Homily of Most Rev. Charles John Brown D.D., Apostolic Nuncio to the Philippines
October 13, 2024 | Feast of Our Lady of the Most Holy Rosary
“I pleaded, and the spirit of wisdom came to me. I preferred her (that is, wisdom) to scepter and throne, and I deemed riches as nothing in comparison with wisdom, nor did I liken any priceless jewel to her; because all gold, in view of her, is a little sand…” (Wisdom 7:7-9).
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ:
For me as your Apostolic Nuncio, it gives me so much joy and happiness to be with you this afternoon, here in Our Lady of the Most Holy Rosary Chapel in SM Makati. This wonderful place of shopping, which also provides this beautiful place of prayer. This wonderful chapel that today celebrates your Fiesta Mass, after the Feast of the Holy Rosary (October 7), on the first Sunday after the feast, you celebrate your Chapel Fiesta. That is exactly what we are doing this morning, all together.
I'm very grateful to Fr. Reginald Malicdem, the Mission Station Priest, for having invited me to be with you this afternoon. It's wonderful to see members of the Sy Family, here also present. To say “thank you” to God, “thank you” to Mama Mary, for the gift of this chapel. This place where people, while they're shopping, or between their shopping excursions, can come in and receive the Word of God, the Sacraments of the Church, the Light, the Wisdom of God.
Wisdom that Comes from God
That's really the theme of the liturgy this morning. It's about “wisdom”. In fact, that First Reading (Wisdom 7:7-11) which you heard from the Book of Wisdom. Wisdom. The idea of preferring wisdom to everything else. Wisdom, how important it is! When we hear that word “wisdom” in English, we know that wisdom is somehow connected with experience, with knowledge. People who are older, people with gray hair, like your apostolic nuncio, are supposed to be people who have some wisdom. Because they've had a lot of experience in life. They have knowledge that's been accumulated. That's what wisdom is supposed to come from: experience and knowledge.
Wisdom is the capacity to have good judgment based on our knowledge, based on our experience. To make good judgments. That's why we go to older people many times, especially here in the Philippines, with your beautiful respect for older people. To ask older people for bits of wisdom, for messages. Because we respect our elders. We know that they have experienced life, and they can help us on the path that leads to the kingdom of God.
In Greek, the word for “wisdom” is “Σοφία” (Sophía). Now we have many girls named “Sophie”, or “Sophia” which is a beautiful name. It means “wisdom” in Greek. In Latin, the word for “wisdom” is “sapientia”. In fact, the name for our species as human beings is Homo sapiens, which means “wise man”. So, wisdom, sapiens, or sapientia in Latin, is part of what makes a human being; and our lives should be a process in which we're growing in wisdom, which we're growing in wisdom.
Of course, and we say this especially to young people, “Where do we find wisdom? How do we acquire wisdom?” We know that wisdom, as I said, is connected to experience, but not all experiences make us wise. Some experiences can damage us, can hurt us. We know that wisdom is connected to knowledge, but not all knowledge necessarily makes us wise. People can have a lot of knowledge and yet still behave very foolishly. So, where does wisdom really come from? We know that wisdom ultimately comes from God.
Cicero, the great Latin Philosopher, said that, “Wisdom is the art of living. It's knowing how to live.” “How to live.” That's why we go to elders and ask questions about “how to live”, and they impart to us their wisdom.
Seat of Wisdom
In a certain sense, that connection between wisdom and our feast today is very profound. Because today we celebrate the Feast of Our Lady of the Most Holy Rosary, your Fiesta Mass. Mary, Our Lady is connected to wisdom. Our Lady of the Rosary is connected to wisdom. What do I mean? When we pray the Litany to Our Lady. When we pray the Litany of Loreto, (I will not pray the entire litany with you), we pray to her with the different titles of Our Lady: Virgin most powerful, Virgin most merciful, Virgin most faithful, Mirror of justice, and then, “Seat of wisdom.” In Latin, that is “Sedes sapientiae”.
Mary is the place where Wisdom has taken its seat. In a certain sense, what does that mean? It means that the baby Jesus, the little child sitting on the lap of Mary. He is Wisdom incarnate. He is Wisdom, God's Wisdom for us, who has come into our world to show us the way that leads to the Father, to give us true wisdom. He is on her lap. He is in her arms, in your beautiful statue of Our Lady of the Rosary.
