Catholic Life Section:

Companions / Associations

"Do not be led astray: 'Bad company corrupts good morals.'" (St. Paul, 1 Cor. 15:33)

"I wrote you in my letter not to associate with immoral people, not at all referring to the immoral of this world or the greedy and robbers or idolaters; for you would then have to leave the world. But I now write to you not to associate with anyone named a brother, if he is immoral, greedy, an idolater, a slanderer, a drunkard, or a robber, not even to eat with such a person. For why should I be judging outsiders? Is it not your business to judge those within? God will judge those outside. 'Purge the evil person from your midst.'" (St. Paul, 1 Cor. 5:9-13)

"If anyone does not obey our word as expressed in this letter, take note of this person not to associate with him, that he may be put to shame. Do not regard him as an enemy but admonish him as a brother." (St. Paul, 2 Thes. 3:14-15)

"Let no one deceive you with empty arguments, for because of these things the wrath of God is coming upon the disobedient. So do not be associated with them." (St. Paul, Eph. 5:6-7)

"Fly from bad companions as from the bite of a poisonous snake." (St. John Bosco)

"[R]are is the company from which you come forth more innocent" (St. Robert Southwell)

"Let your companions be persons association with whom will not disgrace you." (St. Jerome, Doctor of the Church)

"Avoid entirely men who consider light darkness, and darkness light." (Pope Leo XII, "Quo Graviora", 1826)

"To know whom to avoid is a great means of saving our souls." (St. Thomas Aquinas, Doctor of the Church and "greatest theologian in the history of the Church")

"Frequent not the company of immodest persons, especially if they be also imprudent as is generally the case" (St. Francis de Sales, Doctor of the Church)

"For great harm comes of bad company, since we are inclined by nature to follow the worse rather than the better." (St. Teresa of Avila, Doctor of the Church)

"Nothing can be more dangerous than keeping wicked companions. They communicate the infection of their vices to all who associate with them." (St. Jean Baptiste de la Salle)

"Nay, rather, unless forced by necessity to do otherwise, Catholics ought to prefer to associate with Catholics, a course which will be very conducive to the safeguarding of their faith." (Pope Leo XIII, "Longinqua", 1895)

"We should tolerate association with sinners only for the purpose of recalling them to repentance, by every means short of committing sin ourselves. But when every form of solicitude has been applied in their regard, we should avoid those who persist in their evil ways." (St. Basil the Great, Doctor of the Church)

"Let no one then have a wicked man for his friend. For if when we have bad sons we publicly disclaim them, without regarding nature or its laws, or the constraint which it lays upon us, much more ought we to fly from our companions and acquaintances when they are wicked. Because even if we receive no injury from them, we shall anyhow not be able to escape ill report, for strangers search not into our lives, but judge us from our companions." (St. John Chrysostom, Doctor of the Church)

"For if under the direction of a father and mother, a guardian, a master, and teacher, with suitable companions, with the honor of a free condition, and many other advantages, it is difficult to escape intimacies with the wicked, what can we expect from those who are destitute of all these, and are mixed up with the wicked, and associate fearlessly with whomsoever they will, no one troubling herself about their friendships? What sort of persons do we suppose they will be?" (St. John Chrysostom, Doctor of the Church)

"The weak should avoid associating with sinners, on account of the danger in which they stand of being perverted by them. But it is commendable for the perfect, of whose perversion there is no fear, to associate with sinners that they may convert them. For thus did Our Lord eat and drink with sinners as related by Matthew 9:11-13. Yet all should avoid the society of sinners, as regards fellowship in sin; in this sense it is written (2 Cor. 6:17): 'Go out from among them...and touch not the unclean thing,' i.e. by consenting to sin." (St. Thomas Aquinas, Doctor of the Church and "greatest theologian in the history of the Church")

Also See: Friends / Friendship | Associating with Catholics | Our Neighbor / Care & Treatment of Our Neighbor | Following the Crowd | Fellowship / Companions (Topical Scripture)

Note: Categories are subjective and may overlap. For more items related to this topic, please review all applicable categories. For more 'Reflections' and for Scripture topics, see links below.

