Do you have a friend you can rely upon? Do you have a ‘sturdy shelter’, ‘a treasure’, ‘a faithful friend beyond price’?
These phrases taken from Sirach 6 are a reminder of how important is a real friend. Here we are even told, “Faithful friends are life-saving medicine…”.
Saints have known this truth and today we celebrate the feast of St. Vincent de Paul who could count among this friends both St. Francis de Sales and St. Jane de Chantal. While earlier in the week, we celebrated St. Cosmas and Damian. Though brothers, they were also friends who not only worked together to heal, but died together as martyrs. We have St. Francis of Assissi and St. Clare along with another pair of siblings Scholastica and Benedicta. We could list more.
Our children might be all about a new BFF each week but we know finding a good and true friend isn’t always easy. With our busy lives as spouses, parents, and much, much more, having a friend beyond our spouse can be a rare thing.
Sirach knew this as well and while encouraging us to find a good friend, he warned against those who disappear during struggles and talk about our difficulties with others. It is put so clearly; these people are “a friend who turns into an enemy.”
We hope you (and your children) find some good friends through our clubs. And while perhaps distance and the complications of life prevent you from being together as often as you’d like, knowing you have someone to turn to makes those same complications of life easier to bear.
Ecclesiates 4 will tells us, “Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their labor: If either of them falls down, one can help the other up. But pity anyone who falls and has no one to help them up.”
For myself, two of my dearest friends live far from my home, literally states away in Kentucky and Massachusetts. But both of these lovely women of God can be relied upon to lift me up, listen to my complaints and never, ever judge me when I fall down. How grateful I am for them!
If you are in need of friend, consider asking St. Vincent de Paul or one of his posse of friends to provide for you in this poverty. The consolation of his friends was such an encouragement to him as he founded his order and changed the lives of so many people in France. Surely, he will help you find a friend wherever you live.
