Spirituality: How to avoid sins of the tongue
For Confraternity Readers: Servus Mariae “Servus Mariae Nunquam Peribit” by Rev. Fr. Dominic Radecki, CMRI (Summer, 2017) In the book of Proverbs, we read: “In the multitude of words there shall not want sin” (Proverbs 10:19). Sins of speech are prevalent and many people simply talk too much. St. Francis de Sales advises us to “be brief and virtuous, brief and gentle, brief and charitable, brief and amiable,” in our speech, and St. Ignatius likewise exhorts us to be simple, direct and brief. Our words should be elevating to others, reflecting goodness and truth. Like the saints we should practice silence as an aid to recollection, prayer and union with God. Consequently, we should speak only when required by charity or duty. When a doctor begins a routine examination, he often begins by looking at the tongue. In ancient Chinese medicine, that organ indicates, to some degree, a person’s health.
