Give us the wisdom that leads us to Life

 

Welcome to my blog and peace be with you.

You will find here the Scripture readings prescribed by the Catholic Church for today. We are reading a semi-continuous reading of St. Luke’s Gospel and St. Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians.

When we listen or read the Word of God with faith, then Jesus, Son of God speaks to us.

 

Thursday 3 September 2020

Give us the wisdom that leads us to Life

 

Prayer

Father in heaven teach us to rightly understand and use the things of this world so that we may come to know you, their Creator. We make our prayer through your Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.

First reading

1 Corinthians 3:18-23 ·

The wisdom of the world is foolishness to God

Make no mistake about it: if any one of you thinks of himself as wise, in the ordinary sense of the word, then he must learn to be a fool before he really can be wise. Why? Because the wisdom of this world is foolishness to God. As scripture says: The Lord knows wise men’s thoughts: he knows how useless they are; or again: God is not convinced by the arguments of the wise. So there is nothing to boast about in anything human: Paul, Apollos, Cephas, the world, life and death, the present and the future, are all your servants; but you belong to Christ and Christ belongs to God. THE WORD OF THE LORD

 

“The wisdom of this world is foolishness in the eyes of God.”  It is foolish because it focuses on understanding how things work and understanding life in this world. Of course, it I s not wrong. We need to understand the natural world in which we find ourselves living. We need also to understand the human mind and how to live in this world with other people. But if that is all we have learnt; we have learnt nothing of real and lasting value. Our wisdom will pass away with the world on which it is based.

The world and everything in it is given to us for one ultimate reason. We are to use the things of this world and to live with other people and understand ourselves so that we can reach the goal of our existence which is to live with God for ever. True wisdom is to understand how to use the things of this world to know, love and serve God now. We are to understand our minds and how to live with others for the same purpose – to come to know, love and serve God. In this way we prepare ourselves for the everlasting life with God.

Everyone and everything are for this purpose. They are our servants, as St. Paul says. Through faith and obedience, we belong to Jesus. We are united to him. We even become part of him, as Paul will explain. He belongs to God, because though a different person from the Father and  the Holy Spirit, he is the one God with them. So, we too belong to God. Even now, we live in God. To know this is to be truly wise.

As the wise of this world tell us, to be effective, always begin with the end in view. Always keep it first in your thoughts and actions. Don’t be side-tracked. Wisdom brings the results we desire.

Responsorial Psalm

Psalm 23(24):1-6

The Lord’s is the earth and its fullness.

The Lord’s is the earth and its fullness,

the world and all its peoples.

It is he who set it on the seas;

on the waters he made it firm.

The Lord’s is the earth and its fullness.

Who shall climb the mountain of the Lord?

Who shall stand in his holy place?

The man with clean hands and pure heart,

who desires not worthless things.

The Lord’s is the earth and its fullness.

He shall receive blessings from the Lord

and reward from the God who saves him.

Such are the men who seek him,

seek the face of the God of Jacob.

The Lord’s is the earth and its fullness.

 

Gospel

Luke 5:1-11

They left everything and followed him

Jesus was standing one day by the Lake of Gennesaret, with the crowd pressing round him listening to the word of God, when he caught sight of two boats close to the bank. The fishermen had gone out of them and were washing their nets. He got into one of the boats – it was Simon’s – and asked him to put out a little from the shore. Then he sat down and taught the crowds from the boat.

When he had finished speaking he said to Simon, ‘Put out into deep water and pay out your nets for a catch.’ ‘Master,’ Simon replied, ‘we worked hard all night long and caught nothing, but if you say so, I will pay out the nets.’ And when they had done this they netted such a huge number of fish that their nets began to tear, so they signalled to their companions in the other boat to come and help them; when these came, they filled the two boats to sinking point.

When Simon Peter saw this he fell at the knees of Jesus saying, ‘Leave me, Lord; I am a sinful man.’ For he and all his companions were completely overcome by the catch they had made; so also were James and John, sons of Zebedee, who were Simon’s partners. But Jesus said to Simon, ‘Do not be afraid; from now on it is men you will catch.’ Then, bringing their boats back to land, they left everything and followed him. THE GOSPEL OF THE LORD

 

Prayerful reflection

They could leave everything because they were so overawed by the catch of fish and with the Word Jesus had preached and which they had heard.

 

If we truly listen to his Word, then we too shall be open to dialogue with Jesus. Like Simon, we listen and then dialogue. To listen to his Word and then to dialogue with Jesus, in prayer, brings the transformation of our life. Transformation brings the commitment to live for and with Jesus. That commitment will bring ‘a catch fish’ beyond anything we can imagine, in the kingdom of God.

 

Prayer

Father in heaven, grant that we may not harden our hearts when we listen to your Word, for your Word is the key to life now and after death. We make our prayer through your Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.