Newsletter – 8th Sunday in Ordinary Time. Year C.

‘Wars begin from the tongue’, says Pope Francis. Reflecting on today’s Gospel passage, he draws our attention to the importance of choosing our words carefully, lest they become ‘bad fruit’.

He also reminds us that words can be destructive. If we are ‘grumbling, gossiping, speaking ill of others’, he says, then we are engaging in activity that ‘destroys the family, destroys school, destroys the workplace, destroys the neighbourhood.’

Commenting on how words can amplify attitudes, the Pope wants us to remember that ‘through our tongue we can also feed prejudices, raise barriers.’

This is especially true online. Stressing that these days ‘words travel fast’, the Pope remarks that ‘too many of them convey anger and aggression, feed false news and take advantage of collective fears to propagate distorted ideas.’

Christians should ‘be reflective, not reactive’ when engaging with other people online. We should always ‘be mindful of posting and sharing content that can cause misunderstanding, exacerbate division, incite conflict, and deepen prejudices.’ We should look for those digital splinters that might be distorting our own perspectives before we jump online to accost others.

Ultimately, the Pope wants us to remember that our words always affect another person.