But because God knows all things from all eternity, He was able to arrange all things in the universe in the wisest manner and bestow on every creature all the qualities and powers that it needed, so that the whole of creation is a wonderfully constituted whole even in its slightest details. Omniscience brings us to wisdom, and both of these take us one step farther and bring us to providence, by means of which God watches over and guides all His creatures, so that every individual one of them, and they all together attain the end for which they were created. "She reacheth therefore from end to end mightily, and ordereth all things sweetly" [Wisdom 8, 1].

   Therefore I will speak to you today about the omniscience and wisdom of God. May the Holy Ghost bestow His blessing on our meditation that we may grow in our knowledge and understanding of God.

   O Jesus, assist us with Thy grace!

   1. "O the depth of the riches of the wisdom and the knowledge of God!" It is thus that the great Apostle exclaims, and so shall we with him also exclaim. We must first confess that it would be presumption on our part to wish to seize and fully comprehend the sublime and infinite attributes of God, especially His omniscience and wisdom, for all these transcend not only all the powers of man but also those of the Angels. The same Apostle tells us: "So the things also that are of God no man knoweth, but the Spirit of God" [1 Cor. 2, 11]. God alone knows Himself, His essence and His attributes perfectly; all that we know of them by faith and reason is only a small ray of light that God bestows upon us. Enlightened by this we will consider the omniscience of God with regard to His Own Being and with regard to creatures.

   With regard to Himself, God comprehends fully His Own Being, His goodness and love and holiness and omnipotence and all His infinite perfections. His Being is, as it were, His teacher and counselor, His book, His mirror and the exemplar for everything that God intends and carries out, and for everything that can possibly be known. From this it follows that God is just as essentially and eternally all-knowing as He is eternally and essentially all-powerful and all-good. As little as His omnipotence began only with the creation of the universe, so little has His omniscience its origin since the creation of things. But God comprehends created things not only in His own Being as in a mirror, He also knows them in themselves. His omniscience sees all things, for with one glance He looks over the whole of eternity, so that the duration of time and the succession of events cause no increase or succession in His knowledge. Therefore we read in Holy Writ: "For all things were known to the Lord, before they were created" [Eccus. 23, 29], "with Whom there is no change, nor shadow of alteration" [James 1, 17].

   But not only created things are known to God from all eternity, but also all the good or evil that men have done of their own free will since the beginning of the: world. For this reason God alone can judge justly and recompense each one according to his works. He does not forget even the slightest and humblest of good deeds, even though men may long since have lost, the memory of them; not even the most secret of evil thoughts will escape His remembrance, and the all-knowing God will demand a strict accounting of every idle word. If man wants to save words and events from oblivion he must commit them to writing, but God needs no day-book. All that happened thousands of years ago is as present to Him today as then, for "One day with the Lord is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day" [2 Pet. 3, 8].

   2. In like manner God knows all that is taking place all over the earth at the present moment, so that not the most secret thought or the most hidden desire can escape Him. Our soul lies before Him like an open book. A poor picture of this omniscience of God is the sun, which looks over the earth and the sea with his radiant eye, and searches out the most distant valleys and the most hidden comers. We are told in Holy Writ: "And he knoweth not that the eyes of the Lord are far brighter than the sun, beholding round about all the ways of men, and the bottom of the deep, and looking into the hearts of men, into the most hidden parts" [Eccus. 23, 28].

   Just as God knew Cain's plan of revenge, the innocence of the Egyptian Joseph, Herod's plan of murder, the thoughts of the Scribes and Pharisees, the betrayal of Judas, so also does He know us thoroughly with all our thoughts and words and deeds, both those of the past and those of our present life.

   But God also knows all the things that are still going to happen until the end of the world, even though they are dependent upon our free choice. He knows them as though they had already happened or were happening just now. "He seeth from eternity to eternity, and there is nothing wonderful before Him" [Eccus. 39, 25]. In the Apocalypse of St. John there appears a book with seven seals, but "no man was able, neither in Heaven, nor on earth, or under the earth, to open the book, nor to look on It" [Apoc. 5, 3]. The future is such a book for us men. But God, Who has marked down His plans for the future in this book knows every page of it.

   The royal David exclaims: "Thy eyes did see my imperfect being, and in thy book all shall be written: days shall be formed, and no one in them" [Ps. 138, 16]. Our days are also marked down there. There are determined the graces that we shall yet receive in order to be able to work out our salvation. Who knows for how many of us this measure of grace is already filled, because of those graces that we have misused and despised? Who can tell of all the warnings of conscience, of all the incentives to good that have been given us in accordance with the designs of God, and how many more will follow these and when they will cease? How many transgressions of the Commandments of God and of His Church will God still permit until the measure of His mercy is exhausted? God alone knows that. O man! do not trifle with an uncertain future, for thy lot, thy fate rests in the hands of God, and God is a Just Judge.

