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When I was a kid, the phrase
“Get wise!” was a provocative taunt—essentially, a way to start a fight. It meant: “I invite you to act like a smart
aleck, so I will have an excuse to assault you physically.”
But what does it really mean
to “Get wise” or “Gain wisdom”? The
Readings for this Sunday’s Mass teach us about this issue.
During this part of Ordinary
Time in Year A, the Church is pursuing a lectio
continua (continuous reading, i.e. reading in order) of both Romans and
Matthew. (This excellent website by Fr.
Just provides an overview of the pattern of the Lectionary. ) The First
Readings are taken from key passages of the Old Testament, chosen (more or less)
to complement the Gospel reading.
1. This weekend’s First Reading is Solomon’s
famous encounter with God in a dream early in his reign (1 Kgs 3:5, 7-12):
The LORD appeared to Solomon in a dream at night.
God said, "Ask something of me and I will give it to you."
Solomon answered:
"O LORD, my God, you have made me, your servant, king
to succeed my father David;
but I am a mere youth, not knowing at all how to act.
I serve you in the midst of the people whom you have chosen,
a people so vast that it cannot be numbered or counted.
Give your servant, therefore, an understanding heart
to judge your people and to distinguish right from wrong.
For who is able to govern this vast people of yours?"
The LORD was pleased that Solomon made this request.
So God said to him:
"Because you have asked for this—
not for a long life for yourself,
nor for riches,
nor for the life of your enemies,
but for understanding so that you may know what is right—
I do as you requested.
I give you a heart so wise and understanding
that there has never been anyone like you up to now,
and after you there will come no one to equal you."
God said, "Ask something of me and I will give it to you."
Solomon answered:
"O LORD, my God, you have made me, your servant, king
to succeed my father David;
but I am a mere youth, not knowing at all how to act.
I serve you in the midst of the people whom you have chosen,
a people so vast that it cannot be numbered or counted.
Give your servant, therefore, an understanding heart
to judge your people and to distinguish right from wrong.
For who is able to govern this vast people of yours?"
The LORD was pleased that Solomon made this request.
So God said to him:
"Because you have asked for this—
not for a long life for yourself,
nor for riches,
nor for the life of your enemies,
but for understanding so that you may know what is right—
I do as you requested.
I give you a heart so wise and understanding
that there has never been anyone like you up to now,
and after you there will come no one to equal you."
Faced with the invitation to
make any request of God, Solomon asks for the wisdom to rule well. God is pleased with this request and grants
it to him. In a verse not used in Mass,
God adds: “I give you also what you have not asked,
both riches and honor, so that no other king shall compare with you, all your
days” (1 Kings 3:13). We are reminded
here of Jesus’ words from the Sermon on the Mount: “Seek first his Kingdom and
his righteousness, and all these things shall be yours as well” (Matt
6:33). Solomon’s first thought is for
the welfare of God’s Kingdom: to rule it beneficially, he needs divine
wisdom. Since Solomon puts the interests
of the Kingdom first, God honors him.
P. The Psalm is
taken from the greatest celebration of God’s Law in the Psalter, Psalm 119:57,
72, 76-77, 127-128, 129-130:
R. (97a) Lord, I love your commands.
I have said, O LORD, that my part
is to keep your words.
The law of your mouth is to me more precious
than thousands of gold and silver pieces.
R. Lord, I love your commands.
Let your kindness comfort me
according to your promise to your servants.
Let your compassion come to me that I may live,
for your law is my delight.
R. Lord, I love your commands.
For I love your command
more than gold, however fine.
For in all your precepts I go forward;
every false way I hate.
R. Lord, I love your commands.
Wonderful are your decrees;
therefore I observe them.
The revelation of your words sheds light,
giving understanding to the simple.
R. Lord, I love your commands.
I have said, O LORD, that my part
is to keep your words.
The law of your mouth is to me more precious
than thousands of gold and silver pieces.
R. Lord, I love your commands.
Let your kindness comfort me
according to your promise to your servants.
Let your compassion come to me that I may live,
for your law is my delight.
R. Lord, I love your commands.
For I love your command
more than gold, however fine.
For in all your precepts I go forward;
every false way I hate.
R. Lord, I love your commands.
Wonderful are your decrees;
therefore I observe them.
The revelation of your words sheds light,
giving understanding to the simple.
R. Lord, I love your commands.
In this Psalm,
the “Law” often refers not simply to the laws of the Pentateuch but to God’s
revelation generally. The Psalm
celebrates the LORD as the source for all true wisdom:
The revelation of your words sheds light,
giving understanding to the simple.
giving understanding to the simple.
LORD,
I love your commands.
In today’s Readings, Solomon
is remembered for his “good side,” that is, the zeal and devotion of his
youth. The sacred author describes his
early years this way: “Solomon loved
the LORD, walking in the statutes of David his father” (1 Kings 3:3). The Psalm encourages us to remember this side
of Solomon, the Solomon who loved God and God’s revelation.
2. The Second Reading
promises that God’s providence attends those who love him, as Solomon did:
Brothers and sisters:
We know that all things work for good for those who
love God,
who are called according to his purpose.
For those he foreknew he also predestined
to be conformed to the image of his Son,
so that he might be the firstborn
among many brothers and sisters.
And those he predestined he also called;
and those he called he also justified;
and those he justified he also glorified.
When I was a kid, I thought this
verse said “all things work out good for those who love God.” I figured that if I obeyed God’s laws, I
would always be successful. Of course,
that’s not what the verse means, which I discovered the hard way in my
mid-twenties through a series of personal crises.
