Words, words, words – they can be found everywhere.
Words spoken, printed, read, proclaimed, shouted, sung.
Your words, my words, those of the learned and those of the ignorant.
Those asserted by the bold and those whispered by the fearful.
The 1st reading of this Sunday is somehow an invitation to appraise our talk.
The wise author of the text says (Ecclesiasticus 27:4-7):
“The defects of a (man) person appear in (his) talking…
The test or a (man) person is in his/her conversation.
A (man’s) person’s words betray what he/she feels.”
Most of us do quite a lot of talking.
It would be interesting to look closely at our conversations with others and see what they reveal.
What shows itself in what we say?
Patience, hope, compassion, desire to understand, readiness to help…
Or, the opposite… indifference, selfishness, boasting, lack of respect…
I believe that the best way to appraise a conversation is to see its worth in the light of the one who is THE Word – Jesus himself.
Would he say what was just said?
Would he speak in the way the person has spoken?
Would he speak in such a situation or rather… keep silent?
Would he encourage, comfort, correct, reprove, invite, show the way?
This is the test for everyone who wants to be a follower of his…
Note: Another reflection on a different theme is available in French at: https://image-i-nations.com/8e-dimanche-de-lannee-c-2022/