Memory of the Church

Reading of the Word of God

Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia

I am the good shepherd,
my sheep listen to my voice,
and they become
one flock and one fold.
.

Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia

Wisdom 7,22-8,1

For within her is a spirit intelligent, holy, unique, manifold, subtle, mobile, incisive, unsullied, lucid, invulnerable, benevolent, shrewd, irresistible, beneficent, friendly to human beings, steadfast, dependable, unperturbed, almighty, all-surveying, penetrating all intelligent, pure and most subtle spirits. For Wisdom is quicker to move than any motion; she is so pure, she pervades and permeates all things. She is a breath of the power of God, pure emanation of the glory of the Almighty; so nothing impure can find its way into her. For she is a reflection of the eternal light, untarnished mirror of God's active power, and image of his goodness. Although she is alone, she can do everything; herself unchanging, she renews the world, and, generation after generation, passing into holy souls, she makes them into God's friends and prophets; for God loves only those who dwell with Wisdom. She is indeed more splendid than the sun, she outshines all the constellations; compared with light, she takes first place, for light must yield to night, but against Wisdom evil cannot prevail. Strongly she reaches from one end of the world to the other and she governs the whole world for its good.

 

Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia

I give you a new commandment,
that you love one another.

Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia

Wisdom is not a treasure that human beings find in themselves, in their instincts, in their character or traditions. One receives Wisdom from God. For this reason, Solomon feels the liberty and joy of being able to give it as a gift so that it will also enrich the lives of others. This is the liberty that anyone who recognizes God's gifts in their lives, especially the precious gift of a word that renders us wise and becomes communicative. Those who possess it "obtain friendship with God," and enter into an intimate relationship with God, receiving from him a direction for their lives. The Wisdom that Solomon speaks of teaches us to comprehend reality in its depth, in a spiritual way, without stopping at the surface of things: "For it is he who gave me unerring knowledge of what exists, to know the structure of the world and the activity of the elements..." (v.17). It is not so much a scientific knowledge as a knowledge that descends into the heart of history and that eludes the reasoning of technological knowledge. In Wisdom breathes that which is for believers the power of the Holy Spirit: "...a spirit that is intelligent, holy, unique, manifold, subtle, mobile, clear, unpolluted, ... loving the good, ... beneficent, humane, steadfast, sure, free from anxiety, all-powerful, overseeing all ..." (vv. 22-23). These qualities recall the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit, which the prophet Isaiah had already intuited (11:1-2) and that pervade the hearts of believers in the God of Jesus Christ. In sum, Wisdom is the manifestation of the beneficent and friendly presence of God, who wants to teach us the secret of life. Wisdom is unique, it is an image of God's goodness and "she passes into holy souls and makes them friends of God, and prophets" (v. 27). May we allow Wisdom to instruct us so that we too can be friends of God and prophets of his word in the world.