J  AND  J 

CARPENTER AND SON

GOSPEL Matthew 13:54-58 New International Version (NIV)

⁵⁴ Coming to his hometown, he began teaching the people in their synagogue, and they were amazed. “Where did this man get this wisdom and these miraculous powers?” they asked.⁵⁵  “Isn’t this the carpenter’s son? Isn’t his mother’s name Mary, and aren’t his brothers James, Joseph, Simon and Judas? ⁵⁶ Aren’t all his sisters with us? Where then did this man get all these things?” ⁵⁷ And they took offense at him. But Jesus said to them, “A prophet is not without honor except in his own town and in his own home.” ⁵⁸ And he did not do many miracles there because of their lack of faith.

INTRODUCTION

The title of my homily is, “J & J: Carpenter and Son.”

We find in the New Testament scriptures the words, “Jesus of Nazareth” 17 times.

From archaeological digs and burial sites in Nazareth  from way back in Jesus’ time,  it’s estimated that there were 200 to 400 people in that town. But that’s a guesstimate. Yet the town or village was large enough to have a synagogue.

CARPENTERS

We have only a few references to Jesus as a carpenter.

The key text for my comments this morning is Matthew 13:54-55:  “He came to his hometown and began to teach the people in their synagogue, so that they were astounded and said, ‘Where did this man get this wisdom and these deeds of power? Is not this the carpenter’s son?  Is not his mother called Mary? Are not his brothers James and Joseph and Simon and Judas?”

Or Mark 6: 3: “Is this not the carpenter, the son of Mary…?

Last night I looked up different sources to see what they would say about carpenters in the time of Jesus.

They would build tables and stools - window and door frames - homes and roofs - plows and yokes.

They would have hammers and saws, chisels and nails. I don’t know about glue and drills.

We find references in the gospels to some of these items: plows and yokes, building your house on rock not sand, strong doors and windows.

Did Jesus ever get a tiny piece of wood in his eye and Joseph said, “Good thing it wasn’t a log?”

Did they have a sign above their shop: “J & J: Carpenter and Son.”

MORE ABOUT JOSEPH

We don’t know how old Joseph was when he died and was Jesus there at the time.

We don’t know how old Joseph was compared to Mary.

We don’t know how much Jesus learned from the wisdom of Joseph.

The Catholic teaching is the virginity of Mary - which is strange to some people. My thought is that when it comes to Jesus, it’s tricky because he is both human and divine. It took a couple of centuries and various heresies to come up with words and formulas for all this. Scripture scholars say that in Jesus’ time people called close cousins and clans people brother and sister.  I’d assume that teachers and theologians had to come up with Jesus being an only child  - because what would these other brothers and sisters be - since Jesus is both human and divine.

OUR OWN DADS

On this feast of Joseph, May 1^st, the theme is Joseph the Worker. It’s often stated that this feast was to counter the Communist theme of May 1^st: Workers of the World Unite.

Or let’s honor the worker and work today.

This feast I would like to honor my dad and I ask you to do the same.

An American question is: What do you do for a living?  In other words, what’s your job title.

Jesus and Joseph were carpenters.  Notice in the scriptures there is more interest in fishing - more referrals about catching fish than working with wood. The Lake of Galilee was only 12 miles from Nazareth.

What did your dad do for a living?

My dad  was very quiet. He worked here in America for the National Biscuit Company - as a lifter - a common worker. I remember hearing more from him about fellow workers than about lifting bags of flour or sugar.

And in these last 10 years I have learned from my sister Mary, mainly, some things I never knew about him. 

He was handy with wood - building our back fence. He built a near wooden chair - which my sister has on her front porch. The wood was gathered from the waters down by the narrows - that stretch of water between Brooklyn and Staten Island and New Jersey. The wood he went after was mostly from wooden pallets he found down in the water.

What did I learn from my dad? What did you learn from your dad? How are we like our dad?  What did Jesus learn from Joseph?

I learned hard work. I learned to read books - something I often saw my dad doing - including poetry. I saw and learned the value of walking and going to the park - to be with family and to watch each other enjoy and appreciate the great outdoors.

What did you learn from your Joseph? What did you learn from your dad?

May 1, 2018

UNKNOWN  GUESSES

Oh yeah, we make all kinds of guesses -

unknown guesses - because often we have

little awareness - that’s what we are doing.

