The Mouth: The Window To The Heart!

 (Homily 8^th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Yr. C)

     It was one of the famous Greek Philosophers Socrates who opined that nature has given us two ears, two eyes and only one tongue so that we should hear more than we speak. But nowadays the reverse is the case, we tend to speak more and hear or listen less. The contemporary man is prone to speaking and criticisms than to listening and understanding. Today the word of God revolves around the correspondence of words with actions, because for a Christian, “agere seguitur esse” (action follows being). This was used in Thomist metaphysical and moral principle that indicates the connection of ontology, obligation, and ethics. Thus, within the context of our reflection, it is not only that words have to correspond with actions, there is a further step: action has to correspond with being, with who we are and who God has called us to be. The Latin adage says: “ex ore tuo te judico”, that is “I judge you from your mouth”. Indeed, our words reveal who we are. They (words) reveal our thoughts, values, internal disposition, motivation and way of judging. Thanks to words for through them we give significance to the ideas in our heart and mind. No doubt, words are wonderful when they are used in good and edifying ways. More still, they are extraordinary and exceptional when they correspond positively with the actions. Contrarily, when used in a negative way, they not only reveal the negativity in the heart, but also the vacuum between what we say and what we do. Indeed, our words reveal the type of person we are, for our mouth is the window to our heart. We are therefore reminded that we are sent as witnesses of Jesus Christ. As such, our conduct must be consistent with what we say we believe. Our practical life must be consistent with what we believe.

     The first reading (Sir. 27:4-7) is a classic example of the wisdom literature of the Old Testament, where the author used three comparisons to teach us about the internal congruence behind one’s comportment and attitude. He employed the use of three images: sieve, kiln and tree to drive home his points. ●For the sieve, when shaken it separates good grains from refuse, and the refuse remains. And relating it to the human person, it entails that a man’s filth (dirt) remains in his thought. ●As the kiln (furnace) with fire proves the value of objects of clay artifacts, so is the proof of a just man, of a person’s worth in times of tribulation. ●As regards the tree, the fruit of a tree reveals the quality of the tree, so words reveal the internal sentiments of man. Our words serve as a window to what is in our mind, this image will be re-proposed in the Gospel by St. Luke. The first reading reflects thus, on the human behavior and the type of heart from which such behavior emerges.

     In all, the last sentence of the passage is replete with wisdom and it goes thus: “do not praise a man before he speaks” (v.7). Therefore, this affirmation suggests that the best way to know if a person will be praised or not is to make him to speak, because at last his value system, internal disposition and his real self will be revealed. Indeed, words reveal the internal ethical and spiritual congruence or incongruence of a man. And applying this teaching to ourselves, it follows that Christians should reveal through their words, their new way of being in Christ. Our life and actions have to be congruent with our calling and being in Christ, who died and rose again in order to open up for us a new way of living. Therefore, we need to interrogate ourselves today with the following questions: do our words reveal our being “in Christ” or they reveal that we are aligned and conformed to the world? The basic existential principle of a Christian remains: “agere seguitur esse”, that is, the correspondence of our actions with our being in Christ, or better our being in Christ has to motivate our actions. It is when our words correspond with our actions and our actions correspond with our being in Christ that we acquire moral rectitude and integrity and of course, moral authority.

     Similarly, the Gospel passage (Lk. 6:39-45) is centered on “word” uttered by man as a means of laying bare what lies hidden in his heart and on ethical cum spiritual congruence, as exemplified by the good tree that bears good fruits, as opposed to the incongruence of a blind who wants to lead another blind. In this passage, it does appear St. Luke gathered all the pronouncements of Jesus in different occasions, with the problems that were present in the first communities. The blind guide (v.39), the false teachers (v.40), the hypocrites (vv.41-42); these categories of people would not have been the external enemies or the Pharisees, even though many a times Jesus called them hypocrites, but it has to do with members of the Christian communities, who pretend to be guide and leaders, but do not portray the corresponding Christian values.

      Interestingly, the passage of St. Luke ends with the following words: “From the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks” (v.45), that is, from the abundance of what a person has within. In St. Mathew’s parlance, “Whatever comes out of the mouth comes from the heart” (Mt. 15:18a). And he (Luke) continued thus: “Good people draw what is good from the store of goodness in their hearts”, “bad people draw what is bad from the store of badness” (v.45). Good people draw good words and teachings, while bad people draw wicked words and bad teachings. It all depends on what one has in his heart, in the inside. The fact of speaking and acting are logical consequences, for they are necessary avenues for revealing who a person is and what is in his or her heart. Let us learn to utter words that are positive and faith-filled, edifying words. In the preceding verses he opined that “Every tree is known by its fruits” (v.44). Good tree produces good fruits, while bad tree, bad fruits. In that bid, the criterion for knowing and recognizing who a person is, is by his or her fruits, which in this case could be words and comportment. A good man produces good fruit in words and actions, and a bad man produces bad fruits in words and actions too. Therefore, it is necessary to guide against false teachers and masters.

