Knowledge at the Service of Faith!

Friday, December 1, 2023

Dn 7:2-14; Lk 21:29-33

In today’s Gospel, Jesus invites us to put our knowledge at the service of faith. 

Since its evolution, humanity has been studying nature to construct its lifestyle. 

Humans could predict changing seasons by analyzing nature’s patterns. 

As such, nature has been the source book for humanity. 

Jesus wants our evolutionary knowledge to be used to predict the arrival of the Kingdom. 

However, reading the signs to understand the imminent arrival of the Kingdom is not done for the sake of knowledge alone. Jesus wants such knowledge to shape our lives.

In other words, our ability to read signs should not stop at our level of knowledge. The knowledge has to be applied to forming ourselves in goodness and virtue. 

Hence, ‘knowledge for its own sake’ is not what Jesus means here. ‘Knowledge for the sake of faith’ is what Jesus implies. 

In essence, Jesus is asking, ‘What do you use your knowledge for?’

If my knowledge does not lead me to God, its pursuit is vain and irrelevant. 

Einstein once said, ‘When I enter the Church, I leave my brain as I leave my slippers.’

Does our knowledge form us in goodness and virtue? Is it in the service of our faith? Does it lead us to God? 

Let us pray for the grace to subject our knowledge to the Divine Purpose!

Fr. Dhinakaran Savariyar