One of the movies that fascinated me as a youngster was Disney’s “Aladdin.” It was funny, the flying carpet was great, and best of all, the intrigue of a genie granting three wishes! One problem I had whenever I daydreamed about my three wishes was that three was never enough. Once you wished for one thing, it would lead to another, then another, and then there would be problems as you ran out of wishes! But that is how the human heart can be; impossible to satisfy, always wanting more, always looking for the next thing to find happiness. We see this insatiable desire wreaking havoc throughout our culture as millions of unsatisfied hearts keep searching for the next thing or person to fulfill them but never quite find it.
In our first reading, God gives Solomon the opportunity of a lifetime; the chance to request anything. And because he is a king, I would have expected Solomon to ask for power and victory for him and his armies. I would have expected him to ask God for money and riches, so that his kingdom and legacy would be built into something legendary. If nothing else, I would have expected Solomon to ask for the pleasure of enjoying himself during his time as king. Why wouldn’t he ask for plenty of food, drink, or whatever else his heart desired? But look at what Solomon actually requests of God. It is not power, pleasure, or money. When God tells Solomon: “ask something of me and I will give it to you”, he asks for knowledge and the gift of an understanding heart.
This answer pleases God, in fact, it seems like he was almost caught off-guard by Solomon’s request. The Lord promises to give him wisdom and understanding in such abundance that never again will there be someone known to posses such qualities.
Solomon’s humble request makes me wonder what I would say if God offered me anything I wanted. I suppose my answer to that question would have changed depending on my age and what was going on in my life. At different moments, I would have asked God for a bulldozer, the answers to my spelling test, and if he would would have appeared to me recently, the ability to discover and market the cure for COVID-19 or at least a toilet paper factory! It is humbling to admit but if I were in Solomon’s shoes, our first reading would probably have been much less inspiring; I would have settled for much less.
What about you? If God spoke to you and said, “ask something of me and I will give it to you” What would be on the top of your list? Would you request the wisdom to be a better spouse, a better parent to your children, a better friend to your peers? Would you ask for an understanding heart to better live your Catholic faith? If God granted you one wish, would you ask for Godly wisdom and understanding? Or might you squander God’s generosity on something as transitory as power, pleasure, or money?
Real power, authentic riches, and lasting happiness all come to us if we acquire the Godly wisdom that Solomon asked for. It’s not a luxury only for biblical characters; Christ offers this same knowledge if we are willing to humble ourselves and learn from him, who is meek and humble of heart. And far from being an extravagance, an understanding heart is absolutely essential for us if we hope to enjoy the kingdom of heaven when we die. So how do we “get” this gift? Is it even something ordinary people like us can hope for?
This heavenly wisdom is the pearl of great price Jesus alludes to in our gospel. We will receive this gift slowly, day by day, through a consistent and quiet process of daily prayer. Probably not overnight like Solomon! Oftentimes, when we think of prayer, we imagine a list of wants and needs that we send up to God. Then, if He is in a good mood and we have behaved ourselves, perhaps some or most of those requests will come back granted the way we hoped. For many Christians, this is majority of their prayer. But in reality, there is so much more. Prayer is first and foremost, a relationship, a friendship with God. When we pray, we should be talking (AND LISTENING!) to Almighty God as we do with our best friend. We should be asking for things to be sure, but we should also be sharing our joys and sorrows, our hopes and fears, saying thank you for everything we have, apologizing for the times we have hurt Him, and also praising Him for his greatness.
Prayer is a relationship that transforms us over time if we stick with it. The point of prayer is not to change God’s mind and heart but ours. As we grow in our friendship with God, we begin to trust Him more and more. We ask Him for the things we think we need and trust whatever He gives us is exactly what we need. This confidence in God’s care for us is the foundation of a wise and understanding heart, which orders every other part of our life. This God-given gift is what gives us the clarity to find the Lord in the toughest of circumstances and always choose the best for ourselves and others from the perspective of eternity. The wisdom of prayer enables us to look beyond the instant gratifications and flashiness of this world and set our heart on the treasure of eternal union with God.
So let us ask God daily for an understanding heart. The tragedy of Solomon is that even though Solomon received the gift of wisdom, he failed to deepen and develop it. Over time he lost that divine gift and used it simply for worldly pleasures. The same risk exists for us; we can never be content to sit on our laurels and celebrate the spiritual gifts we once received. We have to seek them and ask for them over and over and over again and work to refine them constantly otherwise they will be lost.
May you and I look for the priceless treasure of the kingdom of God each and every day of our lives. And let us not be afraid to let go of whatever we have, whether it is material, spiritual, or psychological, that might prevent us from obtaining priceless spiritual treasure. With an understanding heart we will obtain real power, authentic riches, and lasting happiness forever in the kingdom of heaven!
