BOTH THE NEW AND THE OLD

Jer 18,1-6; Ps 145; Mt 13,47-53
2 AUGUST
The heart of the Father is truth and eternal wisdom, charity and infinite mercy, justice and divine fidelity. How do you go about exhausting in a sentence or even in a whole Scripture the abyss of eternal light which is in the heart of the Father and which is entirely in the heart of Christ the Lord? Sirach in the Holy Spirit is convinced that those who come after must add to what has been said before. He takes his grandfather’s writings and gives them a new look, which is not just literary. He clothes them with his personal wisdom. To the ancient wisdom of yesterday he adds his new wisdom.

Many important truths have been handed down to us through the law, the prophets, and the later authors; and for these the instruction and wisdom of Israel merit praise. Now, those who are familiar with these truths must not only understand them themselves but, as lovers of wisdom, be able, in speech and in writing, to help others less familiar. Such a one was my grandfather, Jesus, who, having devoted himself for a long time to the diligent study of the law, the prophets, and the rest of the books of our ancestors, and having developed a thorough familiarity with them, was moved to write something himself in the nature of instruction and wisdom, in order that those who love wisdom might, by acquainting themselves with what he too had written, make even greater progress in living in conformity with the divine law. You therefore are now invited to read it in a spirit of attentive good will, with indulgence for any apparent failure on our part, despite earnest efforts, in the interpretation of particular passages. For words spoken originally in Hebrew are not as effective when they are translated into another language. That is true not only of this book but of the law itself, the prophets and the rest of the books, which differ no little when they are read in the original. I arrived in Egypt in the thirty-eighth year of the reign of King Euergetes, and while there, I found a reproduction of our valuable teaching. I therefore considered myself in duty bound to devote some diligence and industry to the translation of this book. Many sleepless hours of close application have I devoted in the interval to finishing the book for publication, for the benefit of those living abroad who wish to acquire wisdom and are disposed to live their lives according to the standards of the law (Sir Prologue).

Wisdom is a gift from God, but it is also reflection, meditation, study, commitment of the human mind. Adding wisdom to wisdom is possible, as long as man devotes himself with a free mind to accept every suggestion that comes from the Lord.

He explores the wisdom of the men of old and occupies himself with the prophecies; He treasures the discourses of famous men, and goes to the heart of involved sayings; He studies obscure parables, and is busied with the hidden meanings of the sages. He is in attendance on the great, and has entrance to the ruler. He travels among the peoples of foreign lands to learn what is good and evil among men. His care is to seek the Lord, his Maker, to petition the Most High, To open his lips in prayer, to ask pardon for his sins. Then, if it pleases the Lord Almighty, he will be filled with the spirit of understanding; He will pour forth his words of wisdom and in prayer give thanks to the Lord, Who will direct his knowledge and his counsel, as he meditates upon his mysteries. He will show the wisdom of what he has learned and glory in the law of the Lord’s covenant (Cf. Sir 39,1-16).

That is how Jesus wants his disciples: able to add wisdom to wisdom. But for this it is necessary that they live in perfect communion in the Holy Spirit.

Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a net thrown into the sea, which collects fish of every kind. When it is full they haul it ashore and sit down to put what is good into buckets. What is bad they throw away. Thus it will be at the end of the age. The angels will go out and separate the wicked from the righteous and throw them into the fiery furnace, where there will be wailing and grinding of teeth. “Do you understand all these things?” They answered, “Yes.” And he replied, “Then every scribe who has been instructed in the kingdom of heaven is like the head of a household who brings from his storeroom both the new and the old.” When Jesus finished these parables, he went away from there.

Every day, every disciple of Jesus must take the Word of the Gospel, make it become his life and he must give his life as the word to the world. Today for today.

Mother of the Lord, Angels and Saints, help us to transform the Word into our lives.