The Master Craftsman

Learning how the Lord must build the house

03/19/2018

Matthew 1:16, 18-21, 24A Jacob was the father of Joseph, the husband of Mary. Of her was born Jesus who is called the Christ. Now this is how the birth of Jesus Christ came about. When his mother Mary was betrothed to Joseph, but before they lived together, she was found with child through the Holy Spirit. Joseph her husband, since he was a righteous man, yet unwilling to expose her to shame, decided to divorce her quietly. Such was his intention when, behold, the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, "Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary your wife into your home. For it is through the Holy Spirit that this child has been conceived in her. She will bear a son and you are to name him Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins." When Joseph awoke, he did as the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took his wife into his home.

A friend of mine is now the bishop of the Diocese of Tulsa, Bishop David Konderla. He was two years ahead of me in the seminary in Dallas. He talks slow, but he smiles big, and he has a heart the size of the state of Texas, where he is from. He grew up in Bryan, and is the second of twelve children. He is a big Aggies fan, but we will forgive him for that. Interestingly, he worked as a machinist for several years before entering the seminary. In fact, in the seminary, he could usually be found down in the garage working on lawn mowing equipment. When he was made bishop of Tulsa, he posted pictures on social media of the progress he was making in fashioning his own bishop’s crosier, the staff the bishop carries at Mass. He made it himself. God has given him a gift to build with his hands.

Ironically, though, his episcopal coat of arms quotes Psalm 127, which begins, “Nisi Dominus aedificaverit.” That means, “unless the Lord builds,” and the psalm goes on to explain that all human efforts to build without God’s grace are futile. On the other hand, when God builds the house, it stands forever. God is the Master Craftsman. As much as Bishop Konderla loves to build with his own hands, he readily admits that his constructions would fall into ruin unless the Lord builds (nisi Dominus aedificaverit). Any success Bishop Konderla will enjoy as a bishop in Tulsa will be because the Lord was building the Kingdom. What a profoundly humble insight from a machinist who knows how well he can build something himself.

March 19 is the feast of St. Joseph, the husband of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Like Bishop Konderla, St. Joseph was a man highly skilled with his hands in carpentry. It is no exaggeration to suggest that he may have built the house of the Holy Family lived in during their years in Nazareth. But there was another “house” Joseph would not get to build, namely, the house of his family. Think of “house” in this sense as a “dynasty,” that is, by having children and raising up an heir. That is precisely what the angel announced to Joseph when he said, “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary your wife into your home. For it is through the Holy Spirit that this child has been conceived in her. She will bear a son and you are to name him Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.” In other words, the Holy Spirit would build Joseph’s house, his dynasty, by giving him an heir. Catholic Christians believe that St. Joseph and the Blessed Virgin Mary remained celibate throughout their marriage, and never had any other children. St. Joseph understood every bit as much as Bishop Konderla that “unless the Lord builds the house,” all our labor is in vain. St. Joseph was a skilled carpenter, but it was God who would build his house.

I believe this is why prayer is so pivotal in the life of a Christian. What is one of the biggest reasons people give for not dedicating serious time for prayer? They say, “I am too busy. I do not have time to pray.” What are we all busy about? Most of us are busy building: building a business, building a medical practice, building a school, building a church community, building a family by raising children, building a nation. And therefore, we do not have time to come to Mass or to spend time in Adoration, or meditate on Scripture, or whisper the words of the Rosary, or simply to spend time in the quiet with the Lord. Today, listen to the machinist from Tulsa and to the carpenter from Nazareth, who say: “Nisi Dominus aedificaverit” (unless the Lord builds), everything we build will soon fall into ruin. Archbishop Fulton Sheen once said, “Waste a little time in prayer with Jesus.” Prayer sometimes feels like a waste of time because must we stop building and we remember who is the Master Craftsman.

Listen to the first two verses of Psalm 127: “Unless the LORD build the house, they labor in vain who build. Unless the LORD guard the city, in vain does the guard keep watch. It is vain for you to rise early and put off your rest at night, To eat bread earned by hard toil— all this God gives to his beloved in sleep.” So, go take a nap in Adoration, and let God do the building.

Praised be Jesus Christ!