ABANDON FOLLY - B: 20th Sun in OrdTime (18 Aug 2024)

First Reading: Prov 9:1-6

“Abandon folly, and you will live, and seek prudence in order that you may live, and erect understanding with knowledge” (Prov 1:6)

For the past week, Filipinos everywhere have celebrated the victory of Carlos Edriel Yulo. The Marcos government gave him 20 million pesos, and various government and non-government institutions gifted him millions of pesos and a loot way beyond his capacity to consume or use. All of us love a champion, and we laud his/her triumph since it elevates, too, our dignity as a Filipino nation in the international community. But the question is: What if Caloy was not fortunate enough to bag the gold or any other medal? What if he fumbled in his stunts and returned without a podium finish like many athletes? Will we still celebrate his Olympic run? Will we still talk about the years of sacrifices he made during his training? Will we be proud of him, still?

The present-day practice of showering laurels on winners is an adult foolish mentality. Adults vie to win, compete to win, and put everything at stake to win. Winning is everything, so to speak. But such is not the usual attitude of children. When we were kids, we ran, jumped, swam, and played the whole day long without minding who wins or who loses. We simply enjoyed the moment with playmates, and even new-found friends, cherishing the experience of playing without emphasizing the victors. Nobody arrives home with leaves of laurels on his/her head, or price-money from betters. Rather, all would return dirtied, tired, and darkened, but extremely happy and energized.

But when we started going to school, we were trained to look for appreciation and public acknowledgment of our triumphs. Kindergarten teachers would stamp stars on daily achievers. Elementary teachers decorate top academic performers with medals, ribbons, and certificates. Even those who were successful in extra-curricular activities would be highly acclaimed. At home, our parents upheld the carrot-and-stick formation by which behaved children are exalted and mischievous ones are punished, even physically in some cases. Our local communities further cement this mindset by hanging tarpaulins of winners, celebrities, and influencers.

We turn the triumphant into so-called idols, but we easily forget losers.

Our world today is focused on aiming for empty praises and glories. Our reading today denounces the foolishness of the ambitious. In fact, Lady Wisdom rebukes such a person, saying, “He who is a fool, let him turn aside to me” (Prov 9:4a). She even describes him/her as lacking sense (v. 4b), asking that s/he abandon folly to continue to live and “erect understanding with knowledge” (v. 6). The Greek word used for folly is aphron, which “pertains to lack of prudence or good judgment, foolish, or ignorance” (cf. BDAG). In Prov 11:29, the sage expresses that “[t]hose who trouble their households will inherit wind and the fool (aphron) will be a servant to the wise.”

Instead, whom the sage exalts as wise is the one who acts as a submissive child to his/her parent. This respect for authority is clearly expressed in v. 10: “The beginning of wisdom is the fear of the Lord, and counsel of the saints is understanding, for to know the law is the sign of a sound mind.” This child-parent trusting and loving relationship is explicitly magnified in the next chapter: “A wise son makes a father glad, but a foolish son is a mother’s grief” (10:1).

What all of these verses tell us is to have the humility of children to both their earthly and heavenly parents … to be obedient and faithful to the rules at hand, and not seek worldly praises and recognitions. Being childlike in faith is, thus, asked of someone to become truly wise in his/her daily living.

While it is tempting to wallow in them, we should be wise enough to consider that they are mere foolishness since human glory and fame are only temporary, but gaining our heavenly Father’s acknowledgment is tantamount to enjoying eternal life and bliss one day.

- Rex Fortes, CM