CHAPTER ONE
TO LOVE AND SEEK DIVINE WISDOM WE NEED TO KNOW HIM
[1. Our need to acquire knowledge of divine Wisdom]
8. Can we love someone we do not even know? Can we love
deeply someone we know only vaguely? Why is Jesus, the
adorable, eternal and incarnate Wisdom loved so little if not
because he is either too little known or not known at all?
Hardly anyone studies the supreme science of Jesus, as
did St. Paul (Eph. 3:19). And yet this is the most noble, the
most consoling, the most useful and the most vital of all
sciences and subjects in heaven and on earth.
9. 1. First, it is the most noble of all sciences because
its subject is the most noble and the most sublime: Wisdom
uncreated and incarnate. He possesses in himself the fulness
of divinity and humanity alike and all that is great in heaven
and on earth, namely, all creatures visible and invisible,
spiritual and corporal.
St. John Chrysostom says that our Lord is the summary of
all God's works, the epitome of all the perfections to be
found in God and in his creatures (cf. Col. 1:16; 2:9).
"Jesus Christ is everything that you can and should wish
for. Long for him, seek for him, because he is that unique
and precious pearl for which you should be ready to sell
everything you possess."
"Let the wise man boast no more of his wisdom nor the
strong man of his strength, nor the rich man of his wealth.
But if anyone wants to boast, let him boast only of
understanding and knowing me and nothing else (Jer. 9:23-24)."
10. 2. Nothing is more consoling than to know divine Wisdom.
Happy are those who listen to him; happier still are those who
desire him and seek him; but happiest of all are those who
keep his laws. Their hearts will be filled with that infinite
consolation which is the joy and happiness of the eternal
Father and the glory of the angels (cf. Prov. 2:1-9).
If only we knew the joy of a soul that perceives the
beauty of divine Wisdom and is nourished with the milk of
divine kindness, we would cry out with the bride in the Song
of Songs: "Your love is better than wine" (Song 1:3) better by
far than all created delights. This is especially true when
divine Wisdom says to those who contemplate him, "Taste and
see" (Ps. 33:9) eat and drink, be filled with my eternal
sweetness (Song 5:1), for you will discover that conversing
with me is in no way distasteful, that my companionship is
never tedious and in me only will you find joy and contentment
(Wisd. 8:16).
11. 3. This knowledge of eternal Wisdom is not only the most
noble and the most consoling of all, it is also the most
useful and the most necessary since eternal life consists in
knowing God and Jesus Christ, his Son (Jn. 17:3).
Speaking to eternal Wisdom, the Wise man exclaims, "To know
you is perfect righteousness and to know your justice and your
power is the root of immortality" (Wisd. 15:3). If we really
want to have eternal life let us learn all there is to know
about eternal Wisdom.
If we wish to have roots of immortality deeply embedded
in our heart we must have in our mind knowledge of eternal
Wisdom. To know Jesus Christ incarnate Wisdom, is to know all
we need. To presume to know everything and not know him is to
know nothing at all.
12. Of what use is it for an archer to hit the outer part of
a target if he cannot hit the centre? What good will it do us
to know all the other branches of knowledge necessary for
salvation if we do not learn the only essential one, the
knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ, the centre towards which
all the other branches of knowledge must tend? Although the
great Apostle St. Paul was a man of such extensive knowledge
and so well versed in human learning, still he said that he
did not know anything except Jesus Christ and him nailed to a
cross (1 Cor. 2:2).
Let us then say with him, "I count as loss all the
knowledge I have prized so highly until now when I compare it
to the knowledge of Jesus Christ, my Saviour" (Phil. 3:7-8).
Now I see and understand that this knowledge is so excellent,
so captivating, so profitable, so admirable that I no longer
take any interest in other branches of knowledge that I used
to like so much. Everything else is so meaningless, so absurd
and a foolish waste of time. "I say this to make sure that no
one deceives you with beguiling words. Make sure that no one
ensnares you with empty, rational philosophy" (Col. 2:4,8). I
state that Jesus is the abyss of all knowledge so that you do
not let yourself be deceived by the fine, glowing words of
orators or by the specious subtleties of philosophers. "Grow
in grace and the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus
Christ" (2 Pet. 3:18).
That we may all grow in the knowledge and grace of our
Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ, incarnate Wisdom, we are going
to speak of him in the following chapters. But first, let us
consider the different kinds of wisdom.
[2. Definition and division of the subject]
13. In the general sense of the term wisdom means a
delectable knowledge, a taste for God and his truth.
There are several kinds of wisdom.
First, true and false wisdom. True wisdom is a taste for
truth without falsehood or deception. False wisdom is a taste
for falsehood disguised as truth.
This false wisdom is the wisdom or the prudence of the
world, which the Holy Spirit divides into three classes:
earthly, sensual, and diabolical.
True wisdom may be divided into natural and supernatural
wisdom.
Natural wisdom is the knowledge, in an outstanding
degree, of natural things in their principles. Supernatural
wisdom is knowledge of supernatural and divine things in their
origin.
This supernatural wisdom is divided into substantial or
uncreated Wisdom, and accidental or created wisdom.
Accidental or created wisdom is the communication that
uncreated Wisdom makes of himself to mankind. In other words,
it is the gift of wisdom. Substantial or uncreated Wisdom is
the Son of God, the second person of the most Blessed Trinity.
In other words, it is eternal Wisdom in eternity or Jesus
Christ in time.
It is precisely about this eternal Wisdom that we are
going to speak.
14. Starting with his very origin, we shall consider Wisdom
in eternity, dwelling in his Father's bosom and object of his
Father's love.
Next, we shall see him in time, shining forth in the
creation of the universe.
Then we shall consider him in the deep abasement of his
incarnation and his mortal life; and then we shall see him
glorious and triumphant in heaven.
Finally we shall propose the means to acquire and keep
him.
I leave to philosophers their useless philosophical
arguments and to scientists the secrets of their worldly
wisdom.
Let us now speak to chosen souls seeking perfection (1
Cor. 2:6) of true wisdom, eternal Wisdom, Wisdom uncreated and
incarnate.
