INVESTIGATE BEFORE YOU JUDGE

READINGS: SEVENTEENTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME

In the first reading of this 17th Sunday in ordinary times, Year C (Genesis 18:16 -33), the very first paragraph reads, “In those days, the Lord said: ‘The outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is so great, and their sin so grave, that I must go down and see whether or not their actions fully correspond to the cry against them that comes to me. I mean to find out.’” Now, why does God need to check things out first before He condemns? Isn’t He an all-knowing God? In this narrative, God wanted to show Abraham that He does not act out of ignorance, hearsay, gossip, or slander. He examines the facts personally so that He can judge fairly, act justly, and be resolute in His decision. My friends, this is how we should be with one another.

The story has it that one day, Socrates, a Greek philosopher, met one of his acquaintances on his way to meet with his students. The acquaintance said to him, “Sir, do you know what I just heard about your friend, Dio?”. Socrates said, “No, but before you tell me, have you made absolutely sure that what you are about to tell me is true?" The man said “No” and that he had, actually, just heard the rumor. Socrates then asked, “Is what you are about to tell me about my friend something good?" The man said, “No, quite on the contrary”. Socrates then said, “Is what you want to tell me about my friend going to be useful to me?" The man said, "Not really." "Well then," continued Socrates, "if what you want to tell me is neither true, nor good, nor even useful, why tell it to me at all?" 

We cannot control the extent to which our gossip can spread, nor can we undo the damage it causes. It is, therefore, vital that we vet gossip before we give it more life. God holds an inquest about our moral conditions and the complaints that come before Him against us, before He judges, and so should we do to one another. 

Gossip is generally a negative evaluation, morally laden, and usually concerned with the behavior of an absent third party. It is discreet indiscretion, a way of spreading negativity about others. So, gossip needs to be investigated, vetted, and proven before we become unwitting agents of its dissemination. The damage it can do, when false, is irreparable. We should err on the side of caution rather than be the agents of a fellow’s destruction. The bible says, “The tongue is also a fire. It exists among our members as a world of malice, defiling the whole body and setting the entire course of our lives on fire, itself set on fire by Gehenna. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison” (James 3:6-8), and in Sirach 28:13, says, “Cursed be gossips and the double-tongued, for they destroy the peace of many”.

May the good Lord save us from the damage we can do to others with our tongue.