There is a group of people who have a lot of common sense and who know how the world works. We refer to them as people who have street smarts. They may also have a degree and be book smart; they may not have any degree. But they’re the sort of people that know how to get along in the world. They know how to work well with others.
Our second reading and Gospel today focus on a different kind of smart, not book nor street smart, but what we might call God smart. It is not a worldly knowledge, as St. Paul says, “Not many of you were wise by human standards.” It is, again, quoting St. Paul in our second reading, “wisdom from God.” A person who is God smart knows how to connect with others according to the mind of God. And the wisdom of God is often contrary to the wisdom of the world.
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| Fr. Mike Byrnes celebrating Mass at the bottom of the Mount of Beatitudes in Israel, along the coast of the Sea of Galilee |
For example, in the eyes of the world, if you mourn, if you’re weepy, then you’re weak. We hear it in different forms: men don’t cry; “Big girls don’t cry,” to quote the song; or even, quoting Tom Hanks, “there’s no crying in baseball!” And yet Jesus tells us: “‘Blessed are they who mourn, for they will be comforted.’” Jesus is not simply rewarding the melancholic, but is saying that blessedness, true happiness, is found in those who mourn for the sinful state of the world.
Or, as another example, in the eyes of the world, it is the man or woman with the most weapons or power who wins the day. We saw this during the Cold War, when we wanted to have more weapons than the Soviets in order to prevent them from nuking us. We see it today in so many nations deciding that war is the first and easiest way to solve differences. And yet, Jesus tells us that the peacemakers are the ones who are blessed and will be called children of God. These are not values that come from worldly wisdom. They come from the mind of God and are active in those who have God smarts.
Why this reversal of fortunes? Why are the ways of God so different than the ways of the world? St. Paul tells us that “God chose the foolish of the world to shame the wise…and God chose the lowly and despised of the world, those who count for nothing, to reduce to nothing those who are something, so that no human being might boast before God.” God helps us realize that we are nothing without Him by showing His greatness in those that the world considers nothing. He recognizes and loves those who recognize their true poverty, that they have nothing without Him, and raises them up, while at the same time lowering those who think they are rich because they are the masters of their destiny, money, or power.
Just like street smarts, which have to be learned, God smarts must also be learned. But, while street smarts generally cannot be learned from a book, we have a collection of books, the Bible, as well as the teachings of the Church, which can guide us in becoming God smart.
This week we celebrate Catholic Schools and the gift that they to the Church in the United States. Of course, we have a number of you who teach or administer in public schools, and we thank God for your Catholic witness that you provide in those public schools. Yet, we celebrate Catholic Schools because they are fulfilling in a very purposeful way, the command of the Lord to make disciples of all nations, including children, by giving them God smarts, and becoming disciples of Christ. In no public school can an explicit, purposeful mention be made about the way that God communicates with His creation as the truth that sets all people free and gives all people life. While our Catholic teachers in public schools do, and should, provide by their lives a witness of the blessings of being poor in spirit, meek, and peacemakers, in our Catholic Schools we are able to back it up with daily study of God’s revelation through Scripture and Church teaching which help all of us to become God smart.
Are Catholics Schools perfect? I wish I could say they were. But in our parish school, in which I am often present, I can assure you that besides forming the mind in academics, forming the body in physical education and sports, we also work at forming the soul, helping it to realize that true blessedness is in following Christ. And when there is a problem, as problems do occur, we can relate it back to how Jesus calls us to be so that we can be truly happy and find real blessedness. As one of our students recently pointed out to a visiting parent who was thinking about enrolling his child in our school (uncoached and without cajoling), what makes the difference in our Catholic Schools is the formation in faith.
Many of us are book smart. Likely many of us have street smarts. But what a great thing if all of us were God smart and lived out the beatitudes in our daily life, so that God could prove His wisdom in us, “as well as righteousness, sanctification, and redemption.”