32nd Week in Ord. Time, Thursday – 16th November 2023 – Wisdom 7,22-8,1; Lk 17,20-25
Unchanging Transformer
The first reading describes both the nature and origin of wisdom. It begins by listing twenty-one attributes of wisdom (three sets of seven each, seven for perfection and three for divinity). It is in the thinking of the time, the most perfect of perfect numbers. The 21 attributes are set out as follows: intelligent, holy, unique, manifold, subtle, agile, clear, unpolluted, distinct, invulnerable, loving the good, keen, irresistible, beneficent, humane, steadfast, sure, free from anxiety, all-powerful, overseeing and penetrating through all spirits that are intelligent, pure, and altogether subtle. When we are possessed by true wisdom we are already in touch with God, with His power which is His love and goodness. There is a loftiness and exclusiveness about wisdom, for she is unique. Though herself unchanging and unchangeable, she changes the world through her insight and unending creativity. In generation after generation, she has passed into the lives of good people, making them “friends of God and prophets”. In the Old Testament such friends were Abraham and Moses. Jesus, as the Son of God, called his disciples as friends. Prophets include not only the great prophets and inspired scribes, but all those who live a holy life and intimacy with God, penetrate into the knowledge of his will and his mysteries. Among these will be the many outstanding spiritual and theological writers and preachers who have given new insights into living with God and for God. With the gain of wisdom, they have become an agent of transformation.
