SOLOMON HOUSED WISDOM

OUR LADY OF LOURDES   

1 Kings 10:1-10; Ps 37:5-6,30-31,39-40; Mk 7:14-23

The House of Eternal Wisdom

From the sacrifices King Solomon offered to the Lord, the God of Israel, we were able to discern his love for God. For gifts or sacrifices one makes for a cause or for a person demonstrate the depth of love one has for that cause or person. Being that God is the first to love and prompt us in all things, especially in our relationship with Him, we understand that Solomon’s love and generosity to God, as expressed in the sacrifices to God, both at his thanksgiving at Gibeon and in the dedication of the Temple he constructed in Jerusalem for God, is only a response to God’s love and generosity to him. The measure of wealth and means he put into the construction of the Temple was also an indication of his love and devotion to Yahweh, the God of his father, David. We have also noted the contribution of his upbringing in making him become aware of God’s love and generosity to him. Although most of the materials for building the Temple were gathered by David, the greatness and beauty of the external Temple he constructed for God demonstrate his generosity and devotion to God. The measure he poured out indicates the measure he received of God’s love and generosity. It is not surprising, therefore, that God filled him with wisdom as witnessed by all who encountered him or his work. We can never outdo God in generosity; the more we give, the more we receive.  

Solomon’s willingness to devote himself and his resources to God opened him to the outpouring of God’s gifts, especially the gift of wisdom. Because wisdom is a principal gift, it attracts many other gifts. This is as God stated that because he had asked for wisdom, he would give him riches and wealth, and other gifts he did not ask for. The manifestation of these was witnessed by the Queen of the South, who visited him. “When the queen of Sheba saw all the wisdom of Solomon, the palace he had built, the food at his table, the accommodation for his officials, the organisation of his staff and the way they were dressed, his cup-bearers, and the holocaust he offered in the Temple of the Lord, it left her breathless, and she said to the king, ‘What I heard in my own country about you and your wisdom was true, then!” Wisdom made his home in Solomon and was freely expressed in everything he did. The sagacity that was seen in everything he touched was also an indicator of his dedication to God at this stage of his life. As the psalmist puts it, “The just man’s mouth utters wisdom, and his lips speak what is right; the law of his God is in his heart, his steps shall be saved from stumbling.” Without committing ourselves to God, the wisdom of God cannot make his home in us and cannot work with us daily. But if we take Him into our house, He leaves his imprint everywhere we go and in everything we do.  

Our daily work and the organisation of our lives demonstrate our dedication to God and His word. The Queen of Sheba was able to see wisdom in the words and works of Solomon and praised God who gave him such a gift and the kingdom of Israel to rule. Following the words of our Lord in the Gospel, what came out of Solomon made him holy and admirable because he devoted himself to God and his worship. “Listen to me, all of you, and understand. Nothing that goes into a man from outside can make him unclean; it is the things that come out of a man that make him unclean.” The Lord taught this with regard to the washing of hands before eating, as the Pharisees and scribes accused his disciples. It is also true for what enters our minds; for if wisdom makes his home within us, he helps us to direct all things to their proper ends in praise of God. We need to habituate ourselves to the company of Wisdom to possess it in our hearts. The company of Blessed Virgin Mary, the Seat of Wisdom, affords us this. Her appearance in Lourdes, France, in 1858 to Bernadette Soubirous was to call all of us, sinners, to change our lives. Introducing herself as the Immaculate Conception, she used Bernadette to inspire love for prayer and good works in the service of the poor and the sick. These are what come from within us that make us holy.

 Let us pray: Grant us, O merciful God, protection in our weakness, that we, who keep the Memorial of the Immaculate Mother of God, may, with help of her intercession, rise up from our iniquities. 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.