     How do we distinguish the good teaching from the bad one? It is not an easy task. However, we need to use our conscience and the values of the Christian education we have received as a tool for discernment. Of a truth, sometimes these are not even sufficient, because in our world today, where there are many currents of thoughts that promote opinions and ideas that tend to destroy our value system, where the several means of communication many a times create confusion on moral and religious matters, where subjectivism and relativism are seen as the new credo, it is really difficult. However, in the difficult task of distinguishing a good teaching from a bad one, we have the word of God and the teachings of the Church as our veritable compass.

     In fact, the first part of the Gospel begins with a brief parable on the usage of words and good teaching; and the pathetic question was raised: “Can one blind person guide another? Surely both will fall into a pit” (v.39). In other to understand adequately the meaning of this parable, we have to connect it to what Jesus said in the preceding verse: “Do not judge and you will not be judged; do not condemn, and you will not be condemned; forgive and you will be forgiven” (v.37). In essence, Jesus says who doesn’t accept these teachings comports him or herself like the blind, who pretends to lead another blind, for the two will fall into a pit.

     Jesus further expressed that the “disciple is not superior to his teacher” (v.40), secondly, this has to be linked to the previous words of Jesus that the Most High is kind to the ungrateful and the wicked (cf.v.35). As such, a man cannot impose himself as a severe judge over his fellow men; he cannot be more exigent than the eternal Father. He who judges others is a hypocrite, for he tends to hide his own faults. Jesus expressed this in a paradoxical language with “splinter” and “log” (cf. v. 41). For it is only when one has eliminated his “log” that he would be able to see better in order to remove the “splinter” in another’s eye, and he will be able to do it with comprehension, empathy, love and mercy.

     Jesus condemns the actions of those who are unaware of their shortcomings while they decry the faults of others. Those in Jesus parlance who notice a tiny splinter in others but are blind to the plank in their own eyes, are hypocrites. They have the tendency of seeing “all black or all white”. The underlying fact is that there are no perfect human beings, or those without faults, an ideal and perfect man is utopic. We only have real persons. The major spiritual deficiency of faultfinding is that it removes our focus from our shortcomings and fragility, and plunges us into the temptation of self-righteousness. Instead of criticizing others let us cultivate an attitude of positive regard and care for them. Behold, it was the Psalmist who captured earnestly the danger of self-righteousness when he prayed: “Who can discern his own errors? Acquit me from hidden faults” (Ps. 19:12). In fact, the Christian Standard Bible puts it in a more comprehensive manner thus: “Who perceives his unintentional sins? Cleanse me from my hidden faults”.

     Be that as it may, every authentic disciple of Christ should avoid the presumption of being a judge of others’ actions; before judging others, one has to examine him or herself, and try to work and do away with his/her defects. If there is need for a correction, he does it not with airs of superiority, but with humility, unconditional positive regard and love. An authentic disciple of Christ is one who tries to be a good tree, in order to produce good fruits in thoughts, words and actions. He makes effort to possess a good heart, such that from the “treasure of his hearts” he brings out only good things (v.45).

     Above all, the moral teachings of Jesus even though they appear paradoxical, are not mere generic prescriptions or exaggerations expressed in parabolic forms basically to stimulate mere reflections. Instead, they have an authoritative tone, accompanied at times with admonitions, in order to help his listeners understand that they are to be taken serious. It is a radical choice. The law of Christ is determined from within, his teachings shake the conscience. And in our existential struggle to overcome our defects and fragility, which St. Paul presented imminently with the reality of death in the Second reading (1Cor. 15:54-58), we are overcomers, for God through his Son has given us victory. It is upon this assurance of faith that St. Paul invites us today “to remain firm and unmoved” in the faith, to continue to work for the Lord, with the consciousness that our effort will never be in vain (v.58). May the Lord bless our effort and give us the enabling grace to live the ethical and spiritual congruence that our faith in Him comports. May His w(W)ord form us so that we may act and speak in accordance with our being in Him. Amen!!!

(Fr. Vitus M.C. Unegbu, SC)