That We May Be Truly Wise

Jesus likens Himself to “the head of a household who brings from his storeroom both the new and the old,” a fascinating comparison indeed. He is the juncture, the union of Testaments New and Old. In Him nothing worthwhile is discarded; instead it is purified and transformed. Two thousand years of Christian experience have yielded a vast, hidden treasury of prayer. There is a prayer to the Holy Spirit that I would like to offer, as it pertains to the Scripture readings of this weekend:

Come, Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of Your faithful, and enkindle in them the fire of Your love. Send forth Your Spirit, and they shall be created; and You shall renew the face of the earth. O God, who instructed the hearts of the faithful by the light of the Holy Spirit; grant that, in the same Spirit, we may be truly wise, and ever rejoice in His consolation, through the same Christ, our Lord. Amen.

So many of the Church’s ancient prayers express our understanding and desire; they are the juncture, the union of truth and love. In this prayer we acknowledge the Holy Spirit as the catalyst of divine charity in our hearts; He is the means of personal and world renewal. By the power of the Holy Spirit in our lives, we are able to be wise and joyful. Now there’s a combination to have! In our days we cannot help but notice a certain cynicism and despair about the state of affairs—politics, religion, family life, you name it. Maybe the election has brought this to the fore, but it seems that the American spirit feels crushed, no longer capable of rising to the challenges of the times—perhaps no longer willing or motivated to do so. We are in the precarious position of wanting “change” but not quite being able to articulate what sort of change we want. When cornered, we’d have to admit that lower gas prices wouldn’t even be the tip of the iceberg. The truth is, we could get everything we want and still feel this malaise—then what?

On the basis of today’s first reading, we often look to King Solomon as the epitome of wisdom, the man who knew the right thing to ask for. When presented with all the possibilities this life has to offer, he chose “an understanding heart to…distinguish right from wrong.” We are told that he got his request, and everything else besides. What would we have chosen if God made us that offer? Our desire would reflect the kind of person we are.

In “the rest of the story,” recall that Solomon didn’t use his wisdom very wisely. In time, he began to follow the gods of his foreign wives. As a result of his infidelities, Solomon’s enemies started to chip away at his power from within; such that the kingdom fell apart by the time his son came to power. All the knowledge in the world amounted to nothing when his heart became disobedient. How many people boast of “twelve years of Catholic school” but still don’t go to Mass or make any attempt to understand, much less accept, the Church’s teachings?

Jesus once referred to Himself as “something greater than Solomon” (Mt 12:42). Today He uses three parables to illustrate the sort of practical wisdom that His true followers desire. All three parables are bound by the thread of renunciation: the willingness to give up something of perceived value (a “want”) in order to receive something of inestimable worth (a “need”). A hidden treasure prompts a person to sell all that he has to buy its location; a pearl of great price is worth a merchant’s entire portfolio; and fishermen are willing to risk catching bad fish in order to salvage good ones. These images might be the stuff of today’s popular pirate movies, but we dare not dismiss them if we want their underlying value for our lives. We might think of Solomon’s request and Jesus’ parables as absurd, but it is equally absurd to claim membership in a religion that fails to make a significant difference in the way we conduct our daily lives.

Pope Benedict XVI, himself a wise man, often reminds us that Christianity (and Catholicism in particular) is not just than a set of beliefs, but love and devotion to a Person. In other words, it is a religion that makes little sense without a practical spiritual commitment. For two thousand years, the wisdom of Jesus has been expressed in many ways that offer clear direction for our decision-making. This is courtesy of the teaching authority of the Church, which enjoys the promise Holy Spirit, the Purveyor of Wisdom and Love. We trust that the Spirit’s presence and action in our daily lives will be the source of our renewal. If we don’t, there’s not much point to sticking around; there’s plenty of appealing options outside these doors.