Sandwiched between the Ember Days of Advent, when we traditionally pray for the Ordained Ministry and for those who are preparing to enter it, is the day marked O Sapientia. This is an ancient antiphon that was used in the Spanish Church before the Magnificat in the season preceding Christmas, addressing Almighty God as the fount of all knowledge and wisdom and asking Him to provide us with His knowledge and wisdom for everything we do, say and think.
Never has there been a greater need and urgency to ask God for His wisdom. The Church, the State, Society and individuals are in total confusion – confusion over what to do, say or think. It seems that The Man of Lawlessness mentioned in Daniel’s prophecy (chapter 9) has arrived via the Human Rights legislation, which effectively trumps God’s laws with the supremacy of the individual, probably the first time in history that the rights of the individual have been placed before the established rights of the community in which people live. In 2 Thessalonians chapter 2 St. Paul expands on this theme, identifying the main characteristic of this lawlessness as deceit.
Within the Church we see the increasing pace of agnosticism. The dominant liberal Catholic lobby, to which the majority of bishops belong, neither opposed the ordination of women as priests and bishops, nor has it defended Christian marriage in the face of same-sex partnerships. This makes complete sense if one no longer believes in the final authority of Holy Scripture or the universal Christian tradition throughout the ages. Without these two vital anchors their approach will end up as mere Deism with plenty of dressing up and fancy music, interesting maybe a few but converting none.
There is a glimmer of hope for the future which has emerged in the past week. An Open Letter has emerged which declares that its now more than 2000 signatories are willing to face imprisonment if they find themselves in the dock for refusing to teach the current muddle of sexual and relational illogicalities now being promoted by a godless society. They are a very mixed bunch of clergy and ministers, from Anglicans to FIEC, with pretty much everything in between. No serving bishops, of course!
At present there are no Roman Catholics involved in this initiative, but there is a growing body of mainly lay people who are standing up for Christian truth and they may well team up with the rest of us in due course. A few of our number may still enjoy fighting 16th century battles about the precise nature of Christ’s presence in the Eucharist, but the signs are that the Christian world at large is beginning to wake up to the major conflicts ahead. It will find itself once again gathered around our dear Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, making courageous inroads into the chaos, confusion and stupidity that dominates our current thinking and culture. People will be saved, the Church will recover its authority and the Kingdom of God will be coming closer. But to do this effectively we need the wisdom of God, both as we plan what we can do together and in deciding when and where to act. O Sapientia – O for Divine Wisdom!
