WISDOM IS PERSONIFIED IN CHRIST

Posted on November 6, 2011 by John Brian Schuettler

19th century hymn “Behold the Bridegroom Cometh” by George Frederick Root, which begins:

Our lamps are trimmed and burning,
Our robes are white and clean;
We’ve tarried for the Bridegroom,
Oh, may we enter in?

The five wise virgins together with a personification of the Church (c. 1400), St. Annen Museum, Lübeck

Thirty Second Sunday in Ordinary Time

Citations
Sa 6,12-16:            www.clerus.org/bibliaclerusonline/en/9assdkf.htm
1Th 4,13-18:            www.clerus.org/bibliaclerusonline/en/9audyud.htm
Mt 25,1-13:             www.clerus.org/bibliaclerusonline/en/9abtzpy.htm

“Wisdom is found by those who look for her.”
What great news this is for people of all times and for those who search for truth! Wisdom does not hide herself, she does not avoid the humble searching of our reason, and she is not an inaccessible phantom. If someone wishes to know the truth, and loyally engages their liberty and energy in the search for it, then wisdom will not delay to manifest herself.

Notwithstanding the mortal wound of original sin, which is healed by the death and resurrection of the Lord, humans still have their “capax Dei”, their capacity for God, and therefore their ‘capax veritatis et capax sapietiae,’which is the capacity for truth and for wisdom.

Man truly has the capacity for God, and he is capable of truth and wisdom. For this reason, the fruitful union between a man’s desire and his ability on the one hand, and the manifestation of the generosity of his wisdom that donates itself on the other, represents one of the most significant human experiences and a real ‘introduction’ to that encounter with the Lord that we call ‘faith’

It’s fascinating to see how reason and faith live in a profound, inseparable unity. The search for wisdom, to which man is called to engage all his energies, and its meeting, is a most effective icon for the waiting for the arrival of the ‘bridegroom’ which crowns the pages of the Gospel.

The parable of the ten virgins describes the Kingdom of God, present and active today and also the eschatological event at the end of history, of which the Lord says “you do not know the day or the hour” (Mt 24: 13)

The Gospel reading seems to overtake the text of the first reading by making a totally new invitation that is personal, prudent and wise. It’s not enough on the last day just to want to enter the wedding feast, nor is it sufficient to recognise the voice of the bridegroom. The humble and realistic use of reason, understood as a search for wisdom, is not always the same as a true encounter with it.

Certainly the ‘search for truth’ implies some admission of its existence and excludes, in that sense, every prospect of relativism. However, the universal religious sense is not by itself the proper encounter with Christ. It’s not enough to be an anonymous believer to call oneself Christian, one must have faith.

The lamp oil which some of the virgins lack, and which the others cannot give is a symbol of the great mystery of our personal liberty. Our choices cannot be made or substituted by others. We can only pray, offer and suffer for the salvation of mankind. However, our personal choices, which are the fruits of the utilization of our liberty with its consequent merits (or de merits), are the personal actions that qualify us for eternity. These acts form the spiritual profile and the ‘echo of wisdom,’ image and likeness of the Wisdom incarnate who is Christ the Lord.

We implore the Blessed Virgin Mary, the one who is truly wise, that She will take us by the hand to that encounter with Jesus Christ, the true Wisdom that never ends and of which we all await, asking to be recognised by Him.

“For many are called, but few are chosen.”

Posted on October 9, 2011 by John Brian Schuettler

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And again Jesus spoke to them in parables, saying, “The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who gave a marriage feast for his son, and sent his servants to call those who were invited to the marriage feast; but they would not come. Again he sent other servants, saying, `Tell those who are invited, Behold, I have made ready my dinner, my oxen and my fat calves are killed, and everything is ready; come to the marriage feast.’ But they made light of it and went off, one to his farm, another to his business, while the rest seized his servants, treated them shamefully, and killed them. The king was angry, and he sent his troops and destroyed those murderers and burned their city. Then he said to his servants, `The wedding is ready, but those invited were not worthy. Go therefore to the thoroughfares, and invite to the marriage feast as many as you find.’ And those servants went out into the streets and gathered all whom they found, both bad and good; so the wedding hall was filled with guests.

“But when the king came in to look at the guests, he saw there a man who had no wedding garment; and he said to him, `Friend, how did you get in here without a wedding garment?’ And he was speechless. Then the king said to the attendants, `Bind him hand and foot, and cast him into the outer darkness; there men will weep and gnash their teeth.’ For many are called, but few are chosen.”

A FEAST OF RECONCILIATION
Allan White O.P.
Twenty-Eighth Sunday of the Year
9th October 2011

fr Allan White discusses the terms on which we participate in the
Eucharistic banquet.

Jesus was not averse to parties. His opponents criticised him as a ‘good time guy’, a glutton and a wine drinker. They did not like the company he dined in: sinners and outcasts. He did not always wait to be invited either. He asked himself to the house of Zacchaeus, the chief tax-collector in Jericho. The presence of Jesus at one of these dinners was a reconciling presence. Jesus said ‘salvation has come to this house’ when he went in to dine with the sinner Zacchaeus. It is no surprise then that some of the stories Jesus tells should be about eating, drinking, celebrating and banquets.

