“Wisdom from above is first of all innocent. It is also peaceable, lenient, docile, rich in sympathy and the kindly deeds that are its fruits, impartial and sincere. The harvest of justice is sown in peace for those who cultivate peace.”
-James 3:17-18

What is wisdom? It seems to be one of those elusive concepts that cannot be defined in just a few words.

There also seem to be different types of wisdom. In this passage from the Letter of James, we hear about a “wisdom from above.” James describes this kind of wisdom as innocent, peaceable, docile, etc. But what exactly is this kind of wisdom, and how do we attain it?

A good man to turn to with such questions is always St. Thomas Aquinas, the “Angelic Doctor.” In his Summa Theologica, St. Thomas distinguishes between wisdom as an acquired intellectual virtue and “wisdom from above,” which is a gift of the Holy Spirit.

Wisdom as an intellectual virtue is right judgment about things attained by human effort through experience and reason. This type of acquired knowledge or virtue usually applies to particular areas. For example, someone can be a wise fisherman, a wise farmer, or a wise architect. Each of these would have many years of experience and acquired knowledge in their respective field.

The gift of wisdom, however, which “descends from above,” is right judgment about all things which is an effect of a person’s loving familiarity with God and His ways. A person who has the spiritual gift of wisdom is inclined toward right judgment in all matters because of his knowledge of and love for God. St. Thomas says that these judgments are based not “on the perfect use of reason,” but rather on an inclination or an affinity of myself to God.[1] An analogy for this kind of wisdom could be the inclination toward right judgment that a husband has in all things concerning his wife of many years. Because of his deep and profound relationship of love that the man has with his wife, he knows what decisions to make and what actions to take in their life together.

Wisdom from above is a mode of knowing which involves desire as well as intellect.

St. Thomas states that wisdom as a gift of the Holy Spirit is “more excellent than wisdom as an intellectual virtue, since it attains to God more intimately by a kind of union of the soul with Him,” and “it is able to direct us not only in contemplation but also in action.”[2] One’s knowledge of God and one’s love for Him lead to judgments and to actions which rightly order all things both within oneself and around oneself. Someone who knows and loves God as the highest cause is said to be wise “because he is able to judge and set in order all things according to Divine rules.”[3] This is why St. Thomas says that the ultimate effect of wisdom is being peaceable. “Wisdom is connected with peace since wisdom is the ability to put things in [right] order, and order results in peace.”[4]

Put very simply, wisdom from above is what St. Augustine had in mind when he wrote: “Love, and do what you will.” Growing in this kind of wisdom requires not mere academic study, but rather leaning against Jesus’ chest in intimate communion, like St. John the Beloved, getting to know His heart, His priorities, His vision. The Holy Spirit imparts “wisdom from above” that can direct both our thoughts and our actions as our love of God grows.

In the words of Thomas A. Kempis in The Imitation of Christ, “I would rather feel contrition than know how to define it. For what would it profit us to know the whole Bible by heart and the principles of all the philosophers if we live without grace and the love of God? Vanity of vanities and all is vanity, except to love God and serve Him alone. This is the greatest wisdom.”[5]

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[1] Cf. ST 1a, 1.6 ad 3; 1a2ae, 68.1 ad 4; 2a2ae, 45.2–3. See also the entry for “knowledge, connatural” in the New Catholic Encyclopedia.

[2] ST II, II, 45.3

[3] ST II, II, 45.1

[4] Edmond Eh, “Wisdom in Aristotle and Aquinas: From Metaphysics to Mysticism,” in Existenz, vol. 12, no. 2. Fall 2017.

[5] Thomas A. Kempis. The Imitation of Christ, book 1, chapter 1.

We have a very wow-worthy faith. There are so many truths of our faith that move our hearts and minds with endless awe and wonder. One of these awe-some truths that the Church presents us with during the Easter Season is given in Romans 8:11- “The Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you.” This is amazing!! “The baptized Christian is not only ‘in the Spirit,’ but the Spirit is now said to dwell in him or her” (Brown, 835). Through our Baptism and our Confirmation, THE VERY SAME Spirit that raised Jesus from the dead dwells in me, dwells in you!

If this is the case, and we know that it is, what does it mean for our lives?

One thing it means is that we don’t have to stay locked in the tomb of hopeless, despair, insecurity, or fear. St. Paul tells us in 2 Corinthians 3:17 that “Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.” If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in us, then we are free to live a resurrected life, a life in the Spirit and by the Spirit. We are no longer slaves to fear. We are free to be fools for Christ, to follow the promptings of this Spirit within us in every moment and in every situation. Our self-confidence is not based on our own strength or ability, but on the power of the Risen Christ and of the Holy Spirit dwelling within us.

I had a wonderful experience of this new life in the Spirit as I was traveling back from the John Paul II Healing Center in Tallahassee two years ago. The Healing Center staff gave us what they called the “airport challenge.” They challenged us to be prayerfully resting in the Lord, secure in our identity as beloved sons of God, and to ask the Holy Spirit for opportunities to pray with people in the airport or on the plane. This is such an awesome way to live into this freedom of the Spirit because this kind of thing runs completely against the typical airport and airplane culture of keeping your head down, not making eye contact, and not intruding on anyone’s space.

