Welcome to the Pauline Family's "Year of the Bible"! I'm reading the Bible clear through this year, and I invite you to read along with me. But first, let us pray:
God of my fathers, Lord of mercy,
who have made all things by your word
and in your wisdom have created people
to rule this world that you have made,
and to render judgment in integrity of heart:
Give me Wisdom, the attendant at your throne,
and reject me not from among your children;
for I am your servant, the child of your handmaid,
a weak human being,
and lacking in comprehension of your Word and your will.
Send your Wisdom from the holy heavens,
from your glorious throne,
to be with me, to guide me,
to enlighten me, to lead me to you.
(Based on Wis 9)
Today's chapters are Wisdom 2-4.
If today's reading begins in a startlingly nihilistic tone (it is almost astonishingly modern in its expression of a meaningless existence), it moves into something even more dramatic: words that cannot but bring to mind the Passion and Death of Jesus Christ, the "righteous one" who "calls himself the child [literally: son] of God." And so the wicked plot the destruction of the just one:
"For if the righteous one is the son of God, God will help him
and deliver him from the hand of his foes.
With violence and torture let us put him to the test
Let us condemn him to a shameful death;
for according to his own words, God will take care of him.”(Wis 2:18-20)
Also significant in this first chapter of our reading today is the observation on the origin of the evil in the world: "by the envy of the devil" (2:24).
In the next chapter, we will hear words that may be familiar to you from Catholic funerals. They are quite in harmony with the Catholic belief in purification from sin even after death (something we saw in our reading of Maccabees).
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