneath.
The title of my homily is, “Underneath.”
You never know what’s underneath. You can’t judge a book by its cover. You can’t tell a person by the color of their hair – or the number of their teeth or the look of their car. Get a second, third or fourth opinion.
Today I’m challenged by the old Indian saying we’re all very familiar with, “Don’t judge your neighbor till you walked a mile in his or her moccasins.”
To get to that theme, let me first take you on another bus ride.
TODAY’S GOSPEL
Last Sunday’s gospel began, “Then they came to Capernaum….”
They go the synagogue and Jesus heals the man who screams out, “I know who you are – the Holy One of God.”
Today’s gospel begins, “On leaving the synagogue Jesus entered the house of Simon and Andrew….” and Jesus heals Peter’s mother-in-law.
In January of 2000 I went to Israel with 20 priests. It was a great deal. An old Redemptorist priest in his 80’s always wanted to go to Israel – but he needed someone to carry his bags. “Here I am Lord, send me.” If you ever get a chance to see Israel, go for it. It really gives you an interesting take many times when you read the Bible.
We got off the bus in Capernaum. We walked through a gate – into an enclosed area – maintained by the Franciscans. We walked to the ruins of a 4th century A.D. synagogue – built on top of the synagogue mentioned in last Sunday and this Sunday’s gospel.
Father Stephen Doyle, a Franciscan, was our guide. It was more like a retreat than a tour. We sat down on the stone seats on both sides of the roofless synagogue and he read last Sunday’s gospel to us. Then he gave us a half hour of quiet prayer to reflect upon the story and where we were. It was wonderful. After the half hour, he said, “We’re now going to walk to Peter’s mother-in-law’s house – but because there will be a lot of tourists there, let me now read the next gospel story in Mark.” It was today’s gospel. Neat.
That house became an early Jewish Christian community church. Then it was lost – fell apart – disappeared underneath soil and rocks.
Sometime after 1968 it was rediscovered by the Franciscan archaeologist Father Virgilio C. Corbo. A modern church was built over the ruins and dedicated on June 29, 1990.
One walks up the steps to this octagonal church and inside it has a see through glass floor – which enables one to see the excavations of Peter and Andrew and Peter’s Mother-in-law’s house below – which then became an early Christian church. It’s quite an experience standing there – looking at what is underneath one’s feet.
After finishing seeing the church and the ruins underneath, we went to the gift shop. They always have a gift shop. Then, just before we were to head back to our bus, Father Stephen Doyle said the most significant thing of the day for me. He told us to look to the distance. He said that’s a Greek Orthodox church over there – the one with the red roof. It was maybe two football fields away. There were five seasons of excavations there on the Greek Orthodox Property from 1978 to 1982. He added, “Notice the lumps and mounds of earth. Someday underneath all that earth they are going to discover all sorts of things.”
I heard the word “underneath”. Underneath all that earth were future discoveries.
I had bought the guidebook “Recovering Capharnaum”* by Stanislaus Loffreda in the gift shop and read it on the bus and that night when we got back to our hotel. I discovered what we saw that day was a total mess for centuries – well over 1000 years and then some. I read that an American scholar, E. Robinson, visited the area in 1838 and wrote, “The whole place is desolate and mournful. A few Arabs of the Semekiyeh were here encamped in tents, and built up a few hovels among the ruins….” (p. 11)
I also read that the Franciscans in 1894 had acquired from the Bedouins the ruins of the synagogue and a large area of ancient Capharnaum. They fenced and walled the area off and began digging and discovering – but it took a long, long time.
We benefited from their work and our bus ride to see Capernaum.
UNDERNEATH
My thought for today is the theme of “underneath”.
How many times in our lives have we been superficial?
How many times in our lives have we misjudged others and their motives?
How many times have we been misjudged and we never got a chance to tell others what was underneath our comment or behavior?
How many times in our lives have we been surprised – when we heard the real story or the rest of the story?
How many times in our lives have we ever really listened to what’s buried underneath the face and skin of another?
How many times in our lives have we been taken back when we discovered what was underneath?
EXAMPLES
A corporate lawyer recently said he would like to retire in his mid-fifties – and then when asked what he would like to do after that said, “I would like to work for the poor.”
A retired guy recently said off hand, “I want to talk to so and so who is very good at bridge – because I’ve always wanted to learn to play bridge.”
A priest in his late 50’s, whom I worked with, once told me that he wanted to play the banjo when he was in his late teens and early 20’s but never did. Well, he took up the banjo big time in his late 50’s – and surprise, there he was up on stage jamming away – if jamming away is the word banjo players use.
A 56 year old woman, Jennifer Figge, just finished swimming the Atlantic – from the Cape Verde Islands off Africa to Trinidad in the Caribbean. It was her dream for a long time. She was the first woman to do it – swimming 700 miles.
James Harrison of the Steelers was cut from the Steelers and the Ravens, made some bad mistakes in his life, was resigned by the Steelers 4 times – got his life a bit better, won a Super Bowl Ring a few years back and helped win the Super Bowl for the Steelers again this year and is going to the Pro Bowl. He said he almost quit to become a truck driver like his dad.
Billy Crystal was bumped from the first Saturday Night Live show – and said, “Good thing I didn’t give up.”
While preaching in a small town in Ohio I met a lady who went to college for art – and when asked to do a self-portrait – her teacher and the other students made fun of as well as some tough comments about her painting. She left college – went home – got married to a part time farmer – who worked for Cooper Tire as his regular job. On the side when their kids were in school, this lady told me she started doing craft pieces – and came up with a furry type animal doll. A friend saw some of her pieces and said, “I’m going to a craft show next Saturday – bring your dolls with you and people will gobble them up.” She brought them and she was sold out of them in a half hour. Well, in three years she made a small fortune on her creations. They changed a barn into a work place. And her husband was laid off just in time to manage the business.
You never know what’s underneath. Who would believe Jesus is in us? Who would believe Jesus is in bread and wine? Who would believe that Jesus is God and he helps mother-in-laws and uncles and aunts – swimmers and bus drivers, doll makers, lawyers, comedians and would be banjo and bridge players - and us?
You never know what’s underneath.
Maybe someone here didn’t hear a word from today’s second reading, today’s gospel, or this sermon. They were still thinking about today’s first reading. They were wondering: “What would get someone to say what Job says in today’s first reading? That’s pretty pessimistic stuff.” So they go home and read the whole book of Job to get underneath his story. Then they read everything they can find on Job – including the play JB by Archbald MacLeish – and wow are their eyes opened to what was underneath the text.
CONCLUSION
Underneath.
You never know what’s underneath.
Since this is Black History Month I think of Langston Hughes’ poem, “Dream Deferred.”
What happens to a dream deferred?
Does it dry up
Like a raisin in the sun?
Or fester like a sore--
And then run?
Does it stink like rotten meat?
Or crust and sugar over--
like a syrupy sweet?
Maybe it just sags
like a heavy load.
Or does it explode?
Start dreaming. Start digging. Start getting in touch with your deferred dreams. Start exploding.
Take a bus, a tour, better make it a holy quest, to your ground. It’s Holy Ground. You own your own heart and mind – even if you have a fence around it. Remember there’s great stuff – treasures – underneath.
Underneath.
*Stanislao Loffreda, Recovering Capharnaum, Second Edition, Reprinted 1997, Franciscan Printing Press Jerusalem, 1993, pp.86 - [Studium Biblicum Franciscanum Guides 1]
No comments:
Post a Comment