Posted on 03/29/2013 11:34:24 AM PDT by NYer
2013-03-28 L’Osservatore Romano
Speaking poorly of someone else is equivalent to selling them. Like Judas, who sold Jesus for thirty pieces of silver. And it was precisely by drawing inspiration from the Gospel passage from Matthew which foretells the betrayal of Judas Iscariot that Pope Francis – in his brief Homily at the Mass he celebrated on Wednesday morning, 27 March, in the Chapel of the Domus Sanctae Marthae – put people on guard against gossip with an explicit invitation: “Never speak poorly of other people”.
Present at the celebration, as has now become a tradition, were several Vatican employees including a group from the Office of Papal Charities and a group from the Vatican Telephone Service, accompanied respectively by Archbishop Guido Pozzo, Almoner of His Holiness, and Fr Fernando Vérgez Alzaga, Director of Telecommunications, both of whom concelebrated.
The Pope wanted to leave them a thought on the action of Judas, one of Jesus' friends, who did not hesitate to sell him to the chief priests. “Jesus was like a commodity; he was sold. He was sold at that moment”, the Pope emphasized, “and also very frequently sold in the market of history, in the market of life, in the market of our lives. When we opt for thirty pieces of silver, we set Jesus aside”.
When we visit an acquaintance and the conversation turns into gossip, into back-stabbing and the person at the centre of our babbling “becomes a commodity. I do not know why”, the Pope said further, “but there is some arcane pleasure in scandalmongering”. We begin with kind words, “but then comes the gossip. And we begin to tear the other person to pieces”. And it is then that we must remember that every time we behave like this, “we are doing what Judas did”; when he went to the chief priests to sell Jesus, his heart was closed, he had no understanding, no love and no friendship. Thus Pope Francis took up one of his favourite themes, forgiveness. “We think of and ask for forgiveness”, because what we do to the other, to our friend, “we do to Jesus. Because Jesus is in this friend”. And if we realize that our gossiping can hurt someone, “let us pray the Lord, let us speak to the Lord about this, for the good of the other: Lord, help him”. So it must not be me, he therefore concluded, “who does justice with my own tongue. Let us ask the Lord for this grace”.
At the end of the celebration, the Holy Father remained in prayer at the back of the chapel. He then waited at the door for everyone who had come, to greet them one by one: for everyone a word, a smile, an encouragement and good wishes for Easter, now at hand.
Actually he is wise and loving and powerfully EFFECTIVE.
;-)
What part of "whitewashed sepulchers" did the Pope not read?
Is that so hard to understand?
Didn't we all get "context reading" in 5th grade?
The Pope is wrong. While he might find it bad form to speak poorly of others the Lord Almighty (who outranks Francis) commands that we are not to bear false witness.
Therefore you speak the TRUTH be it good or bad.
Did you read it?
He’s speaking of GOSSIP. Gossip is one of the most destructive things imaginable.
How politically correct is that? Or do the Gospels and Acts and Letters let THAT slide?
Actually, there's no 'sorry' about it.
A: Democrats.
Isn't that one word descriptive enough?
I don’t speak poorly.
When I describe someone as an idiot, I’m usually very precise!
It takes one to know one ;)
Let me put this into perspective for you all. If you complain to a neighbor about another neighbor allowing his/her children to play in the busy street and risk getting run over, you are NOT gossiping. You are merely warning people to watch for those unfortunate children, but if you say Mrs. So and So down the street is having an affair, you ARE gossiping.
How do you know?
Pope is not wrong. You may be misinterpreting to whom he's speaking and taking his message out of context. For example, he could be speaking about the media who has lied, twisted stories to defame someone just so they could keep their jobs ($$) and be the focus of attention. The media would be Judas. Those who repeat the media's lies, would be little judasses because they are magnifying lies and sacrificing someone good so they could make themselves look good and knowledgeable. They would be gossiping. THEY would be the ones bearing false witness!!
Now, if you say the media is lying and have facts to backup your position, you are then defending the truth and the person who is being defamed. You are not bearing false witness but are setting the truth free! Just make sure that while defending a good person, you do not put down the bearer of lies. Might as well not mention the liars/gossipers because that would still keep them on a pedestal.
That's what I get from Pope Francis' message.
If he is speaking against spreading falsehoods then he is right. If he is speaking against doing verbal harm to someone, even though that may be true, then he is wrong.
The truth deserves to be spoken boldly and without cessation.
Too many on FR have knee-jerk POLITICAL reactions to the Pope's words, forgetting that he's talking on a MORAL plane, not a political one.
The Church teaches against the sin of CALUMNY, which is speaking what might be the truth about someone, but doing so only to try to tear down that person, PERSONALLY, in the eyes of someone else, in order to hurt them. This isn't the same as pointing out what we might consider an error in someone's political views, in order to advance our own.
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