Human Wisdom Against Divine Wisdom

 

Gospel of Thirtieth Sunday in Ordinary Time

I – The Virtue of Love

The foundations of love are far deeper than is generally imagined. It is a weight that pulls those who love, as St. Augustine¹ affirms, producing a strong desire for presence and union, of which the embrace is the best outward symbol.

Now, all that exists has its source in divine omnipotence, including love, whose principle is eternal and proceeds from the Father and the Son. In Their mutual love, They give origin to this tendency with such extraordinary power that from it proceeds a Third Person. Just as love produces in us an inclination towards the being that we love, the Father and the Son, being infinitely loveable, love Their own Divine Being. This is the origin of Love, as a Person proceeding from the union between Father and Son.

The Book of Genesis narrates the great work of Creation, describing how God contemplated the accomplishment of each day and attributed a corresponding value to the work produced by His power, since each being’s degree of perfection is always infused by His love, and in proportion to it.

The most important virtue for salvation

In the Gospels, we see the Son of God highly praising the faith of the centurion (cf. Lk 7:9) and of the Canaanite woman (cf. Mt 15:28), rewarding it with miracles. Later, Christ exalts Peter’s faith, declaring that it comes from a revelation made by the Father, and He proclaims him blessed (cf. Mt 16:17).

Yet Jesus also speaks of a virtue that alone is capable of obtaining the forgiveness of an immense number of sins, when He publicly defends a sinner from her accusers, “for she loved much” (Lk 7:47). We should be mindful that the Lord has perfect knowledge of the value of each act of virtue, and the reward due to it. Therefore, we ought to understand that, as regards eternal salvation, love is more important than the exercise of faith.

Jesus, supreme model of love

To achieve the highest degree of perfection of this virtue, it is indispensable to admire it in Jesus Christ and to imitate Him.

The love of the Son of God is entirely special, for its development within a supernatural context and for its having the Supreme Being as its object. There is, then, an unmistakable difference between Him and us. In the Incarnate Word, both divine and human love come together in one Person, through the hypostatic union. As for us, “God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit Who has been given to us” (Rom 5:5)—that is, love is something that is given to us. To attain it, we must ask for it.

Despite this difference, Jesus is our unsurpassable model, for it is impossible to find in Him the slightest shadow of any interest other than the glory of the Father. This is how our love should be. And although Jesus never practised faith—for, from the first instant of His existence, His soul was in the beatific vision—our faith should always be accompanied by a fervent love, which is as similar as possible to Jesus’.

The faith of Christians and the faith of the demons

Commenting on the First Epistle of St. John, St. Augustine says: ‘“For the demons also believe and tremble” (Jas 2:19), as Scripture tells us. What more could the demons believe, than that they should say, ‘We know who You are, the Son of God’ (Mk 1:24)? What the demons said, the same said Peter also. […] Peter says: ‘You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.’ The demons also say: ‘We know who You are, the Son of God, the Holy One of God.’ Peter says this, as did also the demons: the words are the same, while the spirit is very different.

“And how is it clear that Peter said this with love? Because the faith of a Christian is always accompanied by love, but that of a demon is without love. How is this so? Peter spoke that he might embrace Christ; the demons spoke that Christ might depart from them. For before they said, ‘We know who You are, the Son of God,’ they had said ‘What have we to do with You? Why are You come to destroy us before the time?” It is one thing, therefore, to confess Christ that you may hold fast to Him, and quite another to confess Christ that you may drive Christ from you.

