JOSEPH:
AN IMAGINARY STORY

It wasn’t the way I planned it. For that matter it wasn’t the way Mary planned it either. So we figured it was God’s plan – and we went from there. Not easy – sometimes it’s never easy with God’s plans and God’s ways – that is, when compared to my plans and my ways.

What we planned was marriage – family – the carpenter’s shop – meals together, love together, life together – a life like any other life.

Then I found out Mary was pregnant – and I knew it wasn’t me – and knowing Mary – I couldn’t fathom any one else but me – so I was left in the dark – and I couldn’t sleep and I couldn’t dream of what to do next.

In the beginning I knew I wasn’t going to throw her out to the wolves of gossip and to back of the hand whispered conversations. If you knew how small Nazareth was and how big gossip could be there. If you knew how sweet Mary was – you too would divorce her quietly. You couldn't just expose her to shame – and shame is strong stuff in a small village.

Of course I'm biased. We already were engaged. We already went through that ceremony – the first step in a Jewish wedding – and our wedding date was set.Good thing I’m a dreamer. Good thing I was named the same name as Joseph the Great Dreamer in Jewish history. In dreams he figured out his future. In dreams an angel told me what to do.

In a strange way, we got a break. It was a temporary way out. It was the census – the Roman Census – so we had to go to Bethlehem – where my roots extended back to David - way back. It gave us an opportunity to get away for a while. Sometimes the best thing to do is to hide.

It was fascinating the way events unfolded when we got to Bethlehem. We were just in time for Mary to have her baby. However, what happened was not expected. So I was amazed how things worked out. It helps to be a dreamer.

To be born in a stable – was just one more surprise. Shepherds came out of nowhere and Magi came out of somewhere – bringing their presence and their presents.Then came the nightmare and the night dream to get out of there – the warning that Herod didn’t want competition. Those in power usually erase, abort, get rid of all that will get in the way. An angel, a dream, directed us to Egypt. Sometimes the best thing to do is to hide.

Egypt made sense – because that was the same path my patron, Joseph the Dreamer, took.

However, I didn’t realize most of this till afterwards. Isn't that the way it usually happens?

So here I was another Joseph who landed in Egypt. He got there in as strange a way as we did. His brothers wanted to kill him. Sanity and luck prevailed. Joseph - betrayed by his own brothers - was sold for 20 pieces of silver – and his buyers brought him to Egypt. So here we were because of a dream and the message that here was a special baby.

I added, "One dangerous baby as well."

Mary added, "Well, I can't say I wasn't warned that a sword would pierce my heart."

When we heard that this Herod died – there were a few of those rascals - we headed back to Nazareth – our roots – and my carpenter shop. It needed a lot of work.

In the meanwhile Jesus grew in wisdom, age and grace before all.

It slowly became obvious to me that Jesus was going to be more than a carpenter, Would he be like Joseph the Dreamer who saved the world of his day when they were in famine –and he made Egypt the breadbox of the world? Will our Jesus feed the world – with bread and life? Will he become a great rabbi? Will he become a wisdom figure? Will he become a great healer. Time will tell. Time will tell.

In the meanwhile the three of us became fully settled in Nazareth, We were home.

I often wondered what our Jesus was wondering about when he stopped to watch the birds of the air and the lilies of the field. I saw his face wince and twist several times when he saw the worse use of wood that was possible – people hung on crosses - people crucified to crosses all along the roads we walked in Northern Palestine.

[Painting on top, "The Dream of St. Joseph," [1640] by Georges de La Tour [1593-1652]

This is a first draft of a possible story for a future book I'm working on from time to time on Biblical Characters.

JOHN  XX111

Quote for Today - Feast of St. Joseph - March 19,  2011


"The representative of the highest spiritual authority of the earth is glad, indeed boasts, of being the son of a humble but robust and honest laborer."


Angelo Giuseppe Roncalli [1881-1963], Pope John XXIII. This is a remark he made to the mayor of Fleury-sur-Loire - town in Central France - population 240 in the year 2007. This comment can be found in Wit and Wisdom of Good Pope John, collected by Henri Fesquet [ 1963]

DO IT YOURSELF
STATIONS
OF THE CROSS

[Here are 15 spiritual exercises. You can do them one at a time this Lent or at any time. See where these exercises take you. You can do this with another – or by yourself. Your move!]

1) Walk into any Catholic Church and walk around looking at all 14 Stations of the Cross. Then walk around again and pick one station – just one station – that is you – where you were or where you’re at in your life right now. Then sit in a church bench under that station or where you can see that station and be there with Christ in prayer for 15 minutes.

