One of the most common things one hears in the Sacrament of Reconciliation is the sin of gossip. It has been said that the act of gossip is like buying a chicken in the marketplace, feathers and all, and then walking through town, plucking the feathers one by one. As a priest, how do I direct a person to undo all the damage caused by gossip. It is akin to asking the person to return and pick up all the feathers. Such is the nature of gossip and its redress.
When last seen Jonah had just hit bottom, swallowed alive. Up to this point, despite lots of opportunities, Jonah had not prayed, even when commanded by the ship’s captain in the midst of the raging tempest at sea – even as all the crew around him offered prayers to a pantheon of gods. But now it is different. He is alone, his choices and their consequences have “consumed” him, and … and what?
I have written about calumny as sin, which it is indeed as noted in the Catechism of the Catholic Church. There are times I wonder if a “lack of curiosity” is very distant cousin. This would be a place for a “wink” emoji, but I will easily resist such temptations.
The recent power struggles during the February 2021 bitter cold snap are a case in point. It did not take too long for the leadership of the State of Texas to place the blame for the extensive loss of power on the renewable energy (solar panels, wind turbines) as the culprit. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott and Rep. Dan Crenshaw were quick to jump on that “party line” – pun intended – and people I know held that up as a demonstration of what’s wrong with this country; the green movement forcing people to adopt renewable energy – and “look where that got Texas.” I would such a reaction as one of many examples where a lack of curiosity helps lead people down a dead-end path.
friarmusings 