Friday, December 09, 2011

Advent Holy Wisdom

Today's Gospel seems like a bit of a negative intrusion in the overall atmosphere of joyful anticipation that is Advent: the critics of Jesus and his precursor, John the Baptist, seem to dominate with their fault-finding. John is too ascetic; Jesus too normal. Long before Abraham Lincoln's comment about pleasing some of the people some of the time, Jesus simply says "wisdom is proven by her works."
This feast of St. Juan Diego bears that out. The Aztec convert wasn't exactly the Bishop's idea of a messenger worthy of the Virgin Mary. (Juan didn't think so either, but he did Our Lady's bidding all the same.) 500 years later, wisdom's works are apparent.
Whether in John the Baptist, or Jesus, or Mary or Juan Diego, the Holy Spirit (Hagia Sophia, Holy Wisdom) was manifest for all who had eyes to see.

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