Words of... .

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If you don't behave as you believe, you will end by believing as you behave.
- The Venerable Fulton J. Sheen

Language: Your words matter

 - from an article at Catholic East Texas

According to St. Thomas Aquinas, language is an external tool meant to communicate truth, and as such it is governed by modesty. Our language is governed by modesty because it is “the virtue that moderates all the internal and external movements and appearance of a person according to his or her endowments, possessions, and station in life.” 

Language is a beautiful and noble tool. Just like any tool, it can be misused and even abused. Language is not about manifesting our each and every emotion through self-consumed diatribes, expletives, complaints, and so forth, as society might have us believe. Rather, language is meant to communicate. If we are deliberate in our speech, we can find immense healing interiorly because words matter. Words have so much power, and the words we use greatly shape our lives. 

Here are some questions to ask yourself regarding your language: What do I communicate? Do I communicate truth and goodness? Is my language moderated, clear, and precise? Or is it lazy, self-consumed, crass, and mindless?

The more dignified my language is, the healthier my mindset is. [Dignified language, dignified worship oriented to God.]

The language we use should be worthy of who we are. It should be worthy of our interior dignity that was given to us by God. We are created in the image and likeness of God, created with an inherent preciousness that no one can take away. As such, our language should reflect that dignity and should be intentional.

We can practice this by eradicating foul words, choosing to listen instead of just responding, being precise, and avoiding complaining.

Rule of Saint Benedict

- from the Sisters of the Blessed Virgin Mary

As we progress in our monastic life and in faith, our hearts shall be enlarged, and we shall run with unspeakable sweetness of love in the way of God’s commandments; so that, never abandoning his rule but persevering in his teaching in the monastery until death, we shall share by patience in the sufferings of Christ, that we may deserve to be partakers also of his kingdom.

Familial Fraternal Correction

- from an article by Archbishop Charles J. Chaput

https://www.firstthings.com/web-exclusives/2021/10/a-little-wisdom-from-bernard

(N)ot all criticism in a family is ill-intended or disloyal or inaccurate. Some anger, even anger at legitimate authority, is righteous. The virtue of Christian obedience is rooted in speaking the truth—with love, but frankly and firmly—and true religion has nothing to do with a posture of servility. 

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ST AUGUSTINE

The truth is like a lion; you don’t have to defend it. Let it loose; it will defend itself.

POPE LEO XIV

The right to freedom of expression, freedom of conscience, religious freedom, and even the right to life are being restricted in the name of other so-called new rights, with the result that the very framework of human rights is losing its vitality and creating space for force and oppression. This occurs when each right becomes self-referential, and especially when it becomes disconnected from reality, nature, and truth.

MARCUS AURELIUS

There is but one thing of real value - to cultivate truth and justice, and to live without anger in the midst of lying and unjust men.

BENJAMIN FRANKLIN

Only a virtuous people are capable of freedom.

MARK TWAIN

If you tell the truth, you don't have to remember anything.