Jesus sits on her lap and makes Mary the Seat of Wisdom, because Jesus is our wisdom. Jesus is our wisdom, and Mary gives us Jesus. Mary is always pointing us to Jesus, our Wisdom. [Mary] always indicating Jesus. Mary helps us to experience Jesus.
Sometimes people criticize the Catholic Church. They say “The Church loves Mary too much. It's taken away from Jesus.” That's ridiculous. That's very foolish. That's not true at all. Because Mary is always pointing us to Jesus, showing us Jesus. As she does in your beautiful statue, here. She is the Seat of Wisdom, the one who holds Wisdom in front of us.
There was a great poet in the English language, in England, Gerard Manley Hopkins. He had this beautiful poem about Our Lady, about Mary. He talked about “Mary helps us to see Jesus. Mary helps us because her mediation gives us Jesus.” He wrote these beautiful words about Mary and Jesus. He says,
Through her we may see him
Made sweeter, not made dim,
And her hand leaves his light
Sifted to suit our sight.
The idea is that Mary gives us Jesus. She makes Him sweeter to us, and her hand, her intercession, lets His light, His grace, purify our vision. Her hand leaves His light sifted to suit our sight.
The Wisdom of God
In the Gospel today (Mk 10:17-30), also, this young man comes to Jesus. He wants wisdom. He comes to Jesus, “Good teacher, [Master,] what must I do to inherit eternal life?” Of course, Jesus tells him, “Keep the commandments.” He says, “I'm doing that. I've kept the commandments since I was young.” Then the Gospel tells us, “Jesus looked at him and loved him.”
So, the glance of Jesus on this young man, this young man who wanted wisdom from Jesus. Jesus looked at him with love, and then says, “Go, sell everything you have, come and follow me.” Of course, the young man went away sad because he was unable to get rid of the things that were clinging to him, all his possessions, all his plans maybe, and simply follow the Lord.
That's where real wisdom is to be found: to realize that, yes, all of us have possessions, but the most important thing is to follow the Lord, to follow Jesus, to listen to Jesus, to allow Jesus to impart to us wisdom, how to live, how to be a human being. He is the Way, the Truth and the Life. He is Wisdom.
That's what the Catholic Church does. It gives us the wisdom of Christ. The wisdom of Christ, which tells us in the Gospel today, “For men, things are impossible, but not for God.” “For God, all things are possible.” Beautiful words. They’re so encouraging to us on the Feast of Our Lady of the Most Holy Rosary: “With God, all things are possible.”
So, Jesus is telling us, in the wisdom of the Church, don't cling to things that are of secondary importance. Be able to distinguish, prioritize what is important, what are the most important things: God, family, love; and less important things. To make those distinctions. That is true wisdom, and that is what Jesus gives us, the Wisdom of God.
Intercession of Our lady
We pray always through Our Lady, asking for her intercession, asking her to draw us close to Jesus. When we pray the Rosary, when we repeat those prayers again and again, we can say that God's wisdom is kind of becoming infused into us. By praying the rosary, by meditating on the mysteries of the life of Jesus, God's wisdom is coming through Mary into us. Her hand leaves his light sifted to suit our sight. God's grace purifying us.
We pray to Mary in the litany, Queen of the Most Holy Rosary, which is your feast day, Queen of families, Queen of Peace. Mary gives us the wisdom of Jesus, and the wisdom of Jesus gives us peace.
Today is the 107th Anniversary of the Miracle of the Sun in Fatima. When devotees of Mary, devotees like you and me, were there in Portugal, on this day in 1917; and saw the sun spinning in the sky. Thousands, tens of thousands of people witnessed that miracle on this day, immediately after Our Lady's Feast Day of the Holy Rosary.
So, dear brothers and sisters in Christ. Let's remember that “with God all things are possible.” Let us thank God for the gift of Mama Mary, thank God for the gift of your wonderful chapel here, Our Lady of the Most Holy Rosary.
May God bless you, and happy fiesta!
transcribed by Joel Ocampo