Homily for the Baccalaureate Mass: May 23, 2007

Given by the Most Reverend Stephen E. Blaire at St. Mary's High School.

As our graduates complete another step in their formal education this Saturday, they will hear many words of congratulations wishing them success in life. I wish to join with their families and friends in saying: congratulations and best wishes. But I want to offer you an additional prayer for the gift of wisdom. I do this because it is possible to be very successful in life but unfulfilled. You could accomplish your goals and be miserable. So many people in the world do not find much meaning in their lives and often try to escape through lustful addictions, drugs, alcohol, self indulgence and other obsessive preoccupations. These dangerous temptations are all around you and will be even more so in the years ahead.

You heard the passage from the Book of Proverbs about the wise person. The Bible has much to say about wisdom. Philosophers and theologians have commented about wisdom for long numbers of centuries. Interestingly in the New York Times Magazine on May 6, there was an extended article about recent scientific studies seeking to explain wisdom. Everyone seems to know in a way what it is but not able to explain it or define it. It’s like good taste – you know when something is done in good taste but you can not exactly define it. If someone is being humorous without being vulgar or offensive, you say that it was done in good taste. When Mother Theresa was asked how her sisters could pick people up out of the gutters in the slums of India and remover the maggots from their bodies, cleaning them up to die, she responded that they spent three hours each day in prayer before Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament and that gave them the strength to see Jesus in the people in the streets. That is an example of wisdom. I know a very wonderful woman, now in her seventies, who raised seven children. She told her children that she loved all of them but that there were those occasions when she would have to give more of her time to the child who was most needy at the moment or hurting the most. I regard her as a wise person.

The scientific studies on wisdom indicate that wisdom has to do with both the mind and the heart. It cannot be measured by IQ so it is not necessarily intelligence. But it is knowing what to do in a particular situation. Mother Theresa knew that her sisters could not do what they needed to do without prayer. It is also a matter of the heart, connected to compassion and caring. The mother responded to the hurt of her child.

In the Church, wisdom is a gift of the Holy Spirit. Jesus said that He would send the Holy Spirit to teach us everything and to remind us of all that He had spoken during His life. If you wish to be wise, study and follow the teachings of Christ and pattern your lives on His – a life lived for God and in service of others.

The Sacred Scriptures teach that the “Fear of God” is the beginning of wisdom. The “Fear of God” is a biblical expression and does not mean to be afraid of God. It means to recognize the reality of God. God exists and God has our best interests at heart. God has an extraordinary love for each of us. So many people live as if God did not exist. The wise person lives in the presence of God.

Thirdly, wisdom needs to be cultivated. The great father of the Church, St. Basil, writing about the Holy Spirit, says that the “Holy Spirit pours forth his grace in full measure, sufficient for all.” But the Holy Spirit “gives himself only to those who are worthy, acting in each according to the measure of his faith.” Jesus said “whoever does the will of my heavenly Father is my brother, and sister, and mother.” The wise person honors God, does what is right and good, promotes the dignity of the human person and is committed to the common good of the human family.

Wisdom is greater than riches and honor. It surpasses wealth and property. It is more than silver and gold. The wise person looks not at what he or she can get out of life or what life owes to him or her but rather to what in our world and in the human condition is worthy of our commitment. What is the path of justice and righteousness along which I must walk? What is worthy for me to commit my life?

The wise person finds life and wins favor from God.

Last Update May 30, 2007