Death and Life are in the Power of the Tongue
I'm sorry...I didn't mean it. I take it back.
Strike it from the record.
What is as irreversible as murder, violates its
victims more than theft, is as deadly as an
epidemic? And is a lot closer to you than you want
to think?
Gossip, slander, and thoughtless speech. Gossip is
a million dollar industry in our country today. We
tend to think of it as a sport, harmless and fun.
After all, it's only words.
As Christians, we are called to see it
differently. Which it worse, we must ask, to steal
from someone or to speak ill of someone? To
defraud a person or to humiliate him? Answer:
Property can be restored, but the damage done to
another can never be undone. In fact, our Jewish
ancestors compared slander and humiliation with
murder: the destruction is irreparable and
enduring.
You can't take it back. What we say about each
other is terribly powerful: words have a long,
long half-life, and they can destroy in unseen,
unhealable ways.
Our words are a footprint we leave for the world.
What will they reveal about the way we treat our
children, our parents, our friends, students,
co-workers, employees? How we treat ourselves?
It's a new year. Perhaps none of us will find a
cure for cancer, of feed the world's homeless, or
bring about world peace. But nearly every day we
find ourselves with someone's reputation or sense
of worth in our hands.
We can improve our world in a powerful, pervasive
way; we can act as though our words had the power
of life and death. They do.
As we begin this new year, we offer you
the following:
-
The
Rally for Life and Youth
Mass
is in Washington on January 22, 2004. Download
a flier, spread the word, board the bus, and
raise a sign!
-
Registration
Information for
Nexus 2004
will be mailed January 12, 2004. Online info
will arrive in the next issue of Ladders
Online.
-
There will be an Information/Planning Meeting
for
World Youth Day 2005
next month.
Fliers
are available online.
-
The young people of St. John's/Holy Angels
Youth Ministry are invited area youth to a
Multi Parish Bowling
Lock-In
on Valentine's Day weekend. Download a flyer
for more information.
-
The
2004 Youth Ministry
Resource Manual
Living Justice, Proclaiming Peace is
now available from CYM. This annual resource
includes 13 sessions with activities, prayer
experiences, and reflections on the topic of
social justice. Because CYM buys in bulk, your
copies are just $10 and available by emailing
CYM.
-
The next session of the
Youth Ministry Institute
(YMI) is set for scheduled for February 21,
2004.
-
Lent begins on Ash Wednesday, February 25,
2004. Catholic Relief Services offers
Operation Rice Bowl
as an opportunity for faith communities in the
U.S. to pray, fast, learn, and give throughout
these 40 days. This year, Operation Rice Bowl
is offering a new way for individuals and
families to participate, with an online "virtual" Rice
Bowl opportunity.
Quotable:
"It is a form of trade, you see. I ask God for
souls and pay Him by giving up everything else."
Saint John Bosco
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