CT - Catholic Telegraph

Knowing the truth, doing what is proper

Twentieth Sunday in Ordinary Time (B), Proverbs 9:1-6. (Lectionary 119, Aug. 20, 2006)

The Book of Proverbs is not one of the Old Testament books that we hear from often in the Sunday liturgy. In fact, there are only three readings from Proverbs over the whole three-year cycle, one in each year.

The Book of Proverbs seems to be an anthology made up of several collections of maxims or aphorisms. Some parts of it may go back to the time of Solomon in the 10th century B.C. Other parts are more recent. The whole collection seems to have been put together in the fifth century B.C., after the Jews had returned from their exile in Babylon.

The purpose of this book of the Bible is to inculcate wisdom, to provide a guide to successful living. In its biblical sense, wisdom consists in knowing and acting on the way things really are, the way God made them to be. Wisdom involves knowing the truth and doing what is proper in the context of human society, of nature, of the whole cosmos. Wise persons are those who are open to accepting the directives of God's will and learning from the experience of wise human beings over the centuries.

The reading for this Sunday is part of a longer poem that offers a contrast between wisdom and foolishness. Each is presented as a woman, presumably to suggest attractiveness: authentic beauty in the case of Lady Wisdom, false and superficial charm in the case of Dame Folly. Our reading consists of verses from the first part of the poem, the part that deals with wisdom.

Here we see Lady Wisdom surrounded by elegance and anxious to bring the hungry to share in a banquet that she has prepared. Her house is a place of architectural perfection. (This seems to be the significance of the seven pillars.) She has prepared an elaborate meal, including wine mixed with spices. She has sent out messengers (her maidens) to announce her hospitality to those who could benefit from it. She is offering the food and drink of divine teaching and virtue not so much to those who deserve it as to those who need it, to those without understanding, to those who have up to now known only foolishness. What Wisdom offers is life for all those who will accept it.

This reading is intended to lead us into the Gospel reading, still from the sixth chapter of John. As Jesus has presented His bread of life discourse over the last Sundays, He has moved from speaking of the bread of life as a figure for God's revelation in Him (verses 35-50) to speaking of it as the Eucharist, His very own body and blood that is being offered to bring life to the world. This part of Jesus' discourse is in verses 51 to 58, the verses that constitute the Gospel reading for our present Sunday.

The Proverbs reading, therefore, is to be read in the light of what Jesus says about himself and the Eucharist in the Gospel reading. On the other hand, one might also venture that what Jesus says about the Eucharist in John 6 can be illustrated and interpreted in the light of the Proverbs passage.

Both passages are about life. Lady Wisdom encourages her potential guests to forsake foolishness that they might live. The wisdom that is offered them is a source of life. So is the Body and Blood of Jesus. Eating His flesh and drinking His blood brings eternal life. Indeed, Jesus tells us that unless we eat His flesh and drink His blood, we will not have life in us at all. Taking part in the life of Christ through the Eucharist constitutes life, even as wisdom constitutes life. Eucharist, wisdom, the life of Jesus, eternal life for each of us: they all overlap.

The Proverbs reading speaks of the acquisition of wisdom as a banquet. We Christian believers speak of the Eucharist as a banquet. The image of a solemn meal, of a banquet, is an image that teaches us something about wisdom but also something about the Body and Blood of the Lord presented to us in holy communion. A banquet involves community, the togetherness of the host with his guests. One may eat alone, but one can hardly banquet alone. A banquet also involves richness, elegance and abundance. A ham sandwich is not a banquet. Finally, and obviously, a banquet involves nourishment, the sustaining and strengthening of life. Community with the Lord and ongoing abundance of life: That's what both wisdom and the Eucharist are about.

In these readings, God's word teaches us once more about God's love and care for us. As wisdom and as Eucharist the Lord leads us away from foolishness and superficiality to an ongoing participation in His life, a participation that will culminate in the eternal banquet of heaven.

For reflection and discussion

How does God call people to wisdom today?

How have I grown in wisdom?