CT - Catholic Telegraph

God is a God of outreach

Thirty-second Sunday in Ordinary Time (A), Wisdom 6:12-16.

There is a large section of the Old Testament that is known as wisdom literature. This section includes the books of Job, the psalms, Proverbs and Wisdom. The concept of wisdom underwent a long process of development over the centuries. Early on, wisdom was concerned with learning how to live in the court of the king. It was a kind of "Dale Carnegie" quality whose practice would guarantee success.

As time passed, the idea of wisdom became more sophisticated. It became concerned with the pursuit of understanding that would bring rationality to human existence, while yet acknowledging that there are limits to what human understanding can grasp. As theological reflection deepened, wisdom appeared in our inspired texts personified as a beautiful woman who was God’s companion in the creation of the world and who works with God in carrying out the goals of His providence. She is seen as the mediator between God and humanity.

Many scholars see the gradual evolution of the idea of wisdom that we find in the Old Testament to be a preparation for the revelation of the Holy Spirit that we receive in the New Testament.

This Sunday’s reading comes from The Book of Wisdom, the youngest book of the Old Testament. Wisdom is concerned with staying in touch with God in a secular world. (It seems to have been written in the lively pagan city of Alexandria.) It gives us the latest stages of the evolution of the idea of wisdom.

The verses that the lectionary gives us here are part of a long exhortation to kings and magistrates to seek wisdom. This chapter then leads into an extended praise of wisdom (more than four chapters long) that the first century B.C. author puts into the mouth of the wise King Solomon.

Our five verses are concerned with the accessibility of wisdom. One edition of the Bible entitles this section, "Wisdom sought is wisdom found." The message is simple, and the passage is insistently repetitious in proclaiming it.

Wisdom is easy to see. She wants to make herself known and eagerly presents herself at the door of the one who seeks her. She responds quickly to those who watch for her. She seeks out those who seek for her and presents herself to them in kindness and solicitude.

All of this is a way of saying that God wants His love and His care and His providence to be known and accepted by those that God loves. God is a God of outreach. His knowledge and His intentions are not obscure or elusive. God loves His human creatures and wants to be known and appreciated by them. Our reading, therefore, is a poem of praise to the kindness of God and a song of encouragement leading God’s people into a deeper relationship with their Lord. It calls its readers to be wise, that is, to accept the gift of understanding and appreciation of the Lord’s works.

This reading is intended to describe what characterized the wise virgins of the gospel (Matthew 25:1-13). They waited intently for the coming of the heavenly bridegroom. They were wise because they responded to God’s offer of closeness to himself, because they remained ready to take the part that the bridegroom had assigned to them.

The wisdom of God is still accessible to us today, indeed more accessible than ever before. We have been given the life of God’s own Son to live. Through His church, the Lord has made known to us His plans for the world and for the community of faith. Each one of us has been touched by the hand of God in baptism and the other sacraments.

Through the availability of the word of God in Scripture, we are given the wherewithal to understand and appreciate the providence and the kindness of the Lord. In our weekly Sunday community gathering we learn to be attentive to God’s word and to unite ourselves with Christ in praise and thanksgiving and self- gift to the Father. It all involves wisdom, because it all involves God’s outreach to those He loves and our response.

Wisdom is not some inert quality that we acquire once and for all. It is a habit of the mind, a way of seeing things that comes to us and grows in us a little at a time. One might say that the purpose of the Christian life is the pursuit of wisdom. Our reading assures us that wisdom does not play hard to get. Wisdom wants to be accessible to us. But we have to be willing to accept the gift when God offers it to us and as God offers it to us.

For reflection and discussion

Who is the wisest person I know? Why?

Have I grown in wisdom over the years?



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	*Overtures* Reflection on the first readings of the Sunday liturgy By Archbishop Daniel E. Pilarczyk God is a God of outreach Thirty-second Sunday in Ordinary Time (A), Wisdom 6:12-16. There is a large section of the Old Testament that is known as wisdom literature. This section includes the books of Job, the psalms, Proverbs and Wisdom. The concept of wisdom underwent a long process of development over the centuries. Early on, wisdom was concerned with learning how to live in the court of the king. It was a kind of "Dale Carnegie" quality whose practice would guarantee success. As time passed, the idea of wisdom became more sophisticated. It became concerned with the pursuit of understanding that would bring rationality to human existence, while yet acknowledging that there are limits to what human understanding can grasp. As theological reflection deepened, wisdom appeared in our inspired texts personified as a beautiful woman who was God’s companion in the creation of the world and who works with God in carrying out the goals of His providence. She is seen as the mediator between God and humanity. Many scholars see the gradual evolution of the idea of wisdom that we find in the Old Testament to be a preparation for the revelation of the Holy Spirit that we receive in the New Testament. This Sunday’s reading comes from The Book of Wisdom, the youngest book of the Old Testament. Wisdom is concerned with staying in touch with God in a secular world. (It seems to have been written in the lively pagan city of Alexandria.) It gives us the latest stages of the evolution of the idea of wisdom. The verses that the lectionary gives us here are part of a long exhortation to kings and magistrates to seek wisdom. This chapter then leads into an extended praise of wisdom (more than four chapters long) that the first century B.C. author puts into the mouth of the wise King Solomon. Our five verses are concerned with the accessibility of wisdom. One edition of the Bible entitles this section, "Wisdom sought is wisdom found." The message is simple, and the passage is insistently repetitious in proclaiming it. Wisdom is easy to see. She wants to make herself known and eagerly presents herself at the door of the one who seeks her. She responds quickly to those who watch for her. She seeks out those who seek for her and presents herself to them in kindness and solicitude. All of this is a way of saying that God wants His love and His care and His providence to be known and accepted by those that God loves. God is a God of outreach. His knowledge and His intentions are not obscure or elusive. God loves His human creatures and wants to be known and appreciated by them. Our reading, therefore, is a poem of praise to the kindness of God and a song of encouragement leading God’s people into a deeper relationship with their Lord. It calls its readers to be wise, that is, to accept the gift of understanding and appreciation of the Lord’s works. This reading is intended to describe what characterized the wise virgins of the gospel (Matthew 25:1-13). They waited intently for the coming of the heavenly bridegroom. They were wise because they responded to God’s offer of closeness to himself, because they remained ready to take the part that the bridegroom had assigned to them. The wisdom of God is still accessible to us today, indeed more accessible than ever before. We have been given the life of God’s own Son to live. Through His church, the Lord has made known to us His plans for the world and for the community of faith. Each one of us has been touched by the hand of God in baptism and the other sacraments. Through the availability of the word of God in Scripture, we are given the wherewithal to understand and appreciate the providence and the kindness of the Lord. In our weekly Sunday community gathering we learn to be attentive to God’s word and to unite ourselves with Christ in praise and thanksgiving and self- gift to the Father. It all involves wisdom, because it all involves God’s outreach to those He loves and our response. Wisdom is not some inert quality that we acquire once and for all. It is a habit of the mind, a way of seeing things that comes to us and grows in us a little at a time. One might say that the purpose of the Christian life is the pursuit of wisdom. Our reading assures us that wisdom does not play hard to get. Wisdom wants to be accessible to us. But we have to be willing to accept the gift when God offers it to us and as God offers it to us. For reflection and discussion** Who is the wisest person I know? Why? Have I grown in wisdom over the years?

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