Secret wisdom of God; Angels: Day 298

What an honor for the human race! God reveals his most secret wisdom to the angels at the same time as to us, says St. John Chrysostom.

“But we impart a secret and hidden wisdom of God” (1 Cor. 2:7). Why is it “secret” and “hidden”? For surely Christ says, “what you hear whispered, proclaim upon the housetops” (Matt. 10:27). How then does he call it a secret?

Because neither angel nor archangel, nor any other created power, knew of it before it actually took place. This is why he says, “that through the church the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known to the Principalities and Powers in the heavenly places” (Eph. 3:10). God did this in honor of us, so that they should not hear the secrets without us. Whenever we make friends, we call this the surest proof of friendship: that we tell our secrets to no one in preference to them.

Hear this, you who make a sort of triumphal show of the secrets of the Gos- pel, and indiscriminately display the pearls and the doctrine to everyone, and cast the holy things unto dogs and swine, and useless reasonings. For the secret needs no decoration. It is simply declared to be what the fact is. It will not be a divine secret, whole in all its parts, if you add anything of your own to it.

–St. John Chrysostom, Homily 7 on 1 Corinthians

IN GOD’S PRESENCE, CONSIDER . . .

God shows his love to us and to angels by revealing himself. Am I as receptive as the holy angels when I encounter divine revelation?

CLOSING PRAYER

Lord, open my heart, that I may receive the secret wisdom  of the Gospel through the minis- try of your angels, and may proclaim it on earth with their help.

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