SPEAK AS THE ORACLES OF GOD

A MESSAGE FOR THE SUNDAY WITHIN THE OCTAVE OF ASCENSION

We can’t wait to open our mouths and join in the conversations that go on around us.  Conversations about current events, deep theological matters, moral dilemmas, political controversies, even the most banal of subjects.  Sometimes we indulge in gossip, reluctantly perhaps, or maybe not. Our words are sometimes truthful, sometimes exaggerated, at other times, downright lies.  We talk to show off what we know, to pass the time, to keep others company, to get to know someone better.  We talk to the people we are with, and now with the help of technology, we talk to people on our cell phones, via Skype, or often simply by texting. We express our likes and dislikes, our opinions, our hopes and fears, our beliefs, our love and our hatred.

Considering that we were given two ears but only one mouth, it might seem that we give that mouth an inordinate amount of exercise.  Our first pope, St. Peter, in today’s Epistle, admonishes us that ifwe open our mouths to speak, we should speak “as the oracles of God.”  It would be most appropriate for us in our nightly examination of conscience to consider the words we have spoken during the course of the day, comparing them to the exhortation of St. Peter.  Has our speech been constantly as the oracles of God?  I think that if we were diligent in this examination, the lines for confession would be a lot longer on Sunday morning.

We might wonder what it is to speak “as the oracles of God.”  We could go into many details and distinctions on our tone of voice, our depth of meaning, the foundation of our words in charity and truth, our motivation for speaking to someone and the kindness with which our words are uttered.  But it all boils down to one thing: that when we speak, we do so with “the ability which God giveth, that God in all things may be glorified through Jesus Christ our Lord. This does not mean that every single conversation should be aboutGod specifically.  But it does mean that our every word should reflect something of God’s love, and never anything that would draw our hearer away from Him.  To do so would be true scandal, and would not be befitting for a Catholic gentleman or lady.

So let’s think before we open our mouths.  What is our motivation for speaking?  Do we have anything worthwhile to say?  Do we know that what we say is true and charitable?  This pause before you speak is worth more than all the words you are about to spew forth, so take the time to make that pause, and only then, let your words be as the oracles of God.