“So then, we see that when John says in this passage: ‘whoever believes,’ he means a particular and true faith, not that which many claim. Therefore, brethren, let no heretic say to you: ‘We also believe.’ For it is precisely to this end that I have given you the example of the demons, so that you may not be satisfied with the words of believers, but search well into the deeds of their lives.” ²

Whoever loves the Father loves the Son

The great Bishop of Hippo places such importance on faith being united to love, that he does not hesitate to carry his comments even further, making statements that could jar the more relativistic mentalities of today: “‘Every one that loves him who begot, loves him who is begotten of him.’ To faith he has straightway joined love, because faith without love is worthless. Faith with love is that of the Christian; without love, it is of the demon. Now, unbelievers are worse and more dull-witted than the demons. Whoever refuses to believe in Christ is not even on a par with the demons. A person who believes in Christ, but hates Him, has the confession of faith for fear of punishment, not for love of the crown: for the demons also fear being punished. Add love to this faith, so that it may become a faith similar to that of which the Apostle Paul speaks: a ‘faith that works by love’ (Gal 5:6), and you have found a Christian, a citizen of Jerusalem, a fellow-citizen of the Angels; a pilgrim sighing along the way. Join yourself to him, make him your fellow-traveller, run alongside him, if indeed you also are this. ‘Every one that loves him who begot, loves him who is begotten of him.’ Who begot? The Father. Who is begotten? The Son. What does this mean? That all who love the Father, love the Son.” ³

In love we find the happiness we seek

The considerations on the virtue of love are so extensive that an encyclopaedia would be insufficient to encompass all the treasures flowing from the oratory and the pens of the Saints, Fathers, Doctors, theologians and exegetes on this subject.

It is from the standpoint of love that we should ponder the theme raised by the three readings of the Liturgy for the Thirtieth Sunday in Ordinary Time. In this virtue we find the happiness that is so avidly sought, as St. Thomas Aquinas teaches: “Since God is love, it makes us despise earthly things to unite ourselves with Him. This is why love drives pain and sorrow away from us, and gives us the joy of the divine: ‘the fruit of the Spirit is charity, joy, peace’ (Gal 5:22).”⁴ And rightly so, because the Holy Spirit is the dulcis Hospes animæ, the friend par excellence who dwells in those souls in the state of grace.

II – Love is the Fullness of the Law

Plots of the Pharisees against Jesus

Today’s Gospel is part of a chain of events that began with Jesus’ preaching through the parable of the wicked tenants (cf. Mt 21:33-43). This parable aggravated the fury of Christ’s opponents—all of them, according to St. Mark, or only the Pharisees, according to St. Matthew—since they interpreted it as being directed at them (cf. Mt 21:45), and so they met in council (cf. Mt 22:15). Referring to this turn of events, St. Mark is explicit in stating: “They tried to arrest Him, but feared the multitude […] so they left Him and went away. And they sent to Him some of the Pharisees and some of the Herodians, to entrap Him in His talk” (Mk 12:12-13).

A real impasse had, in fact, been created. On one side, there was the throng of simple, common folk who, wonderstruck with Jesus’ words and miracles, pressed around Him. On the other, were the leaders who desired to silence Him alive, or bring about His death. But it was impossible for them to perpetrate this crime as long as He was surrounded by crowds. Nor did the night hours serve to facilitate their plan, because the Divine Master withdrew at night without letting anyone know His whereabouts. It became imperative for these sons of Belial to manipulate public opinion in order to separate the enthusiasts from the One whom they thought to be John the Baptist resurrected, or perhaps Elijah or some other great Prophet.

The question of the doctor of the Law

It was within this sequence of snares that Jesus had made His famous reply: “Render therefore to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s and to God the things that are God’s” (Mt 22:21), as well as the wise explanation with which He had silenced the Sadducees (cf. Mt 22:29-32), putting them to shame for their obtuse question concerning the resurrection of the dead. And it is in the wake of the same controversy that this doctor of the Law voices his question.

It is not entirely clear whether this man posed the problem to the Teacher out of authentic curiosity or the desire to appear wise, or, in fact, as part of the plot against Him. The three synoptic Gospels report the episode in its entirety. St. Matthew opts for the hypothesis that he was an accomplice and malicious. St. Mark sees him as a sincere man, since Our Lord said that he was not far from the Kingdom of Heaven (cf. Mk 12:34). It would not be too far-fetched, however, to combine both of these interpretations, for it is possible that he was a Pharisee in good faith, but coached by the malice of the other Pharisees, who sent him to the Messiah in the hopes of putting Him in a difficult situation.

