Homily for the Sixteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year A

God’s Wisdom And Power Are Boundless

Rev. Marcel Divine Emeka Okwara, CSsR

Homily for the Sixteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year A

Church of St. Bridget of Minneapolis, MN

Sunday, July 19, 2026

According to biblical scholars, the Book of Wisdom was likely the last book written in the Old Testament. It was composed about fifty years before the coming of Christ. The author's identity is unknown, but the author may have been a member of the Jewish community in Alexandria, Egypt. The book is a collection of wise sayings, aphorisms, and clear articulations of biblical truths and revelation. As expected, the major theme of the Book of Wisdom is God’s wisdom, power, and love. 

Today’s first reading is from the Book of Wisdom, chapter 12. Before we come to it, let’s look at another passage from the same book that serves as a launchpad for today’s reading, one that the great St. Thomas Aquinas loved to quote. Referring to God’s Wisdom, it says, “She reaches mightily from one end of the earth to the other, and she orders all things well” (Wisdom 8:1). In both Jewish and Christian traditions, this passage personifies God’s wisdom (often called Sophia in Greek). This means that divine wisdom is all-powerful, boundless, and omnipresent from one end of the world to the other. When I was coming of age, whenever I complained about an injustice done to me or to another, my mother would simply say, “My son, God knows.” At some point, I grew annoyed and even challenged my mother, “Mama, is that all you have to say?” But my mother’s intuition was right. God is not ignorant of what is happening to you or to another. He knows what is going on here in the USA, in all of North America, in Africa, in Asia, in Europe, in Australia, and in every nook and cranny of this world. God has oversight over everything in his creation, from one end of the world to the other. 

From ancient times to the present, the temptation to see God as a distant force, power, or figure has persisted. In modern form, it is called “Deism.” It is a philosophical and religious belief that a Supreme Being created the universe and established natural laws but does not actively intervene in human affairs. Put simply, it is a belief system that sees God as a distant power who made the universe and then retired, leaving it to its own devices. It holds that God may be concerned with the higher elements of creation but not with the details of things. Although this view is both ancient and modern, it is not a biblical view. In his classic theological formulation of divine omnipresence, the great scholar St. Thomas Aquinas says, “God is in all things by essence, presence, and power.” He then adds “intime,” which means “most intimately so.” God is in all things, not just the higher elements of creation, and he is in all things in a most intimate way. In the old Boston Catechism book, we see the question, “Where is God?” The answer given is, “God is everywhere.” I tell you, if you truly understand this answer, your whole life will change. God is not up there in a distant land or in an ancient time. Some atheists, in making a bad joke, say that in the past there was God, but with the passage of time, God died. God is in all things by essence, presence, and power. God is the creator and sustainer of all things. If God died, how come there is life and all things? The death of God would have been the extinction of all things. End of story! 

In light of this, let’s turn to today’s second reading (Wisdom 12:13, 16-19): “There is no god besides you who have the care of all people… You are righteous, and govern all things righteously.” Notice that God governs, not some people but all people, righteously. All things and all people are under divine providence. We also hear, “For your might is the source of righteousness.” During my involvement with the Catholic Charismatic Renewal in Nigeria, one of our teachers, Mr. Cyprian Agbazue, speaking about the will of God, said there is “the perfect will of God, and the permissive will of God.” The perfect will of God is God’s highest, most flawless plan for our lives. It is what God genuinely desires and intends for your life. It is perfectly aligned with his ultimate purposes, peace, and holiness. The permissive will of God refers to what God allows to happen—often out of respect for human free will or the realities of a broken world—even when it runs counter to His moral desires. In the end, he said that everything that happens in the world, to a nation or to an individual, is, in some sense, the will of God. It happens either because God ultimately wants it to happen or because God is allowing it to happen. His view is in tandem with the biblical view—that God’s knowledge and wisdom stretch from one end of the earth to the other. Put simply, God knows. God is aware. God is not oblivious. God is allowing it to happen. God is everywhere, as the Boston Catechism book says. No matter what has happened to you, or is happening to you presently, good or bad, it is part of God’s will. God is permitting it directly or indirectly. I tell you, your life will radically change when you allow this very idea to sink deeply into your mind. You are stuck in traffic on your way to an important appointment. Don’t see it as bad luck. God is permitting it to happen, directly or indirectly. At that moment of frustration, God may be inviting you to pray. Are you experiencing persecution from someone? It might be an invitation to fulfill Jesus’s countercultural teaching: love your enemy and pray for those who persecute you.   

