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Lent with the Wisdom Literature (Day 28)

April 01, 2025

Fr. John Colacino C.PP.S.

Wisdom 6 (Fourth Tuesday of Lent)

Listen therefore, O kings, and understand; learn, O judges of the ends of the earth. Give ear, you that rule over multitudes, and boast of many nations. For your dominion was given you from the Lord, and your sovereignty from the Most High; he will search out your works and inquire into your plans. Because as servants of his kingdom you did not rule rightly, or keep the law, or walk according to the purpose of God, he will come upon you terribly and swiftly, because severe judgement falls on those in high places. For the lowliest may be pardoned in mercy, but the mighty will be mightily tested. For the Lord of all will not stand in awe of anyone, or show deference to greatness; because he himself made both small and great, and he takes thought for all alike. But a strict inquiry is in store for the mighty. To you then, O monarchs, my words are directed, so that you may learn wisdom and not transgress. For they will be made holy who observe holy things in holiness, and those who have been taught them will find a defence. Therefore set your desire on my words; long for them, and you will be instructed.

Wisdom is radiant and unfading, and she is easily discerned by those who love her, and is found by those who seek her. She hastens to make herself known to those who desire her. One who rises early to seek her will have no difficulty, for she will be found sitting at the gate.
To fix one’s thought on her is perfect understanding, and one who is vigilant on her account will soon be free from care, because she goes about seeking those worthy of her, and she graciously appears to them in their paths, and meets them in every thought.

The beginning of wisdom is the most sincere desire for instruction, and concern for instruction is love of her, and love of her is the keeping of her laws, and giving heed to her laws is assurance of immortality, and immortality brings one near to God; so the desire for wisdom leads to a kingdom.

Therefore if you delight in thrones and sceptres, O monarchs over the peoples, honour wisdom, so that you may reign for ever. I will tell you what wisdom is and how she came to be, and I will hide no secrets from you, but I will trace her course from the beginning of creation, and make knowledge of her clear, and I will not pass by the truth; nor will I travel in the company of sickly envy, for envy does not associate with wisdom. The multitude of the wise is the salvation of the world, and a sensible king is the stability of any people. Therefore be instructed by my words, and you will profit.

Commentary

Let us praise the good and eternal life as also wise and as absolute wisdom, or rather as essential to all wisdom, and surpassing all wisdom and understanding. For God is not only supremely full of wisdom, and his understanding is infinite, but he transcends all reason, mind, and wisdom. And this was marvellously understood by that truly holy man, that bright sun shared in common by ourselves and our teacher, who said: God’s foolishness is wiser than men. Not only because every human thought is astray compared with the firmness and constancy of the perfect thoughts of God, but because theologians are accustomed to speak of the nature of God in a contrary sense, in terms of privation. So they describe all-shining light as invisible; they call him who is praised for many qualities and under many names indescribable and not to be named; and they call him who is present to all and can be found by all infinite and unsearchable. Even in his time the holy Apostle is said to have praised the foolishness of God in the same way, making what seems to be unexpected and out of place in this a symbol of the ineffable truth which is beyond all understanding. But, as I have said elsewhere, if in our familiar fashion we light on matters far above us, gripped by commonplace feelings and viewing the divine from our own angle, we cannot fail to go astray, since we pursue divine and ineffable reason with our eyes fixed on the world of appearances. We must recognise that our mind has the power to think, which enables it to examine mental objects, but the union by which it is united to what transcends it surpasses the nature of the human mind. Therefore, in accordance with this, we must think of God not in our own way but by abandoning ourselves completely and becoming wholly attached to God. It is better to belong to God than to ourselves, for knowledge of God can only be given to those who are with God. So let us praise transcendentally this irrational, mindless, and foolish wisdom, declaring it to be the origin of all mind, reason, wisdom, and understanding, and that all counsel is in its power, all knowledge and understanding come from it, and that in it are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. For also in accordance with what has been said before, the supremely wise and all-wise origin is even the foundation of absolute wisdom, both universal and singular. (Denys the Areopagite)

Musical Selection

Collect

As your people faithfully observe
the Lenten duties of prayer and self-denial,
prepare our hearts, Lord God,
that we may readily embrace the paschal mystery
and proclaim with joy your message of salvation.
We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
God for ever and ever. Amen.

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