You may have seen in the news this week that Vladimir Putin is getting ready to launch what is called a Satan 2 unstoppable missile. I understand that there will be two tests. There are two elements here one is that he is testing a missile and the other is that he is sending a message to the world that he is willing to use it.
Let’s reflect on this a minute. Putin is not building this with his erector set in his garage. This is being built by a whole host of engineers in all kinds of fields and also the proverbial rocket scientists.
These are some of the smartest people in the world. However, are any of them wise?
We have our own versions of such weapons. Here in New England is built one of the most powerful weapon of mass destruction, it is called a boomer and it is a submarine that carries a bunch of multi-warhead ballistic missiles.
These boomers sit all over the world ready to strike when necessary.
If you want to understand the reason for such weapons, go watch or rewatch the movie Wargames. It may be 40 years old but it is still the same military strategy we work with. It is called MAD Mutually Assured Destruction. MAD, of course, is a synonym for crazy and it is crazy. It basically means, if they bomb us, we will bomb them so to make sure they do not bomb us, we will always be ready to bomb them.
It is well demonstrated in War Games and it is basically how military deterence works. Further, once you understand this you realize that much of what you learn on TV is wrong. The military world is using technology for preparedness that is beyond our knowledge in the interest of MAD. So the news says no one knew there were balloons from China flying over our country is not true, the military knows where every plane and submarine is in the world at all times. I can assure you.
Why do I bring this up? Simple. Look at how crazy is the system that the world works. Mutually Assured Destruction. If you don’t bomb us, we won’t bomb you. But if you bomb us, we will bomb you.
Now, look at our second reading.
I always bring up that our faith is not about morality, it is about wisdom and our wisdom leads us to live our morality. This is a lesson that has been lost on many of today’s Catholics. So they understand the morality but they don’t seek the wisdom behind it. I will always call you to seek the wisdom so that you can live the morality.
St.Paul in the second reading speaks about God’s wisdom which is not the wisdom of this age and is not the wisdom of even kings and rulers.
It is a deeper wisdom that we tap into when we seek to do the will of God. When we seek his wisdom, we become rooted in his vision for ourselves and others. We live a completely different way of life than is taught by kings and rulers because our wisdom is at a higher scale.
There was an interesting news story that came out of Boston this week. It seems that a message came down from headquarters at the FBI that they wanted all the information on the people riding a bus to Washington, DC on January 6 and the Boston office said no. They said we do not go after people because they got on a bus. They stood up in courage to the head of the FBI.
They acted on a different vision.
Acting on Divine Wisdom
When we act on this different vision, we show people the mind of God, but when we seek to follow the wisdom of Kings and Rulers who are not living to that wisdom then we have nothing to offer them.
Everyone knows the Church stands against abortion. How many of you know the Church stands against the arms race? How many of you know the Church stands against the use of nuclear weapons?
It seems fairly obvious doesn’t it? It was not at one time. Dorothy Day and a group of Catholic Workers prayed on the steps of the Vatican during the Vatican II Council and told every priest, bishop and cardinal that they better do the right thing. Part of that right thing was putting into Vatican II documents that the church stands against the arms race.
Proof of God’s Existence is Ubiquitous
I often say that we are living in a time that the proof of God’s existence is ubiquitous. Many people focus on Romans one because of its statement on illicit sexual activity. However, if you actually read what St. Paul says, it is that people turn away from God and then begin to worship the creature instead of the creator. What God does is takes away their access to his wisdom and they fall victim to the faulty ways of human wisdom alone. This is what is happening in our world now.
It is just more proof of his existence for those who can see it.
St. Paul says in many places that we have a call to live the wisdom of Christ. WE need a whole new way of thinking that is different from the way the world thinks. That is our mission.
Let us prepare this lent to grow in that wisdom of which Paul speaks, it is a wisdom that is greater than that of kings and rulers. However, sometimes especially when people are participating in a crazy process called Mutually Assured Destruction or MAD it is fairly obvious.
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Divine Wisdom: Greater than All Other Wisdom