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Sirach 6: True Friendship and Wisdom

Sirach 6: True Friendship & Wisdom

Friday, March 27, 2026

A re-post from Holy Thursday 2012.

These are wise and beautiful words. We cannot read them too often.

Verses 5 through 17 are full of sound, solid advice that is easy to absorb and use. There is nothing complicated here. We are encouraged to examine not only who our friends are and why, but who we are as friends, and why.

Verses 18 through 37 delineate the blessings of wisdom, and when we read them with care it is not difficult to judge if we are wise or foolish. We are given a clear prescription: Put your feet into [Wisdom’s] fetters, and your neck under her yoke. Stoop your shoulders and carry her and be not irked at her bonds. With all your soul draw close to her; with all your strength keep her ways. Search her out, discover her; seek her and you will find her. Then when you have her, do not let her go; thus will you afterward find rest I her, and she will become your joy . . . if you wish, you can be taught; if you apply yourself, you will be shrewd. If you are willing to listen, you will learn; if you give heed, you will be wise.

As we reflect on these verses, our questions are these. When it comes to friendship and to wisdom, who are we and how are we? Do we recognize ourselves in any of these descriptions? Whose commandments do we follow? Are we willing to listen and to heed? Are we eager to hear Godly discourse? Are we ready to give ourselves over to God? Are we ready to do what it takes to be a loyal and wise friend?

A faithful friend is a life-saving remedy . . . if you are willing to listen, you will learn; if you give heed, you will be wise.

Image from: http://taberstruths.com/walking-gods-wisdom/

March 27, 2026

abdicating self, listen and learn, prescriptions for friendship, prescriptions for wisdom

Joshua 12: Conquered Kings

Joshua 12: Conquered Kings

Thursday, March 26, 2026

A re-post from Holy Week 2012.

canaanites-ancient[1] — *Ancient Canaanites*

I sometimes wonder what life was really like for leaders in the ancient world. It was such a violent and predatory place and much time and energy were spent merely surviving. This is still true for many in our modern world in which focus on survival is necessary in order to see the next day’s dawning. In today’s Noontime we read a roll call of the vanquished along with a description of the division of conquered lands. Conquest is marked by neat categories; there is no evidence of the horrific jumbled chaos that is war. These verses make the telling of this list so orderly and so tidy that we might think that Joshua and his men performed this work without much personal cost or effort. We would be wrong.

This territory had belonged to the Hittites, the Amorites, Canaanites and others. A series of city-states falls, their kings are vanquished: Jericho, Jerusalem, Hebron, Jarmuth, and more. With a quick reading it might appear the subjugated are nameless, faceless peoples. If this is our impression, again we would be wrong.

This kind of struggle never comes without a cost, and it comes as part of the fulfillment of God’s promise to Abram in Genesis 15. He was to have descendants that numbered as stars in the night sky, and these descendants were to inhabit a land that would be delivered with the help of God.

The twelve tribes use violence as they take over the mountains and foothills, deserts, slopes and rivers of this promised place. Several thousand years later, Jesus arrives to tell his people that this way of violence is over, that now they are to deliver another cheek to an attacker rather than another blow. He brings the strange message that rather than pray for our friends alone, we are to intercede for our enemies. We can see how bizarre this thinking must have seemed to a people who had won what they had through the spilling of blood. We can see how the message will seem strange to us today.

Today as we witness another war in the Mideast waged in the name of U.S. citizens, 0ur question is this: As we go through our days, moving toward the promises made to us by God, do we take care with how we move and why? Do we use Old Testament ways or New Testament thinking? Do we resort to the weapons of violence, or do we use the tools of peace?

For more information on the many tribes cited in Genesis and Joshua, go to:http://biblos.com/ and search the dictionary, encyclopedia, atlas or other resources on this site.

Image from: http://heavenawaits.wordpress.com

March 26, 2026

12 tribes, chaos of war, Jesus, Old versus New Testament, promises, violence

1 Chronicles 23: The Levitical Classes

1 Chronicles 23: The Levitical Classes

Wednesday, March 25, 2026

A re-post from April 3, 2012.

