Homily for the 13th Sunday
in Ordinary Time, Year C, 2022
Saint Paul
warns the Galatians in today’s 2nd reading “if you go on biting and
devouring one another, beware that you are not consumed by one another.”
One of the
main ways that we bite and devour one another is through gossip.
And gossip
is everywhere in our country today. We
have entire channels on our televisions dedicated 24 hours a day 7 days a week
to gossip. We have an entire genre of
gossip magazines. Our newspapers have
gossip columns. The number of websites
completely dedicated to Gossip are uncountable because there are so many.
And yet
Saints Paul, James and John all warn, in the New Testament, that Gossip is
mortally sinful.
Just a few
examples. Saint Paul warns the Ephesians
in chapter 4 verse 29 Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths,
but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that
it may benefit those who listen.
Saint James
says in Chapter 4 verse 11 “Brothers and sisters, do not slander one another.
Anyone who speaks against a brother or sister or judges them speaks against the
law.”
Saint Paul
warns the Romans in Chapter 1 verses 29 and 30 “They have become filled with
every kind of wickedness, They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit and
malice. They are gossips, and slanderers”
And Pope
Francis recently said that gossip is worse than Covid.
I have
recently committed to never speaking about a person who is not present, unless
my speak praises the person not present.
The only exception to this is when I am asked to evaluate a person,
either by the Archdiocese or some other relevant organization, in which case I
give an honest assessment of that person even though they are not present.
Let us
commit to using our words to build up others, and not risk Hell in spreading
gossip about others.
I agree 99% here. However it should be noted that warning other people that a certain person is violent or abusive should not count as violence. Sometimes oppressors misuse the Church teaching about gossip in order to leverage their victims into silence. Obviously we shouldn’t try to make endless exceptions so that we get to gossip all the time, but as a rule of thumb, if something is done to you that is a criminal felony, it’s ok to let people know about it (provided your intention is protecting yourself and others and not merely getting vengeance on the other person). -Jack DisPennett
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