Word to the Wise
Sunday, March 2, 2025 - 8th Sunday in Ordinary Time - C [Pentecost 2010]
[Sir 27:5-8; 1 Cor 15:54-58; Luke 6:39-45]The fruit of a tree shows the care it has had; so too does one's speech disclose the bent of one's mind. Praise no one before he speaks, for it is then that people are tested. [Sirach] "A good tree does not bear rotten fruit, nor does a rotten tree bear good fruit....A good person out of the store of goodness in his heart produces good, but an evil person out of a store of evil produces evil; for from the fullness of the heart the mouth speaks." [Luke]
The Book of Sirach and the portion of the Gospel According to Luke that contains Jesus' "sermon on the plain" are both collections of sayings from a wise teacher. The image of a fruit tree shows up in both collections today. The connection between who we are and what we say or do is highlighted.
I once saw a sign at a Dominican house that read: "Be sure your brain is in gear before setting your mouth in motion!" Another saying comes from a wooden plaque I once gave my dad: "Lord, help my words to be gracious and tender today. For, tomorrow I may have to eat them!" The things we say can come back to haunt us. Our words should reflect our integrity and not just our momentary emotional response. I know that is easier "said" than "done." All of this is particularly important in preaching because it is the Word of God that the preacher is offering to the listener. Every parent or teacher knows that children and students can detect sincerity or phoniness. We know from our own experience that words spoken in anger are especially remembered by the person who hears them.
The words from Sirach offer this challenge: "The fruit of a tree shows the care it has had.." What care do we take of our integrity so that our speech will reflect it? AMEN