[Jesus said,] “The kingdom of heaven is like a net that was thrown into the sea and gathered fish of every kind. When it was full, men drew it ashore and sat down and sorted the good into vessels but threw away the bad. So it will be at the end of the age” (Mt 13:47-49).
Dear Marian Helpers and Members of our Marian Family,
Imagine yourself, for a second, being able to have one wish granted. You can have anything you want. Health, long life, wealth…you name it, it’s yours!
I’d probably ask for the ability to stop time. Think of all the work I could get done or books I could read! I doubt, however, that many of us would choose the answer that Solomon gave. Wisdom? Really?
And yet, wisdom is the perfect answer. The wise answer. Wisdom is the ability to see things as they really are, to discern between good and evil, and to know the most prudent way to do what must be done. That’s something that we can, and should, incorporate into every aspect of our lives.
Money, long life, and health are good things, but they eventually go away. Or at least diminish. But wisdom, if used and cultivated, doesn’t decrease but grows!
As we cultivate wisdom through prayer and study, we begin to understand that the merchant, the farmer, and the fisherman in today’s Gospel weren’t foolish at all. They were incredibly wise. They realised that of all the riches that life has to offer, the Kingdom of Heaven is the greatest treasure that there possibly could be.
And so the question for each of us is, whether or not we have come to that understanding, or are at least trying. If people looked at our lives, our interactions with others, how we spend our free time and what our priorities are, would they see someone trying to grow in wisdom? Or would they see someone who has chosen one of the world’s passing treasures instead?
Wisdom is recognising what is truly valuable. Holiness is choosing that treasure over everything else.
As you pray this week, ask the Lord for the wisdom that only He gives. Christ is the Power of God and the Wisdom of God, after all, as St. Paul reminds us (1 Cor 1:24). As tempting as money, health, influence or whatever else may be, nothing will enrich, enliven, or enlighten us more than belonging to Christ and living as citizens of His Kingdom.
May God bless you now and always!
Fr Alex Pumphrey, MIC
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Contact Father Alex at info@divinemercy.org.uk
Please send us your prayer intentions! (click here). We will place them at the foot of our altar in the Divine Mercy Apostolate’s Chapel here in West Ealing, London and will remember them in our daily Chaplets of Divine Mercy
