TWENTIETH SUNDAY (B)
Fr. Gerard Kelly
Every society and culture has its
wisdom figures. These are the people
that we look up to, so that they might teach us about life. While they are probably depicted a bit
differently in various cultures there are some common features. Often they are depicted as old, reminding us
that the getting of wisdom is a life-time project. Often they are sitting, reminding us that the
learning of wisdom is a leisurely activity.
Wisdom does not really have much to do with learning a lot of things or
knowing everything. Sometimes the wise
person in a community is not the one who knows everything. The wise person is the one who has good
judgement.
The contrast to the wise person is the
fool. The fool usually makes shallow
decisions, decisions that are short-term and often impulsive. In ancient societies the classic distinction
between the wise person and the fool was seen in the way they dealt with their
crops and the seasons. The wise person wasn’t
the one who may have had the largest harvest, but the one who made sure that
after the harvest some of the food would be put away so that they would have
plenty to eat during the winter months. In
contrast, the fool would eat most of the produce during the summer and his
family would go hungry towards the end of winter. The fool has no long term vision. The fool really doesn’t know much about
living.
The question people often ask is how
they can learn wisdom. The simple answer
is that you learn wisdom by getting to know the wise person and learning from
them. In one of the psalms it says, “The
fool has said in his heart there is no God.”
In the end, to grow in wisdom is to come to know God. God is the source
of all wisdom.
In our first reading we had God
personified as the wisdom figure who sets out a luxurious banquet of fine food
and wine. Once the table is set Wisdom
goes out and invites people to the table.
The point of having such a fine dining table is that people will be in no
hurry to run away; they will want to stay and talk. The conversation around this table will be
uplifting, as they listen to Wisdom speak.
Around this table they will learn about life. They will learn what makes for a good
life. They will learn about true
prosperity. They will learn what good
judgement looks like. Around this table
all the barriers and divisions will be broken down. Food is always a symbol of life; Wisdom’s
banquet table is a place to be refreshed in order to go on living. But more than this: the food at this table,
with all of its abundance and opulence, is a symbol of the fullness of life
that is held out to those who know God.
There are hints in today’s gospel that
Jesus is the true wisdom figure. He has
received this from the Father, and he offers it to those who follow him. Remember that a few weeks ago we heard the
gospel of the multiplication of the loaves.
Each Sunday since then we have listened to Jesus speak about the Bread
of Life. This is a long teaching. Because the context is food and eating, we
can imagine that this teaching is part of the conversation that Jesus may have
had with those who were at the banquet table with him.
So what might we learn from Jesus? His words are simple, but their meaning is
profound. “Anyone who eats my flesh and
drinks my blood has eternal life,” he says.
Some listening to him did not understand what he was saying – they
misunderstood him. The clue to
understanding him is the reference to his flesh and blood. The earliest Christians knew that this was a
reference to his blood that was shed on the cross and his body that suffered
and died on the cross. So, in very
simple terms, when he says that his flesh and blood give eternal life, he is
telling them that the effect of his suffering and death is to give eternal life
to the world. In other words, his
suffering and death have changed the world and opened it up to the future that
God has in store for all of creation. He
is the source of life. When people learn
this, they have found true wisdom.
But it is not enough just to know this
fact. Jesus speaks of eating his flesh
and drinking his blood. This reference
to eating and drinking reminds us of the banquet table that Wisdom has
set. Around this table we learn wisdom
as we listen to the words that Jesus speaks to us in the Scriptures. But learning wisdom is not just about getting
knowledge. Rather, we learn about life;
we let the wisdom of God shine a light on our lives and the choices we make for
a good life. We learn good judgement.
The fact of eating and drinking tells
us about how we learn wisdom. We never
eat just once; we do it all through our life.
The food we eat gives life and becomes part of us. In a mysterious way we eat and drink of his
flesh and blood that has suffered and died for the life of the world. In this way, we not only take this eternal
life to ourselves here and now, we also allow his way of life to shape our
own. This is the great lesson of wisdom
that Jesus teaches us. The way to the
good life, to eternal life, is the path of self-giving in imitation of him. We can do this, we can draw life from Jesus,
by eating his flesh and drinking his blood.
