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Third Sunday
after Epiphany
Thoughts for the Week - Fr. R. Taouk
21st January 2018
On the Sin of Slander by St. Francis de Sales
Rash judgment causes anxiety, contempt of our neighbour,
pride, self-satisfaction and a hundred other very
destructive effects. Slander holds the first rank among
these and is the real plague of conversations. How I wish
that I had one of the live coals from the Holy Altar to
touch the lips of men so that their iniquity is taken away
and their sin cleansed in imitation of the Seraph who
purified the mouth of Isaiah (6:6-7). He who would rid the
world of slander would remove from it a great part of its
sins and iniquity. Whoever unjustly ruins the good name
of his neighbour commits sin. Moreover he has the obligation
to make amends though differently according to the various
kinds of slanders. For no one can enter Heaven with the
goods of another and among all external goods, reputation is
the best.
Slander is a kind of murder, since we have three kinds of
life: The spiritual life consists in the grace of God, the
bodily life depends on the soul, and the social life
consists in reputation. Sin takes away the first from us,
death deprives us of the second, and slander strips us of
the third. With a single stroke of his tongue, the slanderer
usually commits three murders. He kills his own soul and
that of the one who listens to him by a spiritual murder and
he takes away the social life of the man whom he slanders.
As St. Bernard says, he who slanders and he who listens to
the slanderer both have the Devil in them, one in his tongue
and the other in his ear. David speaking of slanderers says:
They have sharpened their tongues like a serpent (Ps.
139:4). The serpent's tongue is forked and has two points,
says Aristotle. Such is the tongue of the backbiter that
with a single sting he poisons the ear of the listener as
well as the reputation of the person of whom he is speaking.
I implore you, then, never to calumniate anyone either
directly or indirectly. Beware of attributing false crimes
and sins to your neighbour, of exposing those which are
secret, of exaggerating those that are known. Neither
interpret badly his good work nor deny the good which you
know to be in him. Do not hide maliciously, or decrease it
by words. For in all these ways, you will greatly offend
God, especially by accusing falsely and denying the truth to
the prejudice of your fellowmen. In fact it is a double sin
to lie and do harm to our neighbour at the same time.
Those who for the sake of defaming begin with a respectful
introduction or say compliments and jokes in between, are
the most subtle and poisonous detractors of all. I affirm,
they say, that I love him and that otherwise, he is an
excellent man; nevertheless, the truth must be told; he was
wrong in committing such a treachery. She is a very virtuous
girl but she was surprised, and such small insinuations. Do
you not see the craftiness? He who wishes to shoot with a
bow draws the arrow as close to himself as possible but it
is only to shoot it forth with greater force. These
detractors seem to draw their slander to themselves, but it
is only to hurl it with greater force so that it penetrates
deep into the hearts of the listeners.
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