O Wisdom . . . .

17 December

O Sapientia, quae ex ore Altissimi prodidisti, attingens a fine usque ad finem, fortiter suaviter disponensque omnia: veni ad docendum nos viam prudentiae. 

O Wisdom, coming forth from the mouth of the Most High,

reaching from one end to the other, ordering all things:

Come and teach us the way of prudence.

Photo:  The Cathedral of St. Nicholas in Ljubljana, Slovenia at sunset.  I took this my first day in Slovenia in January 2016 when Fr. Jože took me on a ninety minute walking tour.  I've gone back to the same spot subsequently in an attempt to recapture the same effect without success.  As is true in the rest of life, it is not easy to recapture the perfect moment.

Meditation:  One of the sad realities today is that wisdom is ignored or dismissed in favor of quickness, a cheap fix, the snarky comment, cynicism, or an easy laugh. The great gift the aged have given to all societies throughout history is wisdom.  Even those who are dying or who have developed dementia can grant us wisdom if we allow them.  The desire to kill the inconveniently sick  or the demented elderly in the name of a false mercy is one of the great sins of our world. It is the antithesis of wisdom, prudence, and understanding. 

Lagniappe:  Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring by Dame Myra Hess

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vGsPdEm3FfI

Prayer: 

Suscipe (St. Ignatius of Loyola)

Take Lord, and receive

all my liberty, my memory,

my understanding,

my entire will,

all I have and call my own.

You have given all to me,

to You, Lord, I return it.

Everything is yours; do with it what you will.

Give me only Your love and Your grace,

That is enough for me.

+Fr Jack, SJ, MD