Word to the Wise
Saturday, February 18, 2012 - Saturday in the 6th Week in Ordinary Time
[Jas 3:1-10 and Mark 9:2-13]For every kind of beast and bird, of reptile and sea creature, can be tamed and has been tamed by the human species, but no man can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil full of deadly poison. With it we bless the Lord and father, and with it we curse men who are made in the likeness of God. From the same mouth come blessing and cursing. My brothers and sisters, this need not be so!
One failing I hear about more than almost anything else in the Sacrament of Reconciliation is gossip! People know the dangers of it and yet cannot seem to avoid it! The great moral theologian and confessor, St. Alphonsus Liguouri once told a penitent who confessed to gossip to take a goose feather pillow to the top of the Tower of Pisa, pour out all the feathers into the air and then go and pick up every one of them. When the penitent protested the task would be impossible, St. Alphonsus replied that gossip was like pouring out those feathers into the air! I have assigned the passage from James for reading to penitents and I've told the story of St. Alphonsus as well. The human tongue can do a lot of damage!
The Letter of James notes that the same tongue can both bless and curse! It can deliver praise (or homily!) or it can tear up a reputation. The expression, "tongue lashing" is very close to what can be done by human speech. The expression, "Hold your tongue!" gives us a "taste" of the challenge in taming the tongue! Perhaps reading this passage from the Letter of James today can provide us with some motivation. Learning to control the tongue could be a wonderful Lenten "penance!" AMEN
NOTE TO THE BELOVED CONGREGATION. Each year, the Southern Dominican Province, of which I am a member, appeals to friends and benefactors on behalf of our seminarians and elderly friars. We are a "mendicant order" and must beg for help - mendicare is Latin for "to beg!" We call this campaign the 1216 CAMPAIGN. [The Dominican Order was founded in 1216.] Our seminarians ("student brothers") and our elderly retired brothers are not able to engage in ministries that bring in revenue. So we appeal to our friends for help! If you can help, please send a check made out to SOUTHERN DOMINICAN PROVINCE with a notation "1216 Campaign" on it or else just make it out to 1216 CAMPAIGN and send it to SOUTHERN DOMINICAN PROVINCE, USA, 1421 NORTH CAUSEWAY BLVD., SUITE #200, METAIRIE, LA 70001-4144. If possible, please let them know that I asked you. They will notify me and I'll send a "Thank you!" Many thanks for your help! Fr. R. B. Williams, O.P.