November 12, 2023 (32nd Sunday in Ordinary Time)
/“Where is Wisdom?”
by Fr. Dominic DeLay, O.P.
[This is the text composed by the homilist prior to delivering the homily. Only 9:00am and 9:00pm Masses were celebrated by CC@S on November 12.]
I’m not sure what makes those sleepy, selfish bridesmaids so wise, but we need wisdom these days, don’t we?! How do we respond to the violence on campus, in the Middle East, and elsewhere against Palestinians, Israelis, Arabs, Jews, and Muslims? How do we move forward together as a synodal Church? How do we live each day with love and grace? Today our Hindu sisters and brothers are also recognizing the importance of wisdom. The reason we didn’t have Mass today at 4:30 is because they’re celebrating Diwali, their feast of light and wisdom. We all need wisdom. What is it, and how do we get it?
In what ways are those sleepy, selfish bridesmaids wise? While I wish they would have brought enough oil for the others, they did come prepared to a certain extent, with extra oil for themselves in case the bridegroom took long getting there. This isn’t an obsessive and unrealistic stockpiling. The way wedding processions went, and apparently sometimes still do in that part of the world, all ten should have known that they could be waiting for some time. How can we make a habit of preparedness? What does preparedness look like in our lives? We can prepare ourselves to help heal the world’s injustices, contribute to the Church’s mission, and to live lives of love by gaining knowledge and skill.
What, for example, does the Church teach us about war? First, the dignity of every human being. There is also the Church’s traditional teaching about what makes a war and the way it’s waged just. And the witness of our recent popes, who doubt the possibility of a just war in our modern circumstances. Pope Francis holds up the Church’s parallel tradition of nonviolence as a way forward. Our students model for the rest of us the importance of a lifestyle and a lifetime of study and the practicing of skills. I know, students, that a lifetime of study sounds like hell when you’re still finishing the endless mid-term season. But the exams, papers, and projects will come to an end.
The wise bridesmaids’ preparedness implies patience as well, doesn’t it? They’re prepared to wait for as long as it takes for the party to start. How can we exercise patience? Rather than insisting on quick and reactive solutions to problems, big and small, can we plug away, working together toward solutions? The wise diplomat, dialogue partner, or researcher patiently waits for results. Wise discernment of solutions or of our calling in life comes from a spirit of patience. It’s not that God is holding back; it’s that it usually takes time for us to hear what God is saying, to see where God is leading us.
Sounds like patience implies perseverance, doesn’t it? We don’t just wait for results; we persevere in working through the obstacles. The wise bridesmaids persevered in their task. When the bridegroom was delayed, they didn’t go home. Yes, the ones without extra oil didn’t go home either, though maybe they should have. And the question of selfishness aside for the moment, the wise ones hung on to their extra oil, not sharing it with the others. Wisdom shows herself in our lives through our perseverance. One obstacle after another has prevented peace between Israel and Palestine over many decades. Dare we persevere in hope? The Church is slow in becoming the kind of bride that Christ the bridegroom calls us to be. Yet we keep slowly, faithfully, walking forward, together. We are wise when we persevere through the obstacles towards our personal goals.
But how do we become wise? How do we become people who are prepared, patient, and persevering? I think here’s the real excuse for the wise bridesmaids not to share their extra oil. They have their priorities straight. They care first about their task of waiting with their lamps for the bridegroom. They’re probably cousins of the bridegroom, and their first allegiance in this situation is to him. They love him, and their preparedness, patience, and perseverance flow from that love. For us, then, preparedness, patience, and perseverance both lead us to wisdom and flow from wisdom. They are symptoms of our lovesickness for Wisdom herself, for God, whom we encounter in Christ. Most deeply, wisdom comes from our relationship of love with God. Wisdom is that relationship. This is a relationship of prayer. It’s prayer that allows us to be prepared, patient, and persevering.
And with prayer, wisdom is not hard to attain. Wisdom, God, comes to us. In today’s passage from the Book of Wisdom, wisdom comes to the watcher, the pray-er, the seeker: “Whoever watches for her at dawn shall not be disappointed, for they shall find her sitting by their gate.” Today’s psalm is the deepest song of our souls: “O God, you are my God whom I seek; for you my flesh pines and my soul thirsts…” Do you hear that song within you?
Wisdom is accessible to all. Wisdom is ultimately a gift, and she will come to those who ask. Today’s Wisdom passage puts it this way: “...she is readily perceived by those who love her and found by those who seek her. She hastens to make herself known in anticipation of their desire…”
Let’s take an extended moment of silent prayer together now to experience the wisdom that is ours in God’s love for us.