Referring to this particular personage, the renowned Maldonado affirms: “Luke tells us that directly following a refutation of Christ to the Sadducees, a scribe exclaimed: ‘“Teacher, You have spoken well.” For they no longer dared to ask Him any question’ (Lk 20:39-40). This should be understood as a reference to the Sadducees, for by reason of this very response, as Matthew indicates, the scribes and Pharisees seized the opportunity to tempt Him yet again, to show themselves to be wiser than the Sadducees. The man called a doctor of the Law here by Matthew, is called a scribe by Mark (cf. Mk 12:28), which demonstrates that, although the scribes held varied offices, it was possible to be a scribe and a Pharisee at the same time. For this doctor of the Law was a Pharisee, as is seen in verse 34.”⁵

Cardinal Isidro Gomá y Tomás evaluates this passage as follows: “The Pharisees held council when they heard that He had silenced the Sadducees. The fact that He had left them with no possible rejoinder was a cause of deep satisfaction for the Pharisees, who considered the Sadducees to be their most formidable doctrinal opponents. The defeat of their foes should have made them more cautious, but malice and envy are the mother of rash audacity. So one of them—a doctor of the Law from the party of the Pharisees, who had heard the debate and seen how well Our Lord had answered—was chosen to represent them and to ask Jesus the question that they had concocted in council. Approaching Him in bad faith, the emissary presented the problem to test Him, but, impressed by the response, he praised Jesus, earning the praise of the Lord in return.”⁶

Human law and divine Law

According to the teaching of the Angelic Doctor, we know that the law, in itself is “an ordinance of reason for the common good, made by him who has care of the community, and promulgated.”⁷ This, of course, is a definition that deals with human nature within its social relations. However, St. Thomas continues, “Besides the natural and the human law it was necessary for the directing of human conduct to have a Divine law.”⁸ Among four very clear arguments he puts forward to support his thesis, he demonstrates this necessity in terms of an end toward which man is oriented, which is higher than the human reasoning faculty; namely, his eternal happiness.

He goes on to state: “because, on account of the uncertainty of human judgement, especially on contingent and particular matters, different people form different judgements on human acts; whence also different and contrary laws result. In order, therefore, that man may know without any doubt what he ought to do and what he ought to avoid, it was necessary for man to be directed in his proper acts by a law given by God, for it is certain that such a law cannot err.”⁹

Nevertheless, we must not forget that while Heaven lights the way to be followed, it is through grace that we are helped to adhere to it: “The extrinsic principle moving to good is God Who instructs us by means of His Law and assists us by His grace.”¹⁰ This doctrine is something very clear-cut to us today, by the power of the Holy Spirit, but it was not so to the doctors of the Law, nor even to the Pharisees. The rabbis were entangled in the complex casuistry connected with 613 precepts. Of these, 365—to represent the days of the year—were negative, and 248—in numeric likeness to the bones of the human body—were positive. Among the negative precepts, some were so binding that infractions called for capital punishment, while others received a proportionate penance. Innumerable lesser obligations gave rise to endless wrangling in their schools. For these reasons, it was not easy to reach a clear, categorical and entirely certain solution to such questions, especially in a way that would avoid clashing with the subjective opinions of one or another set of rabbis.

The Wisdom of Christ and the inadequacy of those who envied Him

The question put to Jesus from lips that were perhaps versed in human wisdom, were addressed to ears resplendent with divine Wisdom. The doctor of the Law does not ask in order to learn the truth, but to tempt God. The Gospels are pervaded with this polemic between the Wisdom of Christ and the inadequacy of those who envied Him. On one occasion, it was a problem of Judaic religious morality—that of the woman caught in the act of adultery (cf. Jn 8:3-11). In another, it was the Sadducees with their story of the seven brothers who successively marry the widow of the eldest (cf. Mt 22:23-32), or the famous dilemma about the payment of taxes (cf. Mt 22:15-22), and so on.

