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Thursday – Thirty-second week – OT1
Readings: Wis 7:22b-8:1; Lk 17:20-25.
1/ Reading I: RSV Wisdom 7:22 For in her there is a spirit that is intelligent, holy, unique, manifold, subtle, mobile, clear, unpolluted, distinct, invulnerable, loving the good, keen, irresistible,
23 beneficent, humane, steadfast, sure, free from anxiety, all-powerful, overseeing all, and penetrating through all spirits that are intelligent and pure and most subtle.
24 For wisdom is more mobile than any motion; because of her pureness she pervades and penetrates all things.
25 For she is a breath of the power of God, and a pure emanation of the glory of the Almighty; therefore, nothing defiled gains entrance into her.
26 For she is a reflection of eternal light, a spotless mirror of the working of God, and an image of his goodness.
27 Though she is but one, she can do all things, and while remaining in herself, she renews all things; in every generation she passes into holy souls and makes them friends of God, and prophets.
28 for God loves nothing so much as the man who lives with wisdom.
29 For she is more beautiful than the sun and excels every constellation of the stars. Compared with the light she is found to be superior,
30 for it is succeeded by the night, but against wisdom evil does not prevail.
8:1 She reaches mightily from one end of the earth to the other, and she orders all things well.
2/ Gospel: RSV Luke 17:20 Being asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God was coming, he answered them, “The kingdom of God is not coming with signs to be observed;
21 nor will they say, `Lo, here it is!’ or `There!’ for behold, the kingdom of God is in the midst of you.”
22 And he said to the disciples, “The days are coming when you will desire to see one of the days of the Son of man, and you will not see it.
23 And they will say to you, `Lo, there!’ or `Lo, here!’ Do not go, do not follow them.
24 For as the lightning flashes and lights up the sky from one side to the other, so will the Son of man be in his day.
25 But first he must suffer many things and be rejected by this generation.”
I. THEME: The wisdom of God
In life, we can recognize two kinds of people. One kind of people likes outside activities, evaluates everything according to worldly standard, and loves temporal results. These people are easily deceived by devil and the world. Other kind of people lives according to the depth of their mind, evaluates everything according to God’s standard, and loves lasting results. These wise people are hardly misled by devil and the world.
Today readings emphasize the necessary of acquiring God’s wisdom. It helps people to rightly evaluate everything that happens in life. In the first reading, the author of the Book of Wisdom listed out twenty-one lovely qualities of the divine wisdom. If one possesses wisdom, he has everything; none can mislead him. In the Gospel, Jesus warned his disciples not to be misled by rumors about the kingdom of God and the second coming of the Messiah. The kingdom of God is not an outside sign that one can see, and as the lightning flashes and lights up the sky from one side to the other, so will the Son of Man be in his day. The disciples can use wisdom to look deeply in their souls to know if the Messiah has completely come to them or not.
II. ANALYSIS:
1/ Reading I: For God loves nothing more than the man who lives with wisdom.
1.1/ The qualities of wisdom: The author gave us twenty-one lovely qualities of the wisdom. The number twenty-one is the effect of perfectly increasing of the number seven and the number three, representing the mystery of the Trinity. These qualities are: “intelligent, holy, unique, manifold, subtle, mobile, clear, unpolluted, distinct, invulnerable, loving the good, keen, irresistible, beneficent, humane, steadfast, sure, free from anxiety, all-powerful, overseeing all, and penetrating through all spirits that are intelligent and pure and most subtle.”
Many authors of Scripture personified and identified the wisdom with Christ, he is the Word of God. The next three verses of today passage confirmed this comparison.
(1) According to St. John, “all things were made through him, and without him was not anything made that was made” (Jn 1:3). The author of the Book of Wisdom described: “For wisdom is more mobile than any motion; because of her pureness she pervades and penetrates all things.”
(2) The author of Ephesians called Christ God’s unblemished lamb, and God “chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him” (Eph 1:4). The author of Wisdom described: “For she is a breath of the power of God, and a pure emanation of the glory of the Almighty; therefore, nothing defiled gains entrance into her.”
(3) The author of Colossians described Christ: “Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature” (Col 1:15). The author of Wisdom explained: “For she is a reflection of eternal light, a spotless mirror of the working of God, and an image of his goodness.” In the Gospel of John, Jesus himself revealed to Philip: “He who has seen me has seen the Father” (Jn 14:9).
1.2/ The effects of wisdom: With all of the twenty-one qualities of the wisdom, nothing is impossible for the wisdom.
(1) She can do all things: “Though she is but one, she can do all things, and while remaining in herself, she renews all things; in every generation she passes into holy souls and makes them friends of God, and prophets.”
(2) She can permeate and overcome all darkness of life, not a single darkness can overcome her, “For she is more beautiful than the sun, and excels every constellation of the stars. Compared with the light she is found to be superior, for it is succeeded by the night, but against wisdom evil does not prevail.”
(3) She successfully governs everything: “She reaches mightily from one end of the earth to the other, and she orders all things well.”
2/ Gospel: “Behold, the kingdom of God is in the midst of you.”
2.1/ When does the kingdom of God come? All the main verbs in verses 20 and 21 were used in the present tense. This shows that Luke wanted readers to differentiate between the kingdom of God coming into the world and the second coming of Christ in the next four verses. The kingdom of God has come in the world with Christ’s coming.
– To recognize the kingdom of God, one cannot rely on the outside sign as Jesus declared: “The kingdom of God is not coming with signs to be observed; nor will they say, `Lo, here it is!’ or `There!’”
– The kingdom of God is in the midst of you: Christ is God’s Messiah. When one recognizes Christ and believes in him, the kingdom of God has come to that person.
2.2/ When will be Christ’s second coming? The main verbs of the next three verses, 22-24, were used in the future tense. Verse 25 is the prediction, Jesus foretold what will be happening to him in the near future. About the second coming of Christ, Jesus declared:
– No one knows the time when it will happen: “The days are coming… they will say to you, `Lo, there!’ or `Lo, here!’ Do not go, do not follow them.”
– No one knows the place where it will happen: “For as the lightning flashes and lights up the sky from one side to the other, so will the Son of man be in his day.”
– The disciples knew what will happen to Jesus in the near future: “But first he must suffer many things and be rejected by this generation.” When the disciples witnessed these things happened to Jesus, they knew the kingdom of God has come to the world. After that, Jesus was taken away from them. Then, at that time, they desire to see one of the days of the Son of man, and they will no longer see it.
III. APPLICATION IN LIFE:
– Above all things we should learn and pray to have the wisdom of God, which is Christ, to be in our mind. Once we possess him, we can do all things and overcome all temptations of life.
– The kingdom of God does not come from outside so we can recognize it as worldly kingdoms; but we can recognize the kingdom of God in us by the inside signs such as: repentance, believing in Christ, and living in charity with all people.