Hajja Salesjana April June 2018

1 6 Christian people. Prophets are to speak God’s Word. ‘Israel’s watchmen are blind: they are all ignorant, they are all dumb dogs, they cannot bark’  (Isaiah 56:10). So our speech is riddled with what it should not have and devoid of what it should. How wretched indeed is our condition! Well, James did say, ‘Anyone who is never at fault in what he says is perfect!’ There are many cautions to be guided by when it comes to speech. Here is another list of Scripture passages concerning speech, most of them taken from the Wisdom Tradition. Read and heed! • ‘Be swift to hear, but slow to answer. If you have the knowledge, answer your neighbor; if not, put your hand over your mouth. Honour and dishonour through talking! A man’s tongue can be his downfall. Be not called a detractor; use not your tongue for calumny’  (Sirach 5:13-16). • ‘He who repeats an evil report has no sense. Never repeat gossip, and you will not be reviled. … Let anything you hear die within you; be assured it will not make you burst. But when a fool hears something, he is in labor, like a woman giving birth to a child. … Like an arrow lodged in a man’s thigh is gossip in the breast of a fool … every story you must not believe … who has not sinned with his tongue?’  (Sirach 19:5-14 varia) • ‘Do not be quick with your mouth, do not be hasty in your heart to utter anything before God. God is in heaven and you are on earth, so let your words be few. … Do not let your mouth lead you into sin. … Much dreaming and many words are meaningless. Therefore fear God’  (Eccles 5:1-6). • ‘He who guards his lips guards his life, but he who speaks rashly will come to ruin’ ( Prov 13:3). • ‘A gossip betrays a confidence; so avoid a man who talks too much’  (Prov 20:19). • ‘A man of knowledge uses words with restraint, and a man of understanding is even-tempered. Even a fool is thought wise if he keeps silent, and discerning if he holds his tongue’  (Prov 17:27-28). • ‘The Lord detests lying lips, but he delights in men who are truthful. A prudent man keeps his knowledge to himself, but the heart of fools blurts out folly’  (Prov 12:22- 23). • ‘The tongue that brings healing is a tree of life, but a deceitful tongue crushes the spirit’ (Prov 15:4). • ‘Some people make cutting remarks, but the words of the wise bring healing’  (Prov 12:18). • ‘The heart of the righteous weighs its answers, but the mouth of the wicked gushes evil’  (Prov 15:28).