THE GIFT OF WISDOM


WEDNESDAY, SEVENTH WEEK OF EASTERTIDE   

Acts 20:28-38; Ps 68:29-30,33-36; Jn 17:11-19

The Spirit of Wisdom

The Christian vocation is to inherit a kingdom. As contained in the scriptures, we are called to inherit God through Jesus Christ. Thus, sharing the same Spirit with Jesus Christ, we are to reign with him in the kingdom of his Father forever. In his prayer to the Father, he requested the same glory that he is to receive from the Father for all of us who believe in his name. So, his gift of the Holy Spirit to us is in preparation for the inheritance the Father has already granted us through the prayer and salvific work of the Son of Man. Thus, among the gifts of the Holy Spirit to us, wisdom is a special virtue for overseers. Wisdom is a kingly virtue that helps us direct all things to their proper end. To each of us is entrusted the kingdom of God that is within us; we are to trade everything to make it properly ours. The parable of our Lord confirms the vocation given to us. “The kingdom of heaven is like a treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and covered up; then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.” Mt 13:44. Our Lord himself stated that the kingdom of heaven is within us. “The kingdom of God is not coming with signs to be observed; nor will they say, Lo, here it is!’ or ‘There!’ for behold, the kingdom of God is within you.” Lk 17:21. Therefore, the Lord gives us the Holy Spirit to guide us to the possession of the kingdom that the Father has entrusted to us.

As we embark on our journey into the mysteries of Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit enlightens us more fully with the truths of Jesus Christ. He supports us spiritually with the gift of wisdom, to properly order everything according to the will of the Father. Saint Paul’s admonition to the elders of the church in Ephesus applies also to each of us. We must be on our guard to lead the flock of the Lord safely to him. “Be on your guard for yourselves and for all the flock of which the Holy Spirit has made you the overseers, to feed the Church of God which he bought with his own blood.” The importance of this duty cannot be overemphasised. We are to watch over ourselves and over those in our charge in the name of Jesus Christ. Over ourselves because the kingdom of God is within, and over others God has entrusted to us, because they are to inherit the same kingdom with us. The Holy Spirit grants us the gift of wisdom to be able to discharge this bounden duty. We are called to be wise stewards ruling over the household or kingdom of God. Saint Paul presents himself to us as an example to copy. “So be on your guard, remembering how night and day for three years I never failed to keep you right, shedding tears over each one of you. And now I commend you to God, and to the word of his grace that has power to build you up and to give you your inheritance among all the sanctified.” This describes the life of a wise man or steward.

As the scripture states in Ecclesiastes 2:14, the wiseman has his eyes on his head. In other words, the gift of wisdom from the Holy Spirit helps us to fix our focus on Jesus Christ in continuous prayer. We must never remove our minds and hearts from Jesus Christ, meditating and contemplating his words, and feeding those with us daily. This enables us to live wisely and make abundant provision for those entrusted to our care. We see the same pattern of life in our Lord and Master. He prayerfully watched over the flock the Father entrusted to his care. “Holy Father, keep those you have given me true to your name, so that they may be one like us. While I was with them, I kept those you had given me true to your name. I have watched over them and not one is lost except the one who chose to be lost, and this was to fulfil the scriptures.” He called his own together and entrusted the Gospel, the words of the Father, to them. We are called to the same role as stewards of God’s household; we must live and govern wisely, to enter into our eternal inheritance in God. May the gift of wisdom from the Holy Spirit help us to consecrate ourselves to the Gospel truth.

Let us pray: Graciously grant to your Church, O merciful God, that, gathered by the Holy Spirit, she may be devoted to you with all her heart and united in purity of intent. Through our Lord Jesus, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, for ever and ever.  

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