4 April 2025 - homily for Friday of the 4th week of Lent - Isidore of Seville - Wisdom 2:1,12-22

Isidore of Seville was the Bishop of Seville for more than three decades in the early 7th century. By some accounts, he is considered the last of the Early Church Fathers. He is a Doctor of the Church and one of the great theologians and scholars of the Early Church, with his crowning achievement being the Etymologiae, a 20 volume work that is an encyclopedia of universal knowledge of the Christian faith, the first such work of its kind. This is great quote of his, definitely reflecting his personality and the mind of a scholar: “If a man wants to be always in God's company, he must pray regularly and read regularly. When we pray, we talk to God; when we read, God talks to us.” It is interesting to note that his brother, Leander of Seville, served as Bishop of Seville prior to Isidore. We celebrate Leander’s feast day on March 13, just a few weeks ago. Leander is also a canonized saint. 

In our first reading from the book of Wisdom today, we are presented a view point from the godless, how they are often threaten by those who have God in their lives, how the godless are resentful of the virtuous lives led by people of faith. Of course, this can be seen as a prophecy of how Jesus was treated as well, how his goodness and righteousness was resented, how he will be treated at the hands of his opponents. 

Rather resent those who lead virtuous lives, we as Christians are to look up to the saints as role models for us, to use them as examples on our own journey of faith. I think of Isidore of Seville, of the great teachings of the faith that he left us. May wisdom lead us and guide us to a virtuous life, with other Christians to help us on our journey. 

24 March 2023 – Friday of 4th week of Lent – Wisdom 2:1a, 12-22

    Today's reading from the book of Wisdom explains to us how the wicked often lie in wait for the righteous one, wanting to destroy the righteous man because he is inconvenient and opposes their actions, how the righteous one recognizes the sins of the wicked, how this threatens them. These are the forces of darkness that were at work in the world described by the book of Wisdom, the forces of darkness that tried to destroy Jesus in our Gospel reading, the forces of darkness that tried to entrap him wherever he traveled in his ministry in Ancient Israel. 

     However, our psalmist assures us today: The Lord is close to the brokenhearted.  The Lord confronts the evildoers.  He hears the just cry out to him. We might look out at our world today and see a lot to cry out about. We see acts of violence in our community, acts of terrorism and war in the world, people attacking others with their words and actions. Perhaps we are broken hearted at seeing all that is going on in our world today, in the struggles we are enduring in our own lives, for our inability to let go of our past hurts and brokenness.  The Lord tells us to  remember that in the middle of our Lenten journey, he is close to the brokenhearted and the crushed in spirit. The Lord's mercy and compassion is always with us.  We, in turn, are to be a healing presence in the world, the presence of the Gospel values.  The world is definitely in need of such a presence. 

27 March 2020 - St John of Egypt - Friday of the 4th week of Lent - Wisdom 2:1a, 12-22

      Today, in the midst of our Lenten journey, we commemorate the feast day of St John of Egypt.  In the latter part of 4th century, John was a young carpenter when he withdrew to the desert, serving as an apprentice to an elderly hermit.  After that elderly hermit died, John walled himself into a cave in the desert, leaving only a small window where people would bring him food and drink several times a week.  He would preach to the people and instruct them from his cell.  John is part of the movement called the Desert Fathers and Mothers.  They can be seen as the early example of the monastic movement of nuns and monks that we have in our Church today.  John predicted two military victories for Emperor Theodosius I, which came to fruition in 388 and 392. The cell in which John spent his life was discovered in 1925.

      When I think of John of Egypt and the Desert Fathers and Mothers, I think of their great wisdom and strength.  Today’s reading from the book of Wisdom explains to us how the wicked often lie in wait for the righteous one, wanting to destroy him because he is inconvenient and opposes their actions, how the righteous recognize the sins of the wicked, how this threatens them.  These are the forces of darkness that were at work in the world described by the book of Wisdom, the forces of darkness that tried to destroy Jesus in our Gospel reading, the forces that tried to entrap him wherever he traveled in his ministry in ancient Israel. 

     But our psalmist assures us today: The Lord is close to the brokenhearted – he confronts the evildoers – he hears the just cry out to him.  The Lord is with us in our reality, in our difficulty, our sufferings, and our challenges.   

3/11/2016 – Friday in the 4th week of Lent - Wisdom 2:1, 12-22

     The Book of Wisdom is one of those books that is included in the Catholic Bible but is not included in the Protestant Scriptures.  Scripture scholars believe that the Book of Wisdom was probably written in the Greek language in the century before Christ’s birth by a faithful Jew living in Alexandria, Egypt.  So, it appears that the Book of Wisdom was the last book written in the Old Testament.   Alexandria was a great cosmopolitan city and center of learning in the ancient world where many kinds of pagan beliefs and philosophies were seducing faithful Jews in abandoning their beliefs and traditions. This was not only happening in Alexandria, but in Jerusalem as well. In an era where we see secularism luring so many Christian believers into abandoning their faith, we see in the history of the Book of Wisdom that this is nothing new. The author of the Book of Wisdom wanted to show that true wisdom is found in God’s revelation, not in pagan philosophies or religions or in the ways of the secular world. The Book of Wisdom talks about a good and virtuous man who is not respected or revered, but rather condemned to a shameful death.  Rather than wanting to follow his example of goodness, this virtuous man is seen as being annoying and opposing the way of life. Not only is this a prophecy of what Jesus goes through on his journey to the cross, it speaks of those who are persecuted for their faith in the modern world today. Do we stand by the side of virtue and goodness, or do we justify the ways we turn our backs on our faith?  Do we make time for so many different things in our lives, but have little time for God?  Yes, where do we stand?