For years in my service as a Lay Ecclesial Minister, I worked as a youth minister. I would always fear that the kids would pay enough attention to this weekend's First Reading from the Book of Wisdom and the quote, "The creatures of the world are wholesome, and there is not a destructive drug among them." It's the most irritating line in the Bible if one's responsibility is to teach kids to say "no" to abusive drug use, especially from alcohol, tobacco, or marijuana, unprescribed medications or street drugs. 

I was always prepared to speak to the quote, but never had to. I'm still waiting for the stereotypical class clown to pop up with that question. In my preparation, I had prepared to use the quote as "exhibit A" for demonstrating why Catholics don't rely on something called "proof texting." That's when you hold a certain belief and you go looking for a singular quote in the Bible to justify your belief without regard to context, continuity, or the consistency of tradition in regard to the interpretation. This can lead to all sorts of menacing trends in Christian circles. 

But secondly, it is a great quote to actually put back into its original context and snap a shot at a bit of Catholic wisdom that seems to be ignored more often than I would like to see in today's world. The full context (found in the full reading) speaks about God's bounty in creation. Yes there are things we know as "vices" - death, drug abuse, neglect, murder, etc, but these are not made by God. These are not the work of God or part of God's plan. God made the light, not the shadows. Shadows are made when we block the light.

I grow concerned when politicians or church leaders will venture down the wholesale condemnation of our world as a pitch for promoting their own brand of a snake-oil cure. The pitch usually goes something like, "The world is awful... but I can save you." 

In John 3:17, the Gospel writer tells us "God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world but to save the world." I often want to say to people who believe the world is evil, "God hasn't decided to condemn the world, what makes your judgement any better?" 

Our First Reading this weekend, and the whole of Catholic teaching, has something other to offer. We believe that the world is good. Full stop. Shadows and darkness only happen when any part of creation turns away from the light, from God. So the remedy is not an indictment of the world, but to embrace the world through the the light of God's love and grace. 

If that's the big answer, then the small answer can address drugs specifically. Drugs aren't bad in and of themselves, it is the abuse of drugs that gnaws at the cavity of our dignity - when alcohol becomes more important than family, when getting high leads to avoidance of and neglect of our responsibilities, or when a drug does bodily damage to us (overdose).  These same drugs can be used in other ways (usually under supervision). They can cure neurological disease, relieve debilitating pain, and even enhance our mood. There is nothing bad about that whatsoever!  

So if you have the itch to be a class clown and ask a sneaky question trying to trap a minister by questioning if the Bible saying that drugs are OK, maybe the best response is realize something about yourself. There's nothing wrong with being a class clown. God made all of us with unique gifts. Maybe the bigger question is how we can use those gifts for something good?