Jesus and His Gift of Wisdom
As followers of Jesus, one of his gifts he offers is wisdom. It is the wisdom spoken in the Scriptures. How do we acquire wisdom? Well, we do know it isn’t the knowledge that makes us a scholar, smart, or even brilliant.
Wisdom comes slowly through our understanding how grace and nature work together combined with our learning how to be Jesus’ disciple. Along with our maturity which arises from our engagement in life and growing spiritually. As disciples, our curiosity searches for answers from spiritual writers like Richard Rohr, Ronald Rolheiser, Thomas Merton, Joyce Rupp, Mother Teresa, and others.
The way our wisdom grows is by living our lives. I learned this by reviewing how I fit into my family, by my priesthood, by acquiring different degrees, holding different responsibilities, reading a plethora of books, preaching, and teaching.
On the other hand, meeting different kinds of people, young and old, helped shape me as well. Some who lived life to the fullest with or without a learned degree but with seeming large jars of common sense. It’s as if I placed it all into a blender and it returns as I am today – a combination of many currents.
Other influences. I buried many saints who didn’t even realize they were saints. They just awoke every day and completed what was before them. They asked God’s help and then completed it. My mom was one of those saints. She engaged new life here in America arriving as a teenager. She swallowed her pain at times because her present life led her down a sometimes-awkward path, but off she went.
My immigrant grandparents were another group of new learners. They always knew where their real treasure grew and what they needed to do to make it fit and work. And as I listened to them, I dug deeper. I saw how life became tough at times, but while my life wasn’t on “a road less traveled” it was navigable. I wasn’t asked to follow a road no one else has traveled. And with God’s help I embraced it.
Jesus was truly my guide. He was the way, the truth, and the life. How was I to know what I was supposed to do? Jesus’ words are “the bread that comes down from heaven.” I learned that this bread were morsels from God the Father’s love for each of us. These morsels shaped the words placed in the mouth of Jesus for our hearing and listening.
Jesus’ words became my journey’s roadmap. “I am the bread come down from heaven. Whoever eats this bread will live forever.” As I listened and lived my life and did my ministry, the words Jesus wanted me to speak were my “bread from heaven.”
Jesus’ words came plainly and right from his Father in heaven, because he and his Father are one. Every word that came from Jesus’ mouth blossomed from his Father’s heart. It is bread chuck full of needed spiritual nutrients for us to live, thrive, renew, and reset. Words like love compassion, mercy, and forgiveness.
Saint Paul sees it a little differently. Jesus is God’s Word made Flesh. If we live in the word and with the word, we are making our own home that Christ has built for us. Being at home with the Word offers us good company. It can be comforting, nourishing, and a transforming place to hang out.
God knew what he was doing. Everyone had to grow understanding what our life presented. It is the fertile soil through which we became who we are. Saint Francis de Sales asks us to complete it by being who you are and being that well as a testament to the expert craftsman who created you.
God loves us. We are God’s handiwork.
