December 17
O Wisdom, O holy Word of God, you govern all creation with your strong yet tender care. Come and show your people the way to salvation.
Wisdom is a Messianic title, but it’s also a gift of the Holy Spirit. In Isaiah 11 (a familiar Messianic prophecy that we’ll look at in a few days, too) the prophet listed gifts that the Messiah will possess in their fullness - wisdom, knowledge, understanding… the same gifts that we receive at Baptism and Confirmation. It is a reminder to us that Jesus wants to share his Messianic mission with us, as well as the gifts that enable us to do it.
In the Old Testament, the virtue of wisdom was most associated with Solomon, who asked for an understanding mind and wise discernment when told by God to ask for anything (1 Kings 3:9). As a result, people came from surrounding kingdoms to seek Solomon’s counsel. But in Matthew 12:42, Jesus reminds his listeners that the wisdom of Solomon is nothing compared to the wisdom of the Messiah. “The queen of the South will rise up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it, for she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon, and behold, something greater than Solomon is here.”
In his first letter to the Corinthians, Paul reminds us that not only is the wisdom of God not the same as the wisdom of the world, it will even look like foolishness to the world (see 1 Cor 1:18-31). It is good to seek wisdom, like the Greeks, but we have to be willing to be surprised in that search. The search for wisdom will lead us to something shocking: the truth of the Incarnation. The fact that God became man - humbled Himself to be one with His creation, to be born amongst animals, to subject Himself to the limitations of a human nature, and ultimately to suffer a humiliating death for the sake of his creation - that can either be a stumbling block or a saving truth.
Let us always seek to have the wisdom of God, remembering that
…my thoughts are not your thoughts,
neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord.
For as the heavens are higher than the earth,
so are my ways higher than your ways
and my thoughts than your thoughts. (Isaiah 55:8-9)
The reminder of today’s O Antiphon is to walk humbly, asking for the gift of wisdom but never boosting in that wisdom. May we always strive to see with the eyes of Christ and to think with the mind of Christ.
Lord, help me to see my life the way you see it. In times of despair and anxiety, may I instead see the world the way you see it. In times of hurt and judgment, may I instead see my neighbor the way you see them. In times of confusion, give me your wisdom. In times of joy, give me a grateful heart to know that all good comes from you. Show me how to be strong yet tender. May the crosses of my life not be a stumbling block away from you, but a path towards you.
“…You are in Christ Jesus, whom became to us wisdom from God…” (1 Cor 1:30)
Interested in pilgrimage? Join me on a Marian pilgrimage across the Iberian Peninsula! We’ll start in Fatima and end in Lourdes and pray at places like Avila and Zaragoza along the way…
For more information, visit https://versoministries.com/marian2024
(For the rest of this year, you can get $400 off with the promo code MARY400!)