hold our tongues

This morning, the Memorial of St. Anthony of Padua, Pope Francis offered his daily reflection at the morning Mass. As usual his words were direct, challenging, and a practical invitation to live every nuance of the beauty of life with Jesus.

You might take a moment to savour his reflection at this link.

And here is the heart of his message:

“I would like to ask the Lord to give us all the grace to guard our words, to watch what we say about others. It is a small penance, but it bears a lot of fruit. Sometimes, we think:‘I would like to taste that fruit and take the chance of criticizing  another person.' But if we don't give into that hunger, it bears fruit and in the long run it's good for us. That's why we must ask the Lord for this grace, where we can  adapt our lives to this new law, which is the law of patience, the law of love, the law of peace. We can at least try and hold our tongues a little, hold the comments we make of others. The outbursts that lead us to anger or insults. May the Lord grant us all this grace.”