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The wisdom of Sirach states, “For he
who fears God behaves accordingly,” (Sir 6:17) which is to say that
someone who fears the Lord will seek to live his life according to
right conduct.
The Pharisees, the ones who sought to
trick Jesus, were not acting in a manner respectful to the Law, but
rather acting according to pride. These are the sort of people we
should seek to correct, for any of us who engage in gossip or deceit
in order to discredit our foes become a foe to right conduct. If they
cannot or will not be corrected we should not share in their
friendship, for a friend who speaks ill of others in a mean and
spiteful way may become the enemy who does the same to us.
Sirach warns us to be on our guard and
that when it comes to friends we should be selective and careful,
probing the character of each.
The Psalm today is a hymn to this very
process. Those who hold this Psalm in their hearts have the heart
that each of us desire in a friend—delighting in God's precepts,
desiring to understand His ways, and the humility to be lead in what
is right.
Jesus warns, however, that a love of
law—the Pharisees loved the law—must always be coupled by a life
of love. Only then can both operate in harmony.
Love without the Law allows all others
into our hearts as friends. Like bad dispositions, bad friends lead
us to vice and sin. The Law without love makes us harsh, deceitful,
and protective of a thing over a person. Both are good in themselves,
but either can be corrupted into sin. It is only together, loving the
Lord and His precepts, and loving each other, that either one
takes root and transforms us.
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