For the Love of Us All

TAME THAT TONGUE---gossip

How many of us gossip

How many of us

Have listened to gossip

I would say, virtually, at some point or another,

Every one of us

Yet in both Romans !;29

And in 2 Corinthians 12:20

Saint Paul lists gossip among various sins

And says it is WRONG

And in James 3, James writes,

“Likewise

The tongue is a small part of the body

But it makes great boasts

Consider what a great forest

Is set on fire by a small spark

The tongue also is a fire

A world of evil among parts of the body

It corrupts the whole person

Sets the whole course of his life

On fire

And is itself set on fire by hell”

Once upon a time

A woman went to a confessional and said,

“Father, I am a very good person

I just have one small fault

I talk about my friends and neighbors”

Father said,

“For your penance

I want you to go down to the market

And buy a chicken

And come back next week”

The woman thought to herself,

How sensible---instead of 2 Our Fathers-3 Hail Mary’s

He’s going to use the chicken to feed the hungry

The next week

The woman takes the chicken  back to the priest

And the priest says:

“I want you to go down to the market place

And pluck the chicken

And spread the feathers everywhere

Then come back next week”

The woman thought to herself,

“Now that’s real penance---but I am sure

Father knows what he is doing”

The woman goes back the next week

And Father says,

“Now I want you

 To go and get all the feathers

And put them back on the chicken”

The woman became appalled and said,

“But Father, how can I do that

I don’t know where they are

They have blown here, there, and everywhere”

Father just said, “Exactly”

The woman got the point

And never gossiped again

My friends

We all have a choice

In how to use our tongue

TO BUILD OTHERS UP

Or to tear them down

But if you decide

To continue to gossip

Ask yourself questions

IS IT TRUE?
IS IT KIND?
IS IT NECESSARY?

“Without wood a fires goes out

Without gossip

A quarrel dies down”                                                      Proverbs 26:26

My mother used to say,

“If you can’t say anything good

Don’t say anything at all”

My friends

I think that that is a great philosophy

To follow

BUILD EACH OTHER UP

Robert P. Wallman

2-18-12