However, they are in the presence of the God-Man, Who sounds the depths of hearts, as Nathaniel discovered and concluded: “You are the Son of God! You are the King of Israel” (Jn 1:49). In the same vein, the Samaritan woman, taken aback when Jesus revealed His thorough knowledge of her life, did not hesitate to consider him a great Prophet (cf. Jn 4:19). And when the hearts of the Apostles were seized with the desire of being the greatest in His Kingdom (cf. Lk 9:46-48), Christ let them know that He had perceived their thoughts. There were many such incidents.

The precept of charity involves all other virtues

Therefore, Jesus’ answer is simple yet awe-inspiring: love of God! St. Thomas Aquinas¹¹ teaches us that the goal of the spiritual life is union with God, which becomes effective through charity; that is, through love of Him. The entire spiritual life should, then, be subjected to this final goal. Hence the Apostle’s affirmation: “The aim of our charge is love that issues from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith” (1 Tm 1:5).

In view of this, all the virtues combine to purify charity of the ills and disorders arising from evil inclinations. Charity, moreover, helps each person to proceed with a good conscience and thus to act with upright and sincere faith in their relationship with God. Therefore, the precept of charity involves all the other virtues.¹²

“You shall love the Lord, your God, with all your strength”

On this passage, observes Maldonado, “Mark first says: ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one’ (Mk 12:29). […] The two Commandments are in the same passage, in Moses. The first bids us believe in one God, the second, to love Him with all our heart, for it is clear that whoever believed in many would divide His love and love none of them with his whole heart, because no one can love two masters (cf. Mt 6:24).

“‘With all your heart and with all your soul.’ Some interpreters draw distinctions here that are too subtle, in my view. To me, this seems to signify that we should love God as much as we are able and dedicate everything we have to His service. St. Augustine teaches: ‘By saying with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, no part of man is left free and unoccupied to love something else according to his fancy, but any object that presents itself as being worthy of love must be directed by the current of our sole affection.’

“Finally, that which in several different passages or in diverse words is said in Deuteronomy (6:5), is summed up here into one passage by Luke: ‘You shall love the Lord your God […] with all your strength’” (Lk 10:27).¹³

Soul and mind

There would seem, at first, to be a degree of didactic redundancy in the wording of this verse: “with all your heart, with all your soul and with all your mind,” as translated from the Greek text. Nevertheless, some authors explain a difference between soul and mind, allowing us to understand the deeper reason behind Our Lord’s affirmation.

“By ‘soul’ you may understand the lower part of the soul, which regards natural objects; by ‘mind,’ the superior part, which is concerned with spiritual and divine things. Therefore, the soul is natural and feels natural things; the mind, supernatural and heavenly things. Thus, the mind signifies, firstly, the understanding; secondly, the strong and fervent impulse of the mind towards joy; and thirdly, the fact that this impulse is communicated and infused by the Holy Spirit Himself.”¹⁴

In this light, the “soul,” subjectively speaking, is, in itself, one and simple; what vary are the objects over which it acts. Here, the Divine Teacher recommends that even in our natural life, we make everything revolve around God Who created us.

As for the “mind,” in the context of Scriptural language, it is the impulse and movement of the spirit. It is in this sense that we speak of a good or a bad spirit: “You know not what spirit you are” (Lk 9:55–DR), Jesus said to the Apostle brothers John and James, who wished, out of sheer revenge, to bid fire come down from Heaven to consume the village that refused to receive them. Theirs was not a supernatural spirit, but a purely human spirit of unlawful anger and vengeance, contrary to the spirit of Him who came to save and not to destroy.

