THE BANQUET OF WISDOM, THE BANQUET OF LIFE.
August 18, 2024.
Twentieth Sunday in Ordinary Time – B.
"I am the living bread that came down from heaven;
whoever eats this bread will live forever; and the bread that I will give is my
flesh for the life of the world." Jn 6:51
A Somalian proverb says: “A man who has eaten something
becomes shy.” A French proverb adds: “Bread and wine start a banquet.”
Life is like a banquet to which we are all convened. God
calls us to taste and see his goodness. No one, however, can rightly access
that banquet without the minimum of faith. Faith is that which opens up to the
understanding of God’s gracious love. With faith, we realize that God’s love is
beyond our capacities and human aptitudes. And genuine faith leads to wisdom.
God is a providential Father, we said three weeks ago. God
feeds the needs of all those who turn to him in faith. And God generously gives
himself as bread for our journey of life. Without him, our lives are
meaningless and our days aimless and filled with uncertainties.
The opening prayer could serve as a great ground for our
meditation on today’s readings: “O God, you have prepared for those who love
you good things which no eye can see, fill our hearts, we pray with the warmth
of your love, so that, loving you in all things and above all things, we may
attain your promises, which surpass every human desire…”
Today again, like the three consecutive past Sundays, our
eyes are raised on the Holy Eucharist, the providential bread, the bread of
life, the bread for the road. We are given an amplification of the Eucharist as
the Banquet prepared by Wisdom for those who seek her and thirst to be wise.
Generally speaking, in the Bible, wisdom is the ability to
apply truth in specific situations for godly purposes. Wisdom, however, in the
Book of Wisdom, goes beyond a mere ability or attitude, to become a person. We
are given a beautiful personification of Wisdom, under the portrayal of a Lady.
In Proverbs 8 and 9, Lady Wisdom is a literary personification of God's wisdom.
She represents the gift of wisdom God gave to humans as guidance, allowing them
to obey God's commands and respond to his calling. She also represents the
order and meaning that God has implanted in creation, or God's general
revelation. As such, she is a call that God addresses to all human beings and
all creatures. We are all called to be wise, that is, to live as God wants us
to.
And so, in today’s first reading, Lady Wisdom calls us to a
banquet, the banquet of life, the banquet of the wises. Here is what is written
on her invitation card: "Let whoever is simple turn in here; to the one
who lacks understanding, she says, come, eat of my food, and drink of the wine
I have mixed! Forsake foolishness that you may live; advance in the way of
understanding."
We live in a world where many people have turned foolish and
lacking in understanding and right judgment. Many people have lost direction
and the spirit of sound discernment. They are always prompt to accuse, judge,
and condemn others even without evidence. Blinded by the Ego and materialism,
we judge others by our own standards and how useful they could be to us. When
they turn out to be of no use, we automatically reject them or denigrate them.
We should today, seize the invitation of Wisdom and learn to become wise, that
is simple, full of understanding, patient, and Godly. The banquet is offered,
let’s not miss that invitation.
The Lord Jesus, the par excellence Wisdom of God points out
the lack of understanding of the Jewish people in the Gospel. While he invites
them to receive and partake in the true bread that gives life, his life given
for our lives, they are limited to the deadly bread their ancestors ate in the
desert, the Manna, and they refuse to see Jesus Christ beyond their vision of
him, the Son of the Carpenter and of Mary. While Jesus speaks of a greater
reality, their understanding is limited to the material bread he multiplied and
of which they fed their stomachs.
Here is a beautiful challenge for you and me. We should see
and love Jesus beyond the signs. And that is exactly what the Holy Eucharist
teaches us. Beyond the piece of bread and the drops of wine, we receive and are
nourished on a great mystery, the body and blood of the Lord. As he says to the
Jewish: "I am the living bread that came down from heaven; whoever eats
this bread will live forever; and the bread that I will give is my flesh for
the life of the world." The Lord wants us to be wise.
St. Paul, in his address to the Ephesians, reinforces again
that call: “Watch carefully how you live, not as foolish persons but as wise.”
How then should we live as wises? The Apostle shows the way: “making the most
of the opportunity, because the days are evil…” Wisdom is above all the
capacity for discernment; to know the time in which we are and to live
accordingly. In praxis, he says: “Do not continue in ignorance, and do not get
drunk on wine, in which lies debauchery.” Rather, we should aim at spiritual
things, “try to understand what is the will of the Lord, be filled with the
Spirit, addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing
and playing to the Lord in your hearts, giving thanks always and for
everything…” For, the wise people are those who make God’s will their priority
and are always grateful no matter what happens. Isn't it said that the
foundation of all wisdom is gratitude?
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