Saint Peter instructed us to “refrain his tongue from evil, and his lips that they speak no guile.” Our Gospel causes us to reflect upon the importance of charity when it pertains to our thoughts concerning others. To murder someone is something which is wrong and sinful, but we cannot forget or lessen the importance of our thoughts, words, and actions when it pertains to another.
One place where we allow ourself to lose such charity is in gossip. Through gossip we allow our lips to be opened wide in order that they speak ill and ruin the good name of another. As Pope Francis has stated concerning gossip, “Gossip is not a work of the Holy Spirit, it is not a work of the unity of the Church. Gossip destroys the work of God.”
We must step back and analyze the ways in which we navigate this life seeking gain over the ills of another. Christ welcomes us into the sheepfold. Not that we may be an individual at the expense of others, but that we may enter into a community. Charity is twofold. On one hand we must have love for God and on the other hand we must have love for one another. These two realities cannot be separated from one another.
Christ does not lay down His life upon the cross in order that we fail to forgive those who have trespassed against us. By His very sacrificial action we are called upon to live and share the love of Christ with one another. Charity causes us to look upon another as one who has been created in the image and likeness of God and to treat them as such. Our world expresses to us various means which detract upon the dignity of the human person.
In approaching the altar of God it becomes important for us to be reflective of those ways in which we have failed to live as a true Christian disciple. It is the Lord who heals us of our burdens in the confessional in order that we may approach the Eucharist with a true sense of humility. For in the Eucharist we approach not bread, but Christ who has taken on our human flesh and made His dwelling among us.
How are we being called to better live out Christian charity? Instead of using words of condemnation we must begin to use words of blessing. Saint Therese of Lisieux accounts an older nun who drove her crazy with the noise that she would make. She became determined to not give into these annoying gestures, but to make an act of her will to deal with this annoyance as if this noise was music to Christ.
My brothers and sisters in Christ, we are called to live such charity in the midst of our ordinary lives. Let us draw close to Christ and through Him be transformed as we are sent forth to live out charity with all whom we encounter especially those who are most difficult. In such manner we give true honor, glory, and praise unto God. Let us refrain our tongue from evil and may our lips speak no guile.
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