Becoming Wise

Posted on August 28, 2026 by Friar Musings

Today’s reflection is based on Matthew 25:1-13, the Parable of the Ten Virgins, and is part of our parish elementary school Friday Mass celebration.

I grew up in Florida, where hurricanes were simply part of life. Back then storm tracking wasn’t nearly as good as it is today, so experience really mattered. Back then lots of new people began moving to Florida who had never experienced a hurricane.

One of our new neighbors worked in the aerospace industry. We assumed he was a “rocket scientist”—so obviously he was really smart. But being smart is one thing. Knowing how to prepare for a hurricane is another.

My dad was wise in the way hurricane preparedness and made an effort to share his experience and wisdom of how to prepare the house and the family for the experience. It was a lesson in character. Not only for us to prepare for the coming storm, but also to help the “hurricane rookies” prepare and make decisions about boarding windows, filling sandbags, taking in lawn furniture and plants – and the things “rookies” might not think about. You needed to have several days of food that did not need refrigeration. No electricity, no refrigerator. That means you needed easy to eat food, peanut butter and jelly, trail mix, a camp stove, and canned goods…. And a manual can opener. No electricity, no electric can opener.

Trust me the list goes on and on: water, flashlights, batteries, and for our modern times: portable power banks for phones, cash because the ATMs and credit card machines might not work.

You get the point. Our neighbor was a “rocket scientist” but not wise in the way of hurricanes. My dad was wise in such things and was possessed of the character to share with our neighbors.

Today’s gospel is about wisdom.

Were the young women in the gospel smart? Maybe they were all the “rocket scientists” for their day. But it seems there were two kinds of young women described in the parable. The ones who brought extra oil and were prepared for the unexpected – in this case the late arrival of the bridegroom. Was the late arrival likely? Possible? Who knows, but it is a celebration and such things are prone to go “off schedule.” And so some were prepared and brought extra oil. The others did not.

Knowledge often comes from books; wisdom often comes from experience. The ones who brought extra oil thought ahead and acted responsibly. They did not know when the groom would arrive. They simply stayed ready. Wisdom means making good choices, not just knowing information. Wisdom prepares for tomorrow.

How might this apply to you?

Pack your backpack the night before.
Do your homework before it is due.
Pray every day, not just when there’s a problem.

Wise people prepare before the moment arrives.

And there’s something interesting about the oil. When the moment comes, the young women can’t simply borrow readiness from somebody else. Some things have to become part of us before the moment arrives.

You can get help with math from a teacher. You can get help with homework from your parents. But you cannot borrow somebody else’s kindness. You cannot borrow somebody else’s honesty. You cannot borrow somebody else’s friendship with Jesus.

And remember something else about my dad. His wisdom wasn’t just knowing what our family needed. Wisdom made him notice the family next door. He shared what he knew so they could get ready too. Christian wisdom doesn’t just ask, ‘Am I ready?’ It also asks, ‘Who can I help?’

Knowledge often comes from books; wisdom grows as we learn to make good choices.

Jesus tells us today: Don’t wait until the last minute to become the person God is calling you to be. Don’t wait until you need God to begin praying. Don’t wait until someone is lonely to learn kindness. Don’t wait until you’re tempted to lie to decide that honesty matters.

Every day we make little choices that put a little more oil in the lamp.

So this school year, learn as much as you can. Be smart. That’s one reason you’re here. But ask Jesus for something even greater. Ask him to make you wise. And every day, fill your lamp.

Be smart, but become wise.

Created by Dalle-3 on 8-26-26 with elements: word “Wisdom”, wooden letters, light bulb, warm wooden background

This is the Way

Posted on March 20, 2026 by Friar Musings

In today’s first reading we read from the Book of Wisdom which was written about fifty years before the coming of Christ, likely in Alexandria. That places the author in a deeply Hellenistic environment, where Jewish communities were immersed in Greek language, philosophy, and cultural pressures. It reflects a real tension between

The author’s name is not known to us. The primary purpose of the author was to give moral support to fellow Jews in a time when they were experiencing suffering and oppression from secular society and especially from Jews who had left the faith because of the lure of Hellenistic thought and privileges that came from being part of the ruling class. It was their own version of “culture wars.”

