Serving while speaking: 6th Saturday of the year

Speaking is such an easy thing to do that we often ignored how important it is, not only for the listener but also, and perhaps mainly for the speaker. While  we might think that we control our speech, in a subtle way, at times, our speech controls us.

” Not many of you should become teachers, my brothers, for you realize that we will be judged more strictly, for we all fall short in many respects”. (Jm 3:1,2)

With greater knowledge comes greater responsibility. That is true. But with the mission of speaking, every greater responsibility is attached to it. Not only teachers may mislead others, they are also bound to make mistakes because “the tongue” is nearly impossible to control.

With the ministry of teaching, both humility and courage are required. Humility to accept a service that entails constant failing and at the same time, the courage to face the challenge of trying to control “the tongue.”

Our world is learning to use more civilized means of interaction. Where in the yester years we had wars, today diplomacy substitutes, and only when the latter fails, do the weapons take over.

With greater power comes a greater responsibility. With greater power to speech today comes the greater responsibility of leading the world to more peaceful waters.

Our lives deserve a good investment: 6th Friday of the year

“For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and that of the gospel will save it. What profit is there for one to gain the whole world and forfeit his life? What could one give in exchange for his life?” (Mk (8:35)

 There is an interesting sentence in the documents of the Second Vatican Council, “man cannot find himself fully except in the sincere gift of himself” [my own translation] (GS 24). This to you and me simply means that we are called to jump a leap of faith towards giving ourselves to others. It is a leap against fear. In a world where others can take us for granted, giving ourselves is running the risk of losing our lives. Therefore it appears that the reasonable strategy is the defensive position of preserving our lives by keeping it to ourselves.

But what if our world were full of trustworthy people? What if giving ourselves would not entail any danger? In itself, it would be a joyous experience. We love to be loved and we love to love. It is only when the environment becomes suspicious that the giving becomes caucious.

Jesus says that trying to save our lives only leads to wasting them, but “letting go” of our lives (the verb apolyo means literally to release) is the way to be alive. This paradox is not a logical contradiction but a historical one. It is only because in this history, we are dangerous to each other that we have learnt to become afraid of each other. Being stingy in love is not the way to live. It is simply a wrong strategy to try in vain to preserve ourselves.

Just like money, if we only conserve it, it devaluates but if we invest it, it increases.