WHERE  DID THIS MAN 

GET  SUCH  WISDOM…? 

INTRODUCTION

The title of my homily is, “Where Did This Man Get Such Wisdom…?

Sometimes when we are with someone, we say just what people said of Jesus in his time, “Where did this man get such wisdom….?

Sometimes when we are with people, we think just what people wondered about Jesus in his time, “Isn’t this the carpenter’s son? Isn’t Mary known to be his mother and James, Joseph, Simon, and Judas his brothers? Aren’t his sisters our neighbors?”

I think of a plumber named Leo from West Pittston Pa. – an extremely sharp guy – also a farmer in Paulding, Ohio, named Francis – filled with wisdom.  I also met Tom Berry – one of the brightest persons on the planet in the last century – and I was privileged to hear him give a new creation account – which took him a weekend to present – in several talks.

The title of my homily is the question in today’s  gospel – when people experienced Jesus – and ended up rejecting him: “Where Did This Man Get Such Wisdom…?”

ST. ALPHONSUS

Today, August 1^st, is the feast of St. Alphonsus d’Liguori.

He was a great preacher – and writer – and made the Hall of Fame  - as a Doctor of the Church.  As of 2012 there are 35 of them in our history – finally 4 women in our times: Teresa of Avila and Therese of Lisieux, St. Catherine of Siena and Hildegard of Bingen.

Where did he – where did they get their wisdom?

As you know there is a difference between information and wisdom.

A person can know all the Capitals of all the countries in our world and be stupid.  A person can win in Jeopardy and lose in life.

SCHOOL OF WISDOM

For starters we learn from our parents and grandparents and those around us as a baby and a child.

Alphonsus had a tough sea captain of a father – a naval captain – and he ran a tough ship at sea and at home. Alphonsus’ mother was the complete opposite – educated in a convent school for girls – and wow was she surprised when she was in an arranged marriage with a rough and tumble vocal husband.

How much did that mold Alphonsus? I don’t know. God could be very strict to him – but he also discovered the tenderness of our God.  Did he get both from his parents?

Where did we pick up our images and likenesses of God?

Alphonsus was very scrupulous and everything was a sin – but then he met and worked with poor goat herders in the mountains above Naples and the Amalfi coast – and somewhere in there – especially in hearing confessions and hearing about their lives his moral theology became much more moderate and balanced and freeing.

Somewhere along the line he discovered the feeling side of religion – the feeling side of God. We see feelings in his music, his hymns, his paintings, his Stations of the Cross, his Visits to the Blessed Sacrament.

He was a lawyer – and in a big land case – he either made a mistake or there was a bribe – and he lost the case. It  wiped him out. He fell apart. He was deeply hurt and depressed.   It was in the midst of this disaster – that he saw the light to move towards another way of life: becoming a priest.

He had hit bottom – and the only place to go – was up.

He was a hard worker as a lawyer – so he became a hard worker as a priest. He took on too much – and became quite sick as a diocesan priest.

Once more he hit bottom. Friends suggested taking a break so he went to the Amalfi Coast – to recover. Good choice.  It  was there he looked up into the mountains when he found out there were folks up there – whom priests didn’t really care about – especially goat herders

He cared about them – and started the Redemptorists.

Pope Francis tells us to smell like sheep.  Would goats fit the bill?

Finding lost sheep  - working with folks who were considered the goats of society – is the attitude and ambiance Redemptorists have in mind.

We find this vision for life – and outlook – in the motto he chose for the Redemptorists : Copiosa apud eum Redemptio.

With him, with Christ, there is fullness of Redemption.

It’s from Psalm 130. That’s the De Profundis Psalm. From out of the depths I cry to you, O God. Out the depths – when you’re in the pits – when it seems like it’s only night – everyone hopefully – hopes for the dawn – for the light – for help – for redemption.

So Alphonsus reached out and decided to start a community of priests and brothers – to work for those in the pits – those on the outskirts – the edge – the neglected.

We came to America from Austria, because there were a lot of German people here  in America – who needed priests.

We came to Annapolis because there was nobody really there – and it was a good place to set up a place to train priests for those who needed us in German communities in the upper eastern part of the United States.

OUR LIVES – HOW DID WE GET TO WHERE WE GOT SO FAR?

I joined the Redemptorists to go to Brazil – never got that deal.

I often wonder how that would have molded my life.

What would I have learned that I have not learned?

In the meanwhile I look at what I learned from not just my education – but my mom and dad – family – experiences – mistakes – and so many people that I have met in New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Washington DC, Ohio, Maryland, etc. etc. etc.

I think key to wisdom is not the experiences, but what we learn from our experiences.

I love the saying, “A  person can have 30 years’ experience or 1 years’ experience 30 times.

CONCLUSION

The title of my homily is, “Where Did This Man Get Such Wisdom…?

I gave some personal answers – as well as the example of St. Alphonsus- on his feast day.

Let me close with a mnemonic.

If you want to get a Ph.D. in Wisdom from one’s experience, use those 3 letters: “P H D.”

P stands for perception. We perceive something. We see something. We spot something.

H stands for humility.  I love the old saying, “Teach thy tongue to say, ‘I do not know.’” I don’t. We have no clue to really what is or what happened.

D stands for digging. Dig into what we have seen and see what happened and the why’s – and calmly keep doing that – and in time, we’ll have a Ph.D. in wisdom from our life experiences.

Etc. Etc. Etc.