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May the Lord grant us the grace to be attentive to the comments we make about others. This was the prayer of Pope Francis on Thursday morning during his homily at the Mass celebrated in the chapel of the Casa Santa Marta, where he resides. A homily in Spanish, because the guests came from the embassies and consulates of Argentina in Italy and to the FAO, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. « I had not celebrated Mass in Spanish since February 26 », the Pope confided, three months after his election, « and it did me a great deal of good ». He then thanked the participants at this Mass for all they do for their homeland, Argentina.
«Let your righteousness surpass that of the Pharisees ». Pope Francis took this exhortation of Jesus to his disciples as the guiding thread of his homily. Words that come after the Beatitudes and after Jesus had made clear that He comes not to abolish the Law, but rather to fulfill it. « His reform, the Pope declared, is a reform without rupture, a reform in continuity: from the seed to the fruit ». Whoever « enters into the Christian life has higher demands than other people », « he does not have more advantages ». And Jesus mentions some of these demands, addressing in particular «the theme of the negative relationship with our brothers».
Anger toward others, and insults, must be avoided
Whoever curses, Jesus affirms, « deserves hell ». If in our heart there is « something negative » toward our brother, the Pope commented, « something is wrong, and we must convert, we must change ». And he added that « anger against our brother is an insult, it is already something that lies along the line of death », « that kills him ». The Pope then observed that often in the Latin tradition we find a « marvelous creativity » in inventing epithets. But, he warned, « when that epithet is friendly, fine; the problem, however, is when we have the other kind of epithet, when we enter into the « mechanism of insult », « a form of disparaging the other ».
« There is no need to go to the psychologist, the Pope declared, to know that when someone disparages another, it is because he himself cannot grow, and so he needs the other to be lowered, in order to feel like someone ». And « that is an ugly mechanism ». « Jesus, the Pope emphasized, says quite simply: « Do not speak ill of one another. Do not disparage others. » « Because in reality we are all on the same road, the Pope added, we are all on this road that will lead us to our end ». The Pope continued his reflection: « If we do not choose a fraternal road, we will all end badly: the one who insults and the one who is insulted ».
Pruning our tongue and our comments against others
The Pope then observed that « if someone is not able to master his speech, he loses himself », and moreover « natural aggression, that of Cain toward Abel, is repeated throughout history ». « It is not that we are wicked, the Pope added, but we are weak and sinners ». That is why « it is much easier to settle a situation with insults, with slander, with defamation, than with good manners » .
« I would like to ask the Lord to give us all the grace to be more attentive to what we say, to what we say about others ». « It is a small penance, the Pope added, but it produces good results ». « That is why we must ask the Lord for this grace: to order our life « by this new Law, which is the Law of gentleness, the Law of love, the Law of peace, and « to prune our tongue a little, to prune a little those comments we address to others or those outbursts that lead us all too easily to insult or to become angry. May the Lord grant us all this grace! »
Source: News.va