We judge, we guess, we figure out the

motives - the why another is doing what

she or he is doing - but it’s only a guess.

Wait! Often it’s really what we would be

doing in this very situation - and yet we

pin it - like the tail of a donkey - on the other.

The Talmud is right - when it says - “Teach

thy tongue to say, ‘I do not know.’” I don’t

even know that’s what I’m doing every day.

© Andy Costello, Reflections 2018  

May 1, 2018 

Thought for today: 

“Christ is God or He  is  the world’s greatest liar and imposter.”  

Dorothy Day, From 

Union Square to Rome, 1938

10,000  STEPS  TO  GOD

INTRODUCTION

The title of my homily for this 5th Monday after Easter  is, “10,000 Steps To God.”

A lifetime question and wondering is this: “Is everyone really down deep a searcher for God?”

Is Augustine right when he said, “You have created us for Yourself, Oh God, and our heart is restless until it rests in You.”

We don’t know if that is true - we can’t research everyone -  but it was certainly true for Saint Augustine.  Check out his Confessions. We all have to read that at least once every decade of our life.

We discover it was also true for Paul and Barnabas whom we hear about in today’s first reading. The people of Lystra and Derbe wanted them to be the gods,  Hermes and Zeus - but they told the people, ‘We’re human beings. Don’t turn to idols. Turn to the living God who made heaven and earth and sea and all that is in them.”

It was certainly true for John if we read his gospel slowly and prayerfully - in these readings from him after Easter.

10,000 STEPS

I remember when I gave courses in Spirituality.  I had to look up and study and then present the thoughts of many spiritual writers.  I would show how often people drew up or listed steps for holiness and to reach God. There would be  3 steps, 4 steps. 7 steps, 8 steps, 10 steps to God.  Around the year 600, a monk named John came up with 30 steps - that one needs to climb to get to God. They ended up nicknaming him John the Climber - or John Climacus.

In AA and other 12 Step programs, there are 12 steps.

What I got out of these steps is that the search for God takes time - a day at a time, a step at a time. 

We’ve all heard the Chinese saying: “ A journey of 1000 miles begins with that first step.

The title of my homily is, 10,000 Steps to God.

It’s my learning from Spiritual Writers, and listening to people, life in pursuit of God takes steps. Sometimes it’s a step forwards. Sometimes it’s a step backwards. Sometimes it’s a step sideways.  Sometimes it’s a standing still and feeling stuck.

One day we think we found God. We feel we met God. Then at other times we feel we’re in a fog, we’re in a dark night - and God is nowhere to be found. In those moments prayer is boring. Prayer is 10,000 distractions.

Sometimes it’s all God.  A person makes a retreat…. A person goes to the beach …. A person goes to the Grand Canyon …. A person is in our Eucharistic chapel…. A person is taking a walk - and they are whammed in our head by a God experience.

Then again and a year later they have stopped taking the steps to find God.

The apostles walked the steps of Palestine with Jesus and most took off when the going got tough. The gospel talks about locked doors - and how Jesus - the Risen Lord - came through the walls and proclaimed Peace to these disciples.

I picked 10,000 steps because it’s like the El Camino in Spain - starting in France and walking and walking till a person gets to Santiago de

And people making that pilgrimage tell listeners - the experience is loaded with highs and lows and lows and highs - and lots of so so’s.

Life is like the rosary. It’s about mysteries - sorrowful, joyful,  glorious and light bearing mysteries.

APOPHATIC AND KATAPHATIC APPROACHES TO GOD

As you know there are two major approaches to God: the apophatic and the kataphatic approaches. I might as well use those words. They can be found in spiritual reading books - so I’ll give it a shot to use them and explain them.

Both are from Greek words to describe 2 major approaches to God.

We can get to know God from images and ideas about God - that’s the kataphatic way. Kata is the Greek prefix for with - like con in Latin. Kata with phatic - you can hear the word emphasis in the word kataphatic. God is Father, Mother, Shepherd, Mountain, Ocean, Door. The kataphatic way to God is an approach using images and pictures.

