Grace Notes: Language and communion

by SISTER ANNE MARIE WALSH, SOLT
Columnist

God has given us so many gifts, it’s hard not to take many of them for granted.  Yet none of the gifts God gives are superfluous.  They all have a purpose.  It would be an exercise in the likeness of Our Lady, to ponder the Lord’s gifts and to try to align ourselves with their particular purposes.  In some instances, the accountability for the gift is exceptionally high.  Language is one such gift. 

Jesus tells us that we will be accountable for every word we use.  Right away, that tells us that there is something extraordinary about language and our use of it that must be respected.  With a bit of reflection, it becomes apparent that language in all its forms is meant to serve communion, our communion with God and with others. Likewise, it serves our own inner healing and integrity so that true communion actually becomes possible for us.

Jesus gives such a beautiful example of this in his Resurrection appearances. The apostles have been separated from the Lord by fear, by violence, by death, by their own unfaithfulness, and in Peter’s case, by his own words of denial.

When Jesus rises from the dead, the apostles are still hiding, in fear for their own safety.  After being informed of the Lord’s Resurrection, they must have anticipated his reaction to the fact that none of them had sufficient courage to conquer the overwhelming fear that engulfed them once the events of the Passion began.  St. John the beloved disciple only managed to be at the cross because of Our Lady, (a good thing to remember the next time our own courage is challenged.)

When Jesus appears to the apostles behind closed doors, they reasonably could have expected him to chastise them, even dismiss them for their failures and disloyalties. They knew his first words would determine their future. Jesus, once again, does not speak in the ways of ordinary people.  Instead, “Jesus came and stood in their midst and said to them, ‘Peace be with you.” -Jn 20:19.

The first words out of his mouth are words which dispel fear, unite, reassure, and even lay the interior ground to be able to receive a divine mission.  The effect of his words is so powerful that something shifts, and the apostles, now free of fear, spontaneously rejoice! 
He again repeats his gift of peace.  He communicates mercy, which he then expects them to exercise in the ministry he entrusts to them (“Receive the Holy Spirit. Whose sins you forgive are forgiven them, and whose sins you retain are retained.” -Jn 19: 22-23)
 
Our consideration of the gifts of God has to be examined in the light of the culture in which we currently live.  The sins which violate the purpose of language are well known to us - slander, libel, dishonesty, calumny, detraction, gossip, cursing and blaspheming, to mention a few. 

Unfortunately, powered by social media, these sins have become almost institutionalized.  A glance at Facebook or any mainstream news cast easily confirms that language is used to separate people from each other, the “good from the bad”, the woke from the unwoke, the “beautiful people from the unbeautiful.” 

This corporate gossip then transports its fruits of accusation and contempt to the undiscerning masses. We can allow ourselves to get sucked into this abuse of language, or we can follow the unspoken wisdom in the simple adage mothers have spoken for centuries.  “If you don’t have anything nice to say, don’t say anything.” 

This is the common-sense version of the biblical directive: “Say only the good things men need to hear, things that will really help them!” - Eph 4:29. That includes speaking the truth in love, correction, and forgiveness if necessary.  It does not mean evil is ever  condoned.  This would work against the unity language should build. The point is that language should never be used to deliberately hurt others. Even when Jesus spoke sternly to the Pharisees, his motive was love and communion, not destruction.

We know intuitively that there is something sacred about language.  It’s why we are so hurt when someone lies to us, doesn’t keep their word, or gossips about us.  The violation goes to something deep in us and in them, something sacred to our very being, something even of God’s very nature. 

It is necessary to ask ourselves often, is what I am about to say, engage in, or listen to, something that serves communion?  Or will it serve the kingdom of darkness, of hate and division? In whatever we choose, we will be found worthy of either the Kingdom of God, or God forbid, worthy of the caverns of hell, which will groan eternally with the opposite of everything language is meant to be.

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