WALKING WITH WISDOM OF GOD


MONDAY, SEVENTH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME

Eccl 1:1-10; Ps 93:1-2,5; Mk 9:14-29

Wisdom in God’s Creation

We commence reading the book of Sirach or Ecclesiasticus. He praises the wisdom of God, which is displayed everywhere in creation. Since God is the source of wisdom, wisdom characterises all his works, made to guide the minds of men to the contemplation of the greatness of God. As Saint Paul expresses in his letter to the Romans, we see God's invisible qualities in creation. Sirach gives some of these wonders that lift the human mind to ponder about the Creator of the universe. “The sand of the sea and the raindrops, and the days of eternity, who can assess them? The height of the sky and the breadth of the earth, and the depth of the abyss, who can probe them?” If these simple material numerical qualities are difficult for the human mind, how can we fathom the source of wisdom with which these creatures were articulated and brought into existence? “For whom has the root of wisdom ever been uncovered? Her resourceful ways, who knows them? One only is wise, terrible indeed, seated on his throne, the Lord. He himself has created her, looked on her and assessed her, and poured her out on all his works to be with all mankind as his gift, and he conveyed her to those who love him.” Thus, the fear and love of God rehabilitate eternal Wisdom within us.

The fact that the material creation is for man and to guide him home to God already speaks volumes about our inbuilt structure and facility to walk with wisdom. The innate ability to comprehend the path of wisdom in creation was hinted at in the creation story when the sacred author mentioned that God created the various animals and brought them to Adam to name. Adam’s ability to name each of them demonstrates his affinity with wisdom. He lost this affinity and distorted part of his innate facility for wisdom at the original fall. Adam and Eve’s disobedience was a choice to walk the path of folly away from wisdom enshrined in the word of God. From the fall till now, men who continued on the path of disobedience to the word of God continue to distort the beauty of creation which has the outpouring of wisdom. Our blindness to the wisdom inherent in creation leads to blindness to God’s presence and greatness as shown in creation. The Psalmist testifies to this: “The world you made firm, not to be moved; your throne has stood firm from of old. From all eternity, O Lord, you are.”

Our blindness to the presence and greatness of God, demonstrated in the whole of creation, causes us to walk in blindness and sin. The distortion in our nature and work has created a conducive habitat for the forces of darkness and evil. As we read in the gospel, Jesus Christ contended with this situation in his ministry. “A man answered him from the crowd, Master, I have brought my son to you; there is a spirit of dumbness in him, and when it takes hold of him it throws him to the ground, and he foams at the mouth and grinds his teeth and goes rigid.” The disciples could not cast it out because of the weakness of their faith in God. We are all weak in our belief in God because we have lost our ability and innate faculty to feel and see God’s presence through his creation. The Incarnation of the Eternal Wisdom is to re-emphasise this presence and God’s loving providence for us his own. The Lord reveals the right means to increase our weak faith in answering the disciples' question on their inability to cast the demon out. “‘This is the kind’ he answered ‘that can only be driven out by prayer.’” Prayer and meditation on the word of God keep us in constant conversation with the invisible reality of God and enhance the functioning of our innate facility for wisdom.

Let us pray: Grant us, Lord, we pray, the grace to be attentive to your word and your presence in creation, that pondering on the visible universe made in your wisdom, we may be led to contemplate your invisible presence always with us and walk with you in wisdom of heart. Through our Lord Jesus Christ your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, for ever and ever. 

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