When we begin to feel in its fullness the love of God, we begin also to love our neighbor in the experience of the Spirit. That is the love of which the Scriptures speak. For friendship according to the flesh breaks down too easily on the slightest pretext. The reason is that it lacks the bond of the Spirit.
- Diadochus of Photike, Gnostic Chapters, 15

(How to you experience the "bond of the Spirit" in your relationships? Pray that this bond may grow in relationships where you struggle.)

SIR 6:5-17;    PS 119:12, 16, 18, 27, 34, 35;    MK 10:1-12

R. Guide me, Lord, in the way of your commands.

Blessed are you, O LORD;
teach me your statutes.

In your statutes I will delight;
I will not forget your words.

Open my eyes, that I may consider
the wonders of your law.

Make me understand the way of your precepts,
and I will meditate on your wondrous deeds.

Give me discernment, that I may observe your law
and keep it with all my heart.

Lead me in the path of your commands,
for in it I delight.





Today we discover, or, perhaps, rediscover, some rather applicable wisdom from Sirach regarding friendship, which is delivered and received in the wise ways of a faithful friend. 

Sirach writes, "Let your acquaintances be many, but one in a thousand your confidant ."  In our human world, the word "friend" is used liberally to refer to the many acquaintances we keep in our day-to-day living; people with whom we talk and share with, at least superficially, on a wide range of topics and experiences.  As social media applications become more and more integrated into everyday interactions, we now live in a world where "social networks" and quantifiable lists of "Friends," "Contacts," and/or "Followers" simultaneously measure the vastness of our social linkages and promulgate our triumphs and tribulations, wisdom and whines, whether banal or vital.  While these networks and personal connections have value and enrich our human experience, today's reading cautions us of the all too often self-invested purposes of these friendships, and addresses the characteristics of a "faithful friend." 

Sirach goes on to write, "A faithful friend is a sturdy shelter; he who finds one finds a treasure."  So, while counting a multitude of friends seems essential, we learn that some people will not be our faithful friends. 

- by Lydia Reinig

Selected Quotes from St. John of the Cross on the Journey of the Soul to God by Contemplation

- from Ascent of Mt. Carmel

Bk. 2. Ch. 29. #5. If an experience fails to engender humility, charity, mortification, holy simplicity, and silence, etc., of what value is it?  

#7. In this faith God supernaturally and secretly teaches the soul and, in a way unknown to it, raises it up in virtues and gifts. 

#11. When together with the words and concepts the soul is loving God and simultaneously experiencing this love with humility and reverence, there is indication that the Holy Spirit is at work within it. Whenever He bestows favors, He clothes them with this love.

- compiled by James and Tyra Arraj