   3. But the fact that God knows and foresees all our actions does not oblige us to forego our freedom of self-determination, and force us to do the good or the evil that will eventually decide our eternal happiness or our eternal damnation. Ah, no! to believe thus would be fundamentally false. We too can foresee that if anybody takes poison he will die. But on this account the other is not forced to take poison. Hence it is not our foresight that brings him death, but the poison. A mirror will show all the movements that we make in a room. The mirror, however, does not cause our free and deliberate movements, it only shows them because we are making them. In a somewhat similar manner the omniscience of God is a kind of a world-mirror, wherein the whole future is already visible from all eternity.

   We are not obliged to do this or that good or evil because God foresees everything, but God foresees them because we are really going to do them. God gave us liberty, He gave us a Redeemer, the Faith, the Church, the Sacraments, so that we could save ourselves, but He also foresees the use we are going to make of them of our own volition. He foresees how many of us are going to use them for a Christian life and for eternal salvation, and how many of us are simply going to cast them aside as so many things of no value. We cannot too much admire the goodness of God, a goodness that should touch and convert every human being, for, notwithstanding everything, He shows grace and love and mercy to those who offend Him, so that they might if they would, leave their unChristian and godless life and do penance for their sins. Hence when we consider the omniscience of God we are obliged to cry out: "O the depths of the riches of the wisdom and of the knowledge of God! . . . for who hath known the mind of the Lord? Or who hath been his counselor?"

   4. If, my dearly beloved, the omniscience of God is so infinitely great that it knows all things from all eternity, how infinitely great must also be His wisdom, which, in a manner, could guide itself by this omniscience and ordain all things in such a way, that beginning with the smallest and most insignificant creatures up to the giant bodies in the heavens, each one received the being adapted to it, and that again all these, subject to a most marvelous order, formed a majestic whole-----the universe? Moreover, the Divine wisdom is the source of all created wisdom, and only that is true wisdom which draws from the Divine. From this all arts, all sciences, all inventions and discoveries take their origin, for whatever man knows and discovers and makes is already present either on the earth or in the heavens in an immeasurable degree, and hence only a poor imitation of what God has so wisely created and formed. Hence the Scripture tells us: "And He poured her [wisdom] out upon all His works, and upon all flesh according to His gift, and hath given her to them that love Him" [Eccus. 1, 10].

   The infinite wisdom of God is truly poured out upon all His works. Numberless marvels thereof greet us from the heavens. The constellations have been shining for untold centuries and in the exactness of their courses they surpass the most skillfully constructed watch. How long have not the most learned scholars with unwavering diligence made the world of the stars the object of their study and research, and have written down in their books thousands of proofs of how wisely all things are ordained there in the skies, and yet they have scarcely gone beyond the beginning of their researches. "O the depth of the riches of the wisdom and of the knowledge of God! For who hath known the mind of the Lord? Or who hath been His counselor?"

   The wisdom of God shows itself not less on earth, and it is, in a manner, more manifest to our eyes, in the four elements of fire, water, air and earth, which, instead of being unbridled in uncurbed might, destroying everything, are joined in fraternal union to give us growth, life, warmth and progress, and as the servants of man help him faithfully in his works. The wisdom of God shows itself in the situation of the different countries, in the ranges of mountains, in the division of the waters over the earth in order to feed the wells and the springs. It shows itself on the earth in the courses of the creeks and the rivers, or in the manner in which the seas and the oceans join the different countries. It shows itself in the heavens, in the clouds that are destined to make the earth fruitful and to purify the air. What a wealth of wisdom, my dearly beloved, is hidden in the mineral kingdom, to which God has granted such properties that out of it as from a rich treasure-vault the farmer and the tradesman may obtain their tools, the soldier his weapons, the king his crown and scepter, the rich man his ornaments, the artist his material, the physician his remedies, and even the animals that which is necessary to them.

    Go a step farther, O Christian, and thou wilt find the wisdom of God poured out in the world of plants. There you will find beauty in noble rivalry with usefulness. The same plant which delights the eye with the beauty of its form and the wealth of its color and spreads abroad an agreeable perfume, often offers food to the hungry in its fruit, honey to the bees in its blossoms and medicine to the sick in its sap. All draw their strength of life from the same earth, but each one retains its own form and qualities. Who can enumerate all their qualities! And yet they are the children of the same mother. The same earth generates them, nourishes them and brings them to maturity. But consider how in the multiplicity of plants everyone of them remains true to its nature and never goes beyond its bounds; not one takes on the blossoms of another, not one clothes itself with strange leaves or adorns itself with strange fruit. Although they are devoid of reason they follow the law, the law of the wisdom of God, which has made them distinct one from the other since the day when they came forth from nothing.

