20180919
LOVE IS THE KEY TO
WISDOM AND UNDERSTANDING
19 SEPTEMBER,
2018, Wednesday, 24th Week, Ordinary Time
Readings at Mass
Liturgical Colour:
Green.
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First reading
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The supremacy of charity
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Be ambitious for the higher gifts. And I
am going to show you a way that is better than any of them.
If
I have all the eloquence of men or of angels, but speak without love, I am
simply a gong booming or a cymbal clashing. If I have the gift of prophecy,
understanding all the mysteries there are, and knowing everything, and if I
have faith in all its fullness, to move mountains, but without love, then I am
nothing at all. If I give away all that I possess, piece by piece, and if I
even let them take my body to burn it, but am without love, it will do me no
good whatever.
Love
is always patient and kind; it is never jealous; love is never boastful or
conceited; it is never rude or selfish; it does not take offence, and is not
resentful. Love takes no pleasure in other people’s sins but delights in the
truth; it is always ready to excuse, to trust, to hope, and to endure whatever
comes.
Love
does not come to an end. But if there are gifts of prophecy, the time will come
when they must fail; or the gift of languages, it will not continue for ever;
and knowledge – for this, too, the time will come when it must fail. For
our knowledge is imperfect and our prophesying is imperfect; but once
perfection comes, all imperfect things will disappear. When I was a child, I
used to talk like a child, and think like a child, and argue like a child, but
now I am a man, all childish ways are put behind me. Now we are seeing a dim
reflection in a mirror; but then we shall be seeing face to face. The knowledge
that I have now is imperfect; but then I shall know as fully as I am known.
In
short, there are three things that last: faith, hope and love; and the greatest
of these is love.
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Responsorial Psalm
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Happy the people the
Lord has chosen as his own.
Give thanks to the Lord upon the harp,
with a ten-stringed lute sing
him songs.
O sing him a song that is new,
play loudly, with all your
skill.
Happy the people the
Lord has chosen as his own.
For the word of the Lord is faithful
and all his works to be
trusted.
The Lord loves justice and right
and fills the earth with his
love.
Happy the people the
Lord has chosen as his own.
They are happy, whose God is the Lord,
the people he has chosen as
his own.
May your love be upon us, O Lord,
as we place all our hope in
you.
Happy the people the
Lord has chosen as his own.
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Gospel Acclamation
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cf.1Th2:13
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Alleluia, alleluia!
Accept God’s message for what it really
is:
God’s message, and not some human
thinking.
Alleluia!
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Or:
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cf.Jn6:63,68
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Alleluia, alleluia!
Your words are spirit, Lord, and they are
life;
you have the message of eternal life.
Alleluia!
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Gospel
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'We played the pipes, and you wouldn't
dance'
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Jesus said to the people:
‘What
description can I find for the men of this generation? What are they like? They
are like children shouting to one another while they sit in the market-place:
‘“We played the pipes for you,
and you wouldn’t dance;
we sang dirges,
and you wouldn’t cry.”
‘For John the Baptist comes, not eating
bread, not drinking wine, and you say, “He is possessed.” The Son of Man comes,
eating and drinking, and you say, “Look, a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of
tax collectors and sinners.” Yet Wisdom has been proved right by all her
children.’
LOVE IS THE KEY TO WISDOM AND UNDERSTANDING
There are many questions
in life for which we seek answers.
Many of us have questions regarding their faith and the existence of God.
We wonder whether He loves us and cares for us, or even if He could help us at
all. We cannot understand why we have to suffer and why there is so much
innocent and senseless suffering in the world. We also feel powerless to
do good, and even if we do, we end up doing evil and selfish things. No
matter how we search, we know that every answer is inadequate and
imperfect. This was how St Paul felt when he wrote, “When I was a child,
I used to talk like a child, and think like a child, and argue like a child,
but now I am a man, all childish ways are put behind me. Now we are
seeing a dim reflection in a mirror; but them we shall be seeing face to face.
The knowledge that I have now is imperfect; but then I shall know as fully as I
am known.”
Indeed, in this life, we
can never have the full answers to the mysteries of life. Our minds are finite and
limited. We will never be able to comprehend everything even if they are
revealed to us because we do not have the capacity to understand, just like a
child who does not understand why his or her parents make him or her do certain
things. When compared to the mind of God, our minds are like little children.
St Paul exclaimed, “O the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God!
How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways! ‘For who
has known the mind of the Lord? Or who has been his counselor? Or who has given
a gift to him, to receive a gift in return?’ For from him and through him
and to him are all things. To him be the glory forever. Amen.” (Rom 11:33-36) Like St Paul, we can only surrender in faith to
the mystery of God’s plan and love for us.
