The texts from the Roman Catholic Lectionary today remind us of our spiritual heritage of Wisdom that is revealed by the Holy Spirit to help us maintain our journey on a path that recognizes and rejects the distractions from fullness of life.
The reading from the First Letter of Kings describes the visit of the Queen of Sheba to Solomon.
* [10:1–13] The sub-unit on Solomon’s wisdom contrasts with 3:16–28. There Solomon’s gifts led him to listen to the humblest of his subjects; he accomplished justice and was revered by all his people. Here the emphasis is on his clever speech to a foreign monarch. She is duly impressed by the glory of his court, but it is she, not Solomon, who recalls the monarch’s duty of establishing justice (v. 9). The unit is interrupted briefly by a remark about Solomon’s maritime commerce (10:11–12).
* [10:1] Queen of Sheba: women rulers among the Arabs are recorded in eighth-century B.C. Assyrian inscriptions. Sheba was for centuries the leading principality in what is now Yemen. (1 Kings, CHAPTER 10, n.d.)
Psalm 37 is an exhortation to Patience and Trust.
* [Psalm 37] The Psalm responds to the problem of evil, which the Old Testament often expresses as a question: why do the wicked prosper and the good suffer? The Psalm answers that the situation is only temporary. God will reverse things, rewarding the good and punishing the wicked here on earth. The perspective is concrete and earthbound: people’s very actions place them among the ranks of the good or wicked. Each group or “way” has its own inherent dynamism—eventual frustration for the wicked, eventual reward for the just. The Psalm is an acrostic, i.e., each section begins with a successive letter of the Hebrew alphabet. Each section has its own imagery and logic. (Psalms, PSALM 37, n.d.)
In the Gospel of Mark, Jesus condemns the Tradition of the Elders concerning defilement.
* [7:17] Away from the crowd…the parable: in this context of privacy the term parable refers to something hidden, about to be revealed to the disciples; cf. Mk 4:10–11, 34. Jesus sets the Mosaic food laws in the context of the kingdom of God where they are abrogated, and he declares moral defilement the only cause of uncleanness.
* [7:19] (Thus he declared all foods clean): if this bold declaration goes back to Jesus, its force was not realized among Jewish Christians in the early church; cf. Acts 10:1–11:18. (Mark, CHAPTER 7, n.d.)
Rashmi Fernando, S.J. comments that St. Ignatius of Loyola, the founder of the Society of Jesus and the master of the Spiritual Exercises, puts it differently when he says “Man [woman] is created to praise, reverence, and serve God our Lord, and by this means to save his soul” (Sp.Ex. Principle and Foundation). Putting them together, any sensible mind would wonder, “How is it possible then that these evil thoughts come out of us?” If we do not do the good we want but the evil we do not want, Saint Paul says, it is not because of our will but because of sin that is at work in our flesh (Rom. 7).
I believe that the day’s First Reading (1Kgs 10:1-10) that exults Solomon’s wisdom as witnessed by the Queen of Sheba and the Psalm that reveals the intricate relationship between wisdom and the just becomes rather appealing. We need to ask God for wisdom to discern the difference between a) what goes in and comes out of our mouth, and b) sin which is at work in us and the just we are created and called to be. In that wisdom, let us be mindful and guard against what comes out of us and how just we are because, while they have the power either to break or uplift, demotivate or inspire, and make a negative influence or positive impact on the world, they reflect the beauty of our soul and testify to its creator. (Fernando, 2024)
Don Schwager quotes “The cycle of bitterness broken by forbearance,” by Tertullian, 160-225 A.D.
"Let us, then, his servants, follow our Lord and patiently submit to denunciations that we may be blessed! If, with slight forbearance, I hear some bitter or evil remark directed against me, I may return it, and then I shall inevitably become bitter myself. Either that, or I shall be tormented by unexpressed resentment. If I retaliate when cursed, how shall I be found to have followed the teaching of our Lord? For his saying has been handed down that one is defiled not by unclean dishes but by the words which proceed from his mouth ( Mark 7:15)."(excerpt from ON PATIENCE 8)
[Tertullian (160-225 AD) was an early Christian writer and theologian from Carthage in the Roman province of Africa. He was a noted early Christian apologist who defended Christianity and the practice of Christians against the reproaches of the pagans. He promoted the principle of freedom of religion as an inalienable human right and demanded a fair trial for Christians before they were condemned to death.] (Schwager, n.d.)
