How intentional is your faith?
The Book of Wisdom suggests that we would be wise to keep vigil, to watch for lady wisdom making her rounds. How frequently do we seek out wisdom? How often do we seek to broaden our vision and think in terms that encompass the whole world rather than just our own narrow understanding of the world? Taking thought of wisdom is the perfection of prudence, the Book of Wisdom claims: being intentional in our actions, thoughtful about our choices, deliberate in our ways, are all a means to making wisdom a way of life, a part of our daily existence. We are to treat wisdom herself as a person we long to see, one who will appear simply because we long to see her: Whoever watches for her at dawn shall not be disappointed. When, as Psalm 63 states, our soul is thirsting for the Lord, when our flesh pines for our God, then do we enter most fully into an intentional and attentive vigil: I will remember you upon my couch, and through the night-watches I will meditate on you, the psalmist sings. Our longing for God and for God’s Wisdom can lead us to an intentional faith, one in which nothing distracts us from the love of God.
Of the ten virgin bridesmaids of Jesus’ parable in Matthew’s Gospel, five were foolish, perhaps distracted, and brought no oil with them to the wedding feast. These five were not sufficiently intentional in their approach; they did not pay sufficient attention to the invitation to relationship and so, having to go off to buy oil for their lamps, they find the door locked upon their return. If we are to hope for the promise that comes of Jesus’ death and rising, Paul tells the Thessalonians, if we wish to be among those whom Jesus will bring to heaven with him at his second coming, then we must stay awake, for we know neither the day nor the hour. Salvation cannot be something we do not intend; we cannot simply fall upon it by chance. Salvation, like Christianity, like Eucharist, must be intentional: we must set our minds to live our faith, to focus on it, to prepare for Jesus’ coming, to be ready – otherwise our faith is empty… as empty as the ten virgins’ lamps, empty of wisdom, empty of hope. But if our soul thirsts for the Lord at every moment, we will know joy of his return, and thus we shall always be with him.
This post is based on Fr. Pat’s Scripture class.
Image source: www.wordclouds.com
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