Theme:
Gaining Wisdom and Eternal Life
In a particular
African village, the crown prince wanted to take a wife. Among the girls in the
village, two girls distinguished themselves in character and were seriously
attracted to the royal family. The prince had to choose one among them. One
day, he invited both girls to the royal garden and asked them to pick whatever
they liked. The first girl gathered a basketful of apple while the second only
picked an apple seed. When the prince demanded an explanation for their choice
the first girl said: “Apple is a sign of love and the basketful signifies the
great love I have for you”. The second girl replied: “I chose an apple seed
instead of the fruit because with it, I will have as many fruits as I desire”. It
is a sign of love that will keep growing and cannot be exhausted. At last, the Prince married the second girl
because of her wisdom.
Wisdom is the
ability to make use of one’s knowledge and experience to make good decisions
and judgment. Over and above all, it is not the possession of knowledge but the
application of knowledge. As it is commonly said, intelligence makes us speak
but wisdom makes us listen. It makes us listen to the voice of Jesus inviting
us to follow him each time we come closer to him. It is an important virtue for
holiness of life because without wisdom, we cannot please God. This is because
wisdom knows what is pleasing in the sight God (cf. Wisdom 9:9).
Aware of the
necessity of wisdom in his life, Solomon in the first reading (Wisdom 7:7-11), speaks
of the glory of wisdom. He preferred wisdom to every other thing and that was
why he prayed for it. God heard his prayer and blessed him with an unimaginable
wisdom which he used to govern his people to the admiration of all. Yet, being
the custodian of wisdom, he never lacked those things he abandoned. Through the
exercise of his wisdom, he gathered them in multiple folds. In other words,
Solomon preferred wisdom to wealth.
I think the
Holy Writ provides the reason for this when it says: “in his riches, man lacks
wisdom” (cf. Ps 49:12). Wisdom informs us of what is pleasing in the sight of
God at each moment we are faced with challenges. This wisdom helps us to understand
the value of what we have and are. Wisdom teaches us to consider all things as
nothing (detachment), it also makes us use all things for the good of all
(charity). This was the lesson the rich young man failed to understand because
he lacked wisdom. For this reason, he was unable to follow Christ who is the
source of the eternal life he desired.
Beloved
friends, it is not enough to desire good. We must march our desires with
corresponding actions. The man desired eternal life but could not work out
eternal life. All we have is a gift from God and we ought not to love the gift
more than the giver. Jesus never condemned wealth rather attachment to wealth.
We become materialistic when we consider wealth to be the most important thing
in life.
Therefore,
is there any material thing keeping you from following Jesus? Are you more
interested in your position, function, beauty, wealth, intelligence or
achievement more than Jesus? Do you lack the wisdom to realize that “all is
vanity” (cf. Ecc. 1:2)? Then why not seek this wisdom from the Word of God
which according to the second reading (Hebrews 4:12-13) is “alive and active
and can judge the secret emotions and thoughts”. Through His Word, Jesus gives us a personal
invitation to abandon all things and follow him who is the Wisdom of God, the
Gate of Heaven and the Source of eternal life. God loves you.
***
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