Word to the Wise
Monday, February 12, 2024 - Monday in the 6th Week in Ordinary Time
[Jas 1:1-11 and Mark 8:11-13]Consider it all joy, my brothers and sisters, 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 ber 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. [James]
Wisdom and perseverance are virtues that have been very much a part of my own life and certainly the lives of the many college students I have encountered in my years in campus ministry. The challenge is found in having the wisdom TO persevere when the challenges and woes are considerable. I have found that reflecting on one's experience to see what lessons can be learned is a great way to prepare for the next challenge. This can be done by one's self or with the help of a wise counselor. The process is one that also calls for perseverance because recalling a difficult experience, especially when it is fresh - broken relationship, academic woes, vocation, financial problems, children, you name it - can be painful. It can be hard to "relive" the experience! The Letter of James assures us that praying for wisdom is guaranteed to get a positive response.
I have had the experience in pastoral life of responding to a particular challenge in a way that helped and wondering HOW did I know to respond in that particular way? The only explanation I could come up with is that the Good Lord provided the wisdom and common sense that was needed at the time. Today the Letter of James urges us to have confidence that God will do that for any of us who ask in faith. AMEN