What Does It Mean to Be Truly Wise?

Reflection for the Thirty-Second Sunday in Ordinary Time by Fr. Earl Allyson Valdez

The Parable of the Ten Virgins, Photo from Lester Yocum Uplifting Arts

It might be difficult to accept it, but there are times when we have this complex attitude toward “smart” people. While on the one hand, we give due respect and recognition toward people who are smart, i.e., the experts in their own field, public intellectuals, and inspiring figures who have experienced a lot in life, on the other hand, it seems that we resist people whom we consider “too smart.” We admire the magaling, but despise the nagmamagaling. We like the ones who can speak intelligently, except when they border toward being wais or switik (which, for those who are not aware, came from the word Jesuitic, that is, members of the Society of Jesus!). Finally, we love the matalino but not so much the tuso and the pilosopo. 

Sometimes, these attitudes border towards the anti-intellectual, in such a way that we’d rather not listen to people who just say what they wanted to say without even caring how their well-analyzed information and opinion could make other people feel. Discourses over social media would always boil down to what we want to hear, rather than the truth that we need to listen to, and usually, what would appear to be intelligent conversations end up being an exchange of personal attacks and judgments over one’s credibility. 

When one thinks of a philosopher within our Filipino culture, one would perhaps think of the figure of Pilosopo Tasyo in Rizal’s novel Noli Me Tangere, which appears to be the Socratic figure who asks questions that leads us to think of our present situation. Art by Rommel Joson.

And perhaps one would be led to ask: what does it mean to be truly wise and intelligent? And would it be truly worth to be one and to be recognized as one? 

Interestingly, wisdom was portrayed differently in the gospel readings today. The first reading speaks already of wisdom personified, one that a person truly seeks passionately and finds in the midst of the person’s journey. And in the context of the book of Wisdom, the personified character of Wisdom (in Greek, Sophia) is that of God Himself. This tells us that the path to being wise is not mainly in trying to gather information, analyze them, and talk about them. They only remain secondary compared to the first thing that a human being who desires to be wise should do: search for God and be faithful to Him. 

This is even more explicit in the second reading, as St. Paul identifies the true path of wisdom that one needs to seek: Jesus Christ Himself. Though he does not mention what it means to be wise, he did talk about its true goal, that is, of being truly alive. And if in Christ we find true life that transcends death, a reality to which intelligence and wisdom can truly surrender, then the truly wise would be to follow Christ and the life that He asks of us. 

The Cosmic Christ. Image from The Jesus Question

Within this sense, therefore, we can understand the wisdom of the virgins who waited for the master. They made sure that they had the extra oil with them, considering that they navigate with uncertainty. They prepared first and foremost for one thing and lived their waiting times according to that, namely the arrival of the master. 

Perhaps that could not be more explicit in telling us that becoming truly wise means orienting our lives to Christ. It is first and foremost responding to the call to follow Him, which means living according to His goodness, His mercy, and His service to the ones who search for God and need Him the most. It is only in thinking from the perspective of faith in the Lord’s ways, the hope of better things to come, and charity that looks at humanity with value that we can truly be called intelligent. 

And you might wonder: but father, my faith in Christ would not get my thesis done, or solve the world’s problems, or even bring about change. How can this be intelligence? Seeking wisdom in the Lord does not invalidate all other pursuits. Rather, it grants the direction of our inquiries and expertise. Our faith gives us meaning of all these pursuits, and forms the way we relate as much as it forms the way we think. This is what we mean to be truly wise as people of faith, as it enables us to act more prudently and more faithfully to the truth that we seek, the information we analyze, and the conclusions that we derive. 

St. Augustine searches for the truth of his own life and found it in Christ. 

Botticelli, “Agostino d’Ippone,” | photo from Davide Rondoni

This reminded me of one important remark by St. Augustine, addressed to those who seek wisdom in philosophy (and, by extension during that time, in the sciences). He says that while the philosophers advocate all means to seek the truth through argumentation and discourse, the Christian should never forget that he or she bears the mark of one who truly searches for truth. After all the true Philosopher is the one who loves Sophia, the Logos made Flesh, Jesus Christ Himself. To be truly wise, indeed, starts with following Him and imitating Him, and all the rest will follow.