It reflects a real tension between Jewish covenantal faith (rooted in Torah, righteousness, and fidelity to God) and a Hellenistic worldview, which could include philosophical skepticism about divine justice, materialism or hedonism (in some popular forms), and other tenets of that worldview. In addition, the ruling, wealthy and business class were of the Hellenistic world and so Jews might well feel pressure to culturally assimilate. It almost seems to be their version of “a culture war.”

The passage taken from Wisdom 2 presents the reasoning of “the ungodly,” who say things like: life is short and meaningless, enjoy pleasure now, oppress the righteous person, test whether God will save him. It has all the hallmarks of popularized versions of Epicureanism or maybe recast in our times, a caricature of moral relativism. It can feel like a “culture war” text, though with nuance. The “culture war” here is not just intellectual, it is moral and existential. The core question is will one remain faithful when righteousness is mocked as foolishness? One voice claims our world is sunsetting. Our faith tells us we are at the sunrise of an every new age.

In its time, it was a question for faithful Jews in a hostile cultural setting. In Christian reading it foreshadows the passion of Christ. Both these motifs are seen when the wicked plot against “the righteous one.” “Culture war” is a helpful modern analogy, but the book is doing something deeper. It is defending righteousness against nihilism, affirming divine justice against apparent injustice, and proclaiming immortality against despair. It proclaims faith in a just, purposeful cosmos vs. the temptation to believe that life is accidental and morally empty.

It is the challenge that Christian faithful have faced in every age. It is not a call to close oneself off from the world, to proclaim that you are one of the “faithful remnant.” It is a call to find your own voice to be a Book of Wisdom to a world that does not share our view of how we are called to live.

Call it what you will, culture war or persecution, ridicule or derision, in every age we are still called to go to the ends of the earth with the Good News. This is the Way.

Image credit: Pexels

Authority and Humility

Posted on November 12, 2025 by Friar Musings

The first reading for today is from the Book of Wisdom (6:1-11), which at first blush you might think does not apply to you: “Hear, O kings, and understand; learn, you magistrates of the earth’s expanse! Hearken, you who are in power over the multitude and lord it over throngs of peoples!” Surely, the passage is for the high, mighty and powerful – not for the regular folks like us. Afterall it is a warning to kings and rulers that their power is not their own; it is given by God and therefore must be exercised according to His justice and mercy. But Scripture never speaks to one class of people alone. The Word of God always echoes in the hearts of those who listen with faith, and this passage holds a lesson for all of us who bear responsibility in any form — however small it may seem.

Parents exercise authority in the home; teachers shape minds; supervisors guide workers; parishioners model faith for one another. Each of us, in one way or another, is entrusted with responsibility over others — even if only in the form of how we speak, how we treat others, and how we witness to Christ in our words and actions.

The passage reminds us that authority, in any measure, is a trust, not a possession. “Authority was given you by the Lord,” the text says. This truth should remind us to be humble. Whatever talents, positions, or opportunities we have, they are meant for service, not self. The real test of greatness is not in how much control we have, but in how we use what we have been given for the good of others.

The Book of Wisdom also says: “The Lord of all shows no partiality… he provides for all alike.” This is both comforting and challenging. God’s justice is perfectly fair. He looks not at the size of our title or the wealth of our name, but at the faithfulness of our heart. That means the mother who patiently cares for her children, the worker who acts honestly when no one is watching, or the neighbor who helps quietly—these are the ones who live the wisdom of God in daily life.

