“The standard of truth has been erected: no unhallowed hand can stop the work from progressing, persecutions may rage, mobs may combine, armies may assemble, calumny may defame, but the truth of God will go forth boldly, nobly, and independent till it has penetrated every continent, visited every clime, swept every country, and sounded in every ear, till the purposes of God shall be accomplished”

The more I loved the king, the more I opposed his injustice until his brow fell lowering upon me. He heaped calumny after calumny on my head, and I chose to be driven out rather than to subscribe.

Thomas Becket: (1119 –  1170: was Archbishop of Canterbury from 1162 until his murder in 1170.)

Gospel Text: (MT 11:16-19)

Jesus said to the crowds:
"To what shall I compare this generation?
It is like children who sit in marketplaces and call to one another,
'We played the flute for you, but you did not dance,
we sang a dirge but you did not mourn.'
For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they said,
'He is possessed by a demon.'
The Son of Man came eating and drinking and they said,
'Look, he is a glutton and a drunkard,
a friend of tax collectors and sinners.'
But wisdom is vindicated by her works."

Reflect, today, upon the way you look at others around you and, especially, how you speak about them.  Look at their virtue and try to honestly honor them for it.  And if you see yourself falling into any form of jealousy or envy, surrender it over to our merciful God so that it doesn’t turn into the ugly sin of calumny.