This is one verse that we
want to translate correctly. Here is the
Greek, in English characters:
Oidamen de hoti tois agapoœsin ton theon
panta synergei eis agathon, tois kata prothesin kleœtois ousin.
Translating
woodenly, it reads:
We know that, for those who love God, all things work together
unto good, for those being called according to his purpose.
Not all things
are good or work out well, but for those who love God, he causes all things to
contribute to our ultimate good—even sickness, failure, persecutions, and death
itself (cf. Rom 8:35).
By virtue of the
covenant with David his father, Solomon enjoyed the privilege of being a Son of
God (see 2 Samuel 7:14). Indeed, he was
reckoned as God’s Firstborn among the kings of the earth (Psalm 89:27). Compare St. Paul’s language:
For those he foreknew he also predestined
to be conformed to the image of his Son,
so that he might be the firstborn
among many brothers and sisters.
The royal privileges that
Jesus the Christ enjoys as Son of David and Son of God are extended to all who
join themselves to him. In a mysterious
way, a way known only to God, those of us who “choose God” freely actually find
that, all along, we were chosen by him.
This is the mystery of predestination.
It is not something we will comprehend fully in this life, but in this
part of Romans, St. Paul means to reassure us: God is working in us and through
us. His plans will be accomplished.
G. The Gospel Reading finishes the last of the
Parables of the Kingdom from Matthew 13:
Jesus said to his disciples:
“The kingdom of heaven is like a treasure buried in a field,
which a person finds and hides again,
and out of joy goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.
Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant
searching for fine pearls.
When he finds a pearl of great price,
he goes and sells all that he has and buys it.
Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a net thrown into the sea,
which collects fish of every kind.
When it is full they haul it ashore
and sit down to put what is good into buckets.
What is bad they throw away.
Thus it will be at the end of the age.
The angels will go out and separate the wicked from the righteous
and throw them into the fiery furnace,
where there will be wailing and grinding of teeth.
“The kingdom of heaven is like a treasure buried in a field,
which a person finds and hides again,
and out of joy goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.
Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant
searching for fine pearls.
When he finds a pearl of great price,
he goes and sells all that he has and buys it.
Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a net thrown into the sea,
which collects fish of every kind.
When it is full they haul it ashore
and sit down to put what is good into buckets.
What is bad they throw away.
Thus it will be at the end of the age.
The angels will go out and separate the wicked from the righteous
and throw them into the fiery furnace,
where there will be wailing and grinding of teeth.
These three parables are
obviously speaking of the Kingdom manifested on earth as the Church, not the
Kingdom consummated in the world to come.
These parables are favorites of converts, because the experiences described
in them seem so parallel to some of our own experiences of finding our way (or
rather, God finding us and bringing us) into the Catholic Church.
The first of these parables
tells us that the Kingdom is not always obvious. It’s like “treasure buried.” There’s no billboard saying, “TRUE CHURCH,
EXIT LEFT 1 MILE.” In fact, those
speeding by on the highway of life will never find it. You have to be digging. Digging in the vineyard, perhaps. Suddenly you hit something with your
spade. Can it be? Is it?
Yes! You are willing to leave
everything you have to buy the field with this treasure. (Incidentally, the moral sense of “sells all
that he has and buys the field” can apply to those who embrace the evangelical
counsel of poverty in the religious life.)
The second of these parables
is similar to the first. Again, the
Kingdom is not obvious. There are many
competitors, perhaps even fakes, “faux pearls” or pearls of low quality. It takes some discernment—indeed wisdom, like
Solomon asked for—to tell the true and valuable pearl from all the look-alikes
and costume jewelry. It’s found by those
who are looking carefully and (perhaps) have gotten some experience in this
business.
The third parable is one of
the most important for Catholics to understand and embrace. It tells us that the Kingdom, for all its
value, is also going to be a “mixed bag” during this age. Like the net thrown into the sea that catches
fish of many kinds, so the Church is like a net thrown by Peter, his co-workers
the Apostles, and their successors, which brings many—both saints and
sinners—into God’s Kingdom. Not all
brought in during this age will persevere through the final judgment, however.
“The Kingdom” in the Gospel
of Matthew is, in one sense, nothing but Jesus himself: the King. However, since the Church is the Body of
Christ and united to him, what is said about the Kingdom applies also to the
Church, both Triumphant (in heaven) and Militant (on earth). The seven parables of the Kingdom in Matt 13 are
clearly not speaking of the Church Triumphant, glorified in God’s presence; nor
are they speaking (for the most part) of the Kingdom manifested in the person
of Christ the Kingdom. No, these
parables of a Kingdom hidden, starting small, growing slowly, hard to find,
mixed with weeds and bad fish, is a description of the Church Militant—perhaps
even our local parish!
Many self-appointed
“reformers” in Church history have split the historic Church in order to
establish a “pure” or “sifted” church.
Even today, many leave the Catholic Church for various sects,
denominations, even cults, because of the scandal of sinners within the visible
Body of Christ. “How can this be the
Kingdom of God when it has people like that
in it!?” Yet it is, and Jesus told us it
was going to be like this.
It takes wisdom to recognize
that the Church Militant is, for all its rents and wounds, the Kingdom of
Heaven come to earth. This wisdom can
only come from God, granted by him to those who love him. If we are docile to the teachings of Jesus,
the one who is greater than Solomon, he will teach us the wisdom of the
Kingdom.
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