Alphonsus Liguori

“ Ask the wicked why they have made a certain innocent young man fall into sin, and they will answer: We have done it without cause; we only wish to see him do what we ourselves do. This, says St. Ephrem, is one of the artifices of the devil: when he has caught a soul in his net, he makes him a snare, or a decoy, to deceive others. ”

“ A young man refuses, through the fear of God, to commit a certain sin: an incarnate devil, a bad companion comes and says to him what the serpent said to Eve: “No; you shall not die the death." (Gen. iii. 4.) What are you afraid of? How many others commit this sin? You are young; God will have pity on your youth. ”

“ The leprosy resembles sin. As the leprosy is a contagious disease, so the bad habits of the wicked infect others who associate with them. Hence, the leper who wishes to be cured shall never be healed unless he separates from bad companions. He that keeps company with robbers soon becomes a thief. In this discourse I shall show, that, to lead a good life, it is necessary to avoid bad companions.
1. "A friend of fools," says the Holy Ghost, "shall become like them." ”

“ When any passion is kindled within us, we must be particularly careful in selecting the persons whom we will consult. For, then the passion itself will incline us to seek counsel from those who will probably give the advice which is most agreeable to the passion. ”

“ Augustine writes of himself, that when he associated with bad companions, who boasted of their wickedness, he felt himself impelled to sin without shame; and to appear like them, he gloried in his evil actions. ” Pudebat," he says, ” me esse pudentem." (Lib. 2, de Conf., c. ix.) Hence Isaias admonishes you to ” touch no unclean thing." (Isa. lii. 11.) Touch not what is unclean: if you do, you too shall be polluted. He that handles pitch, says Ecclesiasticus, shall certainly be denied with it; and they who keep company with the proud shall be clothed with pride. ”

“ One of these scandalous sinners is able, by a perverse maxim, to infect all his companions. They are the false prophets whom Jesus Christ warns us to avoid. "Beware of false prophets." (Matt. vii. 15 ) False prophets deceive, not only by false predictions, but also by false maxims or doctrines, which are productive of the greatest mischief. For, as Seneca says, they leave in the soul certain seeds of iniquity which lead to evil. ” Semina in animo relinqueunt, quæ inducunt ad malum. ” It is too true that scandalous language, as experience proves, corrupts the morals of those who hear it. ”

“ John Chrysostom said, that if we wish to know a man‟s moral habits, we have only to observe the character of the friends with whom he associates; because friendship finds or makes him like his friends. ”

“ Would you live in the midst of scorpions? You must, then, fly from scandalous friends, who, by their bad examples and words, poison your soul. ” A man‟s enemies shall be they of his own household." (Matt. x. 36.) Wicked friends, that are very familiar and intimate with us, become the most pernicious enemies of our souls. ”

“ First, because, to please his friends, a man will endeavour to imitate them; secondly, because, as Seneca says, nature inclines men to do what they see others do. And the Scripture says: * They were mingled among the heathens, and learned their works." (Ps. cv. 35.) According to St. Basil, as air which comes from pestilential places causes infection, so, by conversation with bad companions, we almost imperceptibly contract their vices. ”

“ My son," says Solomon, "if sinners shall entice thee, consent not to them." (Prov. i. 10.) Without the decoy, birds are not enticed into the fowler’s net. ” Will the bird fall into the snare upon the earth if there be no fowler?" (Amos iii. 5.) The devil employs vicious friends as decoys, to draw so many souls into the snare of sin. ”