There is so much wisdom in today's first reading! We all want to be popular, all want to be loved and appreciated. And we presume that, if we are really good people, really caring, really trying to set a good example to others of being friendly and nice, people will in return shower us with love. Unfortunately, very often the very opposite happens. Good people are seen as a threat to some people and we can be attacked precisely because of our goodness. Jesus told us to love our neighbour as ourselves, to take care of the poor, the sick, the lonely, the marginalised but He never said that we would be loved in return. And Jesus Himself is the perfect example. Here is a Person in the very image of God, full of love and compassion, and yet He generated so much hatred and resentment - ending in the appalling death on the cross, rejected and despised. We can expect no better. At the same time, the only way to respond to people is positively, never negatively. If we really try to be loving people, there will always be some who will respond. It is they who keep us going.