20200903 HUMILITY THE KEY TO THE WISDOM OF GOD
03 September, 2020, Thursday, 22nd Week, Ordinary Time
Readings at Mass
Liturgical Colour: White.
These are the readings for the feria
First reading |
1 Corinthians 3:18-23 © |
The wisdom of the world is foolishness to God
Make no mistake about it: if any one of you thinks of himself as wise, in the ordinary sense of the word, then he must learn to be a fool before he really can be wise. Why? Because the wisdom of this world is foolishness to God. As scripture says: The Lord knows wise men’s thoughts: he knows how useless they are; or again: God is not convinced by the arguments of the wise. So there is nothing to boast about in anything human: Paul, Apollos, Cephas, the world, life and death, the present and the future, are all your servants; but you belong to Christ and Christ belongs to God.
Responsorial Psalm |
Psalm 23(24):1-6 © |
The Lord’s is the earth and its fullness.
The Lord’s is the earth and its fullness,
the world and all its peoples.
It is he who set it on the seas;
on the waters he made it firm.
The Lord’s is the earth and its fullness.
Who shall climb the mountain of the Lord?
Who shall stand in his holy place?
The man with clean hands and pure heart,
who desires not worthless things.
The Lord’s is the earth and its fullness.
He shall receive blessings from the Lord
and reward from the God who saves him.
Such are the men who seek him,
seek the face of the God of Jacob.
The Lord’s is the earth and its fullness.
Gospel Acclamation | cf.2Thess2:14 |
Alleluia, alleluia!
Through the Good News God called us
to share the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Alleluia!
Or: | Mt4:19 |
Alleluia, alleluia!
Follow me, says the Lord,
and I will make you into fishers of men.
Alleluia!
Gospel | Luke 5:1-11 © |
They left everything and followed him
Jesus was standing one day by the Lake of Gennesaret, with the crowd pressing round him listening to the word of God, when he caught sight of two boats close to the bank. The fishermen had gone out of them and were washing their nets. He got into one of the boats – it was Simon’s – and asked him to put out a little from the shore. Then he sat down and taught the crowds from the boat.
When he had finished speaking he said to Simon, ‘Put out into deep water and pay out your nets for a catch.’ ‘Master,’ Simon replied, ‘we worked hard all night long and caught nothing, but if you say so, I will pay out the nets.’ And when they had done this they netted such a huge number of fish that their nets began to tear, so they signalled to their companions in the other boat to come and help them; when these came, they filled the two boats to sinking point.
When Simon Peter saw this he fell at the knees of Jesus saying, ‘Leave me, Lord; I am a sinful man.’ For he and all his companions were completely overcome by the catch they had made; so also were James and John, sons of Zebedee, who were Simon’s partners. But Jesus said to Simon, ‘Do not be afraid; from now on it is men you will catch.’ Then, bringing their boats back to land, they left everything and followed him.
HUMILITY THE KEY TO THE WISDOM OF GOD
SCRIPTURE READINGS: [1 CORINTHIANS 3:18-23; LUKE 5:1-11]
When we read the challenges facing the Christian community in the early Church, we can take consolation that our Church today faces similar difficulties as well. Like the early Church, we have to deal with scandals, cliques, oppositions and heresies. Because of disagreements, backbiting and exclusivity, the Christian community is divided. These issues will always be with us. Christians, even though they profess their faith in Christ, are not perfect. The Old Adam did not completely die in them. What is the greatest of all the sins of Adam? It is pride.
Indeed, the main cause of division is always pride. Pride was the cause of the fall of the Devil and of our first parents. Those of us who are intellectually proud think highly of our opinions and ourselves. We enjoy intellectual debates and all the subtleties of arguments. We want to prove to others that we know more. We are always right. Proud people think that they are so good and make themselves judges of others. They enjoy finding fault with others, pointing out their mistakes, criticizing them and putting them down. They listen to no one except themselves. They do not listen to learn but to find fault to show that they are better. Instead of looking at the content of the message, they would pay attention to the rhetoric and the delivery of the speech.
This is the worldly wisdom that St Paul was cautioning the early Christians about. In contrast, St Paul urges the Christians at Corinth to go beyond worldly wisdom to seek the wisdom of God “Make no mistake about it: if any one of who thinks of himself as wise, in the ordinary sense of the word, then he must learn to be a fool before he really can be wise. Why? Because the wisdom of this world is foolishness to God. As scripture says: The Lord knows wise men’s thoughts: he knows how useless they are: or again: God is not convinced by the arguments of the wise.” Worldly arguments cannot lead us to fullness of life. Unspiritual and worldly people cannot see the deeper reality of life.
