Pope: "No such thing as innocent gossip" when we speak ill of others we are "homicidal Christians"
Vatican City (
AsiaNews) - "There is no such thing as innocent gossip" , every time
we " judge our brothers in our hearts and worse, when we talk about this
with others we become homicidal Christians " who "kill" our brothers
and sisters instead of praying for them and speaking openly with them. Again
Pope Francis returned to the subject of "gossip" often stigmatized in his
homilies as a factor of division and lack of charity within the Church.
Vatican
Radio reports that today, during the Mass celebrated in Casa Santa Marta , he
developed his reflections from the words of Jesus : " Why do you notice the splinter in your brother's eye,but do not perceive the wooden beam in your own" a question that shakes the conscience of
every man, in every age. After
having spoken of humility, he noted, Jesus speaks to us of its opposite, "a
hateful attitude towards others, to become the judge of our brother and sister".
And here Jesus
, "uses a strong word : hypocrite". "Those
who live judging others, speaking ill of others, are hypocrites because they do
not have the strength, the courage to look at their own faults . The Lord does
not speak much of this. But later on he says those who have hate in their
hearts are murderers... Even the Apostle John , in his first letter, clearly
states: he who hates his brother walks
in darkness , and he who judges his brother, walks in darkness . "
Every
time we "judge our brothers in our hearts and worse, when we talk about him
with others we become homicidal Christians ." "A
homicidal Christian ... Its not me who says this! The Lord says this! There is
no room for doubt about this. If you speak evil of your brother, you kill your brother.
And we, every time we
do that, we imitate the gesture of Cain, the first murderer in history".
And
at this time when there is so much talk of war and so many people asking for peace,
"we need the gesture of our conversion". "Gossip
always carries within a criminal dimension.
There is no such thing as innocent gossip. There are innocent people." Quoting
again from the Apostle James, the tongue is to praise God , " but when we
use our tongue to speak evil of a brother or sister , we use it to kill
God," " the image of God in our brother " .
Some
might say that a person deserves to be gossiped about. But it can not be so. Go, pray for him! Arise, do penance for her!
And then , if necessary, speak to the person who can remedy the problem. But do
not tell everyone! ' . Paul was a serious sinner , and he says, of
himself: ' Before I was a blasphemer, and a persecutor , and an insolent . But
I received mercy ' . Maybe none of us blasphemes - maybe. But if any of us gossip, then we are certainly a persecutor,
and an insolent. Let us ask for ourselves, for the whole Church , the grace of
conversion from the crime of gossip to love , humility, meekness, gentleness,
and the magnanimity of love of neighbor . "
.png)