Catholics in the Archdiocese of Baltimore recently received a letter from the Archbishop letting us know that the clergy were aware of the shortage of priests and they understood that the laity would be taking more authority in their parishes. It seems that the Levitical classes of this church have so isolated themselves as a group that this fact is just dawning on them. Those of us in the pews have seen this coming for quite some time. Priests can barely genuflect, seminarians are scant, and more of the daily running of the parish is overseen by lay people.

There is an interesting article in the NATIONAL CATHOLIC REPORTER (April 15, 2011) describing the “hidden exodus of Catholics from their faith.” Thomas Reese writes: “Any other institution that lost one-third of its members would want to know why. But the U.S. bishops have never devoted any time at their national meetings to discussing the exodus. Nor have they spent a dime trying to find out why it is happening. Thankfully, although the U.S. bishops have not supported research about people who have let the church, the Pew Center has.” Reese describes the report results. They are fascinating. http://ncronline.org/news/hidden-exodus-catholics-becoming-protestants What do the people want? They ask that liturgy be more pertinent. They ask for more opportunities for Bible study. I cannot find a reason that these requests go unanswered.

As I pray, I juxtapose David’s acknowledgement of his own mortality and his good shepherding of the people with the apparent benign neglect of present-day Catholic Church leaders. And I do what I always do when I am perplexed, I go to God.

In today’s Gospel we read about Judas’ betrayal of Christ. This seems significant to me. In a perfect world, spiritual leaders actually tend to peoples’ souls rather than to their own needs. In our world, the closest to us are often those who betray us most quickly, and always this kind of unfaithfulness cuts deeply.

The MAGNIFICAT Morning Prayer is full of guideposts for those who are betrayed by those closest to them. This also seems significant. We cannot suppose that just because people wear the trappings of office that they perfectly fulfill the duties they are bound to perform. In a perfect world, our spiritual leaders concern themselves with real people in real time, and they are aware that they lead by serving.

Psalm 55: My heart is stricken within me . . . and so I must trust God with my fears.

John 13:21: Jesus was deeply troubled . . . so I cannot be upset with my own turmoil.

Jeremiah 20:10: Yes, I hear the whisperings of many: “Terror on every side! . . . Yet God is with us always.

Job 19:19: All my intimate friends hold me in horror . . . Still I remain faithful to God.

We know the story of Peter’s denial of Christ and his later confession of faith when the Resurrected Jesus asks, Do you love me? (John 21) We know that Christ offers Peter this opportunity for conversion and opens the door to newness, honesty, and a deeper fidelity than had before been possible.

Our question today is this: Does our love in Christ and for Christ call us to forgive all those who have harmed us in big ways and in small ways, even as Christ has forgiven us?

Image from: https://orthodoxgifts.com/prophet-aaron-icon/

For more information on Aaron, and the Levites, go to: http://eastonsbibledictionary.com/a/aaron.htm and http://eastonsbibledictionary.com/l/levite.htm

Cameron, Peter John. “Prayer for the Morning.” MAGNIFICAT. 4.19 (2011). Print.

March 25, 2026

19:19, betrayal, Catholic Church, clergy, Jeremiah 20:10, Job, John 13:21, Judas, Levites, Peter, PEW Research, Psalm 55

Sirach 4:20-31: Lest the Stones Cry Out

Sirach 4:20-31: Lest the Stones Cry Out

Tuesday, March 24, 2026

A re-post from April 2019 . . .

Refrain not from speaking at the proper time . . .

A verse from the Luke reading (19:40) in the Morning Prayer (Phyllis Tickle’s DIVINE HOURS: Prayers for Springtime, 326) leapt out at me as I read this morning. Jesus’ followers have welcomed him into Jerusalem with palms, praise and high jubilation. They know that one has come who has freed them from a bondage they are weary of carrying. In subsequent verses Jesus will cleanse the Temple area of moneychangers and his authority will be challenged by the church leadership. Jesus weeps over Jerusalem, knowing that she rejects the peace he brings. The people cry out: Blessed is he who is coming as King in the name of the Lord! Some Pharisees rebuke him saying, “Master, reprove your disciples.”. Jesus replies: I tell you, if these keep silence, the stones will cry out. This is the same message we hear in today’s Noontime. We are reminded that discipleship is not for the weak or unwilling.

In capsule form, here is what Jesus Ben Sirach tells us today in this brief citation.

Guard yourself against evil.

