5/22/2013 – Wednesday of 7th week in ordinary time – Sirach 4:11-19

       The book of Sirach was written in Hebrew about 200 years before the birth of Christ.  Sirach is one of the books that is included in the Catholic Bible, but is excluded from the Protestant Old Testament.  The book of Sirach, also referred to as Ecclesiasticus, was translated into Greek from Hebrew by the author’s grandson, who also added a prologue to this book of Jewish ethical teachings.  Sirach belongs to a body of work in the Hebrew scriptures that is called wisdom literature; it believes that all wisdom and all truth come from God.

         Sometimes it takes us a lot of trial and error and learning from the mistakes we make again and again to learn in life.  This is part of the wisdom we hear today from the book of Sirach.  We are told that Wisdom can walk with us as a stranger in the beginning, then it will put us to the test.  Wisdom will bring fear and dread to us, and will try to discipline us as we are taught God’s laws and taught to trust in the Lord. 

         Having done a lot of prison ministry, I often meet guys who get in trouble again and again with the law.  I’ve met some inmates who are older than me who have spent most of their adult lives incarcerated.  They complain each day that they are in prison, explaining how much they despise it there and how they are waiting for the day they will return to the “free world.”  Yet, often times, it is just a matter of weeks or days when the get in trouble with the law again after being released. 

         I don’t think the “fear and dread” that Sirach mentions is meant to paralyze us, but rather to sometimes give us a wakeup call when we need it in life.  God is not a rigid taskmaster who wants to punish us and make us suffer, but rather wants us to have a fullness of life that we find in union with him.  Discipline, a strong moral compass, a lens of faith through which we look out at the world – these are the tools we can use from the wisdom of God that will help us stay on the right path.  In our prayers today, may we call upon the wisdom of God to lead us and guide us.