“Lying is done with words, and also with silence.”

Kind words do not cost much. They never blister the tongue or lips. They make other people good-natured. They also produce their own image on men’s souls, and a beautiful image it is. - Blaise Pascal (French mathematician, physicist, inventor, writer and Christian philosopher.)

RESPONSORIAL PSALM PS 107:2-3, 4-5, 6-7, 8-9
R. (1) Give thanks to the Lord; his love is everlasting.
Let the redeemed of the LORD say,
those whom he has redeemed from the hand of the foe
And gathered from the lands,
from the east and the west, from the north and the south.
R. Give thanks to the Lord; his love is everlasting.
They went astray in the desert wilderness;
the way to an inhabited city they did not find.
Hungry and thirsty,
their life was wasting away within them.
R. Give thanks to the Lord; his love is everlasting.
They cried to the LORD in their distress;
from their straits he rescued them.
And he led them by a direct way
to reach an inhabited city.
R. Give thanks to the Lord; his love is everlasting.
Let them give thanks to the LORD for his mercy
and his wondrous deeds to the children of men,
Because he satisfied the longing soul
and filled the hungry soul with good things.
R. Give thanks to the Lord; his love is everlasting

Just a few words can accomplish a great deal. That has never been as true as when God created the world. It was “a formless wasteland” before he spoke it into existence (Genesis 1:1). Plants, flowers, trees, oceans, and humanity itself—all because God said, “Let there be …” Actually, it’s not so hard to believe that God’s word could produce something from nothing. After all, he “thought” us into being before we were even born (Psalm 139)!

Our human words have power, too. They reveal what is in our hearts, and they transmit our peace—or lack of it—to the people around us. “Death and life are in the power of the tongue,” the Scriptures tell us (Proverbs 18:21). Our words can hurt, or they can heal. How important it is, then, that our words be animated by the Holy Spirit! Then we can bring someone more than just a positive message. We can bring them closer to God.

Today on the Feast of the Queenship of the Blessed Virgin Mary, let us ask the Mother of God to make us more aware of the words we speak. May they be words that affirm and bring life. May we always speak the truth in love and in the power of your Spirit. Amen!