In an address given to the students after mass for the opening of classes of the pontifical and ecclesiastical universities on October 30, 2008, His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI encouraged the students to seek the Wisdom of God. Here is an excerpt from Zenit’s report:
"To know and understand spiritual things, it is necessary to be spiritual men and women, because if one is of the flesh, he inevitably falls into stubbornness, even if he studies much and is a 'wise one' and 'debater of this age,'" he added, citing St. Paul's First Letter to the Corinthians.”
The Holy Father made copious references to the writings of St. Paul, especially that this year was also declared by the Pope as the year of St. Paul. Moreover, the Holy Father encourages the students to seek the wisdom of God and not the wisdom of this world. The wisdom of this world is characterized by pride and arrogance. This attitude is very much noticeable in many universities. There is always a tendency for young people [and also the not so young] to be inflated in their minds because of the access they have to knowledge and science. Divine Wisdom is not opposed to human knowledge says the Holy Father; it is a matter of attitude.
The relativism of our age, where the individual becomes the judge of moral things, this admonition from the Holy Father gives more sense. The inflated pride of man fueled by human knowledge minus the wisdom of God is the root cause of relativism. There is a quote from the Bible used by the Holy Father in His admonition and I wish to quote it here too. It says [ 1 cor. 1:20 ] :
Where is the wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the disputer of this world? Hath not God made foolish the wisdom of this world?
May we seek true wisdom and obedience to God. As we search for wisdom we know that we are also seeking salvation and eternal life. Let us heed the admonition of the Holy Father.
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