In the second reading for this coming Sunday, the day on which we celebrate the Ascension, the author of Ephesians prays that “God may give you a Spirit of Wisdom and revelation resulting in knowledge of him.” In last Sunday's Gospel we heard "the Advocate...will teach you everything..." The Spirit, the Advocate, has been mentioned repeatedly in the past weeks, both during the week and at Sunday Mass – the Advocate – the Spirit who advocates for the Father and reveals God’s wisdom to us, if only we receive and act upon it. Recently I had an opportunity to observe someone hearing and acting on the wisdom of the Advocate. It was an elderly gentleman, tenderly urging his wife along a sidewalk. She was an Alzheimer’s victim, with all of the manifestations of that debilitating disease. She had trouble putting one foot in front of the other, trouble allowing him to urge her on. And yet he continued to smile and cajole, continued in his kindness and patience, continued to move her forward even as she resisted, continued to hear the Advocate reveal God’s wisdom to him. He continued to see in the feeble body of his life’s companion, the image of Christ, and with every part of his actions and words, he loved her.
May we be so convicted in the Word that Wisdom is our anchor and our path as we make decisions and move through the challenges and chaos our own lives.
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