My uncle Desiderio was my mother’s closest sibling. There were nine children in her family. Desiderio was two years younger than my mother. He was a professor of Math at Cauca State University in Colombia. Desiderio died four years ago.

He told a story about going to a pub with some friends. They opened a tab, not technically as it works here, simply by trusting people’s words. After some beers, one of the friends wanted to close the tab. My uncle, wanting to help and at the same time wanting not to end the gathering, told his friend, “Please, do not get ahead of me”. After some more beers my uncle closed the tab. His friend, however, did not indicate that he would share the tab. My uncle reached for his wallet and waited for his friend to make a move. My uncle finally told him, “I said, ‘Don't get ahead of me’, but, please, don't get behind of me either”.

Saint Paul in his letter to the Romans quotes the book of Job, “Who has given the Lord anything that he may be repaid?” The Spanish version of this verse goes, “Who could have given him something first, so that God would have to pay him back?” This idea of giving something first was on my mind this past week and made me think of my uncle Desiderio.

Today’s second reading is simply lovely. These four verses from the Letter of Saint Paul to the Romans are some of those verses from the Bible that I need to know by heart and ponder periodically. Each time I read them it is as if I read them for the first time. They amaze me each time I read them.

The first verse goes, “Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God.” The context in which Saint Paul writes these words is, as you may recall from the previous Sunday’s second reading, how God used the disobedience of the Israelites to teach them about mercy. This is the same mercy God was extending to all the people who were not from Israel and had disobeyed God from the beginning. That was only one example of the wisdom of God that is on display in the history of salvation.

Saint Paul continues, “How inscrutable are his [God’s] judgements and how unsearchable his ways.” This is the conclusion we come to when we learn about the history of salvation contained in the Bible. Saint Paul next quotes the prophet Isaiah, “For who has known the mind of the Lord or who has been his counselor?”

One of the most spectacular examples of someone who wanted to know the mind of God was Job. Normally patient, Job gets impatient at the end and keeps demanding an answer from God to all the suffering he had received. God grants his request and gives him a long answer. In fact, that speech from God is the longest speech of God in the Old Testament. In summary God asks Job many questions about his knowledge of the world, in small and large matters, to teach Job that his knowledge and wisdom is nothing compared to that of God.

One example of someone who wanted to be the Lord’s counselor is Saint Peter. We will hear the story in next Sunday’s gospel. The Lord announces his Passion to the disciples. Saint Peter then counsels the Lord, rebuking him saying, “God forbit, Lord! No such thing shall ever happen to you.” The Lord rebukes him back, telling him that he is an obstacle to him.

Saint Paul also quotes the book of Job, “Who has given him [God] anything that he may be repaid.” These three questions should be in our reflection constantly because they keep us grounded if we are honest with our answers. They keep us grounded because our sinful soul tends to make us believe we know more and better than God, that we could offer God advice, that what we are a product of our own efforts.

Saint Paul concludes these words with a powerful statement: “For from him and through him and for him are all things.” Again, a constant reflection on these words would help us be humble and put matters in the proper order. God made us. God sustains us. We are to live our lives for him.

Let us humbly ask the Lord to grant us his grace to always ponder his wisdom and greatness which are so immense compared to the nothingness that we are.