The Critical Importance of Good Spiritual Friends: Homily for Wednesday, October 5, 2022

There is a critical importance in good friends. In my life as an educator, it is true and consistent. The kid you really worry about because of bad behavior invariably finds another kid in the same situation. They become friends. And while sometimes those friendships can be really great, at other times the two friends lead each other astray. The spiritual life can be like that too. There are those friends who lead us closer to God, and others who tempt us to move away from God. Remember, "Faithful friends are a sturdy shelter; whoever finds one finds a treasure. Faithful friends are beyond price, no amount can balance their worth. Faithful friends are life-saving medicine; those who fear God will find them. Those who fear the Lord enjoy stable friendship, for as they are, so will their neighbors be." Sirach 6:14-17