   But come with me one step farther in the kingdom of creation. What art gave the insects their wings? Who taught them to fly and to soar with them, to rise or to lower themselves with them? Who taught them to find the food that was suitable for them and to accommodate themselves to the change of the seasons, to the rain and the wind, to the heat and the cold? O eternal wisdom of God! who can fail to know Thee here!

   How varied the songs of the birds! Every kind has its own speech, every sex its own melody. They understand better than man the art of moderating the breath, of controlling the voice, of measuring the tones. Who teaches them all this? The highest wisdom is their teacher and guide. They follow the instinct that the Creator gave them. Who points out to these little animals the materials best adapted to the construction of their nests? Who taught them the sense of measure and design for their little construction? And yet with what skill they know how to build and how to make their little abodes habitable! First they seek grass blades and twigs, then the softer fibers of the plants and finally a soft wool gathered from the trees and the hedges for their weak little brood. Who determines for them the time when they are to begin building their nest so that it is finished when they lay their eggs, or that they raise their young with the proper kind of food?

   But why need we worry about this? O most Admirable Wisdom of God, how splendidly dost Thou instruct the least of Thy creatures! They obey Thy voice and because of this obedience all is well with them. It is the wisdom of God, my dearly beloved, that gives the animals those very qualities, those powers and keenness whereby they can live and move, either high in the air or on the earth, under the earth or in the water. To some it gave a sharp eye, to others a keen sense of smell, to others weapons of defense, agility, skillfulness and craftiness, to all of them a wonderful instinct which teaches them as a reliable guide how to find food and remedies, how to arrange their dwelling places, how to avoid dangers and protect their life. They are distributed over the earth in a wonderful manner in accordance with their qualities and mode of life or for the manifold uses of man.

   Even though it be true that we cannot understand why many of the animals were created, and of what use they are to man and apparently do more harm than good, still the thousands of other works with their wise arrangement that come to our notice should suffice to make us understand that the comparatively few of the creatures whose purpose our short sightedness cannot grasp, are also, because they are the works of God, wise and useful. Let us seriously consider the words that the Lord pronounced: "As the heavens are higher than the earth, so My ways are higher than your ways, and My thoughts are above your thoughts." Just as the apprentice cannot yet grasp the plan of a great building, the recruit the plan of campaign of a great general, or the child the purposes of a wise father, just as little and much less can we grasp and judge the plans and designs of God. "For who hath known the mind of the Lord? Or who hath been His counselor?" [Rom. 11, 33]. Who shall therefore dare to demand an accounting of the Almighty for what He has done? It is sufficient for us to know that infinite wisdom and goodness constantly guide His decrees. Just here you have an opportunity of learning something for yourself! Divine wisdom clearly indicates to us in the animal world the virtues with which we should adorn our lives and the vices that we should flee. You behold an animal wallowing in filth and mire and you turn away your gaze in disgust; but the man who wallows in the mire of degrading lust behaves fat more unworthily. The serpent with its venom, the toad with its spume are all alike detestable. But far more detestable are those men who with the venom of envy and slander wound their neighbor unto death and besmirch his fair name. The wolf falls upon the herd, the fox steals craftily along, the hawk pounces down on his victim. Do not be excited! These are but the pictures of men who rob their neighbor of his rightful possessions, who cheat or oppress him either in an underhand manner or by open force. Beware lest you become such a wolf, such a fox or hawk in human form.

   Look upon the lamb and learn from it meekness, innocence from the dove. The dog fawns upon his master in gratitude for the little that has been done for him. Eternal God! In what insignificant things dost Thou represent to us sublime objects and great virtues! Who can defend his evil deeds before the great Law giver! A dog shames the ingrate; a dog teaches us gratitude and love towards the Creator. Blush, O man! Art thou as faithful to thy God as this animal is to the one who feeds it? Thou murmurest, thou growest vexed and angry when the all-good God, thy loving Master, visits thee with suffering for thy amendment, for thy eternal welfare; but the dog licks the hand of him who strikes it and crouches humbly at the feet of his master. Go to the ant, thou lazy one! seek the bee, thou idler! there go to school and learn. Eternal Wisdom condescends to speak to us even in the depths of the forest and out upon the level expanse of the smiling meadows. Fortunate the man who everywhere listens to its word, who preserves these words in his heart and makes them the guide of his life.