Indeed, Paul himself was a great rabbi and teacher endowed with a string of credentials. He said, “If anyone else has reason to be confident in the flesh, I have more: circumcised on the eighth day, a member of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew born of Hebrews; as to the law, a Pharisee; as to zeal, a persecutor of the church; as to righteousness under the law, blameless. Yet whatever gains I had, these I have come to regard as loss because of Christ.” (cf Phil 3:4-8)
Indeed, Christian wisdom puts on the mind of Christ and sees everything from the perspective of the gospel. It is illogical to the world and against human wisdom. But precisely the way of the gospel contradicts the way of the world. It is the way of the cross, the way of humility and humble service. It is the way of poverty and simplicity. It is the way of total dependence on God. St Paul made it clear earlier when he said, “I did not come proclaiming the mystery of God to you in lofty words or wisdom. For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ, and him crucified. My speech and my proclamation were not with plausible words of wisdom, but with a demonstration of the Spirit and of power.” (cf 1 Cor 2:1-5) Christ chose Peter, a fisherman to be the leader of the Church, without education just like most of the other apostles. The Lord indeed worked powerfully through them when they proclaimed the gospel. Even the Sanhedrin, upon seeing “Peter and John were uneducated and ordinary men”, were amazed at their boldness “and recognized them as companions of Jesus.” (Acts 4:13)
Intellectual pride is the primary obstacle in coming to know the Wisdom of God and His power working in our lives. In contrast we have the example of Peter. He too was an experienced fisherman. When the Lord asked Peter to lay down the nets, he was hesitant too. He said, “Master, we worked hard all night long and caught nothing.” From his professional standpoint, he was certain that there was no fish. Yet, he was humble enough to listen to a carpenter telling him where to fish. Going against his professional knowledge and experience, he listened to Jesus. He said, “if you say so, I will pay out the nets.” God showed where true wisdom lies, not in man’s intellectual knowledge but in His power. For “when they had done this they netted such a huge number of fish that their nets began to tear, so they signalled to their companions in the other boat to come and help them; when these came, they filled the two boats to sinking point.” God defeated human wisdom with His divine wisdom.
Unless we are willing to surrender our wisdom to God and trust in Him, we cannot see miracles at work in our lives. This has always been the case of the miracles that Jesus performed. Those without faith in Jesus, He worked no miracles. But those who had faith in Jesus, whether it was Peter’s mother-in-law, the lepers, the blind men, the Centurion, the Synagogue Official, or the woman with hemorrhage, Jesus showed them that nothing was impossible for God, even to raise the dead back to life. Many have never seen God’s power simply because they delimit God’s power to heal and to restore life. They only trust in medicine and in doctors but not in the power of God.
Sometimes it could be due to our spiritual pride. When we think of ourselves as holier than others, we also prevent ourselves from encountering the mercy of God. Some people cannot experience God’s mercy deeply simply because they have no consciousness of their sinfulness. If Paul and Peter became great saints, it was because they were conscious of being great sinners. St Paul confessed his scandalous sins when he wrote, “I was formerly a blasphemer, a persecutor, and a man of violence.” (1 Tim 1:13) As for St Peter, although he was obedient to our Lord in putting down the nets, he was still thinking that the Lord would be proven wrong. But when he saw the catch, he was filled with shame at his presumptuous confidence. Hence, immediately, “he fell at the knees of Jesus saying, ‘Leave me Lord; I am a sinful man.'” He felt totally unworthy because of his pride.
Yet, there is something we can learn from both Paul and Peter as well. What brought about their conversion was their encounter with the divine presence. It was at Damascus that Paul encountered the light of Christ that brought him down from his high ground. For Peter, it was when he saw the miraculous catch. Both of them immediately recognized their human limitations and the divine presence. It is when we encounter God’s presence radically, that our human pride is destroyed. So long as we think highly of ourselves, we cannot truly change our lives. However, when we go through a crisis, or when something marvelous happens in our lives, then we will know the power of God’s hand at work. We must pray for such an encounter.
Of course, at the end of the day, such God-encounters are by the grace of God. But we can prepare ourselves to receive such graces. St Peter was listening to the Lord preaching before the Lord asked him to lay down the nets. Jesus “got into one of the boats – it was Simon’s – and asked him to put out a little from the shore. Then he sat down and taught the crowds from the boat.” So too was Paul. He was psychologically prepared when he witnessed the stoning of St Stephen. It was the beginning of his conversion because the seeds of faith were sown by the blood of Stephen. So, for those who have not encountered God deeply as yet, let us learn to be docile like Peter and Paul. Let us listen to the Word of God, pray deeply and perhaps, one day, He will come to us in a radical way. Before His divine presence, all our sins, pride and selfishness will be burnt away.
Written by The Most Rev William Goh, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore © All Rights Reserved.
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