WHEN DID JESUS KNOW
WHAT HE KNEW?
INTRODUCTION
The title of my
homily for this 3rd Thursday in Ordinary Time is, “When Did Jesus Know What He Knew?”
Or as a sub-title a
similar question from the gospels: “Where did this man get this wisdom and
these miraculous powers? Isn’t he the carpenter’s son….” [Matthew 13:
54-55]
Last night I was working
on a short homily for this morning – while shooting back and forth a few times to
check out on TV the Impeachment Hearings.
It was all questions and
answers yesterday – so I wondered if that’s the reason I came up with the
question I came up with for a possible short homily for today.
The people who were picked
from either side were given 5 minutes to answer questions.
Would we all want 5 minute
homilies for weekday homilies – if that?
I remember a book for
Sunday homilies: Ten Responsible Minutes.
BACK TO MY QUESTION
When did Jesus know what
he knew?
In today’s gospel Jesus
said, “The measure with which you measure will be measured out to you, and
still more will be given you.”
I thought about that and
asked, “When and where did Jesus come up with that?”
It’s a profound
observation about the human condition.
Did Jesus know the
thoughts of Sigmund Freud, Anna Freud and Carl Jung about projections – how human being project their
motives and ways of judging people onto other people?
Did Jesus know the Hindu
thought of Karma – as people are using it more and more today – not for
incarnation – but for next week? How I treat my neighbor and others today is
going to come crashing onto me or to embracing me – as I go on with life in the
weeks to come.
How many times in life do
we inwardly say of another, “I know why you said that? I know why you did
that?” when in reality we’re really saying, “I know why I would say that? I know why I would do that?”
DEEPER
CONSIDERATIONS – DEEPER QUESTIONS
I was thinking last night:
Good thing the speaker or the preacher has only 5 or 10 minutes – because
that’s his take on the text. I assume
some of you here have years of thoughts and experiences and probably doctorates
in this stuff – from psychology and from scripture and human development as
well as family and community and teaching experiences.
CONCLUSION
In the meanwhile, I like
what Jesus warns and wants here – about being generous in our judgments and
projections on others. I like it when
the policeman doesn’t give me a ticket for having a tail light out or the kid
at the ice cream cone counter gives me extra butter almond or rum raisin ice cream. I like it when the other person is kind with
his or her comments about me and my lateness or ill prepared or too complicated
homily. I like it when the preacher says, “I don’t know where Jesus came up
with this stuff – but as life goes on, sometimes Jesus says something that
really hits me. Nice. Thank you Jesus.