   5. But where, my dearly beloved, shall we find a clearer evidence of the wisdom of God than in man himself? In man we find that incomprehensible union of an immortal soul with a mortal body-----a body that in and by itself is nothing but a dead and putrid mass. And yet how many hours, yea days and weeks would be necessary to describe the wisdom of the Creator as it manifests itself in all the parts of the human body? The eye alone is a little world in itself, the ear alone is a wonderful piece of mechanism whereby we can hear and distinguish the various kinds of sounds, so too the mouth with which we eat and breathe and speak. But what shall we say of man's inner constitution? Gallenus, a pagan physician, exclaims: "O Thou who hast formed us! I believe that when I describe the body with all its parts I utter a hymn of praise to Thy glory. I honor Thee more when I proclaim the beauty of Thy works than if I burned precious incense in the temples." He is the same who was going to give the infidel Epicurus a hundred years for reflection to see if the Master who formed the human body had committed even the slightest mistake, or if he could have made a single member otherwise or more adapted to its purpose without robbing the whole of its beauty and strength. But the wisdom of God shows itself also in the great variety of men, in the almost infinite variety of the countenances we see, in their bearing and the size of the bodies. Divine Wisdom has thereby avoided incalculable confusion.

   6. Thus far, my dearly beloved, we have considered the eternal wisdom of God in His creatures. Whither, therefore, shall we still further direct our gaze in order to find it manifested in a still higher and convincing degree? Where else if not in the direction of human destinies? If in the whole visible creation the wisdom of God appears to us in undeniable facts, we must be still more convinced that the same wisdom arranges all things in our life for the best and brings them to a happy conclusion.

   It is especially here that its effects are the most marvelous, because, without robbing man of his liberty, it ordains and guides all things for the best, both for the individual and for the world at large. To the short-sighted man many things in the lives of individuals and of peoples appear to be a matter of merest chance; but for God there is no chance nor anything unforeseen. All is the work of His ordaining. In the Book of Wisdom we are told: "But thy providence, O Father, governeth it" [14, 3], or as Our Divine Savior says still more convincingly: "Are not two sparrows sold for a farthing? and not one of them shall fall on the ground without your Father" [Matt. 10, 29].

   Holy Scripture gives us most remarkable proof of how Divine Wisdom arranges all things for the best in the lives of men. Joseph mourned in the cistern into which his brothers had thrown him; he suffered innocently in prison, but contrary to all human calculation the cistern and the prison were the way by which God raised him to the height of power and made him the saviour of many nations. Trembling with fear and with a bleeding heart a Hebrew mother concealed her little boy in the rushes on the banks of the Nile; but a few hours later the infant Moses rested in the arms of the daughter of Pharaoh and became the leader of his people. Who can offer a single criticism of the truly wonderful guidance of the Jewish people from the time of their departure out of the land of Egypt down through all the centuries of their history?

   The wisdom of God still manifests itself in the destinies of whole empires as well as in the guidance of individual men. You yourselves are the witnesses hereof. The same wisdom that among animals and plants has established so great and useful a variety has also made different kinds of men. Each one for his state in life needs special aptitudes, powers and knowledge, so that he can assume his proper position in human society. And God, who rules and ordains all things, has given each one these inclinations, powers and aptitudes. They cannot be forced upon us, they cannot be sifted into us, they can scarcely be made a matter of education for us, they come from God. He ordains that some shall rule and others obey; that some teach and others learn; that some labor with the mind and others with their hands; that some take up the different trades and others devote themselves to agriculture. One portion of the race is rich, the other poor, so that the poor may help the rich and the rich be useful to the poor.

   If everyone had the same inclinations and aptitudes, if all were tradesmen or farmers, all scholars or illiterate, all rich or poor, who could calculate the consequent confusion and misery? But now God, like the wise father of a family, has arranged all things for the best, so that everyone has his post where he can work to the best advantage for his own welfare and for the welfare of the community.

   7. If we could enter into the kingdom of grace and redemption, how great would be the wonders of the wisdom of God that would present themselves to our mind, but these we shall consider later. The attributes of God teach us that we should strive to imitate them. Since we are created to the image of God it is our duty to become more and more like unto Him and therefore always wiser. For this reason God teaches us in a thousand ways, but in doing so He does not force upon us the unreasoning impulses discerned in the brute creation. He invites us to do what is just and honorable; He always leaves us the free choice. Yet if man carelessly closes his ears to the voice of love, if he lazily lags behind, when he becomes rebellious and hardened in the ways of vice, with whom lies the blame? What is it that Divine Wisdom has not done and is doing in order to win us over? Heaven and earth and the entire universe give testimony of the loving care with which He calls us to Himself. After it had spoken to us through nature and through a thousand other voices, Divine Wisdom came down from Heaven in the Person of the Redeemer in order to teach us. But if man in his presumption contemns this way and these doctrines and deems that by doing so he is enlightened, what else is he but an unpardonable fool as St. Paul witnesses? [Rom. 1, 22] Hence the same Apostle warns us with these words: "See therefore, brethren, how you walk circumspectly: not as unwise, but as wise: redeeming the time, because the days are evil. Wherefore become not unwise, but understanding what is the will of God" [Eph. 5, 15-16]. Blessed are we, therefore, if we surrender ourselves to this true wisdom; it leads us to a likeness of God, to a life pleasing to God and to eternal happiness. Amen.

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