Presence of God

Come, O Spirit of Wisdom, draw me!

Meditation

I. The gift ofunderstanding enables us to penetrate God’s mysteries; the gift of wisdom takes us further : it lets us taste them and gives us a delightful knowledge of them. This is the savory knowledge of which St. Bernard speaks, the untranslatable "dulce sapere" invoked by St. Thomas in the Adorn Te Devote; it is the precious gift which the Holy Spirit offers us in the words : "Gustate et videte quam bonus sit Dominus" (Ps. 33, 9). "Taste and see that the Lord is sweet." It is not by chance that it is first said taste, and then see, for by the gift of wisdom we know God by the experience of the heart which "tastes" the object loved.

There are two ways of knowing : a speculative, intellectual way, and an experimental way, resulting from a kind of "connaturality" with the object of our knowledge. The latter is not so clear, but it is much deeper than the former, and grasps the inner substance of things. Thus, for example, because of the affinity of thought and affection that binds a mother to her child, she knows its heart much better than any other person. Similar to this is the knowledge of divine subjects which we acquire by means of the gift of wisdom. Between God and us there is a certain "connaturality," a certain similarity, produced by the love which unites us to Him and in some way assimilates us to Him; even more, St. Paul does not hesitate to say that "He who is joined to the Lord, is one spirit" (1Co. 6, 17).

The gift of wisdom enables us to know God and divine things precisely through this "connaturality," and therefore gives us a delightful experience of them through the love which is its source. This experience seizes the soul in its very center, that is, in the will, forcibly drawing it to God and at the same time, inundating the intellect with floods of light. The gift of wisdom acts somewhat like the rays of the sun which give heat and light at the same time. Its warmth quickens charity in the soul, and thi'ough this enkindling oflove, the soul is enlightened concerning the divine realities and is enabled to judge of them, because it knows intuitively their infinite goodness and their absolute superiority over all created things. "Oh, the depth of the riches of. ..God!" (Rm. 11, 33). This is the cry of the soul inflamed and illumined by the gift of wisdom.

II. All the gifts of the Holy Spirit are closely connected with charity, for they abound only in souls who possess charity, and they develop in the measure that charity increases. However, the gift of wisdom has a very special relationship to the love of charity, primarily because it is set in action by means of charity. St. Thomas says, "The cause of the gift of wisdom is found in the will, and it is charity" (IIa IIae, q.45, a.2, co.); therefore, the more a soul loves God, the more capable it becomes of receiving the motions of this gift. In addition, the delightful knowledge of God derived from the gift of wisdom is a most powerful means of increasing charity. How can we fail to love the Lord more after having tasted His sweetness? In the measure that the gift of wisdom invades a soul, charity increases and so does its unitive force, by which the soul adheres ever more closely to God.

This gift leads to a more profound prayer than that experienced when the gift of understanding alone intervenes : the soul feels "seized" and drawn by God in an irresistible way; it feels truly united to the Lord and tastes Him in this union—not in a sensible manner but spiritually—and by intuition, it knows Him in the most intimate way possible here below. The soul emerges from this prayer inflamed with love, a love which it expresses above all by the perfect conformity ofits will with God’s in all the happenings of life; it comes from this prayer so full of God that, upon returning to its ordinary duties, it sees and considers everything in relation to God. In this way the gift ofwisdom extends its influence even into our practical life and teaches us to judge all things in the light ofGod.

In order to receive the actions of the gift of wisdom —the most sublime of all the gifts—we should gently prepare our heart for the plenitude of love, and at the same time apply ourselves to the acquiring of a profound humility, because as Jesus has said : "Thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them to little ones" (Mt 11,25).

"And those alone acquire the wisdom of God who are like ignorant children, and, laying aside their knowledge, walk in His service with love" (J.C. AS I, 4,5).

Colloquy

"Come, O divine Spirit, and take possession of my heart; dissipate all the darkness that the folly of the world calls wisdom, and grant me in its place the gift of heavenly wisdom. You alone can teach me to despise what the world loves, that is, what delights and flatters. You alone can teach me to enjoy the things of God, the virtue, piety, and love which You came to kindle on earth in order that the world might be inflamed" (Anonymous).

"O God, who by Your essence are uncreated Love, infinite Love, boundless Love, not only loving, but Love itself; O God, from whom proceeds the love of all the seraphim and of all creatures, why do I not love You? Why am I not consumed in this burning furnace of love, which embraces the whole universe?

"O God, essential goodness, You by whom all goodness is good, who are the source of the goodness of all creatures, just as the sea is the source of all waters, You whose goodness is so excellent that nothing in heaven or on earth can be called good in respect to it, why do I not love You, since goodness is the object of love?

"O most holy Father! O most merciful Son! O most loving Holy Spirit! When will You, O Father, be most deeply hidden in the innermost depths of my soul and fully possess me? When shall I be all Yours and You all mine? When will You be my King? When will that day come? Oh! When? Oh, it will surely come! Do You believe that I shall see it? Why such delay! How painful this waiting! Hasten, O Jesus, hasten, delay no longer!" (Ven. Louis of Granada).