Pope Francis on gossip: ‘We are using it to kill God’

By Jennifer Rey"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?" Pope Francis has used strong words recently when speaking against gossip, saying it is a "slap" to Jesus and that "it ruins your soul." But in a homily at morning Mass last week, Pope Francis added "murder," "criminal" and "hypocrite" to the list, clearly designating the seriousness of the issue."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," said the pope. "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."As Christians, we are called to love our neighbors, not talk about them behind their backs, whether true or not. As Pope Francis notes, our tongues are meant to praise God, not to speak negatively about members of his body.Pope Francis said gossip makes us "Christian murderers," and "when we use our tongue to speak ill of our brother or sister, we are using it to kill God."Those are strong words, but they are true. The commandment "Thou shall not kill" means far more than physical murder. Careless or malicious words break down our fellow Christians, when we should be building each other up.In Matthew, Jesus speaks on this:

"You have heard that it was said to the men of old, 'You shall not kill; and whoever kills shall be liable to judgment.' But I say to you that every one who is angry with his brother shall be liable to judgment; whoever insults his brother shall be liable to council, and whoever says, 'You fool!' shall be liable to the hell of fire" (Mt 5:21-22).

So what do we do instead? Pope Francis said we should pray and do penance for that person. If necessary, charitably speak about the problem to that person and work together toward holiness.This week, when you encounter someone who frustrates you, perhaps you can say a kind word to them or pray for them instead of harboring resentment.You can even use this short prayer from Pope Francis: "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."What are other ways that we speak more charitably? You can find ideas in a recent In Focus article from OSV Newsweekly: "Did you hear? Gossip 'ruins your soul.'"Jennifer Rey is the web editor of Our Sunday Visitor Publishing.