JOSEPH

-
                                                                                          Photo: Genée Jerome
Seeing beyond all appearances
Joseph, holding a hammer, is the man who helps Jesus to discover the treasures that are hidden within each tree. He teaches him to see here and there, beyond all appearances, beams for the framework of a house,  a table, a door, a seat, a loom, a cradle, a coffin; kitchen utensils, bowls for eating, buckets for the well, tools for working the soil, crutches for the infirm, clogs for the poor, a barrel for the wine…
Jesus learns from Joseph that the tree is aware that it will be sacrificed so that its brothers and sisters may enjoy a more humane life; that brings it a great joy. And even though it suffers by that, the tree is proud to know that from its body is drawn the cross on which very often are nailed throughout the world the men and the women in love with justice and freedom.    
Joseph learns from Jesus how to chop a tree with respect and recognition like we bite into a piece of fruit…He shows him how to carve, to sculpt with love, to plane its pieces, to smooth them down, to butt them together and joint them so that the tree keeps on living under other forms and beyond itself, by humbly serving its brothers and sisters who are, like it, made of sun and soil. 
It is thanks to Joseph that Jesus learns to have some backbone and some vision. It is due to Joseph that he learns to see in every human being a masterpiece of Creation, a child of light, a son and a daughter of God. It is from Joseph that, beneath an exterior of weakness or misery, he learns that the human being is inhabited by the splendors of the «Kingdom of God», and that through our death, the Resurrection is already making its way.
Of course, Mary sees how Joseph, through his craft as a carpenter, is the great master who puts into Jesus’ hands the basic materials of what will become the Good News for the whole of Creation. She is filled with wonder while signing “My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord!”
                                          Eloy Roy


Translated from the French by Jacques Bourdages

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

-
Image
  This new blog is not a blog but 50 blogs in one. It has many pages…    I admit that it's a bit crazy, but I can't find anything better to light up or intensify in those who have the courage to read me a few sparks of the immense energy that emanates from the gospels of Jesus. Energy, as we know, does not fragment. It passes through tombs, through walls, through data, notions, plans and specifications. It goes beyond speeches, words, laws, rules. It crosses what is already built and goes beyond the reasonable, the well-polished, and the well-ordered. Nothing stops it. This is why what matters in this blog is the overall movement and not the number of pages. What counts is the ball flying in the wind, and not primarily the marks and boundaries of the playing field. This blog is titled: Jesus, a man of risks . It could as well be called: Jesus at loggerheads with the Dinosaurs . Or: A Jesus according to the “new paradigm” of a world that is moving further away from the geogr
Read more

VOTING FOR LOSERS

-
Image
If I were an American, in the next presidential election I would vote for Bernie Sanders. That’s because Bernie is the freest, the most humane, the more just and the truest among all the candidates in line. But Bernie will lose, for sure. Why? Probably because the majority of Americans - like most of the inhabitants of our planet - want nothing but money, even dirty money that trickles down with blood.  W hat is «more free, more humane, more just and more true» comes second for them. Moreover, they don’t give a damn!   «The majority», I said, not everybody, since a minority will vote for Bernie.   2000 years ago, I would have voted for Jesus, you see? ... And so, why do I vote for losers? The youth knows very well why. The youth feels that Old Sanders’ ideas are vital for democracy, for social justice and for the peace in the world. The youth is aware that the future of the humankind is going exactly in this direction. So t he youth votes for Sanders. Jesus lost for
Read more