Today's first reading from the Book of Sirach describes God and His awesome ability  to create. Not only does He form our tongues (Sir 17:5), but He imparts to us understanding, wisdom, and knowledge (Sir 17:5-6).

Have you ever just sat and contemplated where your ability to understand things and to express yourself comes from? Thoughts such as these always draw us to focus upon the immeasurable distance between God and His creatures. Just try to measure the distance between a clump of dirt and the human mind. Even though we could never count them, there actually are a limited number of droplets of water in all of the oceans on earth.  Yet God is far  beyond  those  images — so infinite, so immeasurable. We can only glimpse at His all-surpassing greatness.

For  instance, if we try to penetrate the mystery of the Blessed Trinity (see Mt  28:19), we can only come away like a child (see Mk 10:15). Unless we puff ourselves up and reject this glimpse of Divine Greatness as useless confusion, our mental pride must be humbled by this mystery. This revelation of God to man, in letting us know even faintly what goes beyond us, can be either a great stumbling block of faith as we jeer at mystery, or it can be a gentle nudge  toward  joy, then awe, and then the realization of our need to adore Him Who made us. We have to confess that we can only bend  our neck gratefully under the yoke of faith (see Mt 11:29) and find contentment in humbling ourselves, so that we might take part in heaven (see Mk 10:15).

Rescript:  †Most Reverend Carl K. Moeddel, Vicar General and Auxiliary Bishop of the Archdiocese of Cincinnati, October 12, 2004

The Nihil Obstat ("Permission to Publish") is a declaration that a book or pamphlet is considered to be free of doctrinal or moral error. It is not implied that those who have granted the Nihil Obstat agree with the contents, opinions, or statements expressed.