Daily Retreat 09/23/08
2008 Sep 23 Tue: Pio of Pietrelcina, p M
Prv 21: 1-6. 10-13/ Ps 118(119): 1. 27. 30. 34. 35. 44/ Lk 8: 19-21
From today’s readings: “All the ways of a man may be right in his own eyes, but it is the LORD who proves hearts.... Guide me, Lord, in the way of Your commands.... My mother and My brothers are those who hear the word of God and act on it....”
Proverbial Path to the Word of Wisdom
While most of the biblical proverbs are characteristically pithy, a few are longer and more complex - these need to be read more than just one verse at a time. For an example of this, consider a selection of verses from Chapter 8, which is probably the most beautiful chapter in Proverbs, a poetic personification of Wisdom:
Does not Wisdom call, and Understanding raise her voice?
On the top of the heights along the road, at the crossroads she takes her stand;
By the gates at the approaches of the city, in the entryways she cries aloud:
"To you, O men, I call; my appeal is to the children of men.
You simple ones, gain resource, you fools, gain sense.
Give heed! for noble things I speak; honesty opens my lips.
Yes, the truth my mouth recounts, but the wickedness my lips abhor.
Sincere are all the words of my mouth, no one of them is wily or crooked....
Mine are counsel and advice; Mine is strength; I am understanding.
By me kings reign, and lawgivers establish justice;
By me princes govern, and nobles; all the rulers of earth.
Those who love me I also love, and those who seek me find me.
With me are riches and honor, enduring wealth and prosperity.
My fruit is better than gold, yes, than pure gold, and my revenue than choice silver.
On the way of duty I walk, along the paths of justice,
Granting wealth to those who love me, and filling their treasuries.
The LORD begot me, the first-born of his ways, the forerunner of his prodigies of long ago;
From of old I was poured forth, at the first, before the earth.....
When he established the heavens I was there, when he marked out the vault over the face of the deep....
Happy the man watching daily at my gates, waiting at my doorposts;
For he who finds me finds life, and wins favor from the LORD;
But he who misses me harms himself; all who hate me love death."
It is very clear why the fathers of the church saw in this chapter 8 of Proverbs an introduction to Jesus, the Word of God, the One who was there with the Father before the creation of the world - the One who is meant to be chosen above gold and silver! In fact, Jesus Himself read the Proverbs, and even retold and expanded some of them:
Consider chapter 25, verses 6-7:
Prv 21: 1-6. 10-13/ Ps 118(119): 1. 27. 30. 34. 35. 44/ Lk 8: 19-21
From today’s readings: “All the ways of a man may be right in his own eyes, but it is the LORD who proves hearts.... Guide me, Lord, in the way of Your commands.... My mother and My brothers are those who hear the word of God and act on it....”
Proverbial Path to the Word of Wisdom
While most of the biblical proverbs are characteristically pithy, a few are longer and more complex - these need to be read more than just one verse at a time. For an example of this, consider a selection of verses from Chapter 8, which is probably the most beautiful chapter in Proverbs, a poetic personification of Wisdom:
Does not Wisdom call, and Understanding raise her voice?
On the top of the heights along the road, at the crossroads she takes her stand;
By the gates at the approaches of the city, in the entryways she cries aloud:
"To you, O men, I call; my appeal is to the children of men.
You simple ones, gain resource, you fools, gain sense.
Give heed! for noble things I speak; honesty opens my lips.
Yes, the truth my mouth recounts, but the wickedness my lips abhor.
Sincere are all the words of my mouth, no one of them is wily or crooked....
Mine are counsel and advice; Mine is strength; I am understanding.
By me kings reign, and lawgivers establish justice;
By me princes govern, and nobles; all the rulers of earth.
Those who love me I also love, and those who seek me find me.
With me are riches and honor, enduring wealth and prosperity.
My fruit is better than gold, yes, than pure gold, and my revenue than choice silver.
On the way of duty I walk, along the paths of justice,
Granting wealth to those who love me, and filling their treasuries.
The LORD begot me, the first-born of his ways, the forerunner of his prodigies of long ago;
From of old I was poured forth, at the first, before the earth.....
When he established the heavens I was there, when he marked out the vault over the face of the deep....
Happy the man watching daily at my gates, waiting at my doorposts;
For he who finds me finds life, and wins favor from the LORD;
But he who misses me harms himself; all who hate me love death."
It is very clear why the fathers of the church saw in this chapter 8 of Proverbs an introduction to Jesus, the Word of God, the One who was there with the Father before the creation of the world - the One who is meant to be chosen above gold and silver! In fact, Jesus Himself read the Proverbs, and even retold and expanded some of them:
Consider chapter 25, verses 6-7:
“Do not put yourself forward in the king's presence or stand in the place of the great;Jesus expanded that into the parable He told in Luke 14:7-14. Here again, we see the relationship of the Old Testament to the New Testament. What the Old Testament sometimes presents in a hidden way is made clear, opened up, and fulfilled in the New Testament.
for it is better to be told, "Come up here," than to be put lower in the presence of the prince. ”
posted by FrPitstick | 9/21/2008
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