Word to the Wise
Saturday, February 19, 2022 - 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! [James]
The great moral theologian and founder of the Redemptorist order, St. Alphonsus Ligouri, once gave a gossipy lady an unusual penance. She was to go up to the top of a local tower with a feather pillow, dump the feathers into the air and then go down and collect them all! When she protested the penance, he told her that's how her gossip worked. I suppose we would say it went "viral!"
All of us at one time or another say things we shouldn't say. The Letter of James reminds us of the difficult discipline of the tongue and speech. Once the words are out of our mouth, the interpretation belongs to someone else! We can hurt and praise, affirm and criticize, encourage or discourage! Such power is often unthought of by us, but it is there. Taming it in a Christian way is a major challenge. We might meditate on the expression: "A closed mouth gathers no foot!" AMEN