Wisdom to obey the Call for Compassion

And Solomon said, “Give your servant therefore an understanding mind…” (1 Kings 3). How can young people keep their way pure? These texts about youth and the way to may our way on the journey are as ancient as King Solomon and as new as today. The gift of wisdom sought by Solomon and the search for purity or “wholiness” are not the sole concern of the young. After presenting these texts, the Roman Catholic Lectionary has Mark tell of the strategy of Jesus and His disciples to fortify themselves for the journey. Jesus takes them away to a deserted place to pray. In Jesus time, the Essenes lived in the desert and used the solitude to experience contact with the indwelling Spirit. Scholars have written that Jesus demonstrated practices which were common in the Essenes. The text from Mark also shows that even our “holy plans” to sit in the Divine Presence are to be modified by compassion for those who need and who we see as “sheep without a shepherd”. The journey is aided by wisdom and obedience to the commandments but compassion and love must trump all other attributes of the “holy person”.