Word to the Wise
Friday, March 23, 2007 - Thursday of the Fourth Week of Lent (St.Turibius of Mogrovejo)
[Wisdom 2:1A, 12-22 and John 7:1-2, 10, 25-30][The just one] professes to have knowledge of God and styles himself a child of the Lord. To us he is the censure of our thoughts; merely to see him is a hardship for us, because his life is not like that of others, and different are his ways. He judges us debased; he holds aloof from our paths as from things impure. He calls blest the destiny of the just and boasts that God is his Father.
FRIDAY, MARCH 23, 2007 FRIDAY OF THE FOURTH WEEK OF LENT (St. Turibius of Mogrovejo) [Wisdom 2:1A, 12-22 and John 7:1-2, 10, 25-30] [The just one] professes to have knowledge of God and styles himself a child of the Lord. To us he is the censure of our thoughts; merely to see him is a hardship for us, because his life is not like that of others, and different are his ways. He judges us debased; he holds aloof from our paths as from things impure. He calls blest the destiny of the just and boasts that God is his Father. When the early Christian community sought to find the meaning of the life, death and resurrection of Jesus in sources that were familiar to them, the words from the Book of Wisdom in today's first scripture surely had to be haunting! (see also the sections of Isaiah on the "Suffering Servant.") Although Wisdom is speaking about any good person of integrity, the words certainly described the life and death of Jesus. He became a threat to wicked people who "with revilement and torture put him to the test." They condemned him "to a shameful death." Suffering for the sake of faith is nothing new in Christian history. Although it does not happen really often publicly in our American society, suffering because of faith can happen in many small ways when people make cutting remarks about Catholics or the Catholic Church. It can happen when bystanders become abusive of those who demonstrate at abortion clinics or against the current government and its policies (whenever that may be - from Lyndon Johnson about Vietnam to George W. Bush about Iraq!). There is something about a person of integrity and faith that makes less faithful people desirous of testing them to see if they're "really human." Of course they're human. They're simply a threat to folks of lesser integrity! The Book of Wisdom offers us a chance to consider our own integrity of faith and conduct and that of others whom we admire. Prayer for integrity and steadfastness is an intention well worth the words and breath. AMEN
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