It is not the answers to
our intellectual questions that we ultimately need, so long as we are assured
that we are safe and secure in love. We look for answer after answer simply
because we do not trust God enough to surrender our lives to Him. In the
same way, if we do not trust someone, we will always be suspicious and keep
asking what he is doing or where he is. We will keep checking on that person
because we are unsure of the person’s love and fidelity. However, if we
know that the person loves us above everything else and will protect us in
love, then all questions and doubts will cease. When there is an
assurance of love, all the questions become secondary. One does not need
to know all about the person in order to love. One only needs to know
that the person loves us for us to entrust our life to that person.
So too, it is, in our
relationship with God. When we know that God loves us, we will stop
asking all the intellectual questions about Him. Those of us who keep doubting God and
asking questions are simply saying that we do not know Him well enough to
entrust our lives to Him because He might not even exist, much less that He
loves us. St Paul makes it clear, “among the mature we do speak wisdom,
though it is not a wisdom of this age or of the rulers of this age, who are
doomed to perish. But we speak God’s wisdom, secret and hidden, which God
decreed before the ages for our glory.” (1 Cor 2:6f) For this reason, St Paul remarks, “there are three
things that last: faith, hope and love; and the greatest of these is
love.” When there is love, our faith in Him is strong and our hope is
certain. Only faith, hope and love give us the grace to persevere in
times of difficulties and trials. Love pulls faith and hope
together in this journey of life. So long as there is love, we will
continue to keep our faith in God or in anyone whom we love, never giving up hope
in God or in anyone.
It is love that enables
us to see life from the perspective of our beloved. Love is not self-centered but
always focused on the other. “It is never jealous; love is never boastful
or conceited; it is never rude or selfish.” Love makes us able to enter
into the other person’s life. Such a love is always non-judgmental and always
understanding. Even when the person fails us, love is always patient and
kind. Indeed, St Paul says that love “does not take offence, and is not
resentful. Love takes no pleasure in other people’s sins but delights in
the truth; it is always ready to excuse, to trust, to hope, and to endure
whatever comes.” Love therefore is the key to enter into the heart and
mind of our beloved. Instead of judging them from our vantage point, we
see them the way they look at themselves and their life.
When we lack this kind
of love, then we become judgmental and inconsistent, like the religious leaders
during the time of Jesus.
They were not ready to accept the love of God and His Word spoken through John
the Baptist or Jesus. They were always finding excuses and rationalizing
to reject the truth spoken by them. “For John the Baptist comes, not
eating bread, not drinking wine, and you say, ‘He is possessed.’ The Son
of Man comes, eating and drinking, and you say, ‘Look, a glutton and a
drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners.'” Jesus likened them to
children in the market square shouting to one another, “We played the pipes for
you, and you wouldn’t dance; we sang dirges, and you wouldn’t cry.” Their
wisdom was the human wisdom of the world. It was not the wisdom that came
from their love of God.
This also explains why
many of us do not know how to truly love, because our love lacks trust. For many people love is reducible
to having gifts from their loved ones. We need tangible signs
for us to encounter the love of someone. Like the Corinthians, we seek to
have more and more gifts, and we think that the gifts we receive is love
itself. But it is not the gifts that we need, what we need is love
itself. Gifts are important, but they are just signs. St Paul
wrote, “But if there are gifts of prophecy, the time will come when they must
fail; or the gift of languages, it will not continue for ever; and knowledge –
for this too, the time will come when it must fail. For our knowledge is
imperfect and our prophesying is imperfect; but once perfection comes, all
imperfect things will disappear.”
Consequently, St Paul
urges us, “Be ambitious for the higher gifts. And I am going to show you
a way that is better than any of them.” The only gift that can fulfill and
complete us is when we have the love of God in our hearts. Otherwise, “If
I have all the eloquence of men or of angels, but speak without love, I am
simply a gong booming or a cymbal clashing. If I have the gift of prophecy,
understanding all the mysteries there are, and knowing everything, and if I
have faith in all its fullness, to move mountains, but without love, then I am
nothing at all. If I give away all that I possess, piece by piece, and if
I even let them take my body to burn it, but am without love, it will do me no
good whatever.” When there is love, we are always happy. The
gifts we possess are means for us to express the love in our hearts when we
share them with others. Unless the gifts come from a heart of love, they
will only be used to manipulate others for our self-interests and insecurity.
To find the greatest
love in life is to find Christ. The true wisdom is God’s love for us in
Christ crucified.
This is what the Lord prophesied, “Yet wisdom has been proved right by all her
children.” St Paul wrote, “Jews demand signs and Greeks desire wisdom, but
we proclaim Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to
Gentiles, but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the
power of God and the wisdom of God.” (1 Cor 1:22-24) Christ’s love is captured in St
Paul’s poem of love. His love is unconditional and forgiving. His
love is enduring and faithful. When we experience such love, we can
surrender our lives completely to Him as St Paul did. With the
psalmist, we say, “They are happy, whose God is the Lord, the people he has
chosen as his own. May your love be upon us, O Lord, as we place all our hope
in you.”
Written
by The Most Rev William Goh, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore © All
Rights Reserved
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