Wednesday, October 14, 2009

28th Suday in Ordinary Time

Murphy was circling the block trying to find a parking place.  He was already late for an important meeting and he was starting to panic.  He raised his eyes toward the sky and said, "Lord, if you help me find a parking place, I promise to give up drinking and to go to mass every Sunday."  Just then, a parking spot opened right in front of him.  He looked up and said, "Never mind Lord.  I found one myself."

All things are possible for God, even if we don't always give Him the credit.

The readings today definitely give us a lot to think about.  In the first, from the Book of Wisdom, Solomon tells us that riches are nothing compared to Wisdom.  He says that gold is like sand and silver is no more than mire.  He even tells us that he prefers wisdom to light.  Our lectors' workbook tells us that the word wisdom, Sophia in Greek, at this time in history meant prudence for making intelligent decisions regarding life.  Wisdom was a guide for following the will of God in the way you lived.

By the way, the word Sophia is a feminine noun.

Notice that Solomon says he prayed and prudence was given him.  He pleaded and the spirit of Wisdom came to him.  Even today we sometimes hear the phrase "the wisdom of Solomon."  But he admits in this reading that he, himself wasn't wise.  The spirit of Wisdom came to him only after he pleaded with God. 

I know a lot of people who think they're "wise".  Surprisingly, or maybe not so surprisingly, a lot of people who've received the sacrament of Holy Orders, that would be priests and deacons, think that the sacrament somehow confers wisdom.  Or maybe they think that the Church only ordains the wise.  Either way, they're very impressed with their own "wisdom".  Or maybe I should say we instead of they.  It's an easy trap to fall into.  But as Solomon tells us, Wisdom is a spirit and it's a gift from God.  Education doesn't equal wisdom.  If anything, too much education may be the enemy of wisdom.

Remember the definition of Wisdom from the Lectors' workbook,  it's a guide for following the will of God in the way you live your life.  Being able to recite Church Law from memory isn't wisdom.  Keeping a copy of the Catechism on your coffee table doesn't show that you're wise.  Being well-versed in the changes that are coming in the mass isn't wisdom.  You can be smart  and lack wisdom.  You can definitely be rich and lack wisdom.  Jesus tells us that in today's Gospel.  In fact He tells us that it's harder for a rich man to get into heaven than it is for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle.

But, getting back to Solomon, here's what he says at the beginning of Chapter 7, just ahead of today's first reading:

"I too am a mortal man, the same as all the rest, and a descendant of the first man formed on earth.  And in my mother's womb I was molded into flesh in a ten-months period--body and blood, from the seed of man and the pleasure that accompanies marriage."  The reason he says ten-month period is that in Biblical times, they used a different calendar.  Ten Biblical months equals nine of our current months.  Remember that Mary visited Elizabeth when Elizabeth was "in her sixth month" and baby John jumped for joy?  All you moms know that you really feel the baby start to move around about the fifth month.  Elizabeth's sixth month would be five months today.  But I digress.  Back to Solomon.

"And I too, when born, inhaled the common air, and fell upon the kindred earth; wailing, I uttered that first sound common to all.  In swaddling clothes and with constant care I was nurtured."   Remember, he was royalty,   He was well taken care of."  For no king has any different origin or birth, but one is the entry into life for all; and in one same way they leave it.  Therefor I prayed and prudence was given me......"

In other words, I put my tunic on one leg at a time, just like you do.  But instead of focusing on the wealth and power of the family I was accidentally born into, I prayed for prudence and God gave it to me.  I pleaded for Wisdom and the spirit of Wisdom was given to me.  What's your excuse? 

In modern terms, who's wiser; the "learned" preacher who stands up here week after week spouting what he thinks are "words of wisdom" or the young couple who struggles and does without the things their friends have so they can send their kids to a Catholic school?  Who's really following the will of God in the way they live their lives? 

Don't get me wrong.  The Church ordains priests and deacons to many things and one of them is to preach the Gospel.  We all believe we're following the will of God.  But it's easy to forget that the faculty to preach is a gift, as is the spirit of Wisdom.  My job is help you follow the will of God.  It's not my message.  It's God's message.  And there's a BIG difference!

The spirit of wisdom is an amazing gift!  But if you think you have it and you really don't, or if you do have it but you think it makes you smarter or holier than anyone else, you're just going to make a fool out of yourself. 

Last week we asked you to contribute to the formation of future deacons.  Over the years the program for diaconate training has gone from just two years of classes to eight.  That's why the formation program needs our financial support.  It's an expensive program.   I was right in the middle.  It took me five years and I paid for everything myself.

 We all need as much training as we can get because life is getting more complicated by the day.  But, I know some very good deacons who would never make it through today's program.  It's very difficult.  But, all those years of expensive classes won't give anyone the spirit of wisdom unless they plead for it as Solomon did.

Here's a very simplistic example of what I'm talking about.  Let's say you're married and things aren't going as well as you would like.  You decide to talk to a minister.  An educated priest or deacon will walk you through all the necessary steps for obtaining a declaration of nullity.  He'll have all the forms and he'll help you fill them out.  A priest or deacon who's been blessed with the spirit of wisdom will do everything he can to help you save the marriage.  If that doesn't work out, then he'll get out the forms.

That's the kind of Wisdom Jesus displays in today's Gospel.  The young man seems to have led a good life.  He follows the commandments.  But when he asks Jesus what he has to do to gain eternal life, he's shocked at the answer.  "Sell all your stuff, give the money to the poor, and follow Me."  And the young man went away sad.  It's up to our imaginations to tell us if the man did as Jesus suggested.  The Gospel doesn't tell us.  Then Jesus  tells the disciples that it would be easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to get into heaven. 

But then He seems to contradict Himself when He says that "All things are possible for God."  What is He saying?  Is it impossible for a rich man to get into heaven or not?  Don't we need rich people to help pay for things like the Seminary Campaign?  If no one is rich, who's going to feed the poor, the government?  No, that's not it.  If we're all poor, then the government won't have anything to tax and they won't have any money either.  Jesus was poor.  He depended on the generosity of others to survive during his earthly life.  Somebody had to pay for all those dinners He was always having.  Even at the last supper, Jesus and the disciples were eating the passover meal in someone else's house, eating someone else's food.  Apparently their host hadn't given away all his stuff.

He says "All things are possible for God."  If that's true then maybe a camel can pass through a needle's eye and a rich man can get into heaven.  Fortunately for most of us, this isn't a big personal problem.  We're not rich and we don't own camels.  That means it's easier for us to get into heaven, right?  I'm not so sure. 

We should all follow Solomon's example and beg for the Spirit of Wisdom. 

I think Thomas Merton had the Spirit of Wisdom.  I know I've used this before, but I'm going on retreat to his monastery next week and I think this prayer reflects a lot of wisdom and fits nicely with today's readings.

"My Lord God, I have no idea where I am going. I do not see the road ahead of me. I cannot know for certain where it will end.
Nor do I really know myself, and the fact that I think I am following your will does not mean that I am actually doing so. But I believe that the desire to please you does in fact please you.  And I hope that I have that desire in all that I am doing.  I hope that I will never do anything apart from that desire.  And I know that if I do this you will lead me by the right road though I may know nothing about it.
Therefore will I trust you always though I may seem to be lost and in the shadow of death, I will not fear, for you are ever with me and you will never leave me to face my perils alone.

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