Show no favoritism.

Let no one intimidate you.

Speak at the proper time.

Bring your wisdom into the light.

Tell the truth always and even fight for the truth – even to the death.

Go with the flow when it is clear that the opposition is overwhelming – let God be in charge.

Throw no pearls before swine – even when the swine are the power structure.

Keep you speech pleasant, not surly; wisdom becomes known through speech.

Refrain from laziness; do your work.

Be gentle at home and honest at work.

Stay away from conspiracy theories – especially in the workplace.

Give generously.

Receive graciously.

Take only what is your due.

As we begin our preparation for the great gift of Easter light, life and peace which Jesus brings to us with his suffering, death and resurrection, we are called to examine the role we take in this drama that plays out before us daily. When we look at these elements from Sirach above, we discover an apt description of the life of one who follows Christ. In it we see the same message Christ speaks to the crowd that has gathered at the Temple: Christians must speak out at the proper time. Christians must be the justice they wish to receive. Christians must enact the sincerity they wish to find. And they must speak at the proper time . . . lest the very stones cry out in the silence.

Our question for today is this: Are we willing to break the deafening silence of injustice and deceit?

For a Lenten reflection on the goodness of silence, click on the image above or go to: https://soundwellmusictherapy.com/benefits-of-silence/

Tickle, Phyllis. THE DIVINE HOURS: PRAYERS FOR SPRINGTIME. New York: Doubleday, 2001. Print.

To read about the benefits of silence, click on the image or visit: https://citydesert.wordpress.com/2017/12/12/five-health-benefits-of-silence/

March 24, 2026

break the silence, deceit and injustice, Holy Monday, Luke 19:40, Phyllis Tickle

Sirach 7: Public and Private Life

Sirach 7: Public and Private Life

Friday, March 20, 2026

Several days ago we reflected on the meaning of our public image in the Book of Daniel; today with Sirach we might spend time with how this compares to our private life. The Irish culture holds an image of a man who is a street angel but a house devil, pleasant and amiable – even lovable – to his neighbors while beating his wife and children behind closed doors. How many of us harbor devils inside that we do not show to the world? How do these devils slip into our lives without our knowing?

We are advised by Jesus ben Sirach to bring our public and private lives into line with our covenant promise with Yahweh.

In this book of wisdom, we are cautioned that we must be humble in our dealings with one another; we ought not seek out the high places at the table. We are warned to refrain from seeking work as a judge unless we have the strength to root out crime; otherwise we succumb to corruption and mar our integrity. We ought not flaunt our wisdom, our power, our wealth, our specialness in any way for our pride will be our undoing. This is how humility arrives.

We are also advised to steer clear of situations the catechism refers to as near occasions of sin: those times when we ourselves do not sin but come dangerously close to slipping over the precipice into evil. Standing by wordless as we watch malevolence occur without offering witness to injustice is not the way of the Lord. When we lack courage, we only need to look to God for strength. This is how fortitude arrives.

We ought to pray in earnest and not hurry through prayer as this leaves room for a false sense of independence from God. We humble ourselves appropriately when we come before the Lord and so we ought to enter into prayerfulness with deliberation and patience so that we might all the better hear the word of God. This is how wisdom arrives.

In private and in our family life, we need to continue to live with thoughtfulness, with intention. Treating servants well – or the people we meet in the mall, in the supermarket, in the gas station – leads us to treating all well. Honoring elders, respecting the living, remembering the dead. This is how piety arrives.

Refrain from bartering for friends. Mourn with those who mourn. Steer clear of those who do not. Visit the sick. This is how compassion arrives.

When we eliminate fear and pain from our lives by blocking them out and riding over these powerful emotions, we also eliminate important opportunities for learning the ways of God. We erase the opportunities for God to guide and protect us. When we petition God and thank him for bounty, we indicate our understanding that we are God’s creatures. This is how faith arrives.

When we balance our inner self with our outer self, we clear away the dark corners where house devils might lurk. Integrity finds a comfortable dwelling place within, and chases away these devils to make room for angels. This is how hope arrives.

When we bring into focus our whole mind, our whole heart, our whole body and our whole soul to celebrate our union with God, we enter into his divinity. This is why the words of Jesus ben Sirach are so important to us today. With all your strength, love your Creator. This is how love arrives.

