When we think about the ancient Greeks, certain images come to
our mind. We think about the beautiful
Temples. We think about the wonderful
and still meaningful Greek dramas. And,
we think about Greek philosophy. The Greeks were very serious about philosophy
(far more than we are today, unfortunately!) When St. Paul visited Greece, he
found that many of the Greeks were firmly entrenched in the camps of several
philosophers[1]. Paul came to these people
without having any particular knowledge of the major Greek philosophers. To them St. Paul states in the second reading
for today, "My message and my preaching has none of the persuasive force
of ‘wise’ argumentation. Instead it has the convincing power of the Holy
Spirit." Then he reminds the Christians at Corinth, "As a result your
faith rests not on the wisdom of men, but on the power of God." Philosophy
is good, important and necessary, but the wisdom of philosophy is infinitely
inferior to the power of God. This is Paul's message to the new Christians at
Corinth. It is his message to us as we
are continually tempted to underestimate the value of our faith. Having a grasp
of all the knowledge there is in the world and all the great theories of the
greatest of the philosophers may help develop our intellectual capacity and
give us a clearer understanding of the world, but if this were the basis of our
wisdom than we would not be wise.
Instead, we would be fools. To
the Christian, wisdom is not based on any person other than the person of Jesus
Christ. Our wisdom is not lost in some
document past or present, our wisdom is alive, because the Power of God lives. Our wisdom is based not on theory but on faith.
Paul is telling the people of Corinth and us that the reality which we do not
see is more powerful, more certain, a deeper truth than the reality that we do
see. The wisdom that our minds cannot
come to is infinitely superior to the wisdom that is based solely on our
intellectual capacity. When sickness,
trauma, or tragedy hit us; when our loved ones become ill, injured or die; it
is Jesus Christ and Christ alone who brings order to the chaos of our
lives. We are people who have been
enlightened by Christ. Jesus Christ is
God's answer to every question that has ever been or ever can be posed. We are called today to reveal the true wisdom
of the Lord to the world. The wisdom not
based on great intellects, but on the power of God. The world needs this still
new wisdom. Enlightened by Christ, we
are the light of the world • AE
[1]
For
example, there were those who followed Heraclitus and believed that the world
was always in a constant state of change.
There were those who followed Parmenides who claimed that the world was
unchangeable. There were the followers
of Plato who spoke about the inner recollection we all have of an ideal world.
The world according to Plato was a combination of what our minds could make of
it and reality. There were the followers
of Aristotle who said that the world is as it appears. Reality exists, and we are capable of
understanding it.
No hay comentarios:
Publicar un comentario