Words of Wisdom Ancient and Current

The Roman Catholic Lectionary today offers a text from the group of writings called “Wisdom Literature”. Ecclesiastes looks at vanity or the ‘smoke’ or illusions that we have of the important things in life. Our work can posses us and when it does, what have we gained? Psalm 94 reminds us of the damage of “hardness of heart”. So often our movement to completeness is blocked by our inability to be open in heart, mind and spirit to the invitation to change. Paul exhorts “Put to death, therefore, whatever in you is earthly” (Colossians 3.5). He gives some examples of some behaviour which will imprison us in the vanity of the needs of self gratification and impede our response to the invitation to respond to our indwelling Spirit to seek full life. Luke recalls Jesus parable of the wealth landowner who built up so much material wealth, but was not apparently aware that it would disappear as smoke at his death. Larry Gillick SJ of the Deglman Center for Ignatian Spirituality offers a fresh insight into the “sacramental” role of things in our lives.