In Thought of the Day: Our Neighbor's Reputation, I quoted a passage from The Backbiting Tongue, in which Father Bélet pointed out that it is possible to do wrong by telling the truth, if it harms our neighbor. Later on in the same chapter, he quotes St. John Chrysostom, one of the original four Eastern Doctors of the Church:
Do not tell me, "I would be a slanderer only if I lied. I am committing no slander if I tell the truth." Error! Speaking evil of others, even if the evil be true, is always a crime. Surely the publican was really a publican and a sinner; but he left cleansed of all his defilements because he was scorned by the Pharisee. You want to correct your brother? Weep, pray to God, warn him by speaking to his heart, advise and exhort him. That is how Saint Paul acted.
St. John Chrysostom refers here to the Parable of the Publican and Pharisee (Luke 18:9-14), in which the pharisee attempts to justify himself before God by comparing himself favorably to the publican, while the publican prays humbly in the words that give us the Jesus Prayer: "O God, be merciful to me, a sinner."
The Jesus Prayer is a good practice to adopt for Lent, as is the Prayer of Saint Ephrem the Syrian, the third verse of which complements the quote from St. John Chrysostom: "O Lord and King, grant me the grace to be aware of my sins and not to judge my brother . . . " When we backbite and gossip, we do just the opposite: We judge others, while ignoring our own sins.
More Lenten Thoughts of the Day:
- Thought of the Day: Fasting and Perseverance
- Thought of the Day: Detachment
- Thought of the Day: The Solitary Life
- Thought of the Day: Our Neighbor's Reputation
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