NOTES for Wis 12:16-19

“For Thy power is the beginning of righteousness, and because Thou art the Lord of all, it maketh Thee to be gracious unto all,” says the Sage. This is God's logic, not human logic: power as the beginning of righteousness. For us, power means the right, if not an excuse, to do whatever we please! But His power is the beginning of righteousness because, by its very nature, it can be used only for good. His dominion over the universe is not terror but care. And we, His creation, are not strangers to Him. That is precisely why He spares everyone: each person is dear and precious in His sight.

Recorded around the third century before the birth of Christ, these words sound like a distinctive summing up of the dramatic history of the people of Israel: the ways of God were revealed in it, and through all the despair and failures the truth emerged: God has mercy. At every moment of history, to the one living through another turn of events, the mercy of God may be not at all obvious, and only after time has passed are people able to see it. Thus human history becomes a source of God's Revelation about Himself.

The tragedy of history did not disappear after the composition of the book of Wisdom, and therefore the Revelation recorded by its author is so important for us: relying on it, we gain ground for hope. It is very difficult to see, through all the sufferings of the world, God disposed to spare everyone. Whole generations renounced faith because they could not discern this, but the word has nevertheless been spoken, and we have the opportunity to hear it. At the same time, like every Revelation of God, it also has a practical aspect: created in the image and likeness of God, we are called to become like Him precisely in this, to be disposed to spare everyone.