Reflection for Saturday of the Sixth Week in Ordinary Time

Today's readings are here: http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/021812.cfm

"With the tongue we bless the Lord and Father and with it we curse men who are made in the likeness of God.  From the same mouth come blessing and cursing.  My brothers and sisters this need not be so."


With our mouth, we have blessed God and cursed people who are made in that God's image.  How can this be?  How can we bless the God of love and be so unloving in the things we say about others? The problem is not with the physical tongue; it is with the heart.  The tongue reveals the contradiction that is in the heart.  If we bless God with our tongue, then should that not make the tongue a sacred object, so that it is used only for that which is holy?  It would seem so, but it is not there yet.  People do not live right, so we need to find fault with them and talk about it.  We do not always live right either, but we find a way to forget this when we are criticizing someone else.  The basis of our tongue's blessing God is that he is good and has blessed us.  This goodness is present, in some way, in every human being; so we need to focus on that goodness and speak well of people rather than focusing on their shortcomings. 


May the Lord fill our hearts with his love, so that our tongue will be an instrument of blessing rather than cursing.