Could anyone nourish anger against another
and expect healing from the LORD?
Could anyone refuse mercy to another like himself,
can he seek pardon for his own sins?
Wisdom, my friends, is a highly prized and sadly rare virtue these days. Wisdom demands that we root our experience in truth, even when it’s inconvenient, and shape our values around that truth. Wisdom demands responding dispassionately rather than reacting emotionally.
The Hebrew people so prized the virtue of wisdom that one of the sacred books of the Hebrew Scriptures was the compilation of wisdom saying from Judah ben Sirach. In the Catholic Bible, the Book of Sirach is also called the Book of Ecclesiasticus. While Catholics view this book as truly inspired as the Word of God, Protestants consider this book part of what is referred to as the Apocrypha – spiritually useful but not necessarily inspired of God.
However, Christians view the wisdom saying in the Book of Sirach, they nevertheless challenge believers and all people of good will with the importance of shaping the character and integrity of our lives by wisdom.
The opening passage of today’s reflection is a commentary on the simple golden rule, the principle of treating others as you want to be treated. Virtually every religion down through the ages possesses some variant of this wisdom saying that has proven to be the anchor of personal integrity and character.
Could anyone nourish anger against another
and expect healing from the LORD?
Could anyone refuse mercy to another like himself,
can he seek pardon for his own sins?
Flowing from the golden rule is the hallmark virtue of human compassion, namely mercy. It is precisely this virtue of mercy that characterized so much of the healing ministry of Jesus the Savior. It was mercy and the healing of the human heart that Jesus exemplified in his daily ministry. For he knew in his own heart that it was unfailing mercy that would eventually save the world.
As we welcome the new week before us with its challenges and blessings, let us pray for the gift of wisdom whose mercy can make all things new.