2) Take a blank piece of paper and write down the year of your birth on the left hand side of the page. Then write down on the far right side of the paper – just opposite the date on the far right – the year of your death. Give it an outside year – make it 2075 if you wish. Then draw a straight line across the page from your birthday to your death year. That’s the proverbial “dash” of life – the line ____________ in between your two key numbers. Next jot down along that time line key moments in your life. After doing that, re-write that straight line between your two numbers, this time with twists and turns, ups and downs, but get across the page to your death day.

3) Name a moment in your life – with details when you were condemned falsely.

4) What was the biggest cross your mom and/or dad had to carry?

5) Get a clean piece of paper or use your computer to jot down three falls you had so far in your life.

6) Picture your mom’s face the first time she saw your face.

7) Who has been the person who has helped you most in this life?

8) Name a moment in your life – tell of an experience – when and where a complete stranger has reached out and did something for you.

9) Name a moment in your life – tell of an experience – when and where you just stood there – as you saw a person in deep hurt – and you cried.

10) Name a moment in your life – when you felt totally stripped of everything – embarrassed – ridiculed – rejected - completely de-personalized.

11) Name a moment in your life – when you felt nailed down – and you were just stuck there – unable to get off your cross?

12) Draw the scene at Calvary when Jesus died. Put in figures of different people in your life standing there that Good Friday. Do a series of pictures – putting yourself or others on the cross – or under the cross. Use stick figures if you can’t draw. One picture can have people saying things – use those cartoon bubbles for words one sees in newspaper cartoons. When you place yourself on the cross, what will be your dying words?

13) Picture yourself in a casket – at a funeral home – and you see different people coming in – standing there looking at you in your casket. What are they saying?

14) Where will your remains or cremains be buried? If you have a saying or a scripture text on your tombstone or marker, what will it be? Sketch the scene of your burial place.

15) What will it be like on the other side of your death? Picture the scene. Picture the people waiting for you? Use your imagination. Remember the words of Saint Paul, “Eye has not seen, ear has not heard, nor has the human heart ever figured out, what God has prepared for those who love Him” [1 Corinthians 2: 9]


[I also have a series of Stations of the Cross I wrote years ago. You can also say and pray them while on your computer. They can be found on this blog – from way back in March 6, 2009. It’s entitled, “Sitting Under the Stations of the Cross.”]

PRAYER - 

PLUS WORK,

PLUS ACTION.

Quote for the Day -- March 18,  2011


"God gives every bird its food but doesn't throw it into its nest."


Danish Proverb

HUNGER:

WHAT DO YOU DESIRE?

Quote for Today - March 17, 2011


"As God is my witness, I will never be hungry again."


Scarlett O'Hara in Gone With The Wind

POWER OF LOVE 

OR LOVE OF POWER?

Quote for Today - March 16, 2011


"We look forward to the time when the power of Love will replace the love of Power. Then will our world know the blessings of Peace."

William Ewart Gladstone

LENT

Quote for Today - March 15,  2011


"A full stomach praises Lent."


Danish Proverb

CLIMB THAT FENCE,

OPEN THAT DOOR,

KNOCK DOWN THAT WALL!

Quote for Today  - March 14,  2011


"Az me kumt iber di planken, bakumt men andereh gedanken."


Yiddish saying: "If you cross over the fence, you acquire other ideas." page 48, #247, in 1001 Yiddish Proverbs, Fred Kogos, First Carol Publishing Group, 1990.

TEMPTING

INTRODUCTIONThe title of my homily is, “Tempting!”

Today’s readings are great readings to begin Lent with.

Today’s readings get at some good questions and deep issues. (1)Today I’d like to get at the issue of temptation. We’ve all said in our lifetime, “Tempting! Tempting! Tempting!” or “Tempt me! Tempt me! Tempt me!”

We’ve all prayed in ten thousand, “Our Fathers…,” “Lead us not into temptation.”

TODAY’S FIRST READING FROM GENESISWe’ve all been in Eve’s situation. We find ourselves face to face with forbidden fruit. Sometimes we fall. We take the forbidden fruit. And then we taste the aftertaste – the nasty aftertaste of sin. Sin can leave some yucky stuff stuck in between our teeth – and it doesn’t smell right on our breath – and down in our belly we hear a growl.

If we bite into evil – if we chew and digest it – yes, we might discover something rather juicy. For the moment, sin can taste so good. Then we sink a bit. We slink a bit. We want to slide away like a serpent or a snake – wanting to hide in the tall grass. We’ve taken on the image and likeness of the snake. We feel naked, shame, shouldn’t have gone there, shouldn’t have done it, uh oh! Oh no!