A re-post from March 29, 2012.

Image from: http://sandeshavahini.wordpress.com/2011/12/28/the-heart-in-the-bible/

March 20, 2026

compassion, covenant promise, faith, fortitude, hope, house devil, humility, Jesus ben Sirach, love, piety, practical advice, street angel, wisdom

Sirach 25-27: The Ideal Wife

Sirach 25-27: The Ideal Wife

Wednesday, March 18, 2026

While we are looking to the “passions” for fulfillment, our desire for the infinite is doomed to be frustrated. Once we realize this, we discover that God alone can satisfy the need which is basic to our nature. (Olivier Clément, author and professor of Eastern Christian Spirituality in Paris, MAGNIFICAT Meditation of the Day, for yesterday.)

Today’s Noontime tells us all we need to know about integrity when in relationship with one another and with God. The Description of an Ideal Wife (26:1-18) falls just in the middle of this selection and we find it bracketed by descriptions of Wicked Versus Virtuous Women, and Dangers to Integrity and Friendship. Jesus Ben Sirach cannot be more specific in his description of what an ideal wife does in her household and in her relationships. Since we are each called to be the bride of the groom, Jesus, we might consider what this ode has to say to us. Our marital state, sexual orientation and gender do not matter. What does matter here is this: that we examine what it is that moves us, what calls us to passion of any kind – physical, mental, spiritual – and that we respond with integrity in every single relationship and every single place just as described in the image of the ideal wife in today’s reading.

All of this reminds me of yesterday’s meditation in MAGNIFICAT. Clément continues by citing Origen (an early Egyptian Christian theologian who lived in Alexandria from 185 to 254 C.E). Origen has described a striking vision of the soul plumbing the depths of evil by experiencing the horror of excess; after actually dying, having journeyed through the infernal regions, it eventually realizes that evil has its limitation, that one can be surfeited with it to the point of utter boredom. Then God is revealed as alone inexhaustible, to whom everyone, even Satan, will turn in the end.

We hope so. Perhaps in this way there is a purpose to pain and suffering – no matter how stark and how deep. Clément writes that when we enter into suffering with Christ, we discover something we never dared hope for, that our hellish autonomy has been breached by sin, death and despair, that these have opened us to the mercy of the living God.

In our twenty-first century relativistic world in which we value autonomy above all else – even if it is hellish – we might read today’s lesson and smirk, thinking that the images of the ideal wife are quaint and outdated. But they are not. They are as valid and as prescient and as imperative today as on the day they were written.

We fool ourselves when we think we can out-run, out-smart or out-maneuver evil. No matter how comfortable, how connected and how clever we are, we find – in the end – that we have only out-maneuvered ourselves. We have gotten no further. We have not held onto the fleeting sensations of pleasure.

Seeking pleasure is not seeking God, it is seeking satisfaction. Pleasure is good in that it gives us an immediate sense of happiness and the impetus to search for true joy; but the happiness brought by pleasure does not last.

Searching for meaning in life will not give us that which our souls seek, a true and intense relationship with something that will never go away, never fade. Only God has the capacity to love this well and this constantly.

Looking for ourselves in excesses, abstentions, infatuations or addictions does not bring us true serenity and joy; it does not bring us to a true understanding of who we areb and what we mean. Only in God do we find ourselves. And only in giving ourselves over to God as the ideal wife gives herself over to her vocation, do we enter into his bliss.

A re-post from March 27, 2012.

Image from: https://www.chaimbentorah.com/2014/07/word-study-putting-diseases/

Cameron, Peter John, Rev., ed. “Meditation of the Day.” MAGNIFICAT. 12 March 2009. Print.

March 18, 2026

authenticity, bride, Clement, groom, happiness, integrity, limitations of evil, Origen, pleasure

1 Timothy 4:6-16: Mourning into Dancing

1 Timothy 4:6-16: Mourning Into Dancing

Tuesday, March 17, 2026

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA — *Carl Bloch: Christ Healing at the Pool of Bethsaida*

If ever we are in doubt as to how to serve as a role model when in community, Paul’s letters to Timothy are a mine of wealth. Regarding slavery, the rights of women and children, and respect due to non-heterosexuals, we understand the thinking of the times. We take all of this in its ancient context and shift it to the twenty-first century, adding all that has been revealed to us over the millennia about these topics. Despite the change in science and understanding, this is still good advice for us to consider, and it is the only way to build community – the only way to build Christ’s kingdom.

