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Reflections
for Sunday, August 16, 2009
Wisdom is our focus today in this Sunday celebration of the Eucharist. It
is so clear from the first reading, which comes from the Book of Proverbs.
We have to reflect first on Wisdom and then think about how the teachings
of Jesus in Chapter 6 of the Gospel of John are wisdom teachings.
The Book of Proverbs gives us teachings about how to live a practical life
of faith-which for our ancestors in faith would have been called a life of
wisdom. Today I am not sure that we consider the person wise who knows how
to live the faith in difficult circumstances. The person is truly wise who
knows how to live the life of faith. So much of modern culture thinks of
wisdom as the way to outsmart everyone else and get more of the values of
this world: money, power and sex.
A wise person is one who knows how to live his or her faith in every
circumstance, in a way that is gracious and does not draw undue attention
to oneself. Wisdom, as a gift of God, is always inviting us to live more
and more completely this mystery of God's presence in our midst.
In Chapter 6 of Saint John's Gospel today, Jesus tells us about true
wisdom: to know that He, Jesus, is the bread of life; to know that He,
Jesus, is sent by the Father; to know that we must eat the flesh of Jesus
and drink His blood; to know that if we feed on Jesus, we will have life
eternal. These are all such strong statements!
Today wisdom invites us to live in her house. Today we are invited to
know the wisdom taught by Jesus. Today we are invited to eat the body of
Jesus and drink His blood-here, in this Eucharist. We are invited to
believe in His own words: This is my body, this is my blood. We are
invited to believe that there is everlasting life and that we can have that
gift through faith.
The second reading today, from the Letter to the Ephesians once again,
reminds us that we must not live in ignorance-this is the opposite of
wisdom-but must seek the will of God in our lives! And we must give
thanks-always.
O how wondrous is this mystery! O how great the gift of faith! Even
greater is this God who loves us so much. Let us thank the Father for
sending His Son and giving us the gift of the Holy Spirit. Praise to our
God, one and three, forevermore. Amen.
Readings of the day:
First Reading:
Second Reading:
Gospel:
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Reflections are available for the following Sundays:
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