Proverbial Piety

Published in The Compass, October 1, 2009, vol. 4, issue 12

            This feature of the Compass offers some brief reflections on the spiritual life, taking as it’s parting point, each time, some verse in the scriptures, especially from the book of Proverbs. The translations are my own, from the Greek Septuagint; you may find some differences with the English Bible you use at home, and this is the reason why.

The Faithful Served by Persecuters

 
10:4a The disciplined [or educated, or formed] son is wise,
            but he will have the foolish as a servant.

 
            This verse is found only in the Septuagint; so maybe in your translation, depending on whether the translators used the Septuagint or not, you may or may not find it inside.

            The verb “disciplined” is really the Greek word “paideu-o”; it is perhaps more frequently rendered as “disciplined” in translations, as in Hebrews where this same Greek word appears, “son, do not despise the discipline of the Lord” (Heb 12:5). For, as that same passage (I mean in Hebrews) continues, the Lord disciplines and chastises those whom he loves.

            When the word “son” is found in this verse, we immediately ask, does this refer to the Eternal Word, the Son of God? It is not likely in this case; for the Son of God is perfect, and needs neither discipline nor teaching, as he shares the one substance of the Father and the Spirit.

            The “son” in this passage is the baptized man (male or female, obviously). He is a son by adoption, and not by nature.

            There are two types of discipline which the Lord imposes on souls to purify them, speaking in the most general of terms, as the holy John of the Cross stresses in his Subida de Monte Carmelo and his Noche oscura. The first purification orders the flesh to the spirit, and this is called the dark night of the senses; its result puts the soul in the illuminative stage of the spiritual life. The second purification orders the body and soul to the most Holy Will of God, and this is called the dark night of the soul; its result puts the soul in the unitive stage of the spiritual life.

            This verse does not distinguish the types of purification. But it makes the soul wise whether it is the purification of the flesh or of the soul. For wisdom is the capacity to habitually judge things from the point of view of the truth, and act accordingly. There is the natural wisdom of men on earth, clearly seen in the writings of great philosophers, more the ancients than the moderns; then there is the wisdom which is infused by God, not a worldly wisdom, by which one sees and acts according to God’s Mind and Will. Both the natural wisdom and the supernatural wisdom result from purifications; these purifications – of sense or of soul – are a discipline, the science and practice of suffering.

            This is why the poem, the hymn, of Lent reads, “O hail, Cross, only hope!”

            Then there is the second part of this verse, that he shall have the foolish as his servant. This could be understood in a natural way and a supernatural way; and to the latter, in a temporal way and in an eschatological way.

            In this world, the wise outthink the foolish, and use the prowess of their intellects to get the advantage, or to control, or to ascend any given order such as the economic, social, political orders or some chain of command. The fool in this case is not so by moral deficiency, but by an inferiority of mental disposition. This is the wisdom of the world found in this Psalm. A follower of Christ responds to the natural fool with neither savvy nor ridicule, but rather with mercy, and applies his superior talents to the service of those who need. Human authority is then seen as a sort of service; the master is called to serve the slave, and the slave his master, but each according to his office.

            The supernatural light shines here as well, the fool in this instance is the moral fool, the one who is “foolish, and slow of heart to believe,” whereas the wise man is the one who follows the discipline of the Catholic Church and one whose mind is informed with divine revelation according to the infallible interpretation of the Magisterium; therefore, “the disciplined son is wise.” And as it was just stated, we can see the pairs of these two men, the faith-wise and the morally-foolish in two ways: in time and in eternity.

            The fool is the persecutor and adulterer, the greedy man and the glutton, the arrogant man and the lazy, the angry man and the envious. These cause endless sufferings to the wise, and in these sufferings, they become like the crucified Christ; so the persecutors and sinners in this way serve the righteous and the faithful. Those who murdered ancient St. Laurence and modern St. Paul Miki all served the glorification of God and the sanctification of these who were wise in God. For all serve God, even the demons in hell, if only by their punishments – punishments which are still touched with mercy, for they do not suffer as badly as they deserve – for in their punishments the truth of their evil is exposed, and the saints glory in the justice and power of the Holy Trinity. Only, they serve him against their will. For God is Almighty. And in this way the fool serves both saint and angel, and even God himself, from the depth of hell, even in spite of himself, and forever.