He
who
speaks
ill
of
his
neighbor
is
a
hypocrite
who
lacks the courage to look to his own
shortcomings. Speaking during his homily at
morning Mass at the Domus Sanctae Marthae,
Pope Francis focused on the fact that gossip
has a “criminal” side to it, because every time
we speak ill of our brothers, we imitate Caine’s
homicidal gesture.
The seed of Pope Francis’ homily on Friday was
Jesus’s thought provoking query when he
asked: “Why do you look at the speck of
sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no
attention to the plank in your own eye?” After
having spoken about humility – he said – Jesus
speaks to us of its opposite: “of that hateful
attitude towards one’s neighbor when one
becomes a “judge” of his brother”. In this
context – the Pope points out – Jesus uses a
strong word: “hypocrite”.
“Those who live judging their neighbor,
speaking ill of their neighbor, are hypocrites,
because they lack the strength and the courage
to look to their own shortcomings. The Lord
does not waste many words on this concept.
Further on he says that he who has hatred in
his heart for his brother is a murderer. In his
first letter, John the Apostle also says it
clearly: anyone who has hatred for his brother
is a murderer, he walks in darkness, he who
judges his brother walks in darkness”.
And so – Pope Francis continued – every time
we judge our brothers in our hearts – or worse
still when we speak ill of them with others, we
are Christian murderers:
“A Christian murderer…. It’s not me saying
this, it’s the Lord. And there is no place for
nuances. If you speak ill of your brother, you
kill your brother. And every time we do this,
we are imitating that gesture of Caine, the first
murderer in History”:
And the Pope added that in this time in history
when there is much talk of war and so many
pleas for peace, “a gesture of conversion on
our own behalf is necessary”. “Gossip – he
warned – always has a criminal side to it.
There is no such thing as innocent gossip”. And
quoting St. James the Apostle, the Pope said
the tongue is to be used to praise God, “but
when we use our tongue to speak ill of our
brother or sister, we are using it to kill God”,
“the image of God in our brother”. Some may
say – the Pope commented – that there are
persons who deserve being gossiped about. But
it is not so:
“Go and pray for him! Go and do penance for
her! And then, if it is necessary, speak to that
person who may be able to seek remedy for
the problem. But don’t tell everyone! Paul had
been a sinner, and he says of himself: I was
once a blasphemer, a persecutor, a violent
man. But I have been mercifully treated”.
Perhaps none of us are blasphemer –
perhaps… But if we ever gossip we are
certainly persecutors and violent. We ask for
grace so that we and the entire Church may
convert from the crime of gossip to love, to
humility, to meekness, to docility, to the
generosity of love towards our neighbor”.
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