It shouldn’t come as any big surprise that the words we speak matter. They matter to other people; they matter to our families, as we can see in the Gospel where Jesus’ family is trying to rescue him from apparent danger because of the words he spoke about himself. And, of course, the words we speak matter to God, for he hears everything; even the words we speak in our minds and in the silence of our hearts.
There are a few themes in our readings this 10th Sunday of Ordinary Time. Themes that are far from ordinary. But the speaking theme speaks to most of us, if not all of us. interestingly, in the Book of Genesis, where Adam and Eve got caught red-handed eating something they were instructed not to, we have this conversation between God and Adam, who passes it off to Eve, who points at the serpent, who happens to be the devil. This is anything but one, big, happy family in the Garden of Paradise.
What’s startling about the conversation between God and Adam, then God and Eve, is the honesty spoken by the first couple after their act of first disobedience. God asked Adam, “Where are you?” Adam answered the truth; that he hid himself after hearing God in the garden, rustling among the leaves. “Well, Adam, why did you hide yourself?” In hiding, Adam recognized the nakedness of his sin. And in his further honesty, in the unlovely part of married life, he looks over at Eve and says to God, “It’s all her fault. She gave it to me to eat. I only do what my wife tells me. She told me to eat the fruit, and I did.” Then Eve is honest when she says, “The serpent tricked me into it, so I ate it.”
What’s wrong with this picture? Eve is honest. Adam is honest. Everything they say to God is true. But, they lack the fortitude to take responsibility for their own choices. The honest words they speak are lacking a spiritual maturity. Our words are not meant to pass off responsibility for actions that we performed and partake of. We own them before God, and not point fingers.
In the second reading of Paul to the people of Corinth, the Apostle gives us this way of speaking that is meant to go to the heart of all our lives. The speaking is about Christ. Do we all have the language of speaking words for Christ? Paul writes, “We speak, knowing that the one who raised the Lord Jesus will raise us also with Jesus and place us with you in his presence.” That’s one, big, happy family.
The language that Paul speaks is the language of the Lord Jesus being raised from the dead. It’s the language of hope. For some folks today, this is a dead language. For Christians, the Lord Jesus being raised is an everyday language of the heart, and a most everyday language of voice. We live in a time when religious talk is trying to be locked into a Sunday morning Church service only, and not in the public square. St. Paul would outright reject such foolishness.
He teaches us the importance of speaking Christ as our first language. The language that Christ is raised from the death chamber that couldn’t hold him. And because of that holy truth, and that he will raise us also, all worldly languages from the political spectrum to ‘How are the Red Sox doing?” are languages that do not overtake the eternal language of the Risen Christ. Speak Christ, and his Mother. This is to be the first language of the baptized.
And in the Gospel, we find this wild scene occurring where they speak the worst of names directed at Jesus. Even worse than a golfer who hits a bad shot. Words are flying out of the crowd and from the scribes that say he’s out of his mind, and that Jesus is possessed by the evil forces. That the Spirit of Christ is evil. The unforgiveable sin. We see clearly how mere mortals will misrepresent and mislabel God. Which is why it’s so essential for us to have a healthy understanding of who Christ is, which comes to us in the teachings of our faith. It’s not like we have to fly to another planet to find a true, accurate, and healthy vision of our Lord. Look nowhere outside our Church.
The most definitive ways of Jesus are love, humility, mercy, forgiveness, friendship, being faithful, and all that is good. Jesus and Beelzebul have nothing in common. Not one thing! Which tells us how confused the crowd is in the Gospel. It’s a crowd we have no business being associated with, unless we’re trying to speak words of evangelization to them.
And even Jesus’ family gets into the act. “Your mother and your brothers and sisters are outside asking for you.” All this crowd that followed him from Nazareth, trying to stop his ministry because they think he’s in danger. Their ignorance is not sinful. They’re trying to speak to Jesus because they love him. They want to bring him back home. But that’s not how God’s plan works.
It reminds me of a few guys I know who were called to the priesthood, but their families tried to stop them for various reasons. “You’re not going to give me any grandchildren in the priesthood.” Probably true. “You’re not going to make any money in the priesthood.” Definitely true. But they went ahead to fulfill the ministry God was calling them to, and have found their joy becoming complete. Now they preach and speak about the Risen Lord.
Words matter, and we know this. The honestly of Adam and Eve must be accompanied by spiritual maturity and responsibility. Speak the first language of the Christian spoken by St Paul; that the Lord Jesus is raised, and we are too. And, speak the truth of who he is, and never, under any circumstances, connect the Lord to the one with the pitchfork. They have nothing in common. AMEN.