Be Thou My Wisdom | Contemplata Ep 54 | Fr. James Brent, O.P.

In Episode 54 of Contemplata, Be Thou My Wisdom, we learn about the path of divine wisdom. Why is it worth pursuing? And who should we turn to, in order to participate fully in God’s plan for our lives? 

Join Fr. James Brent, O.P., as he explains how Jesus Christ is the source of wisdom God has chosen for us. Drawing from the Biblical book of Wisdom, Fr. James discusses how Jesus has all the qualities of a wise man, and how we can begin to imitate him, acquiring our own wisdom. 

Contemplata is available wherever you get your podcasts.

Follow us on:

Instagram: ​​​​@contemplatapodcast

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/DominicanFriarsMedia

Support: If you want to support this podcast, please visit dominicanfriars.org/contemplata

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

In our society today, we have a lot of science, but not a lot of wisdom. Brothers and sisters, welcome back to Contemplata, a podcast for contemplative souls. Let's talk today about holy wisdom. Holy wisdom is one of the great themes of the Christian life and the spiritual life, and down through the centuries, many Christians have been devoted to holy wisdom. We find the great cathedral of Hagia Sophia in Constantinople, Holy Wisdom. Also in Kiev, Ukraine, there is a cathedral of holy wisdom. And there are churches and cathedrals dedicated to holy wisdom in many parts of the world. It's a marvelous theme, the wisdom of God, and how the wisdom of God deserves our veneration and our honor. The theme of holy wisdom, though, is not one that's very common for us today. In our society today, we have a lot of science, but not a lot of wisdom. We have a lot of random information, but we do not have a unified vision or a unified understanding of reality. We have a lot of technology, but we don't have a great sense of what to do with it. What we need in our world today, more than ever before, perhaps, is holy wisdom. It says in the book of wisdom, a multitude of wise human beings is the salvation of the world. And isn't this what the church is called to be? A multitude of wise human beings. Where can you and I find the holy wisdom we need to live our lives to the full, to live our spiritual life to the full, and to take up our responsibilities in the world around us today? True wisdom, holy wisdom, ultimate wisdom, is found in the very person of Jesus Christ. Sacred Scripture tells us Christ is the power of God and the wisdom of God. So let's take a moment to think about Jesus Christ precisely under this title, The Wisdom of God. Jesus Christ is the wisdom of God. Jesus Christ is the eternal, personal, incarnate wisdom of God. It would be good for us to meditate upon this because the wisdom of the Lord is the health of the soul. The more you and I learn to acknowledge the wisdom of God, believe in the wisdom of God, and even feed on the wisdom of God, as his wisdom comes to us in the words of sacred scripture and tradition, the more we learn to feed on his wisdom and believe in his wisdom, the more you and I will begin to come alive with the life of Christ Himself, and the more that the whole church can begin to be that great multitude of wise human beings that the world needs. Let's take, for an example, a certain list of the qualities of wisdom, which is given to us in the letter of James, chapter 3, verse 17. Here's what it says. But the wisdom from above is first of all pure, then peaceable, gentle, open to reason, full of mercy and good fruits, without uncertainty or insincerity. When you and I read a list of attributes of wisdom, like we find in this verse, it might just seem like a random list of qualities of wisdom. Interesting, perhaps, but not terribly interesting. When we remember, though, that the wisdom from above is really Jesus Christ Himself, then we can realize this is a portrait of Jesus Christ. It's a description of his character. Jesus Christ is first of all pure. He's the sinless one. Jesus Christ is peaceable. He came preaching peace to those who were far off and peace to those who are near. He made peace through the blood of his cross. Jesus Christ is gentle. Like a lamb he was led to the slaughter. Jesus Christ is open to reason. Didn't he reason with the teachers of the law in the temple when he was found in the temple at the age of twelve? Didn't he reason again with the Pharisees and the Sadducees over the course of his public ministry? Jesus was open to reason. He was the one who came to bring the truth to the world, and Jesus calls us to be open to reasoning and learning from him. Jesus Christ is the one who is full of mercy and good fruits. Jesus Christ is the great worker of mercy. His cross is the greatest work of mercy the world has ever known. And the fruitfulness of the cross, the fruitfulness of the life and death and resurrection of the Lord, well, who could count all of the fruits which have come forth from the life of Christ? Jesus Christ is the one who is without uncertainty. You can read the Gospels from beginning to end. Is there any place where Jesus says, uh, he seems to be wavering back and forth, well, I don't, uh maybe, maybe not. Uh that's not how the Lord is. He's without uncertainty. He carries this characteristic of eternal wisdom in his very person. And Jesus is without insincerity. He is the purely authentic human being. He reveals himself for what he is. He is the eternal Son of God. He is the power of God, and he is the wisdom of God. When we learn to recognize Jesus as the eternal wisdom of God, we can take these many passages in Scripture that discuss the wisdom of God, apply it to our Lord Jesus Christ, and a whole new perspective opens up on who he is, what he was like, what he has come into this world to accomplish. One thing is for sure. Jesus came into this world to share with you and me the wisdom of God. He came to share himself. Thank you for listening to this episode of Contemplata. Be sure to like and subscribe and share with your friends wherever you listen to podcasts.