But Wisdom Is Vindicated By All Her Children

But Wisdom Is Vindicated By All Her Children

Wednesday of the Twenty-fourth Week in Ordinary Time

Piety

You should know how to behave in the household of God, which is the Church of the living God, the pillar and foundation of truth. Undeniably great is the mystery of devotion, Who was manifested in the flesh, vindicated in the spirit, seen by angels, proclaimed to the Gentiles, believed in throughout the world, taken up in glory. 1 Timothy 3:15-16

“But wisdom is vindicated by all her children." Luke 7:35

Study

“This generation is a fickle one.” Jesus’ accusation sticks across the millennia. His charge convicts us. However, in a contextual reading, the verse pertains to those living as contemporaries to Jesus. After passing judgment on the generation Jesus encountered, we hear him prophesy: “Wisdom is vindicated by all her children.”

John and Jesus are the children of Wisdom.  Herod repudiated John for being ascetic and not eating and drinking with the crowd down.  The last straw came when John condemned the king’s immoral behavior.  Jesus – on the other hand -- was rejected by the Pharisees for sharing the table with sinners, precisely the opposite reason his cousin was spurned. The opposition could not have it both ways. But they tried despite themselves.

We frustrate Jesus.  He knows how difficult it is to touch our hardened hearts. Sometimes he gets through.  The notes in the New American Bible explain that “the works of Jesus the Messiah are those of divine Wisdom, of which he is the embodiment.” We can conclude that Jesus vindicates Jesus. Besides, the saints who follow also justify Jesus as children and witnesses to Wisdom.

“Let us now praise famous men, they and their children after them.” (Sirach 44:1,9)

Despite walking among the people, their selfishness showed as they rejected His Wisdom and stumbled in their sin. May we not make the same mistake seventy times seven. After all, we, too, supposedly know the spiritual mystery taught by Timothy:

Manifest in the flesh vindicated in the spirit

Seen by angels, proclaimed to the Gentiles by a man

Believed in throughout the world, taken up in glory

Action

What are we like?  Back in 2013, Colleen O’Sullivan speculated why Jesus got so exasperated with us:

“I can see why some people don’t care to dance to any of the tunes God plays in our lives.  If we do, our hearts have to be transformed.  We have to follow the Lord of the dance wherever he leads, and, if we’re honest with ourselves, some days the ways of the world and our lives as they seem a whole lot more enticing.  When we cover our ears and refuse to sway to the divine melody, however, we miss out on that wondrous mystery, Christ our Savior, about whom Paul so eloquently writes in his letter to Timothy. A person could spend a lifetime fathoming the depths of the mystery of our salvation and never fully comprehend it, but turn our backs on the song that leads us there is a tragedy.”

Maybe if caught at a tailgate party before a contest involving the Washington football club, we would – like Jesus – be accused of being “a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners.”

If we were seen at Missionhurst or San Damiano or maybe at the depths of Lenten observances, people could get the impression that we are an overly and overtly Pious People.  They might accuse us, too, of demonic possession. Let’s face facts. To the uninitiated, some of our practices might seem strange.  Consider veneration of relics of dead saints. That is something out of the bounds of ordinary worship for most people.  

Strive for a balance between extremes.  Embrace both your John and your Jesus, your Mary, and your Martha.