Wisdom guides, fills us with the kingdom of God

Father Perry D. Leiker, pastor.

A reflection on the daily readings, for Thursday of the 32nd Week in Ordinary Time, by Father Perry.

By Father Perry D. Leiker, pastor

And so the Gospel verse today proclaims —

“I am the vine, you are the branches, says the Lord:
whoever remains in me and I in him will bear much fruit.”

Does that sum up the word of God today or what?!

Of course, it is biased in favor of our faith in Jesus the Christ, and that is OK since that is our tradition, now over 2,000 years old.

It is our language and our vision and our values and our traditions, and we walk it and talk it together, which makes it so familiar and so — almost like — our very culture and our very selves.

And so the first reading, the Wisdom reading, gives us a most pervasive and profound and direct and almost musical description of wisdom — the very presence of God.

Some like to say that wisdom is the feminine way of seeing God — again, so pervasive and profoundly present and capable of “penetrating and pervading all things by reason of her purity”; “the refulgence of eternal light, the spotless mirror of the power of God, the image of his goodness.”

Who would not want a piece of that action?! Ah, wisdom!

+ Then Jesus responds to the Pharisees‘ constant attempt to try to contain or explain God with their “knowledge” of him.

They, they thought, knew when the coming of the kingdom of God was coming.

And Jesus debunks their statements with the response, “The coming of the kingdom of God cannot be observed, and no one will announce, ‘Look, here it is,’ or ‘There it is.’”

Then, and so typical of Jesus, he drops the spiritual bomb, “For behold, the kingdom of God is among you.”

As Jesus says so many times in the Gospel, “It’s here! It’s now! It is forever!”

Catch it, and find it!

Discover it, and hold on to it!

Let it teach you; let it guide you!

Let it bless you! And just for a deeper appreciation, believe me, wisdom will guide you to the kingdom of God and fill you with the kingdom of God!

Are you ready? Are you willing?

Can you dare to bear such fruitfulness?

Father Perry Dean Leiker is the 13th pastor of St. Bernard Catholic Church. Reach him at (323) 255-6142. Email Father Perry at pleiker@stbernard-church.com.

[Image: Johannes Plenio | Unsplash]