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Friends / Friendship

"No one has greater love than this, to lay down one's life for one's friends." (Our Lord Jesus Christ, Jn. 15:13)

"You are my friends if you do what I command you." (Our Lord Jesus Christ, Jn. 15:14)

"A truly loyal friend sees nothing in his friend but his heart." (St. Aelred of Rievaulx)

"Our friend becomes an enemy if he would cause us to sin." (St. Francis de Sales, Doctor of the Church)

"He who is unfaithful to God cannot be truly a friend to man." (St. Ambrose, Doctor of the Church)

"True friendship rejoices when it has to suffer for a beloved friend." (St. Maximilian Kolbe)

"For a friend is, properly speaking, one to whom we wish good" (St. Thomas Aquinas, Doctor of the Church and "greatest theologian in the history of the Church")

"To trust a friend is not to believe that he can do no wrong; we must trust no man like that; for all fall at times." (Benson)

"True friendship can harbour no suspicion; a friend must speak to his friend as freely as to his second self." (St. Augustine, Doctor of the Church)

"For what else is friendship which has its name from no other source than love, and is nowhere faithful but in Christ, in whom alone it can be eternal and happy?" (St. Augustine, Doctor of the Church)

"For it is an essential part of friendship that one should be a well-wisher towards one's friend" (St. Thomas Aquinas, Doctor of the Church and "greatest theologian in the history of the Church")

"For in this way especially does a friend differ from a flatterer: The Flatterer speaks to give pleasure, but the friend refrains from nothing, even that which causes pain." (St. Basil the Great, Doctor of the Church)

"[A]ll friendship is safeguarded and increased by the practice and consideration of friendly deeds." (St. Thomas Aquinas, Doctor of the Church and "greatest theologian in the history of the Church")

"[N]ot every friendship is praiseworthy and virtuous, as in the case of friendship based on pleasure or utility." (St. Thomas Aquinas, Doctor of the Church and "greatest theologian in the history of the Church")

"In either case there is a proof of friendship, viz. when a man rejoices with the joyful, and when he sorrows with the sorrowful." (St. Thomas Aquinas, Doctor of the Church and "greatest theologian in the history of the Church")

"Since true friendship is based on virtue, whatever there is contrary to virtue in a friend is an obstacle to friendship, and whatever in him is virtuous is an incentive to friendship" (St. Thomas Aquinas, Doctor of the Church and "greatest theologian in the history of the Church")

"A friend is like another self (Ethica Nicomachea ix): wherefore the sin which is committed through love for a friend, seems to be committed through self-love." (St. Thomas Aquinas, Doctor of the Church and "greatest theologian in the history of the Church")

"James saith openly in his Epistle, 'Know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God?' Thou hast heard. Dost thou wish not to be an enemy of God? Be not a friend of this world: for if thou art a friend of this world, thou wilt be an enemy of God." (St. Augustine, Doctor of the Church)

"Whilst preaching one day, Jesus Christ was told that his mother and brethren were waiting for him; in answer he said: 'Whosoever shall do the will of my Father that is in Heaven, he is my brother, and sister and mother' (Mt. 12:50). By these words he gave us to understand that he acknowledged as friends and relatives those only who fulfill the will of his Father." (St. Alphonsus Liguori, Doctor of the Church)

"The Philosopher proves this from five things that are proper to friendship. For in the first place, every friend wishes his friend to be and to live; secondly, he desires good things for him; thirdly, he does good things to him; fourthly, he takes pleasure in his company; fifthly, he is of one mind with him, rejoicing and sorrowing in almost the same things." (St. Thomas Aquinas, Doctor of the Church and "greatest theologian in the history of the Church")

"When friendship is based on usefulness or pleasure, a man does indeed wish his friend some good: and in this respect the character of friendship is preserved. But since he refers this good further to his own pleasure or use, the result is that friendship of the useful or pleasant, in so far as it is connected with love of concupiscence, loses the character to true friendship." (St. Thomas Aquinas, Doctor of the Church and "greatest theologian in the history of the Church")

"In short, where is the friend who may not be feared as possibly a future enemy, if the breach that we deplore could arise between Jerome and Rufinus? Oh, sad and pitiable is our portion! Who can rely upon the affection of his friends because of what he knows them to be now, when he has no foreknowledge of what they shall afterwards become? But why should I reckon it cause for sorrow, that one man is thus ignorant of what another may become, when no man knows even what he himself is afterwards to be? The utmost that he knows, and that he knows but imperfectly, is his present condition; of what he shall hereafter become he has no knowledge." (St. Augustine, Doctor of the Church)

