By Father Paul Nord, O.S.B., Sunday Scripture
First Reading: Proverbs 8:22-31; Response: Psalm 8:4-9; Second Reading: Romans 5:1-5; Gospel: John 16:12-15
In the book of Proverbs, Wisdom is depicted as a woman. Making wise choices in life is compared to developing a relationship with “Lady Wisdom.” This chapter – Wisdom 8 – is a kind of “autobiography” of Wisdom. Starting with 8:22, Wisdom describes her relationship with the LORD, God of Israel. Wisdom says that she was created “at the first, before the earth.” Wisdom explains that she was created “before the mountains” and “before the hills.” Before the heavens and earth were created, Wisdom already existed.
In 8:27-31, Wisdom says that she was present while God was establishing the heavens, the foundations of the earth and the sea with its bounds. Wisdom describes herself as being “beside” the Lord God while he created everything. Further Wisdom says, “I found delight in the human race.”
Psalm 8 is the responsorial. It is addressed to “O Lord, our God” – repeatedly addressed as “you.” The psalm expresses wonder at the night sky: “I behold your heavens…the moon and the stars.” The text professes that God created all of this – calling it “the work of your fingers… which you set in place.”
Next the psalmist expresses wonder at God’s creation of humanity – and also wonder at God’s on-going care: “What is man that you should be mindful of him?” This plus the following line (“the son of man…”) together form synonymous parallelism. Verse 6 observes that God has made man “little less than the angels” (Revised NAB: “than a god”) – such a wonder! This idea is developed by saying God crowned man “with glory and honor.”
Verse 7 is again synonymous parallelism. “The work of your [God’s] hands” are equivalent to “all things” since God created all. Likewise “You have given him rule” is synonymous with “putting… under his feet.” Recall Genesis 1:28, where God gave humanity dominion over fish, birds and land creatures.
In Paul’s letter to the Romans, a key concept is “justification.” This term describes God’s act of mercy which restores us to “right relationship” with Him. In Romans 2:13, Paul says “those who observe the law will be justified.” But Paul observes that although God had given the Law of Moses to the Jewish people, they were unable to faithfully keep the Law. Then in Romans 4:3, Paul notes that Genesis 15:6 says: “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness.” Therefore, Abraham was considered “righteous” by God before circumcision – and before God gave the Law to Israel through Moses. Paul concludes that Abraham was “justified by faith” – and not justified by works of the Law. Paul asserts that the same applies to us. When any of us “believes in the one [God] who justifies the ungodly, his faith is credited as righteousness” (Rom 4:5).
In today’s reading, Paul says “since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ” (5:1). The word “since” shows that Paul is drawing a conclusion from his argument of Romans 1–4. The main phrase is “we have peace with God.” This describes the right relationship that God has established between himself and humanity. Jesus Christ has established this peace by his crucifixion and resurrection. If we have faith in God, we believe that Jesus has made peace between God and humanity.
So now “we boast in hope of the glory of God” (5:2). This points to the future consequence of being “justified by faith.” The present consequence is “we have peace with God.” But we await Christ’s return – when “the glory of God” will transform our mortal bodies. Christ gives us this hope for future glory. This is cause for boasting, but we also “boast of our afflictions,” which we suffer in this present life. Our present afflictions enable us to participate in Christ’s suffering and death even now. Thus, our afflictions are a cause for us to boast. Our afflictions give us hope that we will also share in Christ’s resurrection.
Paul then uses a rhetorical technique called “reduplication.” He observes that suffering produces endurance in the faithful Christian. Further endurance produces proven character, which itself produces hope. Suffering often causes loss of hope in a person who lacks faith in Christ Jesus. But for the faithful Christian, enduring suffering gives us hope. This is because Christ promised us that if we share in his sufferings, we will also share in the new life of his resurrection.
Finally, Paul observes that “the love of God has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us.” In 2 Corinthians 1:22, Paul describes the Holy Spirit as a “first installment” placed “in our hearts.” This means that the Holy Spirit is God’s presence within us while we await the fullness of God’s presence – to be given when Christ comes again at the end of this age. With hope we await the fullness of God’s presence. For now, we rejoice in the first installment of the Holy Spirit, already given to us.
In the Gospel, Jesus promises his disciples that they will receive “the Spirit of truth” – that is, the Holy Spirit. “He will guide you to all truth,” Jesus promises. After Jesus’ resurrection, he will explain to his disciples how God foretold his death and resurrection in the Law and the Prophets. But today’s Gospel is Jesus’ “Farewell Discourse.” He is preparing his disciples for his crucifixion. They have not yet witnessed his Resurrection, nor have they yet received the Holy Spirit. Thus, Jesus observes that his disciples “cannot bear” his explanation of how he will reconcile humanity with God – at least they cannot bear it yet.
Jesus says the Holy Spirit “will glorify me.” This means that the Spirit will reveal to Jesus’ disciples how Jesus reveals the glory of God. The Prologue of John’s Gospel says: “the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory – glory as of the only Son from the Father” (1:14). Jesus reveals God to humanity.