Unlike knowledge, wisdom is not an intellectual pursuit that can be gained through reading or academic studies. Its acquisition is a slow and persevering process. At a human level, it is tied to lived experiences. We develop a trustworthy faculty of judgement and, with it, wisdom through the 'school of hard-knocks'; learning from our mishaps and disappointments, and acknowledging and confronting our fears and anxieties.

Wisdom as a gift of the Holy Spirit flows from knowing God and loving Him, contemplating divine things and pondering His precepts with openness and trust. She moves us to fall in love with them. "Oh, how I love your law! It is my meditation all the day" (Ps 119: 97). She unites our hearts with the heart of Jesus and reveals to us truths where reason and intellect fail to convince. She brings every situation into the perspective of God, setting our choices and responses in the right order, by first loving God above all things. With Her, we see, judge and act from God's viewpoint. King Solomon prayed for and was given Her to discern between good and evil (1 King 3:9). In seeking Her, Ecclesiasticus counsels us to be faithful, to have courage, forbearance and hope for "in the end she will lead him back to the straight road and reveal her secrets to him". To embrace wisdom is to embrace Jesus who displays no envy of earthly entitlements.