Today’s story is not just about a wedding banquet but about a royal wedding banquet. At the recent marriage of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, the newspapers were desperate to discover the invitation list. Clearly they were highly-prized and to receive one was a mark of distinction. The same does not appear to be true of this wedding. Those invited would not come even when told the menu. The guests did not make polite excuses they went out of their way to show that they had more important things to do. They insulted the king and his family and went further by killing his messengers, abusing the law of hospitality themselves. Not surprisingly the king was a little upset at this. But why?

Royal marriages often sealed political and diplomatic alliances. They were instruments of foreign policy helping to bring peace and reconciliation between those who had been enemies before. This marriage should be seen in the same way. It is given by the king for his son. The son is not otherwise important. The king seems to have issued the invitation three times. He has invited the guests, sent his servants to tell them all is prepared and then sent them out again with a list of the delicacies they will enjoy. The king has been patient and gracious. He invites his guests to share in this process of peace and reconciliation. They refuse. They do no wish to share in it and therefore oppose it.

The king then sent out more messengers and invited all of those who were willing to come. The messengers do not mention the menu again so maybe those accepted who were sensible of the honour of being invited. They also seem to have understood the purpose of the feast. They all put on their wedding garment; all except one man. Immediately on entering the banquet king’s eye fell upon him. Calling him ‘friend’ he asked him why he was there. It is the same question Jesus asks Judas when they come to arrest him on the night of the agony: ‘Friend, why are you here?’ Two banquets are brought together, the banquet of the Last Supper, the passover of the Lord which brings reconciliation between humanity and God, and the banquet of the king who was also offering a banquet to promote peace and reconciliation.

Many interpretations of this parable can be offered. Some see it as a proclamation that the Gentiles will be included in the new covenant of reconciliation. Others see this story as a warning to the Church and those who think that they are numbered amongst the elect whilst failing to change their lives from the root outwards.

The marriage supper of the Lamb is a feast of reconciliation; those who share in it must also share in that project of peace and reconciliation. The silent guest, the one who has not bothered to change, the one who is concentrating on receiving, has forgotten that this feast is not just about eating or benefiting from hospitality. Sharing in this banquet is about becoming part of the grand work of reconciliation that the heavenly bridegroom inaugurates on the cross and which will be consummated in the heavenly banquet of which our Eucharist is a sign and anticipation.

Allan White O.P

Do we stand with the Lord?

Posted on October 2, 2011 by John Brian Schuettler

Twenty Seventh Sunday In Ordinary Time – Year A

Citations of
Is 5,1-7: www.clerus.org/bibliaclerusonline/en/9abst5e.htm
Ph 4,6-9: www.clerus.org/bibliaclerusonline/en/9adejfd.htm
Mt 21,33-43: www.clerus.org/bibliaclerusonline/en/9btbsfu.htm

‘The vineyard of the LORD of hosts is the house of Israel, and the people of Judah are his cherished plant.’ (Is 5:7) With these words the Prophet, Isaiah gives us the horizon upon which to interpret Jesus’ parable. He is the Son who was sent to gather the fruit by the Master of the Vineyard. Some aspects of the parable appear to be of particular importance, especially for the present time.

First of all, the vineyard doesn’t belong to the tenants. The fundamental experience of human life consists in its irreducible gift! No one is the master of life because no one is the author of life! Life is a gift and, with it, the cosmos in which we live was also given to us.

This universal experience, that is so evidently obscured in today’s dominant culture that has a restricted idea of reason, is the horizon on which we live and work. Everyone works in the Lord’s vineyard. We are men and women that live and work in a context that was given to us, of which we are able to take possession, yet inevitably, someday, it will be taken from us. This emphasis doesn’t sadden our lives but rather makes them much more fascinating, filled with significance and responsibility, as we are not orphans but live totally in relation to God’s great plans for us.

In order to constantly remind humanity of that reality, throughout history the Lord has chosen a people to be the light for all nations. He has invited many prophets to bring that people, and also all humanity, back to a true relationship between man and the universe and between God and man.

The greatest gift that the ‘Master of the Vineyard’ could give to the tenants, to lead them back to their duty to ‘produce fruit’, was to send His Own Son. At this point the liar dramatically enters the parable and is able to make man believe that, by eliminating the Son of God, the ultimate closeness to the Mystery, they can become ‘masters’ of themselves and reality. There has never been a greater lie insinuated in a man’s heart!

To eliminate God means to meet our own destruction, the loss of the centre and significance of our lives, to be dispossessed of the vineyard, no longer able to bear fruit. The condition to continue to ‘work in the Lord’s vineyard,’ to be participants in the works of the Kingdom, is that we must be able to bear fruit. If, as single Christians we don’t bear fruit and we don’t humbly recognise that every fruit is derived from God’s Grace, in which we freely cooperate, it automatically will exclude us from the vineyard.

Mysteriously, the rejection and murder of the Son dilated the boundaries of the Kingdom, making them universal, which is catholic, by construction and vocation. In fact all men are called to the Church!

Thanks to this great plan, in which we are inserted without merit, we live the Apostles exhortation: ‘Whatever is true, whatever is honourable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is gracious, if there is any excellence and if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.’ (Phil 4:6)

The Blessed Virgin Mary, that mystical Vineyard in which the most beautiful fruit in history grew, sustains us in our life’s journey and helps us to yield the fruit that God expects from us.

CONGREGATIO PRO CLERICIS

THE HONOR OF GOD

Defending the Honor of God in a culture of death by renewing a Judeo-Christian Living Foundation

Category Archives: Parables

WISDOM IS PERSONIFIED IN CHRIST

“For many are called, but few are chosen.”

Allan White O.P