Thirty-second Sunday in Ordinary Time
Wisdom 6: 12-16
Resplendent and unfading is wisdom,
and she is readily perceived by those who love her, and found by those who seek her.
She hastens to make herself known in anticipation of their desire;
Whoever watches for her at dawn shall not be disappointed, for he shall find her sitting by his gate.
For taking thought of wisdom is the perfection of prudence,
and whoever for her sake keeps vigil shall quickly be free from care;
because she makes her own rounds, seeking those worthy of her,
and graciously appears to them in the ways, and meets them with all solicitude.
Psalm 63
R. (2b) My soul is thirsting for you, O Lord my God.
O God, you are my God whom I seek;
for you my flesh pines and my soul thirsts
like the earth, parched, lifeless and without water.
Thus have I gazed toward you in the sanctuary
to see your power and your glory,
For your kindness is a greater good than life;
my lips shall glorify you.
Thus will I bless you while I live;
lifting up my hands, I will call upon your name.
As with the riches of a banquet shall my soul be satisfied,
and with exultant lips my mouth shall praise you.
I will remember you upon my couch,
and through the night-watches I will meditate on you:
You are my help,
and in the shadow of your wings I shout for joy.
1 Thessalonians 4:13-18
We do not want you to be unaware, brothers and sisters, about those who have fallen asleep,
so that you may not grieve like the rest, who have no hope.
For if we believe that Jesus died and rose,
so too will God, through Jesus, bring with him those who have fallen asleep.
Indeed, we tell you this, on the word of the Lord,
that we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord,
will surely not precede those who have fallen asleep.
For the Lord himself, with a word of command,
with the voice of an archangel and with the trumpet of God,
will come down from heaven, and the dead in Christ will rise first.
Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds
to meet the Lord in the air.
Thus we shall always be with the Lord.
Therefore, console one another with these words.
Matthew 24:42
Stay awake and be ready!
For you do not know on what day your Lord will come.
Matthew 25:1-13
Jesus told his disciples this parable:
"The kingdom of heaven will be like ten virgins
who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom.
Five of them were foolish and five were wise.
The foolish ones, when taking their lamps, brought no oil with them,
but the wise brought flasks of oil with their lamps.
Since the bridegroom was long delayed, they all became drowsy and fell asleep.
At midnight, there was a cry, ‘Behold, the bridegroom! Come out to meet him!’
Then all those virgins got up and trimmed their lamps.
The foolish ones said to the wise, ‘Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out.’
But the wise ones replied,
'No, for there may not be enough for us and you. Go instead to the merchants and buy some for yourselves.’
While they went off to buy it,
the bridegroom came and those who were ready went into the wedding feast with him.
Then the door was locked.
Afterwards the other virgins came and said, ‘Lord, Lord, open the door for us!’
But he said in reply, ‘Amen, I say to you, I do not know you.’
Therefore, stay awake, for you know neither the day nor the hour."
A few days ago Marian sent me an email to say she was having computer problems and could someone else do the reflection for this Sunday. One look at the readings and I jumped at the opportunity because I'd been working on the following Sunday and getting nowhere. Seeing the selected readings together made me realise that both Sundays share the theme of wisdom. The year is brought to a close on a very positive note. We are invited to contemplate the fulness of life that is available to us in the gift of the Spirit.
Now we see, as in a mirror, a foggy and confused image of reality, but the day will come when we will see clearly. We will see God face to face and we will know God as we ourselves are known. It's the most exciting prospect I could imagine. Beyond what I could imagine in fact. Paul was carried away with the idea. With all the talk of mysticism perhaps we should look at his experience more often. If ever there was a rugged practical hands-on bloke it is Paul, and yet he saw and understood and lived the mystical dimension and took it all in his stride.
Wisdom is personified as a wonderful lady waiting outside, waiting at the gate for those who will be up at dawn after a night of watching. 'I sleep, but my heart watches.' That struck me as odd when I first heard it a very long time ago , but it's valid all right. You can sleep soundly and be alert throughout the night to the presence of the one in whom we have being. Watching, wondering, wishing, waiting, and then walking quietly forward along a path that opens in front of you.
Why does 'wisdom' get such little attention in our tradition, I wonder. Then the answer comes crashing in: it would be very unwise to think of oneself as wise enough to talk about wisdom! Catch 22. But in fact we do talk about the ways of wisdom under a variety of other names. One is 'detachment'. Francis shared with us some thoughts on detachment (which I hope he will post below). It is a matter of letting go of all we have and learning the peace of just being in the One Being who is all in all.
None of those are easy words or phrases. They can be off-putting gobbledegook. But all the great spiritual traditions see detachment, letting go, getting free of the need to possess things and even people, as the key. In other words, to be detached from things is wisdom. Or, from the reverse side, the height of stupidity is to think that having things will be fulfilling. When I've got everything I'll be content. Thinking to find my identity in my self and what I can make of my self and what I can accumulate around my self: all this is vanity, emptiness.
The early monks went out into the desert to detach themselves from what the world has to offer. When their influence seeped back into mainstream church it was soon expressed as three vows - to be poor, to be unmarried, and to have no will of one's own. Noble expressions of detachment but as it turned out not wise methods of growing in wisdom. After years of working at it a great Carmelite like John of the Cross could sum it up as Nada! Nada! Nada! If you want everything strive to have nothing. But you cannot want nothing! Nor can you make somebody detached by having them make vows in early life. Progress towards wisdom is gradual, slow and often faltering. We learn by our mistakes, so make sure to live in an environment that allows for mistakes.
Wisdom seems to come with age to some people, which makes me ask whether the older generations in our world realise the treasure they have to share? And do younger generations realise the importance of listening to older folk? There's special art in listening to the elderly, quite different from listening to a lecture or the latest news bulletin. For a start the elderly are mostly wise enough to know they have nothing to say that will be of any use to you. There's already a flash of gold in that: whatever you gain it will not be something you can use, or misuse for that matter. So you have to work out how to absorb some nourishment from your conversation, since you won't have many facts to take home.
There's a lot of wisdom flowing through this forum. I wish it could be made available more widely. Is this something that needs doing: to develop in society ways in which the wisdom of the older ones can be flowing through to the policy makers of today? Other societies are said to have great respect for the elderly; we have been shamed to recognise our total disdain for them in the exposure of the faults of our Aged Care system.
In the book of Proverbs (ch 9) Wisdom is portrayed as setting out a banquet to which those who are 'simple' are invited. Perhaps this Hebrew term could best be translated as 'open-minded' or 'ready to learn', though nearly all the translations keep to 'simple', some even going as far as 'naive' or 'foolish'. I think today the quality of 'being always ready to learn more' is well respected. I'd like to suggest it needs to be balanced over against the wonder that wisdom is offered freely. If only we would surrender our headstrong self and acknowledge our need to be taught.
Waiting, listening, being open and ready to receive: are these the most important qualities for an educated person to develop? I'm sure others here have much to say. Perhaps my stumbling efforts can be an invitation to explore further the richness of wisdom and how todevelop an appetite for wisdom.