Friends

Sometimes a daily reading just does not need any additional commentary:

5 A kind mouth multiplies friends, and gracious lips prompt friendly greetings.6 Let your acquaintances be many, but one in a thousand your confidant.7 When you gain a friend, first test him, and be not too ready to trust him8 For one sort of friend is a friend when it suits him, but he will not be with you in time of distress.9 Another is a friend who becomes an enemy, and tells of the quarrel to your shame.10 Another is a friend, a boon companion, who will not be with you when sorrow comes.11 When things go well, he is your other self, and lords it over your servants;12 But if you are brought low, he turns against you and avoids meeting you.13 Keep away from your enemies; be on your guard with your friends.14 A faithful friend is a sturdy shelter; he who finds one finds a treasure.15 A faithful friend is beyond price, no sum can balance his worth.16 A faithful friend is a life-saving remedy, such as he who fears God finds;17 For he who fears God behaves accordingly, and his friend will be like himself.” (Sirach 6:5–17)

The Foundation

Although not part of the gospel for the 8th Sunday, most commentators include the following verses as part of the same pericope. It addresses the need for a sure foundation from which to judge and assess one’s commitment to Jesus.

 46 “Why do you call me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ but not do what I command?47 I will show you what someone is like who comes to me, listens to my words, and acts on them.48 That one is like a person building a house, who dug deeply and laid the foundation on rock; when the flood came, the river burst against that house but could not shake it because it had been well built.49 But the one who listens and does not act is like a person who built a house on the ground without a foundation. When the river burst against it, it collapsed at once and was completely destroyed.” 

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