Then there is the apophatic way to approaching God. APO is the Greek prefix for away from.  It’s the stripping away of all images - many of which are in scriptures.  For example today’s gospel is all about the Spirit of God as an Advocate. Wonderful. I need a lawyer. I need a God. I need God.  But that’s an image and the image of God as an advocate is nice - but it’s not enough. So those who tend to be apophatic won’t use such an image.

Then again Jesus comes. The word became flesh. And Jesus shows us and tells us: the one who sees me, sees the Father.

So images help - and they can also have limitations. God can’t be an idol, an image, an icon.

So with the apophatic way we  have the quieting, emptying approach to God.  God is nothing we can imagine.  God is God.

With this approach we just be.  We stop walking. We just lay there in the dark night - especially when we can’t sleep - but we be with God - o we have our dark corners to pray. Or we come here to church and sit  behind a pole in a dark afternoon church and God is.

CLOSING STORY

The title of my homily is 10,000 steps to God.

It could be 10,000 stories to God.

Let me close with an experience of God that is still with me.

It was 12 AM and I’m in a dark chapel - all by myself.  I’m praying in the dark - in a back off to the side part of the chapel.  I’m saying some prayers - but mostly being quiet.

Suddenly, the center door in the back of the chapel opens.

Whoever it is, is quiet and doesn’t turn any lights on.

They go up to the front and into the sanctuary.

I’m being very quiet - no bench creaking.

I can see shadows now - because of the red sanctuary light - next to the tabernacle.  The person sits down on the floor and leans into the altar and faces the tabernacle.

Snap. Snap. The person opens up a guitar case and I can hear a guitar being taken out of a case.

The person strums their guitar and then the person starts singing a love song to Jesus in the dark.

Wow! I’m in someone’s sacred place. I would sneak out if I could. I couldn’t, so I just sat there in my spot in the back corner.

It was a woman.

She finished her song - became quiet - for about 5 minutes - put their guitar back in its case and then got up and walked out.

I stayed there till about 1 PM - just having witnessed another human being being in touch with her God.

Amen.

April 30, 2018 

Thought for today: 

“Two daiquiris / withdrew into a corner of the gorgeous room and one told the other a lie.” 

John Berryman, 

77 Dream Songs [1964], 

poem no. 16

April 30, 2018

DROP,  DROP,  DROP

The rain in Spain - in fact, the rain

anywhere and everywhere falls on

welcoming fields and sidewalks,

roads and walkways - irrigating

and cleaning - bringing us grapes

and wheat, apples and oranges,

making our planet for sure to be

home for all - so why do we complain

about rain in Spain and anywhere?

 © Andy Costello, Reflections 2018 

REMAIN

INTRODUCTION

The title of my homily is, “Remain!”

R     E     M    A    I    N.

It’s a neat everyday word. Remain.

Did you notice, did you hear it used, 6 times in today’s gospel from John 15: 1 - 8?

As you know the New Testament comes down to us from the Greek - and the Greek word for “remain” is right there in the English word: “meno”. 

M    E   N   O.

Over and over and over again - in today’s gospel Jesus is saying,

·       Remain in me ….

·       as I remain in you ….

·       unless you remain in me ….

·       Whoever remains in me ….

·       Anyone who does not remain in me ….

·       If you remain in me.

Every speaker, every preacher, hopes the listeners remain with him or her.

Every speaker is hurt when the other looks at their watch or elsewhere. They know the listener has disappeared and no longer remains with them.

THE PSYCHIATRIST IN THE NURSING HOME

Somewhere along the line I heard the following story.

It has remained with me all through the years. It’s a great reminder.

A psychiatrist used to visit an old lady in a nursing home. She would be sitting there in a nice easy chair facing big picture windows - looking out onto a big lawn - spring, summer, autumn, winter - the seasons.

She was catatonic - out of it. She hadn’t said a word in 5 years. Still most days they would bring her from her room to this spot - looking out into the garden - looking out into the world.

The psychiatrist would come in - hold her hand for a few moments - and sit in a chair right next to - and he too would look out the big picture windows into the world. Sometimes he would make comments about the day, the skies, the rain, the flowers, the birds.

One day he’s just sitting there - holding her hand - and he’s thinking about a dinner he’s going to go that evening and the old lady turns her head towards him and says, “Don’t leave me. Please remain.”

He hadn’t gotten out of his chair. He was just sitting there being with her - but really being somewhere else.

