Wisdom I:1-7
Psalm 139:1B-3, 4-6, 7-8, 9-10
Luke 17:1-6
Summary
These beautiful scriptures remind us that God knows every-
thing in our hearts, and is present to our every action. Yet we
still believe that we can hide from God those moments when we turn away from
God’s justice and love. In Luke’s Gospel, Jesus urges us to respond to those
who do us wrong by forgiving the wrongdoer regardless of how great the sin is.
All we need to do this is to have faith the size of a mustard seed.
Reflection
The opening verse of the Book of Wisdom is gloriously unequivocal: “Love jus-
tice”! What a statement!!! Biblical justice has a richly textured meaning which
goes far beyond our rather more limited understanding of justice as the law and
order consequences of failing to follow a law! Another way of talking about jus-
tice in this biblical sense is righteousness, a notion which is fundamentally tied to
being in right relationship with God and with our neighbors.
It seems to me that this journey to justice and right relationships is what makes
up our journey of faith. We cannot hope to be in right relationship with God, if
we keep God at a distance because of our refusal to deal with our false ego (and
we all have them!) and by justifying unloving behaviors or attitudes in ourselves
which exclude rather than include others. We can only find God in “the integrity
of [our own] heart[s]” when we embrace God’s will for a world filled with love
and right relationships with our neighbors.
And yet, it is so hard for us to turn over our deepest selves to God, isn’t it? Too
often we cling to what we want the world to look like, making judgments on those
who don’t fit into that world view. What stops us from letting God saturate our
very being, and stretching our hearts? Especially when our God, as the psalmist
tells us, is so intimately entwined in our lives and loves us so much that we re-
main cupped in God’s hand, however far we go, even if we “take the wings of
dawn” or “settle at the furthest limits of the sea”.