Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam (To the Greater Glory of God)

For: Thursday, November 12, 2009

32nd Week in Ordinary Time

Memorial: St Josaphat, Bishop and Martyr

From: Wisdom 7:22b-8:1

Wisdom, a Reflection of Eternal Light
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[22b] For in her there is a spirit that is intelligent, holy, unique, manifold, subtle,
mobile, clear, unpolluted, distinct, invulnerable, loving the good, keen, irresistible,
[23] beneficent, humane, steadfast, sure, free from anxiety, all-powerful, oversee-
ing all, and penetrating through all spirits that are intelligent and pure and most
subtle. [24] For wisdom is more mobile than any motion; because of her pure-
ness she pervades and penetrates all things. [25] For she is a breath of the po-
wer of God, and a pure emanation of the glory of the Almighty; therefore nothing
defiled gains entrance into her. [26] For she is a reflection of eternal light, a spot-
less mirror of the working of God, and an image of his goodness. [27] Though
she is but one, she can do all things, and while remaining in herself, she renews
all things; in every generation she passes into holy souls and makes them friends
of God, and prophets;

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Commentary:

7:22-8:1. Somehow, mysteriously, Wisdom is the same thing as the Spirit of
God who gives life to and enlightens all other beings and who transcends them.
In vv. 22-24 there are so many terms from the language of Greek philosophy (es-
pecially Plato and the Stoics) that the author must mean them to be recognized
as such. However, even though he borrows this terminology, he clearly maintains
his independence; nothing he says undermines his belief in there being only one
God. He does attribute to divine Wisdom properties that Greek philosophy con-
ferred on the "soul of the cosmos", the nous and the logos, but he clearly does
not mean to associate himself with that sort of thinking; he is simply using these
terms to emphasize the excellence of divine Wisdom.

The sacred writers of the New Testament (St John and St Paul, particularly)
have things to say somewhat along the lines of these verses when dealing with
the mysteries of the Holy Spirit and Jesus Christ (cf. Jn 1:5, 9; 15:26; Col 1:5-6;
Heb 1:3; etc.). Sacred texts like these were among the first to be used when,
later on, Christian theology about the incarnate Word and the Holy Spirit began
to take shape: we can see this from the writings of the Fathers. For example, v.
26 is used in a work attributed to St Augustine dealing with the unity of Father
and Son: "A 'reflection', because the pure light of the Father is in the Son; 'a
clear mirror', for the Father can be seen in the Son" ("Solutiones diversarum
quaestionum", 18).

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Source: "The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries".  Biblical text from the
Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries by members of
the Faculty of Theology, University of Navarre, Spain.

Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, Ireland, and
by Scepter Publishers in the United States.  We encourage readers to purchase
The Navarre Bible for personal study. See Scepter Publishers for details.

"Ignorance of Scripture is ignorance of Christ."  --  St Jerome

"The Father uttered one Word; that Word is His Son, and He utters Him forever
in everlasting silence: and in silence the soul has to hear it.
   --  St John of the Cross