 At a visit with the dermatologist last year, I pointed out some spots on my skin that I figured were age spots, but that I thought I should inquire about anyway. She smiled and said, “Oh, those are just wisdom spots. They’re fine.” I definitely had never heard that ‘medical term’ before! I loved this description, but in actuality the doctor had touched upon the concept of wisdom coming with age. Of course, we do not become wise simply by getting older, but rather, from what we learn through life experience. We gather wisdom throughout our lives, but sometimes we conflate knowledge with wisdom, so it can go unrecognized. There are lots of people who never had much formal education and yet are wise. Just look at the lives of the Saints and you will find many who may not have had a great education or who may have struggled in school, such as St. Bernadette Soubirous, St. John Vianney, and Bl. Pier Giorgio Frassati.* Each of them had wisdom which grew from their openness to learning from God. This highlights the point that to attain wisdom, we must learn from God through a radical openness and docility which is born of faith, hope, and love.  The liturgies at the end of the Easter season focus our attention on the gift of spiritual wisdom, especially in the fulfillment of the promise of Jesus to send the Holy Spirit. Therefore, we are encouraged to reflect upon the apostles who experienced great growth in wisdom in the time after the resurrection of Jesus. In the aftermath of Jesus’ crucifixion, the process of intense spiritual scrutiny readied them to open their hearts more fully to the presence of the Risen Jesus than they had previously been capable. Thus, experience was the foundation of the process. However, it important to note that they could not develop wisdom without the action of God. When Jesus appeared to them, He said, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you. And when He had said this, He breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit.”” Clearly this power was only available to them as gift from God. He also said, “Whose sins you forgive are forgiven them, and whose sins you retain are retained.”” (John 20:22) The mission they were to undertake required that they possess the wisdom to discern, recognizing that the authority to forgive or hold bound comes from God alone. This suggests that their minds were now open to mysteries that were not open to them before, but also that they had been empowered to go forth with authority.  The apostles returned to Jerusalem after the Ascension of Jesus, spending the next ten days “praying in one accord” as a community of disciples, about 120 gathered together. (Acts of the Apostles 1:14-15). As Jesus had instructed, they devoted themselves to prayer as one, united in joyful expectation. This communal prayer enabled their readiness to receive the full outpouring of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost.** Remember, they knew they were to wait for the coming of the Holy Spirit, but they did yet not know exactly what that meant or when it would happen. Luke, the author of Acts, is quite clear in emphasizing their unity in purpose and in love. This unity is what enabled them to radically and openly receive powerful spiritual gifts from the Holy Spirit at Pentecost, something as a Body our prayer still has the power to do.  If we want to grow in wisdom, the place to start is in recognizing that we already possess it; that is, as baptized Christians we already possess the graces upon which we need to allow the Lord to build. Then, we can reflect upon our spiritual life, what we have experienced and learned up to this point. Whether we have taken enough time for growth is not important; what is important is that we begin now, or continue what we have worked on, to deepen our faith and understanding. It is essential that we listen to God in prayer and through His Word, but also in study of the Catechism, in spiritual reading such as writings of the Saints, theologians, or spiritual leaders of today. (It is important to develop a good prayer life and familiarity with the Gospel to aid in our discernment.) Next, it is important to use the gifts we have received in the Sacraments, especially those of Baptism and Confirmation. We must not forget that we also have individual, unique gifts of the Spirit. ***  During these days between the Ascension of Jesus and Pentecost, it would be good to join the 120 gathered in the Upper Room in prayer and reflection just as Jesus instructed them. We can turn to Mary and the apostles who were at the center of the gathered community and ask them to intercede. The unity in prayer of the gathered disciples can inspire us to pray for the same outpouring of the Spirit when we are worshiping as a gathered community so that we, too, can go out to all the world in a renewed way. In short, the starting point for all wisdom is God, and if we are one in Him, individually and as a community we can indeed bring the power of His Holy Spirit out into the world in an explosion of mercy and love.  May we accept the Lord’s invitation to grow in spiritual wisdom so that we can more effectively put it into action in our daily lives! May we follow the wise words of Mary who at the start of Jesus’ ministry said, “Do whatever He tells you!” And may the apostles and Mary intercede for us that we may receive and act upon the mission that has been entrusted to us in bringing forth the power of the Spirit in an explosion of mercy and love! Let us meet in the Heart of Jesus! Peace!
©Michele L. Catanese * It is important not to confuse knowledge or even intelligence with wisdom. Each of the saints I mentioned were intelligent, even if they had some issues with education: St. Bernadette struggled to learn the basics of the Catechism as a child; St. John Vianney couldn’t pass the seminary Latin exams, and Bl. Pier Giorgio needed a tutor for a couple of subjects that he struggled with. In the final analysis, St. Bernadette did learn and was able to read and write with insight, St. John Vianney, while never a great scholar, was allowed to did pass and became a great orator/preacher, and Bl. Pier Giorgio was a better than average student. But more importantly, all three possessed much wisdom! ** Clearly the Holy Spirit is not quantifiable, and so this is a reference to the mystery of God being revealed as God sees fit. One can look to what Jesus told Nicodemus by way of analogy to explain the Holy Spirit’s action. He said the Holy Spirit is like the wind which "blows where it wills." (John 3:5-8) That is, God has the ultimate wisdom, and therefore the ultimate freedom, to grace us when and how He sees fit (given our needs) in fulfilling His will. *** See what St. Paul says in 1 Corinthians 12. Also, in regard to discernment, we should be careful of being swayed by the opinions of those who sound authoritative, but who are not aligned to true gospel values and teaching. The Holy Spirit unites, evil divides. Thus, we ask the Holy Spirit to help us discern as we reflect upon what we read or hear in current media or documents. Images: 1. Painting; The Boy Jesus Teaching in the Temple, by Duccio Buoninsegna. Jesus, the young boy, is teaching the older, seemingly more learned scholars of the Law: age and wisdom do not necessarily go together. Indeed, Jesus is fully God, but He is also fully human. To emphasize this reality, Luke related not only the obedience of Jesus, but also that He still had to grow gradually as all people do "in wisdom and in stature...." (Luke 2:52) 2. My photo: Farview Point, Brice Canyon, Utah. As quoted above, in explaining how the Holy Spirit works Jesus said to Nicodemus, "The wind blows where it wills, and you hear the sound of it, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes; so it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit." (John 3:8) 3. My photo; dome of St. Peter's Basilica in Rome. If you look closely, you will see the people who are on the balcony on the dome. (You will need to enlarge the photo to see them.) I love this photo because it symbolically depicts the Church "holding up" the people; that is, we are one Body, one Church. 4. My photo; the Holy Spirit window which is behind the Bernini columns (the baldacchino) and the main altar at St. Peter's in Rome. 5. Painting; Pentecost, Chilean. Again, if you look closely, you will see Mary in the middle of the Pentecost scene with the outline of a church surrounding her. She is Mother of the Church. 6. Icon; Our Lady of Las Cruces, by Fr. William Hart McNichols. On the scroll in Mary's hands, it says: "How beautiful on the mountains are the feet of the messenger who brings good tidings, who brings peace. Isaiah 52:7" One cannot help but think of the first words of Pope Leo XIV when he came out on the balcony at his election: "Peace be with all of you." If you are interested in purchasing this icon in one of many mediums, go to fineartamerica.com/featured/our-lady-of-las-cruces-345-william-hart-mcnichols.html Note: In compliance with GDPR rules, I wish to make it clear that I do not gather any information on any of my readers at any time. Comments are closed.
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