February 10, 2011 – Sirach 36

Most of Sirach has been these lessons on how to live life, but at the beginning of this chapter we have what sounds more like a prayer to God that would be found in the prophetic books.  It seems a bit out of place, and then, after verse 17, it goes back to the lesson portion. 

Some may point to the teaching about living alone and not being married as something that may mean that Catholic priest should be married.  I don’t know if that is exactly what they were trying to get across.  I took it more as not being tied down or committed to anything.  A person who never commits to anything is a homeless wanderer.  The priest is not a person who is afraid of commitment, on the contrary, has committed himself to the Church.  I think if you look out at the world, at the couples who live together but won’t get married, the women who have children without thinking they need a father, the broken homes, those show the lack of commitment that I think this is talking about.  We are in a world where the idea of commitment is something that is not permanent anymore.  You really only have to stay committed as long as you feel like it, then you can shove off at anytime.  That type of wandering is what this is warning against.