Call everyone to unity through diversity.

Remove contempt and profanity from our thinking.

Walk away from silly myths.

Demonstrate trustworthiness by our actions.

Express respect for all in everything we think, do and say.

Persevere, work on ourselves, mark progress.

Nurture the gift of self that we bring to the world.

Paul advises Timothy that the best way to form and build community is by persisting in performing these simple tasks which come together in such a big way. We are to look for the joy which awaits, usually hidden in some conflict.

This all reminds me of a verse from today’s Gospel (John 5:1-16) when Jesus asks the crippled man at the pool of Bethesda: Do you want to be well? Despite the fact that Jesus knows all our unspoken thoughts, he asks this man if he wishes to be new? This particular man replies in the affirmative, and he is healed. This having happened on a Sabbath, this man must work to defend his cure. This causes conflict. Usually, as Paul tells Timothy, celebration is accompanied by grief, and this is something we must expect; however, our sorrow may turn into dancing if we follow the advice given to Timothy. This is often difficult to understand.

Do you want to be well? Jesus asks us this frequently, yet are we prepared to take up our mat and walk, despite the pain? We, like Timothy with Paul and like the man in today’s Gospel, are free to answer either yes or no.

Do you want to be well? Paul calls Timothy to ask this question of his fledging congregation, despite the conflict.

Do you want to be well? We are likewise called to ask this question of one another, to seek common ground amidst our differences and look for unity, despite the barriers.

Do you want to be well? We are called to rise to this challenge, despite the fact that we often wish to wallow for awhile in our tears.

Today we pray: Paul describes to Timothy and to us how we might allow God to enter our lives in order that we become a beacon for the community. When we hear Christ’s voice how will we reply to his call?

Do we want to be well? Let us shed our paralysis and persist in outrageous dreams and hopes.

Do we want to be well? Let us transform our addictions and self-satisfaction through the fire of the conflicts we are willing to share.

Do we want to be well? Let us redeem broken promises with forgiveness.

Do we want to be well? Let us turn from our idols to the one true God.

Do we want to be well? Let us be willing to allow God to exchange our sorrow for joy.

Do we want to be well? Yes!

Amen.

Adapted from a reflection posted on March 26, 2019.

Image from: https://fineartamerica.com/featured/1-christ-healing-at-the-pool-of-bethesda-carl-bloch.html

March 17, 2026

Bethesda, crippled man, Jesus cures

Daniel 2: Public Life

Daniel 2: Public Life

Saturday, March 14, 2026

a_Daniel_befrore_Nebuchadnezzar[1] — *Daniel before Nebuchadnezzar*

I am thinking of all the negative things that happen to Daniel which he calmly allows God to transform into good – his exile, his imprisonment, his gift as an interpreter of dreams which may be used against him because of envy on the part of the king’s magicians. He knows that the very prediction he is called to announce may bring about his execution. Daniel withstands all of this – and even more when we read the entire story – by placing his trust, hope, faith and love in God. and by allowing God to work his wonderful will with those who are opposed to him, to the Jewish people and to their God. I am reminded of Psalm 37: Commit your life to the Lord, trust in him and he will act, so that your justice break forth like the light, your cause like the noon-day sun.

Daniel does not let fear of failure or a reluctance to commit to God or to obey God to deter him from his path of fidelity.

Be still before the Lord and wait in patience; do not fret at the man who prospers; a man who makes evil plots to bring down the needy and the poor.

Daniel does not abandon God or allow the world and its worries to lure him away from following God.

Calm your anger and forget your rage; do not fret, it only leads to evil. For those who do evil perish; the patient shall inherit the land.

Daniel abides with God just as God abides with him. Daniel waits upon the wisdom of the Lord, knowing that for God time is eternal.

A little longer – and the wicked shall have gone.

Daniel knows that the only true emotion, the only lasting force is God’s love for us. It is greater than anything we can imagine. It is bolder, more persistent and persevering than anyone we know. It is the only energy that matters, this love and peace of God that comes to us in the form of the man, Christ.

