Monday of the Seventh Week in Ordinary Time
Wisdom is often thought of as having an elusive quality, and that is perhaps why Sirach turns to poetic language to describe wisdom. Our Christian tradition, however, adds another dimension to our understanding of wisdom. When this Old Testament book is read through the lens of the New Testament, this passage can be understood Christologically. In other words, many Christians through the years have regarded Christ to be wisdom personified or, at least, the one through whom all wisdom comes. For Christians, wisdom is inextricably linked to this person of Christ.
In the gospel story we witness the wisdom of Christ. In this passage from Mark there is the account of a possessed boy, an interceding, desperate father, and the unsuccessful disciples. The closing line of this story kind of echoes beyond the story itself: “This kind can only come out through prayer” (Mk. 9:29). Could it be that the disciples failed because they did not pray? Prayer, like wisdom, also sometimes seems to have an elusive quality. The prayer of the boy’s father is a great example of this: “I do believe, help my unbelief!” (Mk. 9:24) Sometimes we doubt that prayer does anything or we feel that our words are inadequate. We want to believe but find it hard to do so.
In these cases, we might adopt the prayer of this boy’s father. This, in fact, is the beginning of true wisdom; the boy’s father acknowledges that he believes in Jesus, but that he doesn’t believe as well as he could. In order to have wisdom, we must get wisdom from the fountain of all wisdom, the one through whom all things are possible.
It is not when we live self-sufficient lives that we have found wisdom. No, rather, it is when we know that we cannot find wisdom on our own and look to Christ for wisdom that we will find wisdom.
Let us pray that we, like Peter Damian, will share in the wisdom of Christ. If so, we will know the importance of prayer, just as the disciples learned in today’s passage from Mark. Let us pray that God grant us an ever greater appreciation of both wisdom and prayer, that we may seek to grow closer to God. - Maria Morrow
This is precisely what today’s saint, St. Peter Damian did when he left behind the lifestyle of a famous theology and canon law teacher to become a Benedictine monk who sought to reform monasteries and help all to attain greater holiness.