My dear parishioners,
Peace! The Catechism of the Catholic Church mentions the Heart of Jesus variously. “Scripture is a unity by reason of the unity of God’s plan, of which Christ Jesus is the center and heart, open since His Passover. The phrase ‘heart of Christ’ can refer to Sacred Scripture, which makes known His heart, closed before the Passion, as the Scripture was obscure” (CCC, 112; cf. Luke 24:25-27, 44-46; Psalm 22:14). how in view of the incarnation He loves with a human heart, and “the Sacred Heart of Jesus, pierced by our sins and for our salvation ‘is quite rightly considered the chief sign and symbol of that … love with which the divine Redeemer continually loves the eternal Father and all human beings’ without exception” (cf. CCC, 470, 478; John 19:34; Pius XII Encyclical Haurietis aquas). One form of devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus is the Litany of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. Here we consider the fourteenth of the thirty-three invocations: Heart of Jesus, in whom are all treasures of wisdom and knowledge.
How does the Sacred Heart of Jesus contain all treasures of wisdom? How does the Sacred Heart of Jesus contain all treasures of knowledge? The Greek word sophia translates into the English term wisdom, while Hebrew includes at least eight variants hakham being the most frequent. The Old Testament includes the nineteen chapters of the Book of Wisdom whose human authorship is attributed to King Solomon. King Solomon, the Son of King David is mentioned with his father in the genealogy of the Lord Jesus in Matthew 1:6-7.
Saint Paul teaches us that Jesus Christ Himself is “the power of God and the wisdom of God” (1 Corinthians 1:24). The Sacred Heart represents the Lord Jesus Himself in both His human and divine natures, united in His divine Person. Saint Paul contrasts the “wisdom of this world” as so much “foolishness” in comparison with the divine wisdom which we find in the Sacred Heart of Jesus which is the very Heart of God. The “wisdom of this world” can be understood as philosophy, the love of wisdom. Sharon Ryan, writing in the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (2014), identifies five sorts of human wisdom as distinct from the supernatural sort: human wisdom acknowledges that it does not know everything and is humble; human wisdom values accuracy; human wisdom knows what it knows; human wisdom is rational; human wisdom includes all of these together.
Because God is omniscient (cf. Psalm 147:5; Isaiah 40:13-14, 28; 1 John 2:20), that is all knowing, and Jesus is God, He Himself is all knowing according to His divine nature. Among the seven-fold gifts of the Holy Spirit are included both wisdom and knowledge (cf. Isaiah 11:2; Matthew 3:16; Luke 4:18-21).
Solomon is said to be wise and knowledgeable, but these are gifts to him from God. The Lord Jesus, who is God, is all the more wiser and knowledgeable than Solomon.
God bless you!
Father John Arthur Orr