That story has remained with me all through the years.  I stand there staring, looking at people, but my mind - my inner conversations are elsewhere, often.

From that story and other stories I have often wondered, “Do we know - do we unconsciously know - when another is not listening - is not there?”

From that story I made up the saying, “Be where you is, because if you be where you ain’t, then you ain’t where you is.”

REMAINS

When we’re somewhere else - I know I do this all the time - we’re thinking and talking to ourselves  - about all sorts of things triggered by all sorts of things.

It’s amazing what’s in our memory - in our brains.

Inside our skulls we have more remainders than the Smithsonian in Washington D.C. or all the garage sales in the world on any given Saturday morning.

A triggers B triggers C triggers D and we say, “Oh that - that was a long time ago.”

I’ve been at lots of weddings, funerals, and baptisms.

I’m very aware that every death, every wedding triggers, all sorts of things.

I’m aware as priest, that God, Jesus, faith stuff, is nudged at weddings, wakes and funerals - and new born babies.  Some who have dropped out of church - call some of this spirituality.

I’m also aware that sometimes Christ’s life dries up - the sap is out of us - and we can become dead branches. That’s what Jesus is getting at today.

Some scary stuff…

It must have killed Jesus to see those people who cheered for him on Palm Sunday - jeer at him on Good or Bad Friday.  It must have killed him to see Peter deny him - and along with the other disciples no longer remain with him - and Judas  cut himself off from Jesus by betrayal - and then he hung himself on a tree.

There is a poem by someone that Peter heard every morning when the rooster crowed three times,  “Deny, deny, deny.”

We know that in poetry and prose that our betrayals and our runnings away from God and our hiding out from each other - remain.

We have confessionals - those wooden garbage pails or garbage dumps - where we can dump our sins - but some of stuff of sins remain - like potato peels on the inside of a garbage pail. I have heard myself and enough people tell me what remains of the mistakes of our life. For some reason I still remember cheating - looking over a shoulder - in a Geometry test in my second year of high school - and I was decent in Geometry - horrible in Algebra.

I remember someone holding up a big piece of white cardboard with a black spot the size of a quarter on it - made with a magic marker - as a sermon prop. And he asked folks what they saw. And all said they saw the dot!

We see the red spaghetti spot on our white shirt or blouse - and miss all the white of the shirt or blouse or white cardboard.

To be human - is to see the mistakes, the sins, the cheating, of our life - even when we confess them - say we're sorry for them  - and are forgiven.

Sin remains.

People addicted to porn or gambling or booze or what have you - know it’s dumb to put stuff into our Random Access Memory - because everything remains.  Addictions have cling to them

Sin has aftertaste remains.

THE BEST REMAINS AS WELL

To be positive - to hopefully have grace and gracefulness - remaining in us more than our sins and falls from grace, today’s second reading begins “Children, let  us love not in word or speech but in deed and truth.”

Then that reading ends this way: “Those who keep his commandments remain in him, and he in them, and the way  we know that he remains in us is from the Spirit he gave us.”

CONCLUSION

When we die what’s left is called, our “remains” - or if we are cremated, our “cremains.”

We get a stone or plaque - with our name and numbers on it.

But down deep we want more.

We want more than a carving into a sidewalk or paint on a wall somewhere saying, “Kilroy was here” We would never want,  “Killjoy was here.”

We want more.

I have a nice story to end this homily  that happened to me. 

I write and I hope some of my writings last.

Someone asked for a copy of one of my books and I had given them all away - so I said, “Try E-bay or Amazon.”  And I added, “I don’t get anything from them anymore.”

Surprise that person got a copy and surprise it was inscribed and surprise it was from me to my sister Peggy and surprise the person who bought it gave it to me with the inscription, “To Peggy - Couldn’t have been blessed with a more wonderful sister, Love and Prayers, Andy.

This wonderful sister dumped by book. I didn’t call her up and complain - I wouldn’t want that to remain. Yet I would have hoped it would have remained on her book shelf for the rest of her life. She died so I can’t complain about this lack of a remain from her brother.

Remains.  Don’t we hope our best remains with those we love for the rest of our lives.

I tell this story because it will remain with you - I just planted it and this story in your memory this morning - that is, unless you left me and didn’t remain with me after my first sentence.