Jesus said, “There is nothing concealed that will not be revealed, nor secret that will not be known. Therefore, whatever you have said in the darkness will be heard in the light, and what you have whispered behind closed doors will be proclaimed on the housetops.”

“Now it seems to me,” Rob Thomas begins his song “Lonely No More,” “that you know just what to say, but words are only words. Can you show me something else? Can you swear to me that you’ll always be this way. Well, I don’t want to be lonely no more. I don’t want to have to pay for this. I don’t want another lover at my door. It’s just another heartache on my list. I don’t wanna be angry no more. So when you tell me that you love me, know for sure I don’t wanna be lonely anymore.” The principal message of the song is quite obvious: if you say that you love someone, you will mean it, and you will not take back what you said.

Jesus frequently talked about the end of the world and what would happen at that time. Although he gave us some ideas of what it would be like, we really don’t know exactly what will happen. But we know some things in general. One of those things is that everyone will somehow know the secrets of others, and in particular what people have said about others and why they have said them. In short, Jesus tells us that we have to be very cautious about the words that we say because punishment will come to us if we don’t.

Rob Thomas, with another motivation, says the same thing. “Words are only words,” he says, hoping that the lady in the relationship will understand that she has said words to him that she has not kept in the past. He does not want it to happen again.

Both Jesus and Rob Thomas give us something to think about here. Words are more than the words that are spoken. Why they are spoken, when they are spoken, how they are spoken, what the future will be after they are spoken, and so forth are important considerations when it comes to speaking words. That is, we must determine our motivation—what are we really saying? You and I speak many words. We have to be very careful what they are.                       

THOUGHT
PRAYER

Good and gracious God, we say many words throughout a day and throughout our lifetimes. Help us learn Jesus’ lesson about how we are to speak those words, namely, with the thought to help rather than harm. Be with us, we pray.

Questions, comments? Let me know. Email Fr. Mike

©2007 Capuchin Province of Mid-America
Fr. Mike Scully is a member of the Capuchin Province of Mid-America