Wisdom and Foolishness - The Christian Paradigm

THE WORD AND THE SAINT

August 28, 2020: Remembering St. Augustine
1 Corinthians 1: 17-25; Matthew 25: 1-13

"Stay awake", warned the Gospel yesterday and that seems to be a constant reminder these days... with the rising political friction, ecological crisis and social turbulence. Staying awake and not missing the point that the Lord wishes to communicate, is also spoken of so much by the Saint we remember today: St Augustine - "I fear the Lord passing by!" 

Augustine's anxiety not to miss the Lord comes from the absolute dependence on the Lord, that was so typical of Augustine, just as we see also in St. Paul. They both believed and taught that we are made for the sake of the Lord and that we would find our true fulfillment in the Lord alone. This was the wisdom that they stood for, spoke of, and wanted to instill in every believer in Christ. 

One of the ways of missing what the Lord wants to impress upon us, or one way in which we could totally miss the Lord is confounding ourselves between what is true wisdom and the foolishness that presents itself as prudence and wisdom, in the world today. The world has its own definition of wisdom and foolishness, success and failure... everything, to put it simply, calculated in terms of benefits and gains in comparison to the effort and investment. Convenience and comfort seem unfailing criteria of choice. But can these be Christian parameters?

The Christian paradigm, as Paul says is the Cross and the hope that it projects. However hard we may try, no other paradigm can make sense of this.  The sacrifices we make and the selfless goodwill we have towards others are true Christian parameters of righteousness. Being good and doing good without expecting anything in return or without looking for its credits,  is the cross we are called to embrace if we wish to belong to the Bridegroom!