The Wise Man

“Where did this man get such wisdom and mighty deeds? Is he not the carpenter’s son?” And they took offense at him. But Jesus said to them, “A prophet is not without honor except in his native place and in his own house.” And he did not work many mighty deeds there because of their lack of faith. (Matthew 13:54-58) 

Today is the Memorial for St. Joseph the Worker, who is the Patron Saint of laborers, craftsmen and working classes. It is also fitting that it is Labor Day here in the Philippines and is a public holiday in many countries around the world. 

In the gospel story for today, people in the synagogue were astonished at Jesus’ wisdom and learning, but they put him down and did not give him credibility. All because he was a ‘mere’ carpenter’s son, and they knew where he came from. Today many of us do not really accord dignity and respect to people who serve us, the waiters, the guards, the street sweepers, the couriers, the men who collect our garbage and keep our metropolis running. They are faceless to us most of the time. We don’t talk to them, or greet them  a good morning. 

We need to be humble in order to see the value of each human person. Our blessings pass through them. What would our city look like without them, dirty, smelly, even more of a horrible mess of cars and motorcycles, no one to fix the internet or electric service, no one to bring our purchases to us so conveniently, etc etc. 

One day I heard a talk from one of our leaders in community when we were on retreat. The first thing he asked was, “Do you know the name of the person who served you breakfast?” This man made it a point to get to know and speak to each person he came into contact with. He could tell us stories about each of them. 

Let us be more caring and generous with the people we come into contact with every day. Our lives will be so much richer for it. We never know what we can learn from others. The wisest people never met anyone they could not learn from!