A call for the Messiah #1 – O Wisdom!

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Praised be Jesus Christ! December 17th – we start pondering the Great Advent Antiphons. To begin with, let’s listen to today’s antiphon performed by Father Thomas Jarosz, a Redemptorist.

This today’s antiphon is composed of two quotations from the Old Testament, the Book of Wisdom of Sirach and the Book of Wisdom. Let’s look at these passages in these Books and see what God’s Wisdom is according to the authors of these books and how to use it. The author of the first book tells us the words of Wisdom itself: “I came out of the mouth of the Most High, as a fog covered the Earth.” It is a reference to the moment of creation, so God’s wisdom was with God from the moment of the creation of the world. She was with him in the history of the chosen people, in the history of Israel. We can also see its action in the history of famous people – judges, prophets, patriarchs, kings. Reading this book leads us to conclude that all true wisdom comes from God’s Wisdom. Each person is called to seek this wisdom, learn it, but most of all – to use it in our daily lives, because it is the greatest gift we receive from God. The author of the book also leads us to the second conclusion: in order to live life to the full, we need theoretical and practical wisdom. On the one hand, we need our intellectual effort – gaining experience, talking to wise people, and on the other hand, we also need our effort to act – maintaining self-discipline and discipline. The author of this book emphasizes that in order to be guided by wisdom, one needs, first of all, the fear of God, because it is the beginning of wisdom. While the second Old Testament quote, which we find in today’s antiphon, comes from the Book of Wisdom: “Her power reaches the ends of the world and manages everything wonderfully.” These are the words used to summarize the hymn of wisdom. The author of the book describes the nature and qualities of Wisdom using 21 adjectives. In this symbolic way – by using the ratio of the numbers 3 and 7 – it indicates the fullness of all perfection we find in God’s wisdom. Against this Old Testament background, the New Testament message of today’s antiphon is built. The Wisdom that came out of the mouth of the Most High is Christ the Lord, the Logos, the Word through whom all things were created. He is the teacher of God’s Wisdom, He is perfection, He rules everything with power and sweetness. That is why today we cry out: “Come and teach us the ways of prudence.” Prudence is extremely important in our life of faith, in our conduct, in our relationship with God and with others. It also occupies an important place in the catalog of cardinal virtues. We can read about it, for example in the catechism “YOUCAT”: “The virtue of prudence controls all the virtues. Prudence enables us to know what is right. Anyone who would like to live a good life must know what good is and know its value. Like the merchant in the Gospel parable, when he found one pearl of great value, he sold everything he had and bought it. Only a wise person is able to fairly, courageously and adequately engage in doing good ”. So let us ask God for His wisdom, so that we may follow the paths of prudence and have a full life. Praised be Jesus Christ! See you tomorrow!

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