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Amid the debate over the role of heated rhetoric in dividing Americans and possibly driving some to extremes, it's valuable to recall two Biblical teachings on the use of words.

"You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain," we are told in the Second Commandment.

Thousands of years later, Jesus addressed the issue of speech again. In Matthew's Gospel, we read, "You have heard that it was said to the men of old, 'You shall not swear falsely...' But I say to you, Do not swear at all...Let what you say be simply 'Yes' or 'No'; anything more than this comes from evil."

These two teachings are all the more significant given the paucity of teachings on speech in our Scripture. The first passage establishes a hierarchy in language, teaching us that certain words - starting with those for God - are sacred and must be used with care. The second instructs us, implicitly, that we should speak directly and carefully.

An unwritten but overarching rule, of course, comes from the overall admonition to act in love and charity, even toward our enemies. Since the shootings in Tucson, we've spoken and heard words in that spirit. We've also heard many words in a spirit quite opposite.

One is hard put to believe there's no connection between vitriolic or hateful speech of some and the actions of others. We are all affected and shaped by the world in which we live. We all help create and shape the world and society we share - so we all bear responsibility to make that as good a world as possible.

However, free speech is one of our foundations - one we need to treasure and protect. That means we, as citizens and Catholics, need to exercise self-control and love in how we speak.

That does not mean glossing over hard truths. It means that, as local theologian John Dwyer puts it, "We should speak the truth in simplicity and as God gives us to understand the truth."

Do so with love and we build a better world.

Christians united
Several of us slipped into a conference room late for a lunchtime prayer service the other day. It was an unassuming bunch from various Christian denominations, many of us going or gone gray, though the readings and songs were done with solid gusto.

That such a session occurred without fanfare marked how far we've come in ecumenical relations. Years back, Catholics did not often gather with Protestants to pray and preach and sing and listen.

It happened during the annual Week of Prayer for Christian Unity, Jan. 18-25, which took its theme from the early Church: "One in the Apostles' teaching, fellowship, breaking of bread and prayer."

This month, The Evangelist ran its 200th column in the "Our Neighbor's Faith" series of ecumenical reflections. Then, on Jan. 23, Rev. George Brennan was installed as the executive director of the interfaith Capital Area Council of Churches.

Father Brennan is the first Catholic to hold the post in the group's 70-year history. "It's a testimony to the wonderful tenor of ecumenical relations that we have in this area," said Kitt Jackson, the CACC's administrative director.

Father Brennan plans first to visit each of the group's 90 member churches and organizations. That should make life busy, given his duties as a pastor, but it exemplifies the drive for unity we seek in Christ.

(01/27/11) [[In-content Ad]]

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