The Word Among Us Meditation on Mark 7:14-23 comments that the good news is that sinful patterns of selfishness, pride, or envy can be broken by the power of God. This is why Jesus came into the world. He died, rose, and sent the Spirit into our hearts so that we could live new lives of freedom and joy! Every morning, we can allow him to search and forgive and heal our wounded hearts. We can repent of our sin and trust in his mercy. We can have confidence that by his Spirit, Jesus is healing what defiles us; he is making us new each and every day.
What hope we have! Our sin does not get the last word. Overcoming its effect in our lives does not rely solely upon our own strength. Today, let’s surrender ourselves to Jesus and invite him to breathe new life into our souls!
“Lord, I trust that you will make me clean and set me free!” (Meditation on Mark 7:14-23, n.d.)
Friar Jude Winkler notes that the gifts brought to Solomon by the Queen of Sheba to celebrate his Wisdom may indicate that she came from the area known today as Yemen. The wisdom of Solomon was demonstrated alongside actions to build temples for his pagan wives and perhaps human sacrifice. Friar Jude notes how Jesus focuses on how the need for a change of heart for the Pharisees is a part of the change we need about the way we deal with the world.
Brian McLaren and Gareth Higgins describe how Jesus invites us into the Seventh Story. McLaren thinks it would be dangerous if there was some version of the Seventh Story imposed upon everybody to achieve world peace. There is something about the Seventh Story that needs to be powerful without exercising power, and needs to be persuasive without backing people into a corner. Something about it has to involve freedom and discovery and choice.
What we need isn’t a storyline that wants to erase all the others. What we need is a story space that invites people, in whatever story they’re part of, to stop and wonder, “I don’t like where this story is going, and I don’t like how this is going to end. Is it possible there’s a better story to tell? Could we make a change and find a better ending?” That, to me, is what good news is about. For example, Jesus went around saying, “Repent.” I don’t think that necessarily means we should feel guilty and shameful about things we’ve done. I think it means rethink the story of your lives and open yourself to a different and better ending.
Jesus doesn’t give up on his story, but to the very end, he lives this Seventh Story. In the resurrection stories, he doesn’t come back saying, “Okay, enough of that love story. I’m going to come back a second time to get revenge on all those people.” The story of the resurrection is, “Let’s keep this story going.” He tells his followers to go into the whole world and keep this story going. Jesus lives and dies by a story of love, and the protagonist of the story is love. [2] (McLaren & Higgins, 2024)
We seek the guidance of the Spirit to choose the actions that flow from the Wisdom of our participation in the Good News of Christ.
References
Fernando, R. (2024, February 7). Creighton U. Daily Reflection. Online Ministries. Retrieved February 7, 2024, from https://onlineministries.creighton.edu/CollaborativeMinistry/020724.html
Mark, CHAPTER 7. (n.d.). USCCB. Retrieved February 7, 2024, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/mark/7?14
McLaren, B., & Higgins, G. (2024, February 7). The Seventh Story — Center for Action and Contemplation. Center for Action and Contemplation. Retrieved February 7, 2024, from https://cac.org/daily-meditations/the-seventh-story/
Meditation on Mark 7:14-23. (n.d.). The Word Among Us: Homepage. Retrieved February 7, 2024, from https://wau.org/meditations/2024/02/07/890677/
1 Kings, CHAPTER 10. (n.d.). USCCB. Retrieved February 7, 2024, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/1kings/10?1
Psalms, PSALM 37. (n.d.). USCCB. Retrieved February 7, 2024, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/psalms/37?5
Schwager, D. (n.d.). Out of the Heart Come Evil Thoughts. Daily Scripture Readings and Meditations – Daily Scripture Readings and Meditations. Retrieved February 7, 2024, from https://www.dailyscripture.net/daily-meditation/?ds_year=2024&date=feb7
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