It’s annoying when people call us on something and they’re right, isn’t it? But the Christian disciple knows that it is the job of our brothers and sisters to correct us when we stray as an act of charity. And the Christian disciple should receive that correction in the spirit in which it is offered, as a grace.
But that’s clearly not how the hearers of the Wisdom reading received it, and it is certainly not how the religious authorities in Jesus’ day received it. But it cannot be so for us. If our witness is to be authentic, we must always pray for the grace to receive loving correction in the spirit in which it is offered, so that we may grow in our faith and our discipleship. We must pray, too, for those who offer it to us. And we must pray for the strength of character to offer it to our brothers and sisters when we are called upon to do so.