Anointing of Wisdom

Brother Thomas Paul

Our attitude to receive Wisdom.

This should be our attitude to receive Wisdom…We must pray to the Lord everday…”Oh Lord, my knowledge is only the size of a sesame seed and there is an ocean to be understood.”

St.Thomas Aquinas, after writing such great theological works once wrote …The end of my labour has come…All that I have written appears to be so much straw after the things that have been revealed to me.
God’s wisdom is limitless. It is infinite and endless. Man can never comprehend it completely even if he strives for it his entire lifetime.
Let us get back to the Star…
The Star led the three wise men to Jesus. Who were they? Were they Catholics? They were gentile kings…by this we can conclude that God’s Wisdom does not have any favourites…Catholics or Greeks…all are equally special to God. Secondly, no sooner did the three wise men worship Jesus than the star disappeared. Why? The star did not lead them anymore…because the star had led them to the fount of Wisdom himself. It had united the three kings with divine Love.
St. Therese of Lisseux’s father hid St.John of the Cross’ book of Love poems from her because he was convinced that if she read the book, she would follow the Jesus…but do you know what St. Therese of Lisseux did? She read the book without her father’s knowledge. By the age of sixteen she had already read St. John of the Cross’ love poems and works.
When Pope John Paul II was a young man, he used to work at a quarry. He was presented with St.John of the Cross’ ‘Dark night of the soul’ . Whilst returning back from carrying the rocks on his head, he would read the book. He loved it so much. He studied Spanish. Do you know why? To study St. John of the Cross’ books in its original language. Only when we read the Bible in its original language, we get the right knowledge. We must understand these things. The reason behind speaking about this is that if our saints could get this Wisdom…we can too. We too are called to be saints. We do not have to copy anyone. We too will get wisdom one way or the other. In each saint, God’s wisdom worked in a unique way.
Jesus told St. Catherine of Sienna to tell the Pope that he should have his residence in Rome, the land of matyrs and not in France. This little girl wrote a note to the Pope according to the Lord’s wish. This is how the Pope’s residence came to be in Rome. God executes great works through simple souls. We too have the right to receive Wisdom similar to how God worked in the lives of the saints.
Let us now reflect upon the Pope’s message….Worship is a love story. The three wise men who followed the Star to reach Jesus were not led by the Star on their return journey because when they worshipped the Saviour they were united with Wisdom.
King Herod had instructed these gentile Kings to report back to him after they worshipped the Saviour following which he would go and worship the Saviour…but it was a lie. They should have reported back since it was the King’s order but God’s Wisdom forbade them from returning to Herod. Once we receive God’s Wisdom, we must not follow our own plans anymore. We must follow the path that Wisdom leads us.

Jesus is Wisdom
1Cor 1:24
1Cor 1:30
Jesus Christ is the fount of our life…everyone’s life.
John1:1
John 1:9
Everyone does not mean only Catholics but the whole of mankind. The Light that illuminates mankind is coming to the world. God made Him Wisdom, Righteousness, Sanctification and Redemption for us. Man can never comprehend this justice of God. Only when we attain a higher level of understanding of God’s Wisdom will we be able to understand God’s justice. Hence Jesus advises us to seek first the Kingdom of God and His Righteousness. We can comprehend only once we attain Wisdom. Once we understand that Righteousness, our Sanctification will take place ….followed by our Redemption. Once we are redeemed, we become a new creation….just like the water transforms into wine.
In the Holy mass, after consecration the bread transforms into Christ himself. The wheat bread transforms into a person….this is what happens in redemption…Jesus came to recreate all of God’s creation.
The pure essence/ethos of Christianity is the transformation of mankind’s sinful state into Christ.
In Holy Mass, we receive Christ…the giver of graces himself. On the way to Emmaus, the disciples did not recognize Jesus even though he was with them. The Lord opened their hearts to understand that. The risen Christ who walked with them and preached the Good News entered their hearts and revelead himself to them.