Wisdom of Discipleship

Wisdom of Discipleship

The Book of Wisdom proclaims in this weekend’s First Reading that people were saved by wisdom. Now this was not a worldly wisdom but one that comes from God, most wonderfully in the wisdom that Jesus brought into the world through His teachings. But the wisdom He taught was not always immediately understood as being a means of salvation! Consider His difficult teachings we will hear in Sunday’s Gospel: Hate your family, bear the cross, give up all your possessions or you cannot follow me!

These were among the most challenging teachings that Christ would offer, and we can assume that those who first heard them were reluctant to put them into action and may have struggled to see where wisdom was found within.

But there is truly wisdom that brings about salvation in what Jesus said when we overcome the initial shock of what he taught and realize that what He was asking of His disciples was not to hesitate in giving Him their best love. A love that was first and foremost for Him before one’s family, a love that was willing to endure the cross, that is, whatever suffering might enter our lives, and a love that would allow us to depart with worldly possessions if they were preventing us from being a disciple.

Yes, Jesus was demanding a lot of His first disciples and of you and I in loving him above all things but the wisdom He offered was a way to detach ourselves from anything that might stand in the way of our salvation in Him and that true and lasting happiness that will come in the gift of eternal life.

Our Lord, who is patient and merciful, knows He set the bar very high when He proclaimed this teaching of giving our all to Him. He will continually forgive us when we fall short of doing so but continually encourage us to love Him more and more and discover that this way to truly love others and journey onwards to Heaven.