Wednesday of the Fifteenth Week in Ordinary Time

Lectionary: 391

I give praise to you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth,
for although you have hidden these things
from the wise and the learned
you have revealed them to the childlike.


The "methods" of the Lord continually astound the powers of the Earth for they are deeply committed to a serious misunderstanding of life. Nor could proper education make any difference with them. Rooted as they are in fear and the drive to dominate, they cannot be brought to an understanding of the Lord's ways by rational persuasion or powerful demonstration. Even the most astonishing revelation in human history, the Resurrection of the Crucified Son of God, they dismiss. To their minds it never happened.

We should not be surprised then that the wise and the learned cannot see what is shown to the childlike. So long as they crave power, security, wealth, recognition, luxury and pleasure they are blind.

Today's gospel follows two stories. The first concerns John the Baptist, the cousin of the Lord who will be executed. The second recalls Jesus' curse of Chorazin, Bethsaida and Capernaum. These three cities had failed to recognize the hour of their visitation and would remain in darkness.

The Baptist had recognized something in Jesus but he wasn't too sure what. He had sent his disciples to ask, "Are you the Messiah?" and Jesus had replied with a reassuring message:

Go and tell John what you hear and see: the blind regain their sight, the lame walk, lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the poor have the good news proclaimed to them. And blessed is the one who takes no offense at me.”

Scripture has assured us, "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom." We can say with equal assurance, "Faith in the Lord is the beginning of wisdom." because they are essentially the same thing. Holy fear and faith are the willingness to acknowledge God's continual presence in our daily life. No one can know how to live in this world who lacks faith in Jesus.
Our Holy Father urges us in his apostolic exhortation, Gaudete et Exsultate to pray for the gift of discernment.

166. How can we know if something comes from the Holy Spirit or if it stems from the spirit of the world or the spirit of the devil? The only way is through discernment, which calls for something more than intelligence or common sense. It is a gift which we must implore. If we ask with confidence that the Holy Spirit grant us this gift, and then seek to develop it through prayer, reflection, reading and good counsel, then surely we will grow in this spiritual endowment.
167. The gift of discernment has become all the more necessary today, since contemporary life offers immense possibilities for action and distraction, and the world presents all of them as valid and good.... Without the wisdom of discernment, we can easily become prey to every passing trend.

The "wise and the learned" -- even in the Church! -- dismiss Pope Francis' teaching as nonsense, an invitation to foolishness.

But the childlike accept the Lord's guidance. They put their hands in the hand of the man from Galilee and trust him to guide them through these profoundly confusing times.