As I took a seat in the terminal—again, resting securely in the Lord, calmly asking the Holy Spirit to guide me—I noticed that the woman sitting next to me looked sad. So, I struck up a conversation with her, and after a while I simply asked her if there was anything that I could pray for, for her. She looked me in the eyes, and just started crying. She told me that her husband of many years had died just a few months ago, and that she had just recently sold the house in which they had raised all of their kids. She was now traveling around to the various states where her adult children lived, trying to figure out what she should do next with her life. I asked her if I could place my hand on her shoulder, and I prayed for her out loud. After the prayer, she mentioned that a song that had been bringing her much consolation and peace during this time of grief was the song “Amazing Grace.” So, I sang the whole song for her, right there in front of everyone in the airport. She closed her eyes, and she allowed the Lord to touch and soothe her pain through my singing. Before we parted ways, she looked up at me with tears in her eyes and simply said, “Jesus sent you to me.”

That woman didn’t know that I was a seminarian; she didn’t even know that I was Catholic. She just knew that a companion of Christ was with her, that Christ Himself saw her and sent one of His friends to visit her in her pain. This is what life in the Spirit of the Risen Christ looks like. This is the kind of life that I want to live as a baptized and Confirmed Catholic, and as a future deacon and priest. The Spirit that raised Jesus from the dead dwells in us. If we live by that Spirit, we can move about freely in this world, free of all insecurity and fear, and we can allow the Lord to work through us to bring Him to His people.

Whenever anything gets in the way of the wow-worthy reality of your Christian life, renounce the lies and barriers in Jesus’ name, and announce the truth of who God is and who you are in Him. Step out in faith like I did in the airport and live in the awe-some truth that the Spirit dwells in you.

Come, Holy Spirit. Stir into flame your Spirit that is within us! Amen.

My child,

You’ve fallen once more on your journey. You were quite pleased and thankful for the progress, by the grace of God, you were making before that moment came. Always be wary that your thankfulness does not turn into pride, for it is at that moment when you forget your dependence on God and you open yourself up for attack by the enemy of your soul.

And so you fell, and your spirit wept bitterly. You fell, not from the secure embrace of your Father, but from the high-backed horse upon which you allowed yourself to climb. Even now, you hang your head in shame, but I say to you, get up! Do not let your gaze linger any longer on the dirt beneath you. Get up! Do not give the devil a chance to work on you. You do not belong down there, in that place of oppression and groaning, but the devil so enjoys having you there.

My child, don’t you realize how quickly a father reacts when his son falls and gets injured? He rushes immediately to his aid, embracing him and lifting him up, covering all his wounds. No earthly father leaves his precious child there alone to soak in his misery before coming to save him. Not for any time at all! It is even more so with your Heavenly Father. How quickly He is there, all around you and within you, the second after you’ve suffered your fall! He really never left you; it was you who allowed your sight to be clouded.

So rise, now, the instant after you realize where you are! Never delay, letting yourself be consumed by your anguish and sorrow. Do not forget that your freedom was purchased at a very great price. Claim it, my son! Claim your freedom in Christ Jesus, even after you have momentarily strayed from Him. Do not hesitate. Let your dust fall to the wind as you take the merciful hand outstretched to you.

When you allow Him to lift you up into His merciful love, you give Him the joy of being your Savior. Oh how he cherishes that role He has in your life! Come to Him in the Confessional to be healed and released from your transgression, like a patient comes to his doctor for restoration, but do not wait until that visit to rejoice and give thanks! Turn your heart from sadness to joy and thanksgiving even now, the instant after you have fallen; not because of what you have done—you will always be frail and prone to falling on your own—but because of the great mercy and love you know the Father has for you in all of your wanderings.

I think that you will find that the greatest source of your sorrow and shame comes not from despairing of God’s mercy—you know and trust in that already—but rather it comes from the damage your fall causes to your spiritual reputation, to your pride. Why are you surprised that you fell again and so soon after the last? My son, you yourself are capable of nothing else. It is God alone who does good things in and through you, even in your innermost spiritual life, by His grace. Rather than despairing over this reality in the midst of your guilt after your fall, keep your dependence on God always before your eyes. Never credit your own ability, strength, or ingenuity for any success or goodness you have in your life. Always remind yourself that the credit belongs to the Giver alone.

In this way, you will come to see your sin as nothing more than it really is: a distractedness, a split second of taking your eyes off of His loving gaze. Don’t give it any higher standing in your life than this. Do not give Satan the honor of keeping you disconnected from the peace of your Divine Lover for any length of time. Simply smile at your littleness, and lift your arms for your Father to pick you up—back into His care, His peace, and His joy.

He delights in you, little one. Always.

“For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor present things, nor future things, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
-Romans 8:38-39-

5/28/15

Jesus!

You are.

You are mine.

You are my heart’s desire,
my question’s answer,
my reason for being,
for moving,
for speaking,
for singing.

You are.

You are my rock and my redeemer,
my light to pierce my darkness,
my shield from all that hurts me.

You are.

You are my joy and my salvation,
my hope and inspiration.

You are.

You are my friend and my consoler,
my brother,
my counselor,
my leader,
my Lord.

You are.

You are loving and forgiving,
understanding and all-knowing.

You are.

You are present here before me,
living here within me,
breathing in and through me.

You are.

You are always trying to show me,
trying to love me,
to lead me.

You are.

You are heartbroken by my sadness,
by my blindness,
by my deafness.

You are.

You are longing to come heal me,
to console and carry me.

You are.

You are smiling down upon me,
but wanting much more for me.

And I…

I am.

I am blind,
and deaf,
and mute.

I am.

I am, to me:
broken,
maimed,
undeserving,
unlovable,
failing,
hurting,
scathed,
disordered,
disdained,
stained.

I am.

I am, to You:
beloved,
bright,
and beautiful;
strong,
caring,
blessed,
worthy,
redeemed,
loved and loveable,
talented,
valuable,
precious.

I am.

I am precious.

I am worth dying for.

I am.

I am, in You, FREE.