Tuesday of Week 22 – 1 Cor 2:10-16; Ps 144; Luke 4:31-37

We know: basic prayers, the commandments, the main truths of faith, a little of the Scriptures, the responses at Mass, a couple of hymns, the formula for confession, the way to church, and who the parish priest and bishop are. As though written in the exercise book and passed in an exam . . .

We know: the taste of friendship with Jesus, trembling of the heart at the sound of the Bridegroom’s steps, the joy of victory over evil spirits, the quiet of the wilderness, light and darkness encountered with God, the excruciating pain of a broken hip, the power of the Food, the toil of a pilgrimage, the way to the Mount of Beatitudes, the shout of a banished demon and the blessing of the healed. That “which we have looked upon and touched with our hands” (1 J 1).

The knowledge of the human senses and the knowledge of human spirituality. The knowledge of the children of the world and the knowledge of the children of light. Knowledge of knowledge is not the same as knowing.

I don’t know God, if I try to get to know Him in a human way. The Cross seems foolish, eternal life an uncertain promise, and keeping the commandments – loss, loss, and once more loss. I get to know God, if I open myself to the action of the Holy Spirit. And then the Cross becomes wisdom, eternal life a fundamental hope, and keeping the commandments the most beautiful road that can be chosen. 

Isn’t it necessarily demanding? Hey, on every road your feet can ache. But here there’s something to delight about.