When I was in seminary, we had to take
many, many courses in philosophy. Since
the medieval period, when the training of priests became more standardized in
our Church, the study of philosophy has been at the foundation of our training
as priests. I remember taking a course
on the great medieval philosophers of the Church, using this huge two volume
textbook set that included all of their essential writings, written by the
great Jesuit philosophy professor Frederick Coppleston. Many of the Church’s theologians in the
medieval era spent a lot of time trying to prove God’s existence by using
philosophical reasoning. I wrote a
major paper addressing St Anselm’s proofs, a task that I did not find very
enjoyable. Our professor was always
wanting us to put something of ourselves into the paper, to personalize it, so
in its conclusion, I wrote that for me, for the way I approach faith in my own
life, approaching the existence of God from a philosophical view does not
really have an affect on my belief in God.
For me, I walk by faith, I live my faith through the way I experience
God in my daily life. When I received my
paper back, I saw that my professor had written a comment at that section of
the paper, stating that he thought I was one of the lucky few, that for him,
faith was not enough. He needed proof,
he needed a rational, philosophical, knowledge-based explanation that God
really existed.
Our first reading today is from the
book of Wisdom, a book that we have in our Catholic Bible, but a book that is
not included in the Protestant scriptures.
When I think of the topic of wisdom, I think of a older man or an older
lady, wise from years of experience, giving advice to a younger person. Here in Yazoo City, and specifically in our
parish communities, there is an older generation that is really the spiritual
heart of our community, and I see everyone looking to them for guidance,
wisdom, and examples of how we can live out our lives of faith in the midst of
our modern world.
Yes, book knowledge is one thing. But it is not the only thing. We spend years
and years in our culture studying in schools, colleges, and universities, but
we need to go beyond that in finding a way to incorporate that knowledge into
our lives and into the real world. As
most of you know, I spent four years teaching Spanish at Greenville Weston High
School here in the Mississippi Delta before I became a priest. I had learned Spanish as a missionary, almost
literally out in the trenches you could say, not in the classroom. So for me, putting my practical knowledge of
Spanish into a classroom setting where I could explain the grammar and the nuts
and bolt of the language to my students was quite a challenge. However, I saw some other teachers who had
the opposition problem. On our teaching
staff was a lovely young lady from the coast who had just graduated from one of
the fine universities in our state. She was full of enthusiasm and energy. She majored in Spanish in college, but had
not really used it very much in real world settings. I remember when I introduced her to the some
of the Hispanic families who went to our parish in Greenville. When they tried to chat with her in Spanish,
she had no idea how to even start conversing with them, since she had learned
so much Spanish up here in her head, all of the grammar, the rules, and the vocabulary,
but using the language in conversation was something she had never really done.
Tradition has it that the Book of
Wisdom was written by King Solomon, a man very admired in ancient Israel for
his wisdom. Yet, most biblical scholars today believe that the Book of Wisdom was
probably written originally in Greek in the great ancient center of learning in
Alexandria, Egypt a couple of centuries before Christ’s birth. Today’s reading tells us that wisdom is
received by all who love her, that she is found by all who seek her. The writer tells us that if we watch for
wisdom at dawn, she will be waiting for us at the gate. It appears that we human beings innately
yearn for wisdom and for a connection with the divine in our lives. We are searching for wisdom, we are searching
for God. We are yearning, striving, and
aching for such a connection. Likewise,
wisdom and God are searching for us.
So, if we are saying that wisdom goes
beyond a book knowledge, beyond what we perceive intellectually, we can see
wisdom as a resonance, as an understanding of God’s teachings, laws, and
values. Wisdom is all about being able to integrate God and his teachings into our daily lives. And while book learning and knowledge are important in our development as human beings and in our spiritual quest, they are certainly
not everything. God can reach out to us,
wisdom can connect with us, in many diverse and eclectic ways: through music,
art, poetry, literature, and nature; through prayer, contemplation, and even
silence. And so meeting Wisdom at the
gates means that we are to find ways to gain this understanding, this
experience, this integration of God into our spirituality and into our
lives. In our Why Catholic groups this
year we are looking at different ways to pray, so meeting wisdom at the gate is
about connecting to God through prayer and meditation, in delving into his Holy
Word through lectio divina, in hearing God in the silence of contemplative
prayer, in connecting our experiences and our feelings with those that are
expressed by the psalmists. We as
Catholics, in our search for wisdom, are to read good books, to listen to
beautiful music, to see God in nature, to mediate over an intriguing piece of
art. And we are to find God’s wisdom in
the talents and gifts that God gives us.
When we sing or play a musical instrument, when we create a work of art,
when we knit or crochet, when we prepare a lovely meal for our family and
friends, when we write in our journal, we are to experience God, to connect to
the divine, to gain spiritual wisdom and understanding through those creative
experiences. And I know a lot of men out
here are hunters. I know that many of
you really find hunting a spiritual experience, in the connection to the land
and to nature, to the brisk autumn air and to the animals
that provide you food. Feel the
connection to God’s creation in that experience; then, perhaps you will find
greater spiritual understanding and a greater connection with your faith through
those experiences.
Wisdom is all about integrating our
knowledge and our intellectual understanding with our heart, our senses, our
bodies, and our real life experiences. And
I want to make clear that wisdom does not always mean that everything is clear-cut,
either-or, or an easily obtained answer.
We can see an example of this from our lives here in Mississippi. There has been a lot of discussion and
emotions going forth in recent weeks about Proposition 26 in the upcoming
election. Things are being said about us
as Catholics that condemn us for the position we are taking, that twist the bishop's words in order to make us look like a villain in
society. Wisdom does not mean that I am
going to stand up here as your priest and order you to vote a certain way or to
always give you the answers. As a
priest, I am here to lead you, to guide you, to help you along your journey,
not to force you along a certain path or to make decisions for you. Bishop Latino is telling us to form our
consciences in the Catholic tradition, and to use our consciences in voting on
this decision and on the other issues that confront us on election day, and in
all the other decisions, big and small, that we have to make in life.
Connecting with the divine wisdom,
connecting with God, is not always easy and comfortable. In our search of wisdom, we will have great
joys and great struggles. And all of
this is an essential part of our journey.
