20260903 TRUSTING IN DIVINE WISDOM
03 September 2026, Thursday, 22nd Week in Ordinary Time
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!
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.
TRUSTING IN DIVINE WISDOM
SCRIPTURE READINGS: [1 CORINTHIANS 3:18-23; LUKE 5:1-11]
Pride is the cause of every person’s downfall. It is the age-old sin beginning with Adam and Eve. Man, created in God’s image and likeness, forgets that he is merely a creature. He thinks too highly of himself. Indeed, he is an intelligent creature–the summit of creation. As a consequence, he fools himself into believing that he is as great as God, that he knows all things, and that he knows what is best for himself.
The truth is that a proud man cannot learn, for his mind is full of himself. When we think we know everything, there is nothing left for us to learn from anyone. As the proverb says: “He who knows not, and knows not that he knows not, is a fool; avoid him. He who knows not, and knows that he knows not, is a wise man; teach him.” St. Paul warned the Corinthians: “Make no mistake about it: if anyone 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” (1 Cor 3:18). Humility, therefore, is the gateway to knowledge and wisdom.
Yet, it is equally foolish for us to rely completely on man, especially when they hold strings of academic achievements and long lists of credentials. Surely, they may know more and have richer experiences than the ordinary person, but we cannot assume they are always right. In fact, an intelligent and accomplished person who is truly wise would not be overly presumptuous about his knowledge; in his humility, he would grant the possibility that he might have overlooked certain facts.
This is why St. Paul challenged the Corinthians for seeking worldly wisdom–and worse, for allowing themselves to be bewitched by worldly men who boasted of their knowledge and eloquence.
Why? St. Paul replied: “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” (1 Cor 3:19-20).
As creatures, most of us fail to see beyond ourselves. We are easily taken up by what is tangible–what can be seen, touched, and felt. We are not just earthly creatures; we are worldly in many ways. We lack spiritual insight and cannot see beyond this temporal realm. As St. Paul wrote earlier: “Those who are unspiritual do not receive the gifts of God’s Spirit, for they are foolishness to them, and they are unable to understand them because they are spiritually discerned. Those who are spiritual discern all things, and they are themselves subject to no one else’s scrutiny” (1 Cor 2:14-15).
This is why spiritual people are acutely aware of their limitations and constraints. Those who are truly accomplished in life know from the depths of their hearts that without God’s grace, they could have achieved nothing. It is God who gives us opportunities, supplies our resources, and sends people to help us overcome our shortcomings. Indeed, all that we have belongs to the Lord and comes from Him.
There is no reason to worship any human being simply because God has blessed them; they have nothing to boast about. To adore or idolise anyone–whether actors, singers, or religious leaders–is to miss the truth that they accomplish things solely through God’s grace. As St. Paul wrote: “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” (1 Cor 3:21-23). The more accomplished people become, the humbler they should be. Conversely, those who think too highly of their own accomplishments miss encountering the Lord at work in their lives.
In the Gospel, St. Peter almost allowed his pride to prevent him from encountering the power and mercy of God. Jesus had used Peter’s boat to teach the crowd on the shore. When He finished speaking, Jesus–a carpenter by trade–instructed Peter: “Put out into deep water and pay out your nets for a catch.”
Peter was hesitant to submit. When it came to fishing, he believed he knew better than Jesus. While he gladly deferred to the Lord in spiritual matters, he assumed his professional experience took precedence here, saying: “Master, we worked hard all night long and caught nothing.”
Yet, despite the unfavourable conditions, Peter said in humility: “But if you say so, I will pay out the nets.” We would like to think that it was his humility that gave him the will to obey. Perhaps he also wanted to prove that Jesus was mistaken, but regardless of his internal tension, his obedience in faith yielded a catch beyond his imagination. 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.” The sheer scale of the catch made it clear to Simon and his companions that this was not an ordinary event, but a miracle wrought by Christ.
This was a huge lesson for Peter–one that shaped his future ministry and his leadership of the early Church. Humility, the prerequisite for faith, brings in great harvests when we proclaim the Gospel. When ministers serve with humility, God will use them powerfully to touch hearts and change lives. But when they are consumed by self-interest and too proud to learn or collaborate, their fruitfulness will not last for long. When we allow that little faith in us to cooperate with the grace of God, He performs great miracles in our lives.
Indeed, a true encounter with God’s power and mercy produces both remorse and gratitude. When Simon Peter saw the miracle, he fell at the knees of Jesus, saying: “Leave me, Lord; I am a sinful man.” Peter became conscious of his imperfect obedience. He had been half-reluctant even though he eventually obeyed in faith. Hence he felt ashamed of himself for being overly confident of himself. Yet the Lord reassured him: “Do not be afraid; from now on it is men you will catch.”
When God reveals His holiness, we cannot help but recognise our own sinfulness and limitations. We gain true self-knowledge of who we are when we meet God in such miraculous moments. Crucially, the Lord calls those who are acutely aware of their unworthiness to serve Him.
In a genuine encounter with the Lord, our perspective changes. We begin to see things through larger lenses. What once seemed impossible becomes possible through faith. When we encounter God’s power in our lives, we will no longer doubt His capacity to do greater things for us. We can depend on Him in faith and dependence. We will have confidence that God can do great things for those who believe in Him. Catching fish was merely the prelude; Jesus caught Simon Peter so that Peter could catch men. Upon encountering His might and mercy, the disciples were called to be fishers of men. When they acknowledged their sinfulness, goodness took root in their hearts. This is when we become aware of mission.
In our spiritual development, it is good to feel unworthy before God so that we do not fall into presumptuousness, thinking that we are good enough to consider ourselves saved. Unless we are like Peter, always conscious of his own sinfulness, our sins may drive us away from God instead of driving us to Him. We see this in the denial of Peter at Christ’s passion. A truly humble person who knows God, will not stay away from God because they feel they are not good enough to come to Jesus or to go to church. When a person makes this kind of statement, it springs from pride, not humility. But when we are sinners and still approach the Lord, we are saying we are weak and sinful, but we also believe that with His grace, we can slowly overcome. This perhaps was why Peter, after denying the Lord, went back to fishing to relive that experience of our Lord assuring him that he was still loved and always forgiven. And indeed, Christ again showed His mercy in granting him another miraculous catch, allowing him to renew his love for Him and restoring his office as the leader of the Twelve by appointing him as His vicar to look after the sheep.
Best Practices for Using the Daily Scripture Reflections
- Encounter God through the spirit of prayer and the scripture by reflecting and praying the Word of God daily. The purpose is to bring you to prayer and to a deeper union with the Lord on the level of the heart.
- Daily reflections when archived will lead many to accumulate all the reflections of the week and pray in one sitting. This will compromise your capacity to enter deeply into the Word of God, as the tendency is to read for knowledge rather than a prayerful reading of the Word for the purpose of developing a personal and affective relationship with the Lord.
- It is more important to pray deeply, not read widely. The current reflections of the day would be more than sufficient for anyone who wants to pray deeply and be led into an intimacy with the Lord.
Note: You may share this reflection with someone. However, please note that reflections are not archived online nor will they be available via email request.
Written by His Eminence, Cardinal William SC Goh, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore © All Rights Reserved.
