Wisdom 1:1-7 / Luke 17:1-6
A teacher once heard a little girl scold her friend with a 4-letter word (that obscene four-letter word)
That girl was just 7 years-old, and so the teacher said to her: Now that's a really bad word to use on someone. Where did you learn it from?
Girl: From a video. The teacher was puzzled and so she asked: And why were you watching that video? Girl: My daddy was watching it.
We lament at the behaviour of our youth, and yet we must realise that it is from us that they learn.
And we also have to realise that there are others, young and old, who will be influenced by us in one way or another.
Jesus gave a warning about giving a bad example. He said: Obstacles are sure to come, but alas for the one who provides them! It would be better for him to be thrown into the sea with a millstone put round his neck that that he should lead astray a single one of these little ones. Watch yourselves!
What we say and do are watched closely especially by the children. "Don't worry that the children are not listening to you. Worry that they are always watching you."
And since children are great imitators, then let us give them something great to imitate.
The 1st reading tells us to love virtue and let honesty prompt our thinking. Let us begin from there. The Lord will then handle the rest.