Man should live solely to love God

The phrase “with all your heart” is beautifully explained by St. Gregory the Great: “What death does to the bodily senses, love does to the concupiscence of the soul. Some so love God that they spurn that which is of the senses; and as their intention is turned toward the eternal, they make themselves insensible to all that is temporal. In them, love is as strong as death, for just as death kills all the external senses and deprives the body of its own natural appetite, so love in such persons compels them to despise all earthly desires, keeping their souls occupied with other matters. It was to them, whether dead or alive, that the Apostle said: ‘You have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God’” (Col 3:3).¹⁵

The two principal Commandments

“Hear, O Israel: the Lord our God is one Lord; and you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might” (Dt 6:4-5). This was God’s directive, transmitted to the Chosen People by the voice and the pen of Moses. The doctors of the Law knew it well; they held it as a religious obligation that every conscious action of this people should be permeated with love of God. They also knew that this precept was to be held as “the greatest and the first Commandment,” for its exalted dignity and for the fact that it touched on all aspects of human activity, especially their duties and obligations toward God.

That is, we must have for our neighbour the same benevolence, esteem and love that we want others to have for us, and a respect consistent with God’s plan for each one. We must speak to or of our neighbour as we would like to be spoken to or of; hide and excuse his faults; bear with his imperfections, weaknesses and defects; praise all that is commendable; uphold his interests and serve him with kindness, just as we wish others to do for us—and always for the love of God. This is the true practice of innocence and of holiness, and this is why our Lord says:

Revelation aims, among other objectives, to place within man’s reach a clear compendium of doctrine and moral conduct, by means of the Law and the wisdom that God has manifested to His prophets. The foundation and the substance of this entire treasure is contained in these two precepts, as St. Paul would later demonstrate, declaring that the purpose of the Law is love, and love is “the fulfilling of the Law” (Rom 3:10).

III – Mary, Unsurpassable Example of Love

Mary is the incomparable example for all humanity—and even for the very Angels—of perfection in this love of God and neighbour, prescribed to us by her Divine Son in today’s Gospel. Her entire existence was pervaded with the purest and most flaming love. She, more than any other creature, lived with her attention turned away from the world and all that is not related to God. Every moment of her existence was hidden in God; she, with even more reason than the Apostle, could say, from the first instant of her conception: “It is no longer I who live, yet Christ Who lives in me” (Gal 2:20).

May Our Lady of Divine Love obtain, for all men and women who contemplate this Gospel of the Thirtieth Sunday in Ordinary Time, the grace of practising these two precepts fully. ◊

 

Notes

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¹ Cf. ST. AUGUSTINE. Confessionum, L.XIII, c.9, n.10. In: Obras, vol. II. (Ed.7). Madrid: BAC, 1979, p.561.

² ST. AUGUSTINE. In Epistolam Ioannis ad Parthos, tract. X, n.1. In: Obras, vol. XVIII. Madrid: BAC, 1959, p.346-347.

³ Idem, n.2, p.348.

⁴ ST. THOMAS AQUINAS. Super Ioannem, c.XV, lect.5.

⁵ MALDONADO, SJ, Juan de. Comentarios a los Cuatro Evangelios, vol. I: Evangelio de San Mateo. Madrid: BAC, 1950 p.778.

⁶ GOMÁ Y TOMÁS, Isidro. El Evangelio explicado, vol. IV: Pasión y Muerte. Resurrección y vida gloriosa de Jesús. Barcelona: Rafael Casulleras, 1930, p.63.

⁷ ST. THOMAS AQUINAS. Summa Theologiæ, I-II, q.90, a.4.

⁸ Idem, q.91, a.4.

⁹ Idem, ibidem.

¹⁰ Idem, q.90, proœm.

¹¹ Cf. Idem, q.2, a.8; q.3, a.1; II-II, q.23, a.4; a.6.

¹² Cf. Idem, q.44, a.1.

¹³ MALDONADO, op. cit., p.778-779.

¹⁴ CORNELIUS A LÁPIDE. Commentaria in Lucam, c.I, n.47. In: Commentarii in Sacram Scripturam, vol. VIII. Leiden: Pelagaud et Lesne, 1839, p.651.

¹⁵ ST. GREGORY THE GREAT. Super Cantica Canticorum expositio, c.VIII, v.6, n.7: ML 79, 456.