Every kingdom divided against itself will be laid waste

12 OCTOBER (Lk 11,15-26)

The kingdom of God is the fruit of Wisdom in us, because it is its truest, purest, holiest, and most immaculate revelation. Wisdom knows itself. The Wisdom that is outside of us speaks to the Wisdom that is within us and this is enhanced by a greater Wisdom, growing more and more every day. Never might a man who refuses Wisdom, who insists against it, who fights it, enjoy the revelation of God’s kingdom.

She preserved the first-formed father of the world when he alone had been created; And she raised him up from his fall, and gave him power to rule all things. But when the unjust man withdrew from her in his anger, he perished through his fratricidal wrath. When on his account the earth was flooded, Wisdom again saved it, piloting the just man on frailest wood. She, when the nations were sunk in universal wickedness, knew the just man, kept him blameless before God, and preserved him resolute against pity for his child. She delivered the just man from among the wicked who were being destroyed, when he fled as fire descended upon Pentapolis – Where as a testimony to its wickedness, there yet remain a smoking desert, Plants bearing fruit that never ripens, and the tomb of a disbelieving soul, a standing pillar of salt. For those who forsook Wisdom first were bereft of knowledge of the right, And then they left mankind a memorial of their folly – so that they could not even be hidden in their fall. But Wisdom delivered from tribulations those who served her. She, when the just man fled from his brother’s anger, guided him in direct ways, Showed him the kingdom of God and gave him knowledge of holy things; She prospered him in his labors and made abundant the fruit of his works, Stood by him against the greed of his defrauders, and enriched him; She preserved him from foes, and secured him against ambush, And she gave him the prize for his stern struggle that he might know that devotion to God is mightier than all else. She did not abandon the just man when he was sold, but delivered him from sin. She went down with him into the dungeon, and did not desert him in his bonds, Until she brought him the scepter of royalty and authority over his oppressors, Showed those who had defamed him false, and gave him eternal glory. The holy people and blameless race – it was she who delivered them from the nation that oppressed them. She entered the soul of the Lord’s servant, and withstood fearsome kings with signs and portents; she gave the holy ones the recompense of their labors, Conducted them by a wondrous road, and became a shelter for them by day and a starry flame by night. She took them across the Red Sea and brought them through the deep waters – But their enemies she overwhelmed, and cast them up from the bottom of the depths. Therefore the just despoiled the wicked; and they sang, O Lord, your holy name Because Wisdom opened the mouths of the dumb, and gave ready speech to infants. (Wisdom 10,1-21).

Jesus reveals to his people the power of the Kingdom of God that He came to establish. What do scribes and Pharisees say: “That the power of Satan operates in him.” This attestation reveals a bad, evil heart, lacking any Wisdom, stupid, fake, lying, surrounded by pitch darkness. Always the heart is made of sin when it fights the divine Wisdom that reveals the kingdom of God to his children.

Some of them said, “By the power of Beelzebul, the prince of demons, he drives out demons.” Others, to test him, asked him for a sign from heaven. But he knew their thoughts and said to them, “Every kingdom divided against itself will be laid waste and house will fall against house. And if Satan is divided against himself, how will his kingdom stand? For you say that it is by Beelzebul that I drive out demons. If I, then, drive out demons by Beelzebul, by whom do your own people drive them out? Therefore they will be your judges. But if it is by the finger of God that (I) drive out demons, then the kingdom of God has come upon you. When a strong man fully armed guards his palace, his possessions are safe. But when one stronger than he attacks and overcomes him, he takes away the armor on which he relied and distributes the spoils. Whoever is not with me is against me, and whoever does not gather with me scatters. “When an unclean spirit goes out of someone, it roams through arid regions searching for rest but, finding none, it says, ‘I shall return to my home from which I came.’ But upon returning, it finds it swept clean and put in order. Then it goes and brings back seven other spirits more wicked than itself who move in and dwell there, and the last condition of that person is worse than the first.”

Virgin Mary, Mother of the Redemption, Angels, and Saints give us a heart of Wisdom.