WISDOM FROM ABOVE

WISDOM FROM ABOVE

 

 

 

… the queen of Sheba witnessed Solomon’s great wisdom…. – 1 Kings 10:4

 

So you think you are wise? Take this test I received from the email and see how you fare.

Several children play on two railway tracks. One child is on the inoperative track while the rest of the kids are on the operational track. The train is coming and you are just beside the track interchange. You can make the train change its course by diverting it to the inoperative track or let the train go its way. What will your decision be?

If you are like most people, you may choose to divert the train and sacrifice only one child. But have you ever thought why that track is inoperative? It is probably not safe to use. Diverting the train to that track endangers not only the life of that child but also the hundreds of people on board that train.

There are times in our lives that we have to make tough decisions. Remember, hasty decisions may not always be the right one. In situations like this, we can ask God for wisdom to help us make the right choices. God gives freely to those who ask Him. Judith Concepcion (svp_jmc@yahoo.com)

 

REFLECTION:

“But if any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God who gives to all generously and ungrudgingly, and he will be given it.” (James 1:5)

 

Lord God, grant me wisdom that I may judge rightly.

 

Once more , Love versus Rules

Yesterday we said that laws and rules are necessary but they should never paralyze love and charity. Today’s saint, St. Scholastica, provides a good illustration of this.

Scholastica was the twin sister of St. Benedict and became abbess in a convent near her brother’s monastery. Following the strict monastic rules, they kept away from each other but met one day a year somewhere between their monasteries to praise God together and talk about spiritual matters. One year (not knowing it was three days before Scholastica’s death) they met as usual. When dusk fell, Scholastica begged her brother to extend their meeting and “talk until morning about the joys of life in heaven,” as St. Gregory the Great writes in his Life of St. Benedict. Her brother refused because this was against the rules of his monastery. Gregory tells that Scholastica simply bowed her head and prayed in silence. Immediately there was thunder and heavy rain that it was impossible to leave the house. Ruleloving Benedict was horrified, “May almighty God spare you, sister. What have you done?” Her answer was simple, “I asked you but you were unwilling to listen to me. I asked my Lord and He listened to me.”

St. Gregory writes, “They spent the whole night awake and had their fill of talk about spiritual matters. As John says, ‘God is love,’ and she justly overcame him by the greater strength of her love.”

It is a beautiful story about love of neighbor versus love of rigid rules. Love of neighbor won. In today’s Gospel passage, Jesus points out that nothing that enters the body can make us unclean before God. Persons become corrupted through their actions which are products of their hearts. Taking a bath five times a day does not make me clean before God but the struggle against evil thoughts, attitudes, inclinations and habits help me, climaxed by the supreme means of spiritual cleansing: the Sacrament of Reconciliation.Fr. Rudy Horst, SVD

 

Reflection Question:

Do I focus only on physical hygiene and cleanliness and neglect spiritual hygiene?

 

Thank You, Lord, for opening my eyes to some very important areas in my spiritual life that I have to address. May my love for neighbor and my fight against what is evil in me free me from selfishness and bring me a giant step closer to my goal: heaven.

 

St. Aponius, pray for us.