8th Sunday - Open Mouth Insert Foot

 

Today we will focus on our speech, the words we speak. In the first reading, Sirach said, “...one’s speech discloses the bent of one’s mind” and “Praise no one before he speaks, for it is then people are tested.” And in the Gospel we heard, “From the fullness of the heart, the mouth speaks”.

Our words reveal what’s important to us, what is at the forefront of our thoughts and desires. During the day our heart is filled with many different things: gratitude, worry, trust, frustration, anger, fear, ambition, or love. One minute we can be filled with joy and happiness. Then if something bad happens, we can become afraid or angry. Later in the day, our heart can be moved to pity for someone we see who is suffering. Throughout the day we have a wide range of emotions, which can affect the way we think and the words we speak.

Before Adam and Eve committed the original sin, they could perfectly control their emotions. But after the fall, they and everyone after them no longer have complete mastery over what we think and what we do. Its difficult at times to control our fears, or anger, or sadness. All of us struggle. We are all human. No one can perfectly control their emotions. Emotions in themselves are neutral and they can be used for a good purpose. For example the emotion of anger over an injustice can move us to do something to rectify the injustice, so the circumstance becomes just. Our when our heart is moved with pity at the sight of a poor person, we are moved by love to help them and others in their poverty.

If we allow our will to choose to control what we think and what we say, we will practice virtue. If we don’t allow our will to choose to control what we think or what we say, we can end up saying and doing really wrong things or say things that are hurtful to others, because it is then we allow our emotions to control us. Sometimes we don’t think before we speak.

We can see in scripture times when some of the apostles acted more out of emotion than out of reason. When the storm came up on the lake and the apostles cried out in fear, “Teacher, do you not care if we perish?” This event revealed their lack of faith and trust in times of turmoil. They allowed their fear to treat Jesus as though He didn’t care.

When Jesus was suffering His agony in garden, all apostles fled out of fear when He was arrested. On a different occasion, James and John were so angry, they wanted to call down fire on those who rejected Jesus. Our Lord even nicknamed them “sons of thunder”. Jesus wanted to teach them its better to pray for them, rather than to harm them.

You have heard the expression, “open mouth, insert foot”. At times, we can accidentally say the wrong thing, which can offend others or embarrass our self. This phrase comes from a disease called foot and mouth disease. Mostly children get the disease, but adults can get it as well. It comes from kissing or hugging or touching your feet and then your mouth. The virus causes blisters in the mouth, rash and a fever. Try to think about the last time you opened your mouth and inserted your foot saying something embarrassing to you or to others.

Sometimes we can say things that are not so smart such as when Peter told Jesus to not go to Jerusalem to avoid being killed. But he is corrected, when Our Lord said, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me; you do not have in mind the concerns of God, but merely human concerns.” Or during the transfiguration, when Peter said, “Lord, it is good we are here. Let us build three tents, one for you, one for Moses and one for Elijah.” Peter wasn’t thinking before he spoke at either of these occasions.
We are human. We are not perfect. We all make mistakes. No one ever does everything perfect, except of course Jesus and Mary, who were perfect and never suffered from original sin.

We are influenced by what happens to us, by our experiences of life and we react to them by our emotions and feelings. And if we are careful, we can react more out of reason and virtue, rather than out of emotion or just not thinking before speaking.

When someone loses their temper or fails the control to their words, we should have in mind a thought of charity towards them and say, “Been there, done that! I know what that’s like. I will say a prayer for them because they acted more out of emotion than of reason. Or they just weren’t thinking.” Or if we lose our temper with our spouse or children, immediately afterwards, we can act out of humility and forgiveness, by admitting we done wrong. For example, we can say to our spouse or children, “I’m sorry I lost my temper. I didn’t mean what I said, I acted more out of emotion than what I really think. Please forgive me.” By doing this, we give good example to others especially children, so they too learn to apologize and ask for forgiveness when they also make mistakes.

If we fail to control our words, due to habit of gossiping or cussing or if we say uncharitable words, we can look to the book of James for advice. He said, “When we put bits into the mouths of horses to make them obey us, we can turn the whole animal. Or take ships as an example. Although they are so large and are driven by strong winds, they are steered by a very small rudder wherever the pilot wants to go. Likewise, the tongue is a small part of the body, but it makes great boasts. Consider what a great forest is set on fire by a small spark. The tongue also is a fire, a world of evil among the parts of the body. It corrupts the whole body, sets the whole course of one’s life on fire, and is itself set on fire by hell. All kinds of animals, birds, reptiles and sea creatures are being tamed and have been tamed by mankind, but no human being can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison. With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse human beings, who have been made in God’s likeness. Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing. My brothers and sisters, this should not be. Can both fresh water and salt water flow from the same spring?”

Most importantly, when we sin or commit some sort of mistake in our speech or actions or in our thoughts, we should immediately tell Jesus we are sorry, because He too is offended. Yet, if we come to Him in humility and love asking for forgiveness, we will trust in His mercy.

For example, one day, St. Faustina made a sincere resolution to not lapse into some fault. But later in the day, she did it anyway. She said she went to the chapel and fell at the feet of Jesus (in the Eucharist), and apologized to the Lord. She then heard these words, “If it hadn’t been for this small perfection, you wouldn’t have come to Me. Know as often as you come to me, humbling yourself and asking My forgiveness, I pour out superabundance of graces on your soul, and your imperfection vanishes before My eyes, and I see only your love and your humility. You lose nothing, but gain much.” #1293

As we begin Lent this coming week on Ash Wednesday, let us resolve to control our emotions, thoughts and words. Though we can never perfectly control them, as long as we try, we will grow in virtue, and become more merciful to others, truly loving them and forgiving them and ask pardon, when we hurt them. And most importantly, we should come to Jesus, confess what we have done and ask Him for His forgiveness, trusting in His mercy. Knowing if, we ask Him for help, He will help us overcome our sins and our faults. And if we turn to the Virgin Mary, our advocate and our Mother, She will intercede for us because She truly is the refuge of sinners.