in Wisdom he has found faith that death is not the final answer, and righteousness finds its reward in the life to come.
Book of Wisdom was almost certainly written first in Greek, in the third or second century BC, probably in Alexandria, Egypt
“three books of Solomon” (Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Song) proper, because the pseudepigraphal nature of Wisdom was long recognized. Falling in this order, the four books Proverbs through Wisdom present a kind of theological odyssey of the “canonical Solomon”: in Proverbs, he attains the wisdom that leads to temporal success; in Ecclesiastes, he despairs of temporal success because death renders it vain; in the Song, he discovers that love is stronger than death (Song 8:6); in Wisdom, he falls in love with Lady Wisdom and so attains immortality.
The Book of Wisdom falls naturally into two main parts. In the first (chs. 1-9), Solomon exhorts the “rulers of the earth” to love righteousness (1:1), which will enable them to become wise (1:4) and reign forever (6:20-21), following Solomon’s own example
In the second part (chs. 10–18), the sacred author seeks to demonstrate his thesis about the connection of righteousness, wisdom, and immortal reign by tracing and justifying Wisdom’s actions through the sacred history of Israel, from Creation to the Exodus
God’s justice was also at work in the Plague on the Firstborn, since the Egyptians themselves had long before plotted to slay all children born to the Israelites
Israelites also faced plagues of death in the wilderness, but were protected by righteous, priestly intercession
the self-destructive wickedness of the Egyptians reached its ultimate finale in the annihilation of Pharaoh’s pursuing armies at the Red Sea (19:1-5), while the people of Israel, crossing the Red Sea, experienced a virtually new creation, as they found nature assisting them in their journey toward the Promised Land
In this episode from Israel’s sacred history, we see an example of vigilance, but also how vigilance is related to worship. The Israelites kept vigil through the night of the Passover while they awaited their deliverance, and the vigil took the form of a liturgical sacrifice.
We need to stay vigilant through the “night” of this life, and the one of our tools of vigilance is participation in the New Passover, the Eucharist.
The sacred author of Hebrews points out that the great saints of the Old Testament lived their entire lives in a state of “alert anticipation,” or “prepared patience.”
They waited in faith their entire lives for promises that were not visibly realized prior to their deaths. Abraham, for example, was promised the land of Canaan but died owning only a single small plot of it.
sacred author asserts that ultimately their faith and hope were focused beyond this life, in God himself.
because it is faith in Jesus the Good Shepherd who will provide everything we need that enables us to “sell our belongings and give alms,” that is, live a life of simplicity, poverty, and generosity.
Jesus moves into discussing the active vigilance that should characterize the Christian life. The image of Passover lies in the background—the great liturgical vigil when Israel awaited the arrival of the LORD to take them away and betroth them to himself at Sinai. Thus the imagery of staying awake on a wedding night.
We “wait” for the LORD during the Eucharistic celebration, and at communion the celebrant “waits” on us and serves us the meal as we “recline” at the table of the LORD.
What does it mean to speak of the “coming of the Son of Man”? In the first sense, it refers to Jesus Second Coming at the end of time, to judge all mankind. No one knows when this will arrive. In the second sense, this refers to Jesus coming for us at the hour of death, which likewise we do not know. In the third sense, this refers to a “visitation” from the Lord in a season of testing, a time when Jesus may come to us to test our faith, as the LORD did to Abraham
we need to be ready and alert, that is, not given over to indulgence of the threefold concupiscence: Lust of the Flesh (lust, gluttony, etc.), Lust of the Eyes (greed, avarice, attachment), and Pride.
A life of prayer, penance (like small mortifications and periodic fasting), and frequenting the Sacraments constitutes “vigilance.”
This whole parable gives us a picture of the role of papacy as we await the Second Coming.
The varying degrees of punishment, based on each one’s knowledge and therefore culpability, may refer either to hell or to purgatory
the severity of punishment for wickedness in this life will be proportionate to the amount of revelation we have received.
