Ben Sirach was a Jerusalem Jew who wrote sentiments of wise counsel, i.e. he was a wisdom scribe. The First Reading of today comes from his book written about 180 B.C. His contacts with the world of Greek civilisation made it possible for him to absorb the Greek idea of wisdom as a virtue, and to incorporate it into the Hebrew way of seeing wisdom as obedience to the will of God contained in the Law. So the principle of wisdom being godliness is the principle of life. The wise man indeed was the godly man, the man who feared God.

The Sayings we read today are based on this. Here, the question of suffering, which bothers many, is dealt with on the premise that sufferings are a test, but a test which reveals one's sincerity in facing the testing. The sincere person accepts suffering because he/she accepts God as the one who can be trusted, who will not let one down. From studying the history of great men, one knows that God is compassionate and merciful and will ultimately reward one's sufferings with everlasting joy.

In the Gospel passage of today, we see the relevance of this wisdom teaching in the situation of the disciples. Jesus has to make use of a child to open their eyes. A child is helpless when suffering, but the ones who selflessly serve the child, the weak one, is serving Christ Himself, and in serving Christ is serving God. So the wise person is the one who serves God. Godliness and wisdom are one.