WORLDLY WISDOM VERSUS HEAVENLY WISDOM. (Homily for May 16, 2016. Monday of the 7th week in Ordinary Time.)


Bible Study:  James 3, 13 to 18 and Mark 9, 14 to 29.


There is wisdom that come from God and there is wisdom that is totally earthly. Quite often, we like to think of ourselves as wise but in the real sense, if our wisdom is not oriented towards God, it is actually foolishness. In our first reading this morning, St. James helps to make the distinction clear.

Worldly wisdom is that which is fuelled by jealousy and selfish ambition. It is a type of wisdom that considers everyone else as an enemy and tries to trick them and take what belongs to them. It is what we call 4-1-9 in our local parlance. The key to this type of wisdom is ability to tell very convincing lies and get the other person believing you until he or she falls into a trap. St. James calls this type of wisdom unspiritual and devilish.

On the other hand, there is wisdom that comes from above. This is fuelled by purity of heart. It is aimed at bringing peace, gentle, open to reason, full of mercy and good fruits, without uncertainty and insincerity. This type of wisdom is completely opposed to the worldly wisdom and it never insincere.

It is quite surprising that we Christians claim to be very spiritual and yet we often place worldly wisdom over and above Godly wisdom. We tell lies so easily and pat ourselves on the back that we are just being smart. Telling lies is not wisdom at all. It is the height of foolishness because eventually the truth will come out and then our Christian faith is called to question.

Let us aspire for Godly wisdom. It is a wisdom that puts God first, a wisdom that thrives based on the fear of God, it is a wisdom that is full of mercy and reaches out to help our fellow brothers and sisters in need,  it is a wisdom that prevents us from insincerity. We don’t have to compete with the world and even if they think of us as being foolish because of our truthfulness and mercy, the truth about who is foolish or not will be known on the day of Judgement.

In the Gospel passage, the main message is not about wisdom but about another virtue, faith. The disciples of Jesus could not cure a boy who was possessed because they were still learning from Jesus. At the end, they asked why they could not do it, Jesus said: “This type cannot be driven out by anything but prayer and fasting.” When last did you pray and fast? Do you realize the enormous power you could emanate if you did pray and fast today?

Let us pray:
Lord Jesus, infuse into me wisdom from above that I may see as foolish that which the world considers as smartness. Amen.

Good morning. Be Happy. Live Positive. Have Faith. It is well with you. Happy new week.


NB. Please bear with me for any grammatical/typographical errors in the course of my daily reflections. Given the short time available to me every morning, I am not able to do thorough editing before sending them out lest they come too late.

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