From your standpoint, you might be asking, “If God cares for all his people and governs all things righteously, why does the world not look like it is being governed by a wise and righteous God? Why does it look like the world is full of incompleteness, suffering, violence, and injustice? How do we read this in light of the Holocaust and many other genocidal acts that have happened in human history? If the universe is under divine governance, how can we explain the reality of evil and suffering in the world?” 

Now, there is no time to delve into the problem of evil and suffering in the world, but one way to approach this question is to recall your experience traveling on a freeway under construction. There is a long traffic jam, with very slow movement, and your gas is running low as well. You are going to get to your destination, but it will be slow, and you are frustrated by the pace. No matter what you desire and hope for at that time, things won’t go the way you want. All you can do is take a chill pill and pray. If you get to your destination late, so be it. You cannot magically disappear and appear at your destination. Another image is visiting an artist's studio or a carpenter’s workshop. When my mother died in 2014, I went to Nigeria for her funeral. Before I traveled, I called my elder brother and requested one thing: do not choose our mother’s casket until I return. I would like to make the choice. When I got home, I visited three casket stores and showrooms. The last one I visited was classier and fancier. 

As I walked through the showroom aisles, looking at different types and designs of caskets, a door opened a few yards ahead of me. It was the business owner. As we talked, and he realized I was a priest who had returned home from America to bury my mother, he said, “Father, I am actually based in Texas. In fact, my family still lives there.” Then he added, “Follow me; I will show you this one casket. It is in its final phase of polishing.” He led me through the same door that had brought him into the showroom. Then I saw a huge workshop where all the caskets are made. But it was dusty and messy, with pieces of wood, iron, and screws lying everywhere. The whole place looked like a tornado had passed through it. The man noticed my shocked expression and probably my judgment. So he said, “This is the workshop where all the caskets are made.” Every workshop is usually messy and disorganized. There, you will see incomplete works of art; you will see dirt and pieces of items here and there. Some of us grew up with tailors and seamstresses around. When you visit where clothes are made, it is never organized. It is usually littered with pieces of clothing. When the seamstress begins to cut and design, everything looks unclear, and everywhere looks unkempt. When I was in Memphis, my pastor, Fr. Maurice Nutt, loved to cook. And boy, he was a fantastic cook. But here was the problem: when he cooked, the whole kitchen looked like a tornado had visited. He used virtually everything in the kitchen—lots of plates, bowls, knives, pots, etc. And it was the job of Brother Eugene and me to wash, clean, and tidy the kitchen, and to put things in their proper places. There were times the two of us spent over an hour doing this. At some point, we celebrated when the pastor wasn’t cooking. 

What is the world like? It is like a highway under construction. It is like an artist’s workshop. It is like a workshop where caskets are made. It is like a seamstress’s or tailor’s workshop. It is like Fr. Maurice’s kitchen. Who is God like? God is like an artist in his studio, a construction worker on the highway, or a seamstress or casket builder in their work environment, all working to make the world righteous. He is in the process of justifying things. When we look at the saints, we see God’s finished, polished, and cleaned products. But most of the time, what we see are unfinished, incomplete, and imperfect products. We are still making our way through this traffic-jammed, under-construction highway. And we must trust that everything that happens is under divine wisdom, guidance, and providence.

God bless you!