[stephenkhoo]

DIVINE WISDOM AS THE WAY TO CHANGING OUR HEARTS
SCRIPTURE READINGS: 1 KG 10:1-10; PS 37:5-6, 30-31, 39-40; MK 7:14-23
http://www.universalis.com/20140212/mass.htm

“Nothing that goes into a man from outside can make him unclean; it is the things that come out of a man that make him unclean.” These words of Jesus seem to be obvious enough for us, although not so for the disciples who followed the strict Jewish rituals and laws. But our hearts, like theirs, have evil intentions, manifested in our avarice, malice, deceit, envy, slander and pride.

So what then can change our hearts? How does one purify one’s heart from such evil intentions so that one’s actions will be Christ-like? One way is through knowledge and human effort. It is the classical way of imitatio Christi. This approach takes the perspective that all input into the heart comes from the mind, including evil and goodness. The way to preserve the purity of our hearts is thus to imitate Christ by impressing the life of Christ on our minds. Hence, we try to enrich our knowledge of the life of Christ through study, meditation or listening to talks. All these are good means to cultivate a change of heart. They are valid and legitimate. But they are insufficient. Why?

Because the imitation of Christ is simply another disguised attempt to rely on human knowledge and efforts alone. It is in actual fact tantamount to doing what the Jews did in observing the ritual laws in a legalistic manner. Furthermore, from experience, we know that when we try to imitate Christ, we will find ourselves incapable of living the life of Christ. We fail miserably each time we try to live out what we have learnt about Christ. Consequently, some of us get rather discouraged in our spiritual life because there does not seem to be much improvement. However, if we find ourselves falling back to the same old habits, it is understandable, because Christ is beyond each one of us to imitate. Hence, knowledge and human effort alone cannot help us to live the life of Christ or to have a change of heart. Something else is needed.

The answer is given in today’s first reading. The heart can be changed only when we have wisdom. This is the way of King Solomon. He knew that the only way to live his life rightly is to have wisdom. Thus he asked for that gift when he assumed his kingship. Indeed, Solomon was a great king because of the wisdom that God blessed him with. This was also the conclusion of the Queen of Sheba herself. That is why we must ask for this wisdom as well if we want to live a happy and blessed life. But then what exactly is wisdom?

Let us be clear that wisdom is not knowledge. Wisdom is more than knowledge. To be more specific, wisdom is an enlightened personal knowledge of life. Knowledge can be acquired through study. Knowledge can be acquired by anyone in life. It does not respect age. However, wisdom is different. Wisdom is gained through personal experience. That is why it is said that the young may grow in knowledge but only with age can one grow in wisdom. However, it is not simply a knowledge gained from personal experience; it is an enlightened personal knowledge. It is through experience that deep insight into the reality of life can be gained. Of course, wisdom cannot be reduced to experiences. This is not yet what true human wisdom is all about.

True human wisdom in a nutshell is applied knowledge which includes experience. Such wisdom is true wisdom in the sense that it fills the whole person. It is not merely knowledge which is acquired by the mind but a personal knowledge confirmed by theoretical knowledge acquired by the whole being. An authentic faith is always that of personal knowledge and which convicts a person entirely, enabling him to live in accordance with such wisdom. Thus, one is willing to die for one’s faith as we can see in the history of religions. But no one would die for an ideology or philosophy because ideas can change and they simply appeal to the mind.

However, even such wisdom is not sufficient to enable us to live the life of Christ. Human wisdom that is gained through life experiences can be faulty. We know from history that although King Solomon was wise in many ways, yet his kingdom suffered corruption and disunity. Something else is essential. What we need is divine wisdom.

What is divine wisdom if not Jesus Himself! We Christians do not simply worship the Word of God, but we worship the Word of God incarnated. It is not the Word that will save us, but rather, the Word personalized in Jesus that saves us. Consequently, it is not sufficient to meditate on the Word of God, but we must have a personal relationship with Jesus. When we meditate on the Word, it is not simply the words of Jesus that interests us; more importantly, we want to come to be in contact with the person of Jesus who stands behind the Word which we read or proclaim. By meditating on the Word, we can only come to acquire the mind of Jesus, but by imbibing His Spirit in the Word, we come to know the heart of Jesus and experience His personal presence in our lives.

To have access to the divine wisdom therefore presumes that we are in touch with God, especially with the Word of God. Only God can provide us such wisdom, because only in prayer do we come to understand more deeply the meaning of life-events. In coming to know God, we also come to know ourselves. To be in touch with God is therefore to be in touch with life, ourselves and with others. In the final analysis, only experiences that touch us at the core of our hearts can change us radically. Only when that happens, can we be said to have grown in wisdom.

Consequently, today we are asked to turn to Jesus who is the Wisdom of God to guide us. We need not travel as far as the Queen of Sheba to find the wisdom of God. We have in a very special way, right before us, the Hidden Wisdom of God revealed in Jesus as we reflect on the scriptures. But most of all, we will come to a personal contact with the Divine Wisdom in person. It is this contact with Jesus that will influence and change our lives radically. Let us pray that as we become more open to God, we will be filled with his Wisdom and His life. Only with divine wisdom and divine life, can we live godly lives and a purified mind and heart.