Look at his place, he is not there. But the humble shall own the land and enjoy the fullness of peace.

Daniel makes a public statement when he expresses his love of God; and as we read his story we may join him to enter into our own public statement about our intensely personal relationship with God.

And so we might ask ourselves: Do we love God enough to make a public statement about our fidelity to him?

For the humble shall own the land . . . and enjoy the fullness of peace. Amen.

A re-post from March 23, 2012.

Image from: http://myyearofjubilee50.blogspot.com/2011/11/dan-man.html

March 14, 2026

fidelity, God turns bad to good, love, Nebuchadnezzar, patience, Psalm 37, transformation

2 Samuel 22: Warrior’s Song

2 Samuel 22: Warrior’s Song

Friday, March 13, 2026

Giovanni_Francesco_Barbieri[1] — *Giovanni Francesco Barbieri: Saul Attacking David*

As human beings, we have a desire to record the emotions of great events so that the effect they hold on us will not be lost. We retain love letters, programs from special ceremonies, photographs and recordings, all in an attempt to recreate an emotion or a feeling we once had. Rather than press flowers or save baby teeth and ringlets of hair, what might we find within ourselves if we were to create hymns of praise for the ways God has been present in our lives in a palpable way? More importantly, how might we magnify God – each in our own small way – if we began to speak to one another of the wondrous transformations we experience rather than the daily toil and drudgery of our lives?

The story of David is such a good one because David is so human. He has both smallness and greatness. He succumbs to his human frailty and he glorifies God with abandon when goodness comes to him. David is not ashamed or embarrassed to acknowledge God. David knows how to wait on the Lord.

Today’s reading follows other less happy events in David’s life: his hiding in fear from the anger of King Saul against whom he had done nothing to merit persecution, the sad and unnecessary death of Saul and his son Jonathan (David’s boon companion), his taking of Bathsheba and the arranged murder of her husband Uriah in battle, the death of their son Absalom after a bitter civil war. Yet despite the unhappiness he has experienced, David rises from the ashes of sorrow and pain to praise God who is his strength and his rock.

Today’s song is also found in the Psalter as Psalm 18; and it is fitting that these verses appear twice in scripture as they so beautifully express the emotion we all long to feel. For it is with these verses that we magnify God, it is with these verses that we form a scrap book of memories and emotions that will never fade. These verses bring us what we seek; they answer the ancient yearning to acknowledge and to be acknowledged. They are all we truly need.

My rock, my fortress, my deliverer, my God, my savior, my stronghold, my refuge . . . from violence you keep me safe.

David suffered years of persecution by Saul, years of struggle as the young king of a small desert nation; yet he places all of this anguish where it belongs, at the feet of God.

In my distress I called on the Lord and cried out to my God. From his temple he heard my voice, and my cry reached his ears.

In this Lenten season we also must raise our voices in appeal to our God who hears all petitions. Let us not be shy about seeking peace from the Lord; but rather let us intercede for ourselves and for our enemies as we have been taught by Christ the saver of all.

He rescued me from my enemy, from my foes, who were too powerful for me. He set me free in the open and rescued me, because he loves me.

We also can number the times we have been pulled from despair and its downward tug by some sudden and surprising turn of events. Enslavement comes to us in many forms; so does deliverance.

You have given me your saving shield; you girded me with strength for war.

We also find this same strength when we put on our armor of Christ to walk humbly but with authority, to live justly and mercifully, to love well and always – no matter the cost.

Therefore will I proclaim you, O Lord, among the nations, and I will sing praise to your name.

We also might pronounce stories of the times we have been rescued and upheld. We also might sing a pilgrim’s song of praise for our deliverance from all that drags us down and brings us fear.

So let us sing praise to the Lord our God, who hears our voices when we call, and who answers our cries for help. Let us join ourselves in a Warrior’s Song of Praise to the one true God who loves us all, and loves us all so well.

A re-post from March 22, 2012.

Image from: https://www.1st-art-gallery.com/Giovanni-Francesco-Guercino-Barbieri/Saul-Attacking-David-1646.html?srsltid=AfmBOopYPYGarLPmU_LbDUex9NpDPhgMcuePvMI-5prDBfWdbuaO9x4I

March 13, 2026

David as human, praise God, Psalm 18, scrapbook

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