Sirach 11:29-34: Guests and Strangers – Care in Choosing Friends
Thursday, November 28, 2019
The Biblia de América which I have been using as a resource lately, names this citation differently from our NAB as we can see from the title above. In addition, it has references to Proverbs 1:10-16, 5:10 and 6:1 for this citation which, if you have time to look at them, will add some depth to today’s reading. The footnotes in this same Biblia remind us that sowers of discord are to be avoided at all cost, as their deceits create structures of illusion – they are the people of the darkness, people of deception and lies . . . with a spark he sets many coals afire.
I am thinking of a counterpoint to this image. I am remembering the description of the souls of the just from this past Sunday’s first reading. These souls are in the hand of God, and no torment shall touch them. They seemed in the view of the foolish to be dead; and their passing away was thought an affliction and their going forth from us, utter destruction. But they are in peace. For if before men they be punished, yet is their hope full of immortality; chastised a little, they shall be greatly blessed, because God tried them and found them worthy of himself. As gold in the furnace, he proved them, and as sacrificial offerings he took them to himself. In the time of their visitation they shall shine, and shall dart about as sparks through stubble; they shall judge the nations and rule over peoples, and the Lord shall be their king forever. Those who trust in him shall understand truth, and the faithful shall abide with him in love: because grace and mercy are with his holy ones, and his care is with his elect. (Wisdom 3:1-9) [My bold font.]
This is not a call to exclusivity; rather, it is a call to universality. It is a universal invitation to openness, to mercy, to fidelity, to love. We are each invited to lead lives worthy of the creator – honest and compassionate lives, faithful and constant lives, forgiving and loving lives. Ardent lives which burn with the fire of Christ’s love.
It is also a call which carries with it a degree of heat – the fire of the gold smith’s forge – but we ought not fear this furnace. It is the crucible of life with which God prunes and disciplines us . . . for when we are tried and tested, so then are we proved. And when we are proved we are graced. When we are graced we are holy.
There is a clear choice before us: we may become like the sparks which set many tongues wagging and many hearts gossiping. Or we may be the spark which sets souls ablaze with the fire and love of Christ.
We must take care in choosing our associates and friends for they are either strangers, sowers of discord who are to be avoided; or they are guests who are soul mates to be welcomed into our hearts.
St. Paul tells us (Romans 12:2, 1 Thessalonians 5:1, Galatians 6:4, 2 Corinthians 13:5) that we are to test the spirit for this is how we will find if travelers are either the tinder of deceit . . . or the kindling of the Pentecost.
LA BIBLIA DE LA AMÉRICA. 8th. Madrid: La Casa de la Biblia, 1994. Print.
Written on November 6, 2008 and posted today as a Favorite.
The Noontimes 