Our failing intellect

The response to the psalm in the text from the Roman Catholic Lectionary today is “The Lord will not abandon His people” In the Gospel from Matthew, Jesus praises the Father that He has hidden the understanding of the relationship between God and His people from the wise and the learned and has revealed them to the childlike. The Lectio on a Carmelite web page sets the context of this Gospel passage in the beginning in Chapter 11 of opposition to and lack of belief in the words and actions of Jesus. In the rush sometimes to categorize and criticize believers we might find our intellectual arguments and ability to cite passages we have read as evidence in our defense may disappoint us. The psalm will remind us that we are not forgotten. Jesus tells us to look to the response of the childlike. The reflection of physician Sam Pierre today challenges us to adopt the humility in which gives God the credit for our work. He questions the role we actually play. The text from the Prophet Isaiah describes the error in the mind of the Assyrian conquerors that they are more than tools of the Lord. “Will the axe boast against him who hews with it?”(Isaiah 10:15) Sam Pierre reminds us that St. Ignatius challenges us beautifully with the goal of living Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam (“For the Greater Glory of God”). He asks “How would each of our professions change if we were to actually give God the praise for each success? “ The childlike in the Gospel of Matthew are described in the Greek translation as “infants” who the Carmelite Lectio notes are not experts in the Law and are not instructed. Our trust that God remains with us is boosted by the faith we witness in those around us and we need to pay particular attention to that faith which the Carmelites profess is the sword of the Spirit, the Word of God living abundantly in our mouths and in our hearts.