We must take care of how we speak about our neighbor. That little word, the dart casually tossed, the malicious tale that gives rise to so many straying thoughts by its affected obliqueness: none of these will fall to the earth. "No secret word is without result" (Wisdom 1:11). We must take care of what we say and bridle our malicious anger and unruly tongues. For there is a God in Heaven who has told us that he will demand a reckoning of our "careless words" (Matthew 12:36): what recompense shall he exact for those which are harmful and malicious? We ought, therefore, to revere his eyes and his presence. Let us ponder the fact that he will judge us as we have judged our neighbor. If we pardon, he will pardon us; if we avenge our injuries, we will "suffer vengeance from the Lord" (Sirach 28:1). His vengeance will pursue us in life and in death, and we will have no rest either in this world or the next.
~Bishop Jacques-Benigne Bossuet, Meditations for Lent
Dear Lord, please help me to be merciful, just as our Father is merciful. Amen.
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