Jun 14 2024 4 mins
Saturday 10th week in ordinary time "Mt 5:33-37"
"Again you have heard that it was said to the men of old, 'You shall not swear falsely, but shall perform to the Lord what you have sworn.' But I say to you, do not swear at all, either by heaven, for it is the throne of God, or by the earth, for it is his footstool, or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King. And do not swear by your head, for you cannot make one hair white or black. Let what you say be simply 'Yes' or 'No'; anything more than this comes from evil." Our Lord was very clear about the danger of not keeping our tongue tamed. It is not about finding the line between vulgarity, rude words and blasphemy. A few chapters later St Matthew refers to other powerful words of Jesus, "I tell you, on the day of judgment men will render account for every careless word they utter" (12:36). The teaching is simple: 'what you wouldn't say in front of the throne of God, don't say it'. For you are in fact before God all the time. The Apostle St James explained in his letter the importance of taming the tongue with an example: "Look at the ships also: though they are so large and are driven by strong winds, they are guided by a very small rudder wherever the will of the pilot directs. So also the tongue is a small member, yet it boasts of great things. How great a forest is set ablaze by such a small fire!" That is the first teaching of today's Gospel – to think carefully what we say before we say it. But there is a second point. What about 'those' who swear and even blaspheme, in front of us? They should be helped with charity. When St John Bosco was about 9 years old he had a dream. He was in a yard full of poverty-stricken boys who were blaspheming and swearing. Wanting to stop them mouthing "these evil words", John ran at them and started striking them with his fists. But he was prevented from throwing punches by a man in a white cloak whose face shone so brightly that young John could hardly look at him. The man said: "You will have to win over these friends of yours not by blows but by gentleness and love… I want you to teach them the ugliness of sin." When people utter bad words we can't just remain silent. Mary, Virgin Most Prudent, help me to tame my tongue and teach me to find the way to help others do the same.
"Again you have heard that it was said to the men of old, 'You shall not swear falsely, but shall perform to the Lord what you have sworn.' But I say to you, do not swear at all, either by heaven, for it is the throne of God, or by the earth, for it is his footstool, or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King. And do not swear by your head, for you cannot make one hair white or black. Let what you say be simply 'Yes' or 'No'; anything more than this comes from evil." Our Lord was very clear about the danger of not keeping our tongue tamed. It is not about finding the line between vulgarity, rude words and blasphemy. A few chapters later St Matthew refers to other powerful words of Jesus, "I tell you, on the day of judgment men will render account for every careless word they utter" (12:36). The teaching is simple: 'what you wouldn't say in front of the throne of God, don't say it'. For you are in fact before God all the time. The Apostle St James explained in his letter the importance of taming the tongue with an example: "Look at the ships also: though they are so large and are driven by strong winds, they are guided by a very small rudder wherever the will of the pilot directs. So also the tongue is a small member, yet it boasts of great things. How great a forest is set ablaze by such a small fire!" That is the first teaching of today's Gospel – to think carefully what we say before we say it. But there is a second point. What about 'those' who swear and even blaspheme, in front of us? They should be helped with charity. When St John Bosco was about 9 years old he had a dream. He was in a yard full of poverty-stricken boys who were blaspheming and swearing. Wanting to stop them mouthing "these evil words", John ran at them and started striking them with his fists. But he was prevented from throwing punches by a man in a white cloak whose face shone so brightly that young John could hardly look at him. The man said: "You will have to win over these friends of yours not by blows but by gentleness and love… I want you to teach them the ugliness of sin." When people utter bad words we can't just remain silent. Mary, Virgin Most Prudent, help me to tame my tongue and teach me to find the way to help others do the same.