Word to the Wise
Wednesday, September 18, 2019 - Wednesday in the 24th Week in Ordinary Time
[1 Tim 3:14-16 and Luke 7:31-35]"To what shall I compare the people of this generation? What are they like? They are like children who sit in the marketplace and call to one another, 'We played the flute for you, but you did not dance. We sang a dirge, but you did not weep.'" [Luke]
SEPTEMBER 18 ST. JUAN MACIAS, o.p.
It is a wise leader who can accept the fact that he or she will never be able to please all of the people all of the time. In fact it may not even be possible to please some of the people even some of the time. One need only to go back to Moses and the Israelites in the desert to find an ancient example. Jesus seems to reflect on this in the midst of his ministry. No matter who came to preach, people were ready to criticize. John the Baptist was rejected by the religious authorities as "possessed" by a demon because of his ascetic practices. Jesus was criticized for being lax because he liked to eat and drink with "tax collectors and sinners." The real problem was that those who rejected John or Jesus were not really interested in hearing anyone who threatened their way of living. It didn't matter who preached.
Scripture scholars debate the meaning of the last line in this gospel scripture, "But wisdom is vindicated by all her children." I think it means the wise ones are the ones who do listen to a wise leader. Wisdom is vindicated by her wise children who listen to and live by wisdom. Jesus is the ultimate wisdom and we would be wise to listen and follow him. AMEN