The Heart of St. Paul
Human beings like to give advice. They can tell you where to go to get what you need, or where to find the best deal or even good shorts cuts to speed up your trips. It is good to pass on what we have learned to others so that we can help them in life, and they can help us with their experience. All of this is fine in dealing with human beings, but after a while, we might begin to think we can give God advice. Sometimes we can be under the silly assumption that God does not know what he is doing, and that he needs our advice on how to get something right.
St. Paul knows that while we can think ourselves important enough that we can teach God a thing or two, he asks the Corinthians this question, “For who has known the mind of the Lord so as to instruct him? But we have the mind of Christ.” (1Cor 2:16) When Paul says that through faith and the sacraments we possess the mind of Christ, he does not mean that God should be expected to take our counsel. Rather, if we possess the mind of Christ we should expect to hear the Word of the Lord, follow it and obey it with all our heart.
To my knowledge, there were only two times that Jesus questioned the Father. One was at Gethsemane and the night before he died, and the second time was from the cross. However, Jesus knows that it is the will of the Father that is to guide us, and that his will must become united to the will of the Father. So, for St. Paul, possessing the mind of Christ is a great grace, but it does not mean that we should give God advice and expect him to follow it. Rather, we hear the words of Christ, who tells us to follow the will of the Father. Jesus listens and he obeyed. Paul listened to the Lord, and he obeyed. Let us be imitators of St. Paul who will follow Jesus Christ, heed the Father’s will and obey.
