THE CHILDREN OF WISDOM


WEDNESDAY, TWENTY FOURTH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME 

1 Tim 3:14-16; Ps 111:1-6; Lk 7:31-35

The Presence of Wisdom in her Children

Wisdom of God is present in all creation, as we have explained in previous reflections. Since man is part of God’s creation, we are supposed to exhibit the presence of wisdom as the whole creation does. The absence of wisdom in man’s life and conduct is the reason for redemption. Our witness of sin, which is the offspring of evil and disorder, is the proof of man’s sickness. If sin is empirically verifiable in our lives, and its consequences visible to everyone throughout the world, the path to the mystery of redemption is not hidden then. The mystery of sin leads us to the source of redemption and to the doorstep of Wisdom. We celebrated this fact in our exaltation of the Holy Cross of our Lord. Attempting to understand sin and death leads to the Eternal Wisdom. Just as the essence of darkness is the absence of light, sin is the absence of wisdom in our minds, hearts, and wills. Hence, to understand sin, we must look within us to understand the disorderliness in our thoughts, love, and actions. Thus, the light of God that appeared at the incarnation of the Eternal Word of God is not a physical but the spiritual light. He is the spiritual light that shines within every one of us, to reveal our darkness for what it really is, the absence of God.

Subsequently, the solution for human sins is the Son of Man, into whose mystery everyone is called, to receive enlightenment and become a child of wisdom. Saint Paul writes to Timothy concerning the appearance of the Eternal Wisdom. “Without any doubt, the mystery of our religion is very deep indeed: He was made visible in the flesh, attested by the Spirit, seen by angels, proclaimed to the pagans, believed in by the world, taken up in glory.” In this brief hymn, Paul provides a concise summary of the mystery of our redemption. The root of the mystery is the Eternal Word of God, to whom God ordered us from the beginning by our rational nature. The same Word of God has appeared in our nature at this last age to redeem us from the power of sin and darkness. The presence of the Holy Spirit in him demonstrated his identity. By the same Holy Spirit, he accomplished the work of our redemption and gave us a new spiritual birth. Whoever believes in him, throughout the world, has a new spirit, which makes him a child of Wisdom. By the spirit we receive through him, we join the whole creation in representing Wisdom here on earth. To be born of Wisdom, we must live by the spirit we received from him through the Holy Spirit. So, he lives in us through the new spirit. The more we draw life from him through the spirit, the more we are enabled to play various roles in the household of God. “I wanted you to know how people ought to behave in God’s family—that is, in the Church of the living God, which upholds the truth and keeps it safe.”

In the interaction between our Lord and the Pharisees in the Gospel, he subtly tells them that they are not children of God. To be a child of God is to recognise and own the truth whenever we encounter it. The Pharisees’ rejection of truth revealed to them through John the Baptist and the Son of Man shows their origin. “What description can I find for the men of this generation? What are they like? They are like children shouting to one another while they sit in the market-place: ‘We played the pipes for you, and you wouldn’t dance; we sang dirges, and you wouldn’t cry.’” Thus, uniformity is not what reveals the presence of God in us, but orderliness coming from a single motivation, to accomplish the will of the Father. The wisdom present in all creation is characterised by this feature. Living to achieve the will of God is the common motivation for all children of Wisdom. “Yet Wisdom has been proved right by all her children.” Hence, we stated yesterday that all our desires as Christians ought to be from the Lord, who is the Spirit. He calls each of us, therefore, to reveal his presence in our situations, families, and in the Church of God. “I will thank the Lord with all my heart in the meeting of the just and their assembly. Great are the works of the Lord, to be pondered by all who love them.”

Let us pray: Look upon us, O God, Creator and ruler of all things, and, that we may feel the working of your mercy, grant that we may serve you with all our 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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