"So he who does the will of God is His friend and is honored with this name. He who is of one mind with Him, he too is His friend. For there is unity of mind in friends, and no one is more hateful than the man that injures friendship. Hence in the traitor the Lord found this the worst point on which to condemn his treachery, namely, that he gave no sign of gratitude and had mingled the poison of malice at the table of friendship. So He says: 'It was thou, a man of like mind, My guide and Mine acquaintance, who ever didst take pleasant meals with Me.' That is: it could not be endured, for thou didst fall upon Him Who granted grace to thee. 'For if My enemy had reproached Me I could have borne it, and I would have hid Myself from him who hated Me.' An enemy can be avoided; a friend cannot, if he desires to lay a plot. Let us guard against him to whom we do not entrust our plans; we cannot guard against him to whom we have already entrusted them. And so to show up all the hatefulness of the sin He did not say: Thou, My servant, My apostle; but thou, a man of like mind with Me; that is: thou art not My but thy own betrayer, for thou didst betray a man of like mind with thyself." (St. Ambrose, Doctor of the Church)

Also See: Companions / Associations | Associating with Catholics | Our Neighbor / Care & Treatment of Our Neighbor | Friends / Friendship (Topical Scripture)

Note: Categories are subjective and may overlap. For more items related to this topic, please review all applicable categories. For more 'Reflections' and for Scripture topics, see links below.

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Our Neighbor / Care & Treatment of Our Neighbor 

"He said to him, 'You shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the greatest and the first commandment. The second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. The whole law and the prophets depend on these two commandments.'" (Our Lord Jesus Christ, Mt. 22:37-40)

"Love does no evil to the neighbor; hence, love is the fulfillment of the law." (St. Paul, Rom. 13:10)

"No one should seek his own advantage, but that of his neighbor." (St. Paul, 1 Cor. 10:24)

"One must see God in everyone." (St. Catherine Laboure)

"It is to those who have the most need of us that we ought to show our love most especially." (St. Francis de Sales, Doctor of the Church)

"We must desire our neighbor's good and rejoice when he obtains it. And on the other hand, we must be sorry for his misfortunes." (St. Alphonsus Liguori, Doctor of the Church)

"If someone else is harboring ill-feeling against you, show yourself friendly towards him and also humble. Treat him well and you will set him free from his passion." (St. Maximus the Confessor)

"Don't think that, because the particular virtues you have in mind don't shine in your neighbor, he won't be precious in God's sight for something you're not thinking about." (St. John of the Cross, Doctor of the Church)

"For he who is good to both good and wicked is better than he who is good only to the good. And he who is good to the wicked by both punishing and sparing them is better than he who is good to the wicked only by punishing them." (St. Anselm of Canterbury, Doctor of the Church)

"God said: I have placed you in the midst of your fellows so that you may do to them what you cannot do to Me - that is, so that you may love your neighbor freely without expecting any return from him. And what you do to him I count as done to Me." (St. Catherine of Siena, Doctor of the Church)

"Be humble toward God and gentle with your neighbor. Judge and accuse no one but yourself, and ever excuse others. Speak of God always to praise and glorify him, speak of your neighbor only with respect - do not speak of yourself at all, either well or ill." (St. Margaret Mary Alacoque)

"Should it happen that, in a fit of passion, you have insulted a neighbor, charity requires that you use every means to allay his wounded feelings, and to remove from his heart all sentiments of rancor towards you. The best means for making reparation for the violation of charity, is to humble yourself to the person whom you have offended." (St. Alphonsus Liguori, Doctor of the Church)

"In every man is to be found something that makes it possible to deem him better than ourselves, according to Philippians 2:3, 'In humility, let each esteem others better than themselves,' and thus, too, we should all be on the alert to do honor to one another." (St. Thomas Aquinas, Doctor of the Church and "greatest theologian in the history of the Church")

"You must not only be prayerful and lead a spiritual life, but you must make it congenial to each and every one around you. Now they will admire it, if you make it serviceable and pleasant. The sick will esteem your devotion if it brings them loving consolation; your family, if they realize it makes you more mindful of their well-being, more approachable in a crisis, more gentle in reproof, and so forth; your husband, if he sees that as your spiritual life advances, the more you do smile upon him and prove your love for him by your sweet bearing; your parents and friends, if they note in you a greater generosity, loyalty, and courteous yielding to their wishes so long as the latter to not transgress God's will. In a word, as far as you possibly can, make your piety attractive." (St. Francis de Sales, Doctor of the Church)

Also See: Looking to the Good of Others | Love / Charity | Christian Behavior Towards Others (Topical Scripture) | Give & Take (Reflections) | Volunteers' Corner (Reflections) | Teachings of Jesus (Scripture/Parables) | Other New Testament Teachings (Scripture/Parables)

Note: Categories are subjective and may overlap. For more items related to this topic, please review all applicable categories. For more 'Reflections' and for Scripture topics, see links below.

Top | Reflectns.: A-Z | Catg. | Scripture: A-Z | Catg. | Help