We’ve crossed a boundary. We find ourselves outside the gate of where we were. Uh oh. Now what?

And then sometimes we try to bring others into our mess – tempting them. Misery, evil, sin, seems to want company. There is something in us that wants communion with those on the same line as us. We want communion not just with bread.

Today’s first reading from Genesis is great story telling. It has stood the test of time. It’s telling a truth. It’s a mirror. It’s our story too.

These early readings from Genesis are remembered. They were written down for a reason. Of course they took lots of rewrites and variations to finally get into the form we have them today in our Bible.

These early readings from Genesis provide hints of answers to questions: why sin, why forbidden fruit, why death, why loss of innocence, why blame and shame and a dozen other good questions?

This reading gets us in touch with the question of freedom – choice. Life would be boring if we didn’t have freedom – and choice. Marriage would be boring if the other couldn’t say, “No!” March Madness would not be March Madness if there were no possibility of upsets and surprises. The People of Libya and the Middle East want freedom – after years and years of dictatorships – so too – all us children of Eve.

I would also assume that God would be bored with us if we had to worship and show up here on the Sabbath. Choice is key to what makes us human beings.

This reading also gets us in touch with raising children. There they are hopefully in the safety of the womb and then the safety of the home – and they are so cute and so wonderful – till they start to show and sound screams for independence. That high chair or playpen and that same old same old baby food must be so boring for kids. We humans are different from animals. We’re the slowest to get on the road to independence – and parents obviously want to keep kids away from the bad stuff – the forbidden fruit for as long as possible. But every kid comes to the day when they are in the same situation as Eve is in today’s first reading.

Notice the difference between men and women in today’s story. Eve deliberates. There is hesitation. There is dialogue with the devil. There are questions. She wanted to gain wisdom. (2) The guy just takes the fruit without question – immediately. There’s humor here. There’s sex here. There’s insight here. There’s wisdom here. The snake is phallic and those fallen end up with knowledge they didn’t have before – the knowledge of good and evil.

I don’t know Hebrew but I read in preparing this homily that the Hebrew words in this story are punny and funny – and those who heard the stories in that language get even more than we get – but in general, we too get the message – somewhat. Temptation stories are ever old and ever new.

Life has its catches. The devil – the personification of evil – snake or serpent or guy in red tights – lurks in what we think is perfect and paradise.

Find a copy of C.S. Lewis’ classic, The Screwtape Letters and read it this Lent. He writes the devil’s manual on how to tempt people.

People deny the devil and people deny God. I assume what they really are denying are images of the devil and images of God.

When getting into denial, I would think sin would be the place to begin. Does anyone deny the existence of sin and stupidity – hurt and dumb behavior – self destruction and people hurting people. If someone deny sin, tell them to turn on the TV!

We’re here in church today because we believe in one God.

We’re here in church today because we choose to believe that God is in our story – our memoirs – our autobiography – as indicated with these stories in the readings we hear at Mass.

We’re here in church because we believe God is in the mix of who we are and why we are.

We are here in church because we believe that we choose God so as to grasp grace and eternity – meaning and the mystery of life – and how to deal with temptations.

We are not God.

We are not angels.

We are not animals. They are naked. We are not.

We are different from animals – and males and females are different from each other. Thank God. "Viva la differance" as the French put it.

Genesis is telling us these obvious messages.

Take the end of today’s first reading when Adam and Eve have an eye opener. The first reading ends this way, “Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized that they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made loincloths for themselves.”
Why do we wear clothes?

Don’t clothes make life so, so interesting and intriguing? T-shirts, Redskins jackets, Nike shoes.

Clothes…. It’s a whole industry – jobs, jobs, jobs.

It’s a whole way of life – style, fashion, starting with designer fig leaves.

Today’s story about Eve and Adam is filled with humor. Life is filled with humor. Check out the bathing suits in 1911 compared to 2011. Check out People’s Magazine to see what women wore at the recent Academy Awards and then remember in other parts of the world men are demanding that women wear burkas.

Today’s Adam and Eve story is every human being’s story. When was the first time you ate forbidden fruit?

Next time you’re in a situation with teenage girls and boys together – have a copy of today’s first reading in hand and say, “Oh my God it’s the same story. Oh my God, the author of Genesis must have chaperoned teen age dances.”

And once kids lose their innocence – parents like God in today’s first reading say, “I told them not to – but now they know good and evil. They’ve discovered love, lust, romances, breakups, being used, all the angst of youth and growing up – the seeds of future problems with men, women, lust, affairs, breakups, divorces, disasters.

