Day of Memory of Shoah.

Reading of the Word of God

Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia

This is the Gospel of the poor,
liberation for the imprisoned,
sight for the blind,
freedom for the oppressed.

Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia

Proverbs 9, 1-18

Wisdom has built herself a house, she has hewn her seven pillars,

she has slaughtered her beasts, drawn her wine, she has laid her table.

She has despatched her maidservants and proclaimed from the heights above the city,

'Who is simple? Let him come this way.' To the fool she says,

'Come and eat my bread, drink the wine which I have drawn!

Leave foolishness behind and you will live, go forwards in the ways of perception.'

Reprove a mocker and you attract contempt, rebuke the wicked and you attract dishonour.

Do not rebuke the mocker, he will hate you. Rebuke the wise and he will love you for it.

Be open with the wise, he grows wiser still, teach the upright, he will gain yet more.

The first principle of wisdom is the fear of Yahweh, What God's holy ones know -- this is understanding.

For by me your days will be multiplied, and your years of life increased.

Are you wise? You are wise to your own good. A mocker? The burden is yours alone.

A silly woman acts on impulse, is foolish and knows nothing.

She sits at the door of her house, on a throne high up in the city,

calling to the passers-by, who are walking straight past on their way,

'Who is simple? Turn aside, come over here.' To the fool she says,

'Stolen waters are sweet, and bread tastes better when eaten in secret.'

But the fool does not know that this is where the Shades are and that her guests are already in the vales of Sheol.

Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia

The Son of Man came to serve,
whoever wants to be great
should become servant of all.

Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia

This chapter is divided into three parts, and the first and third are clearly opposed. The first (verses 1-6) speaks of wisdom, presented as a woman, while the third speaks of the "foolish woman" (verses 13-18). There is no middle road: wisdom and foolishness are opposed to one another. Either we seek wisdom and live wisely or we will be subjected to stupidity. Wisdom is like a wise woman who has built her house and invites everyone to take part in a well-prepared banquet, similar to the banquet to which the Lord invites all those he encounters in the city. She sends her serving-girls to call the guests, "Come, eat of my bread and drink of the wine I have mixed. Lay aside immaturity, and live, and walk in the way of insight." Likewise, God will invite his people to feed on his word: "Ho, everyone who thirsts, come to the waters; and you that have no money, come, buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without price" (Isaiah 55:1). The Lord is not resigned in front of those who go their own way, listening to and following themselves. In his word and in his wisdom he offers them food that will never rot. But the temptation of foolishness exists, and it attracts and deceives. Our instinct is not to choose wisdom and to decline her invitation. "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom," the text repeats. But we are often "scoffers", proud and arrogant, and we do not want to bow down, even before God. The central part of the chapter shows how the arrogant end up ruining themselves. What the text says is very true: "A scoffer who is rebuked will only hate you; the wise, when rebuked, will love you." Perhaps this invitation is a warning for each one of us. When we do not accept the correction and observations of others and become irritated with those who want to help us find wisdom, we should ask ourselves if we are not following the way of foolishness. Indeed, the wise let themselves be corrected, because they know that it is only with the advice and the help of others that we can grow in humanity and wisdom.