St. Paul United Methodist Church

A few days ago while at dinner, the task of moving the food from my plate to my mouth seemed too large of a task.  It seemed simple enough:  insert fork, take fork from plate, put fork into mouth, mission accomplished.  Yet, somewhere along the way, the food ended up on my shirt.  What seemed like a morsel of food dropped, turned into a giant spot which I’m pretty sure ruined by shirt.  My first thought was, “How could something so small make such a big mess?”

 Words can have the same effect.  Francis de Sales, the 16th Century Swiss Bishop, had this to say about words:

“Never let an indecent word slip from you mouth.  Even if you don’t mean it in an evil way, other may be offended.  An evil word dropping into a weak person grows and spreads like a drop of oil on linen.  It might spark a thousand unclean thoughts and temptations.  If bodily poison enters through the mouth, spiritual poison enters through the ear.  The tongue that speaks it is a murderer of a soul.

Don’t try to tell me you speak without thinking.  Our Lord who searches our hearts says, ‘Out of the overflow of the heart the mouth speaks’ (Matthew 12:34).  Those who eat an herb called angelica have sweet breath.  Those who have angelic virtues within their hearts speak sweetly.”

This week’s reading:

• Monday – Luke 21
• Tuesday – Luke 22
• Wednesday – Luke 23
• Thursday – Luke 24
• Friday – Acts 1

Please Pray for:

• Those who are grieving and depressed.
• Those who are unwillingly absent.
• Our families, homes, workplace, church, and community.
• Our nation and our leaders.
• Ongoing Building Renovations, Modifications, and Phase 3: Completion of New Youth Building and rear parking.
• The United Methodist Church.