For the “regular folks,” this reading becomes an invitation to live every small duty with great integrity. To remember that we too will be held accountable, not for ruling nations, but for how we loved, how we forgave, how we treated those who depended on us.

In that sense, the Book of Wisdom is not simply a warning—it’s a call to holiness in the ordinary. Because in God’s eyes, every act of justice, patience, or mercy, however small, participates in His kingdom.

May the Lord God, source of all wisdom, teach us to use whatever influence we have with humility and faithfulness. May we govern our own hearts according to his Word, that his justice and mercy may be known through us in our daily lives. Amen.

Image Credit: Parable of the Unjust Steward (A.N. Mironov), CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

A Final Thought

Posted on November 30, 2024 by Friar Musings

At the beginning of this commentary, we noted that it might seem odd to have an “end times” passage as the gospel for the first Sunday of Advent. But recall that while such readings are often associated with the second coming of Christ in the mind of modern readers, the Old Testament passages that speak of the “days of wrath” or “the day of the Lord” are pointing to the coming of the promised Messiah. And our gospel reminds us that in our liturgical cycle we too are preparing to celebrate the coming of the Messiah – even as we are reminded of the passing nature of this world and our lives. Continue reading →

An Invitation to Wisdom

Posted on October 4, 2024 by Friar Musings

The first reading this week has been taken from the Book of Job. It is considered to be one of the scrolls belonging to the Wisdom category and is a narrative that, in its own way, attempts to address the question of suffering during one’s life. Our story began with Monday’s reading in which we learn that Job is pious and upright, richly endowed in his own person and in domestic prosperity. He suffers a sudden and complete reversal of fortune. He loses his property and his children; a loathsome disease afflicts his body; and he is overcome with sorrow. Nevertheless, Job does not complain against God. Continue reading →

Wisdom and Folly

Posted on September 3, 2024 by Friar Musings

Today’s first reading from St. Paul is part of a cohesive thought that he has been building upon since the beginning of this 1st Letter to the Corinthians (which began with Friday’s readings and continues for about three weeks.) It all began after Paul left the Corinth community for new evangelizing opportunities. He received a letter from a believer named Chloe who reports problems in the community: there is quarreling in the community all carried on in the name of “wisdom” and some associated boasting about who possessed wisdom and the exact nature of the wisdom. We are picking up the conversation-in-progress, but let me offer that the major point St, Paul has already made is: Are you choosing the Wisdom of men or the Wisdom of the Cross (1:18–2:5)? Continue reading →

Nothing Borrowed

Posted on August 30, 2024 by Friar Musings

A world of information, expert advice, and knowledge all sit at our fingertips. With all that available to us via a simple query or the use of artificial intelligence such as Chat GPT, we should have plenty of answers to our questions. But will the answers carry wisdom? I can find a world of knowledge about bees and bee stings with a few keystrokes. Wisdom lies much deeper than our quick keystroke answers. Knowledge understands bee stings, but wisdom does not disturb the hive. Continue reading →

Worlds in Contrast

Posted on November 14, 2023 by Friar Musings

The first reading for today is from the Book of Wisdom (2:23-3:9), which provides a profound reflection on the contrast of world views between the foolish and the wise.

The foolish people are described as those who reject wisdom and live in a manner that is contrary to God’s ways. They mock and persecute the righteous of faith, seeing them as fools for basing their lives on the moral teachings of Scripture and the promise of eternal life. These are people who believe that life ends in death and that there is no purpose beyond the present moment. As a consequence there is a focus on worldly pleasures and material gain. There is no need, purpose, or possibility of biblical Hope. Their focus is on the present and this life. Continue reading →

After Mass today…

Posted on November 12, 2023 by Friar Musings

In response to my homily, part of which made a distinction between knowledge and wisdom, a parishioner have me a great phrase which will undoubtedly appear in a future homily: “Knowledge is knowing a tomato is a fruit. Wisdom is not putting a tomato in a fruit salad.” Nice.

What can’t be borrowed