by Br. Mark Orcutt, O.S.B.

     Our first reading from Proverbs speaks of wisdom and describes it as a “craftsman” helping God build the world.  In another place wisdom is spoken of as an encounter with the Creating Wisdom: “We found ourselves thinking when enchanted by a starlit night, ‘Who then made all this?’  There was a feeling of awe and wonder” (Big Book of Alcoholic Anonymous pg. 46).

      It would be nice if I were one of these “enchanted” people but too often I don’t look at those starlit nights because I am too busy pondering the wrong doing of others, real or imagined.  Or, if not recalling my resentments, starlit nights may only make me want for a warm fire or the internet.  Luckily, God does not make the terms too hard for those who seek Him.  For those like me, God is found easily in human relationships and the stories we tell one another about those relationships.  As Proverbs puts it, Wisdom is also found “playing on the surface of the earth,” thrilled to be with the neighbor God created for us.

     While God is a Creator, we celebrate on this feast the fact God is also a relationship.  Within God love flows between the Father and the Son (Jesus); the Spirit is that love between them.

     What goes on within God also spills over into us as God wills a relationship with us.  As St. Paul notes, God is all about love, love that is “poured out” on us.  The Greek word translated here indicates two important things about the love of God; this word can suggest lavishness or even wastefulness.  When it comes to loving, God is a Prodigal Father.  But it is also used in Christian Scriptures as the “pouring out” of blood, of one’s life, in loving sacrifice.  Jesus used the word in this way at the Last Supper.

     Either way, this is the kind of love that being freely received should be freely given.  When we love like this we are showing the world who God is, just as Jesus did and just as He promised that the Spirit would empower His followers to do.

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