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Wisdom 5:12 "[O]r as, when an arrow is shot at a target, the air, thus divided, comes together at once, so that no one knows its pathway."

 

Solomon is warning that when we have given ourselves over to arrogance and boasted wealth, we leave no impression on the big picture whatsoever. "[T]he hope of the ungodly man," he says "is like chaff carried by the wind, and like a light hoarfrost driven away by a storm" (Wisdom 5:14).

 

Who are the people who are truly memorable? Who does history remember, and especially, who is remembered as being good? We have, of course, examples of those remembered for their wickedness, evil makes an impression by the pain it causes. We also have those who are remembered for their contributions to science, art, government, or other disciplines. These, though, are not necessarily remembered for their goodness, although they were typically not doing what they did out of arrogance or a search for wealth, but from a dedication to their discipline that is worthy of recognition, and does indicate a degree of goodness.

 

But the ones we remember as truly good, the ones God, through His Church, has told us are worthy of honor, are the saints. For the most part, these holy men and women led unremarkable lives while here on earth. If noticed at all by the worldly, they may have seemed to be of no account, or even bothersome. But they are the ones who have truly changed things for the better. Wealth and power dissipate as soon as their holders pass, maybe sooner. The air closes back around the passing of those arrows, and history forgets. Only holiness makes lasting changes.

 

Holiness allows God to work through the holy person, moving salvation history closer to its ultimate goal. Unlike the arrows of the worldly, we know the pathways of the holy, the air does not close back around the saints. They are not just passing through this life, they are changing the world through their goodness. God, through His Church, does not let the world forget them, but holds them up as examples of how we can do the same.