Friday, October 24, 2014

Divine Wisdom

To begin, let's take a look at James 1:2-8:
“Consider it all joy, my brothers, when you encounter various trials, for you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance.
And let perseverance be perfect, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.
But if any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God who gives to all generously and ungrudgingly, and he will be given it.
But he should ask in faith, not doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed about by the wind.
For that person must not suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord, since he is a man of two minds, unstable in all his ways.”
 
Wisdom is “a spiritual gift which enables one to know the purpose and plan of God.”  The NAB Bible footnotes defines it as, “a gift that God readily grants to all who ask in faith and that sustains the Christian in times of trial.  It is a kind of knowledge or understanding not accessible to the unbeliever or those who doubt, which gives the recipient an understanding of the real importance of events.  In this way a Christian can deal with adversity with great calm and hope.”
 
In other words, this virtue of Mary, Divine Wisdom, is a gift which can only be given to us from God.  It is a wisdom which we cannot earn or gain by our own energies.  It is available to us ALL through the Holy Spirit, which we have received at Baptism and Confirmation.  When we submit ourselves in humility and obedience before the Lord, and ask Him to share with us His mysterious ways so that we may KNOW His will, we have all the tools in our hearts, minds, and souls to gain the gift of Divine Wisdom.  
 
In this verse from St. James, he gives us a sequence.  Testing produces perseverance.  What is a “test of faith”?  A “trial” or a suffering; an inconvenience of varying degrees.  It could be small, like encountering a downpour in our commute home from work.  It could be large like an illness or loss of a job.  St. James tells us that in these times we must let our perseverance be perfect, lacking in nothing.  He doesn’t say the WE must be perfect, but that our perseverance, in faith, must be perfect.  WE MUST NOT GIVE UP ON OUR FAITH; MUST NOT GIVE UP ON JESUS.
But then he kind of comes out of left field and says, “But if anyone lacks wisdom, he should ask God…” What does this mean? I think it means that James, first of all, understands human nature quite well!  If we apply our definition of wisdom from earlier to this verse, then James is saying that if anyone lacks the knowledge and purpose of God’s plan, then we must ask that He grant it to us.  

Last week, Liliana spoke to us about Blind Obedience.  We must be obedient to God the Father and what HE wants for us.  And we must submit to various human authorities placed in our lives.  So we learned that we must echo Mary’s “Fiat” and say, “May it be done unto me according to thy word”.  But before we can say “yes” to God, we must KNOW what it is He is asking of us, and that is where the virtue of Divine Wisdom comes into play.  

When we are enduring “testing” or trials in our lives, James is telling us that we must ask God for the gift of wisdom to KNOW and understand His plan.  Because, like I said, it is part of our human nature to want to KNOW and UNDERSTAND God’s plan for our lives. This is Good News sisters!  God does not desire that we suffer through events in our life while being in darkness.  He wants to give us insight into His mind.  We must not be afraid to ask God ANYTHING.  
Now, does the gift of Divine Wisdom mean that we will get ALL our questions answers and that we will be given full to God’s mind?  Probably not.  But, I really do believe, that we will be given wisdom enough to help get us THROUGH the trial at hand.  

Let’s turn to this verse from St. Paul to the Ephesians:
“In Christ we have redemption by his Blood,
the forgiveness of transgressions,
in accord with the riches of his grace that he lavished upon us.
In all wisdom and insight, he has made known to us
the mystery of his will in accord with his favor
that he set forth in him as a plan for the fullness of times,
to sum up all things in Christ, in heaven and on earth.”

God’s wisdom is his plan for our salvation. This was his own eternal secret that no one else could fathom, but in this new age of salvation he has graciously revealed it to us. For the pattern of God’s secret, hidden to others and now revealed to the Church

The wisdom of God is summed up in Jesus; specifically Jesus on the Cross and His Resurrection.  In fact, a title for Jesus is the “Incarnate Wisdom”.  So, when we are going through trial and temptation, when we feel as if we are sitting in darkness, we must let the Cross be a light of Divine Wisdom for us. If you are ever struggling to understand God’s plan and purpose for you, then I suggest sitting in a Church, before the tabernacle, or even better, in Adoration, and think about Christ’s death.  Think about his VICTORY over death as He rose from the tomb on the the third day.  

God’s wisdom is the Cross.  That blows my mind.  If there is any “secret” He would ever whisper in our ear, it is that.  “For God so loved the world that he sent his only son…”;  “My grace is sufficient for you; for my power is made perfect in weakness” 2 Cor. 12:9.  
 
We often think that to be “wise” is to have so many wonderful things to say and insight to give; to always offer great advice or make good decisions.  But, ultimately, to be “wise” is to know Christ! And, Mary, certainly KNEW wisdom.  She carried Divine Wisdom inside of her and got to “know” God and His plan in a very intimate way.  

There are a few more points to be made about Divine Wisdom, especially Mary’s Divine Wisdom:

For fourteen years Mary prepared herself by prayer to receive him in her womb. Tradition tells us that Mary was consecrated to the service of the Temple at a young age, probably when she was weaned.  She was similar to Anna, spending day and night in the Temple.  Tradition also tells us it was then that she made the commitment to remain a virgin her whole life.  14 years of prayer and physical preparation for what God in store for her; she had to become ready to receive the Incarnate Wisdom, Jesus.  Solomon received Wisdom only after praying most fervently for a long time: "I went to the Lord and besought him, and I said with all my heart... Give me that Wisdom that sits by your throne." (Wis 8.21; 9.4)  Again, if we turn our attention to the verse from James, he tells us, “If any of you lacks wisdom let him ask God, and ir shall be given him, for God gives his gifts to all men abundantly and ungrudgingly." (Jas 1.5) God won’t grant us the gift of knowing His plan until we are ready.
Secondly, we must pray for it with a pure faith, not counting on consolations, visions or special revelations. Although such things may be good and true, as they have been in some saints, it is always dangerous to rely on them. For the more our faith is dependent on these extraordinary graces and feelings, the less pure and meritorious it is.
Lastly, we must not grow tired of asking for Wisdom.  Many people wonder why we must ask God for things when He knows what we already need.  But, in asking Him, we humble ourselves and admit that we need Him. That is why we must be persistent in asking, and asking with faith.  Wisdom is a gift from the Lord and we need Him to bless us with it.  

Nadine Brown in her book, “Bathe 7 Times” describes wisdom as seeing things “from God’s point of view”.  She describes how it is like going up on the wings of an eagle to see the whole panorama that we otherwise could not see from our own little perspective.  She also points out that surrender is at the heart of the gift of Wisdom.  Mary did not receive the Incarnate Wisdom until she surrendered her will to the Father’s.  And once we surrender, we receive Wisdom and have union with Him.  This is what we pray for in the Our Father when we pray, “Thy Kingdom Come”.  We ask for Wisdom to come into us so that we can see His Kingdom at work in our lives!


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