Forbidden fruit is loaded with learning – especially that our decisions and our behavior that follows – has consequences.

Today’s first reading also announces that we are mortal. We are not God. We are going to die. When was the first time we discovered that piece of knowledge?

On Friday afternoon I was at a wake at Kallas’ funeral home. I went up to the casket to say a private prayer before getting back home. Standing there in front of the casket were three little girls. They were looking at death – in the form of a dead 52 year old woman. What were these 3 kids thinking and feeling and wondering about?

On Friday night we were watching on TV – Turner Classics – the 1930’s movie, “All Quiet On the Western Front”. It featured a whole generation of young men experiencing World War I first hand. Till they actually go into battle – when thousands are killed, war is romance. Then they see death, limbs blown off, and horror. They are exposed to the meaning of life and death. Bombs are bursting. Machine guns are spraying bullets. Bodies are falling and screaming. War is stripped naked in front of them and they are forced to eat its bitter fruit.

TODAY’S SECOND READING

Today’s second reading from Romans – gets immediately into the question of sin. Who and where and how did it start? Answer: Adam. One started it – Adam – and then there are the consequences. We too experience the consequences of other’s sins. Everybody does.

I can still hear two men screaming loud curses at each other. I was perhaps 7 years old. It was the first time I ever heard those words – and that much violence in my life. It was 4th Avenue – Brooklyn, New York. Screaming out from inside a big open door of a service station bay – I could see and hear two men fighting each other and trying to punch each other and throwing things at each other. I can still hear the ping on macadam of one of those 4 way tire irons used for removing lug nuts from tires – in the form of a plus sign or a cross - that came out and just missed me.

Bad example impacts us. Sin singes us. We have a memory.

We are Adam – and Eve – and can ruin it for those who follow us – but we can also be Christ – and become like him – and make it right for those who follow us.

As priest we all get whacked in the head every time a scandal hits the news

TODAY’S GOSPELToday’s gospel from Matthew has Jesus placed in just the opposite of a garden – the story teller places Jesus in a desert.

And just like the first reading Jesus the New Adam is given a choice – this time 3 choices – and all three times Jesus chooses good over evil.

This too is our story.

Life has it’s temptations. Every day has its temptations.

There is more to life than bread and food.

There are more hungers than hungers of the stomach – fasting in Lent – is there for a reason.

There’s more to life than crazy risks of not taking care of our health and then blaming God for consequences of poor life habits.

There’s more to life than thinking money and the power of stuff – are the stuff to pursue and make our gods.

CONCLUSIONLent is a good time to abstain from too much TV and computer and phone and what have you – and get in touch with the big questions.

We come to Mass – especially during Lent and we hear pointed out to us that the cross – the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil – is right in the center of our everyday.

We come to Mass – and we hear Jesus say, “Take and eat. Take and drink. This is my body – from the wheat of the fields – this is my blood – from the grapes of the vine – given for you.”

And we don't like to eat alone. We love company – so we get on line together to receive the Lord in communion with each other. Amen.




NOTES:
Painting on top is entitled "Adam and Eve" [1529] by Lucas Cranach the Elder [1472-1553]

(1) If you want to know the sources I re-read for this homily here they are: Elizabeth Boyden Howes and Sheila Moon, Man The Choicemaker (The Westmnister Press, Philadelphia, 1973, pp. 17-49; Naomi H. Rosenblatt and Joshua Horwitz, Wrestling With Angels - What Genesis Teaches Us About Our Spiritual Identity, Sexuality, and Personal Relationships, Delta Trade Paperbacks, 1996, pp. 23-51; Bill Moyers, Genesis - A Living Conversation, Doubleday, New York, 1996, pp. 39-69; Arthur Miller, "The Story of Adam and Eve," pages 35-41 in Genesis, As It Is Written, David Rosenberg Editor, Harper SanFrancisco, 1996; Karen Armstrong, In The Beginning, A New Interpretation of Genesis, Alfred A. Knopf, New York, 1996, pp. 18-33; Norman J. Cohen, Self, Struggle & Change, Jewish Lights Publishing, Woodstock, Vermon, 1995, pp. 17-33.

(2) Check out Luke 1: 26-45

SIN:

CHECK OUT THE  

CONSEQUENCES

Quote for Today - March 13, 2011


"I had a little sorrow,
Born of a little sin."


Edna St. Vincent Millay [1892-1950] The Penitent, stanza 1, in A Few Figs from Thistles [1920]


Photo of Edna St. Vincent Millay