Location: San Fernando Cathedral
“The Lord was pleased that Solomon” prayed for an understanding heart, instead of long life, or riches, or the lives of his enemies. God granted Solomon extraordinary wisdom and intelligence. Wisdom, as the Gift of God, is what we can observe in today’s readings. Solomon humbly asks for wisdom, and so the wisdom of humility greatly increases in him in that very act of prayer. He displays prudence without any type of interest or selfishness. He asks God to give him certainty in the art of governing his people. He is eager for good judgment and common sense, to know how to decide well when faced with the problems of a large people.
We all need wisdom for our lives, as well as to carry out our roles of leadership, whether it may be in our communities, at work or in family life.
It is not wise to belittle difficult decisions. It is better to always acknowledge that we would have no power if it had not been given to us from above. (Cf. Jn 19:11). It is wise to acknowledge that any ability we may have to discern or find solutions comes from God. It is always good to ask God to lead us, so we may act on His behalf.
Only from that wisdom, a gift from the Holy Spirit, will we know how to give clarity and help to others. That is why today we can ask, like Solomon, that wisdom – an attentive heart that listens – be granted to us. We could repeat what we prayed in the responsorial psalm “Lord, teach me your statutes… let me not stray from your commands. (…) In the way of your decrees I rejoice…”
In the Gospel, Jesus invites his disciples to go to a quiet place to rest. We have a great need for silence, for recollection, for solitude, in the face of the much turmoil we experience.
Then we are presented with an experience of listening, compassion and sharing. Jesus saw a crowd and “was moved with pity for them, for they were like sheep without a shepherd.” Without considering the time that he is going to take from them, nor the strength that he will have to consume, “he began to teach them many things.”
We need to spend time it the desert, in prayer, to notice the needs of others and be enabled to tend to them. In the desert of prayer, our eyes are opened both to the needs of God’s people and to the gifts and blessings we have been given to come to their aid. Moreover, the Lord is eager to grant us that for which we do not pray; namely, for our number of neighbors to increase to a great crowd, for which our hearts are moved with pity.
Pope Francis has pointed out that “Our world urgently needs to develop a culture of wisdom.”
Let us, first, pray. Let us do it for the Lord to make his gift of wisdom find a dwelling place in our hearts, so we may be moved with pity for his people and communicate God’s gifts to them.
Our Lady of Guadalupe, give us a heart after your own humility.
