Memorial of Saint Monica
I cannot remember how many times I have said to myself, “How could I be so foolish?” The latest was when I asked a rather “well-rounded” lady if she was pregnant. To my total embarrassment, she was not. But, how could I, who has a Masters in Communication and Doctorate in Theology, be so stupid? Well, today’s scriptures may have some answers.
In the first reading from the letter to the Corinthians, Paul juxtaposes human wisdom against God’s wisdom, and human foolishness against God’s foolishness. The conclusion he reaches is – “the foolishness of God is wiser than human wisdom.” (1 Cor 1:25). In other words, the collective intellectual knowledge of all the generations of human evolution is foolishness compared to the foolishness of God. Did you get that? Our collective wisdom cannot be compared even to the foolishness of God. Not that our wisdom is foolish. Our wisdom, our knowledge, our understanding, our scientific knowledge are all a participation in the wisdom of God – but they still are incapable of accomplishing what God has accomplished for us – salvation.
This view is not kosher in our modern world as it was not for the Jews and Greeks in Paul’s lifetime (1 Cor 1:22). Just as Jews in those days depended on exhilarating divine signs, the Law, and self- righteousness and the Greeks relied on human philosophy to lead them to the ultimate truth, today we strive to achieve peace through wars, love through indulgence, and immortality through anti-aging creams and cloning. Yet, even as we discover distant galaxies and planets, even as we genetically modify food and human existence we have only peeked through the key hole of the door to God’s infinite knowledge and wisdom. Our collective knowledge has not gotten us out of the grave thus far. And it does not seem that it will happen anytime soon. Yet human beings think we have gotten somewhere. We think we are now self-sufficient. We think we have unraveled the mysteries of the universe. We think we are not on the verge of salvation. This is like me asking the lady if she is pregnant. The pinnacle of human wisdom is only a faint reflection of God’s infinite wisdom.
In the gospel reading there is another juxtaposition – between five wise people and five foolish people. And Jesus’ clear message is that we strive to be counted among the wise. St. Monica, whose feast we celebrate today was one of those people who prayed that her Son, Augustine and her husband, Patritius would come to that wisdom. Was she foolish not to abandon her hope for twenty years and more?
So, who is wise? The answer is simple - the one who can gaze at the cross and discern therein the depths of God’s wisdom. As Paul says, “The message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.” (1 Cor 1:18). The cross is the only answer to human quest for peace, reconciliation, love, immortality and salvation. The cross may seem to be the foolishness of God. But the foolishness of God is better than all the wisdom of human pursuit. In God’s foolishness is the power and the wisdom of God. In God’s foolishness is our own salvation.
- Fr. Satish Joseph