“It’s not what you look at that matters, it’s what you see.” — Henry David Thoreau.
Wisdom, as defined by multiple sources, suggests an accumulation of knowledge, experience, and a developing of the ability to make the right judgement.
Wisdom is an interior thing. It is not ordinary knowledge, but knowledge formed by experience and usually struggle and suffering. The result is a knowledge that is often profound and affects the way we see things and do things.
Biblically speaking, wisdom is equated with God. Wisdom is also something that must be sought out and hungered for because it does not just happen.
Wisdom happens because one becomes very open to it and longs for it to be realized in their life.
Listen to the Gospel today. Listen to the words and look at the actions of the “wise virgins.”
Life doesn’t just happen to them; life involves and demands from them a response and decision.
Wisdom is a promised gift of the Holy Spirit. All who have received the gift in the sacrament of confirmation must never presume it, but rather, engage it.
Every day, one ought to ask of the Holy Spirit for another pouring and outpouring of that gift of wisdom so that, with it and through it, right decisions can be made that result in peace and confidence that God is right there, dwelling within us and within our thoughts and actions.
Father Perry D. Leiker is the 14th pastor of St. Bernard Catholic Church. Reach him at (323) 255-6142. Email Father Perry at perry.leiker@gmail.com. Follow Father Perry on Twitter: @MrDeano76.
