Latest / The Uncensored Catholic / Show 175: The 8th Commandment, part 2

Transcript

Show 175: The 8th Commandment, part 2 · The Uncensored Catholic

0:51
Speaker 1: A Hey, y'all, welcome today's show. We could continue where
1:03
we left off. Yesterday we were discussed in the eighth Commandment,
1:07
which as you shouldn't bear falts witness. You know, thou
1:10
shalt not bear faults witness. But it is so much
1:13
more to it, and yesterday we talked about how that
1:18
is a commandment against not just slander, but gossip, even
1:22
saying things about people they are true that would damage
1:25
their character, especially if it's false. But today we're actually
1:30
going to get into what most people, and certainly how
1:33
I was taught growing up in Protestant churches. They were
1:36
taught it just meant don't lie. Another time I was
1:39
told it was meant you're not supposed to give false
1:43
testimony on a witness stand. And that's all it meant. Well, no,
1:46
Father Spirago is telling us it means a whole lot
1:49
more than that, and we'll get into that in a minute.
1:51
But yesterday we started a conversation between a communist and
1:56
two Catholic priests in the classic work radio replies, and
2:02
it actually goes on for quite a bit. I maybe
2:04
have a wrapped this question answer session up today. I'm
2:07
not sure. I'll just do May four or five questions
2:10
and answers. The communist says, Jesus commanded the rich man
2:15
to sell all and give to the poor, and the
2:17
priest's answer, this was not a command obliging in conscience.
2:22
It was a special invitation which the young man was
2:25
free to accept to reject. If the possession of goods
2:29
as such were evil, Christ would have been recommending the
2:31
young man to cause evil in the very ones who
2:35
bought or accepted the possession of his goods. But you
2:39
have misunderstood this passage. The rich young man said to Christ,
2:42
what must I do to be saved? Christ will keep
2:44
the commandments. Thus he specified which was necessary for salvation.
2:49
But hearing that the young man had kept him, he
2:51
went further. If you desire not only to be saved,
2:54
but be perfect, then do this. Didn't do more than
2:58
this obligation, sell all, follow me. The young man turned away, sad,
3:02
for he had not the generosity of character required, But
3:06
the gospel does not suggest that he was lost. No
3:09
man is lost who loves God enough to keep all
3:11
of the commandments. Meantime, in the Catholic Church, thousands of priests, brothers,
3:16
and nuns have renounced all worldly possessions and have vowed
3:20
poverty for the love of Christ, giving up all right
3:23
to possess or administer anything in their own name. Thus
3:27
the invitation of Christ is fulfilled in the religious orders
3:31
of the Catholic Church. And the person says, Christ said
3:34
that the rich young man could not enter heaven, and
3:37
they reply, he did not. He said that the rich
3:40
would encounter special difficulties in the matter of salvation. But
3:45
this is not because they are rich. It's because rich
3:48
people are in danger of being attracted to their earthly
3:51
goods so as to forget God. The same Christ said,
3:54
blessed are the poor in spirit. The rich man can
3:57
be poor in spirit by being at least efficiently detached
4:00
from worldly goods, that he would not, for all of
4:04
them offend God. Person continues, whatever may be said of
4:08
rich individuals, the extreme wealth of your church is a scandal,
4:11
with millions crying out for bodily and spiritual help. And
4:15
they answer. A family is not wealthy if it has
4:18
scarcely enough to meet all its essential needs, and the
4:21
Catholic Church certainly has not enough money for all its
4:24
necessary work. Meanwhile, meantime, she spends millions on her many
4:30
works for men's temporal welfare, and is very hard put
4:34
to it to provide her thousands of missionaries who are
4:37
laboring for the spiritual welfare of pagans with bare necessities
4:41
of life. If ever, a church has tried to feed
4:44
her sheep spiritually as the Catholic Church. And the person says,
4:48
but look at the Vatican and all the other property
4:51
and lands and buildings. And they say, for the administration
4:55
of a huge society like the Catholic Church, considering it
4:57
over four hundred million members, and that was one hundred
5:00
years ago, it's a lot bigger now, offices and temporalities
5:06
are necessary. But these properties are not possessions of any
5:10
individual Catholic, not even of the Pope. Even the Pope
5:14
can will none of it away if he dies, as
5:16
if it were his own private property. And the person says,
5:19
in accordance with the spirit of Christ to spend a
5:22
million dollars on it? Is it in accordance with the
5:25
spirit of Christ to spend a million dollars on a cathedral?
5:27
And the answer, quite, Christ is God. Yet God ordered
5:31
the Jews to build at Jerusalem a magnificent temple during
5:34
his life on earth. The son of God committed the
5:37
poor widow for her contribution to the needs of the temple.
5:40
When Judas blamed the woman for wasting pressorous appointment in
5:43
Christ's honor instead of giving it to the church, Christ
5:46
rebuked him, and yeah, there's they're gonna have quite a
5:53
bit more debate with communists. So we'll pick up on this.
5:57
It'll take a few days to get through this. I
5:59
think it was probably more than one communist that called
6:02
or wrote into radio replies that the priests had to
6:04
deal with. Because this is the nineteen thirties. Communism was
6:08
in I mean it was in full swing. Everybody that
6:11
essentially went to college came out of communists, and that
6:15
includes seminarians, by the way. But it's found full flower now.
6:21
I think we can say America is certainly on the
6:24
brink of becoming a communist nation, and we're about ninety
6:27
percent there already. So but yeah, Communism was very popular then,
6:33
and people were proud to call themselves communists. There was
6:35
no was the word, there was no stigma about it.
6:41
And this is you know, before people found out about
6:44
the millions slaughtered by the Soviets, the genocide in Ukraine,
6:48
the millions more slaughtered by the communist Chinese. I can
6:53
go on and on and on. And you know, before
6:58
the Soviet Union was spreading to wipe America off the
7:01
face of the earth with nuclear weapons, and America became,
7:05
you know, to be a patriotmant not to be a communist.
7:09
And now now they don't even they can call themselves progressives,
7:13
they can call them some socialists. I think Tim Wallas
7:15
basically is just a plain, flat out communist. And I
7:19
mean Kamala Harris may not say she is, but I
7:22
mean he spent enough time what thirty some visits to
7:25
China as a school teacher and praising the communist system.
7:30
I mean he is. If he doesn't have a word
7:32
communists written beside his name, he is certainly in communist,
7:38
a communist in all but name only. And of course
7:41
Bernie Sanders calls himself a socialist, and no one even
7:43
bothers trying to hide it anymore. And I mean, these
7:48
are enemies within the gates, and no one really seems
7:52
to even care enough to fight against the enemies anymore.
7:55
It's a sad stay of the affairs, so very important
7:58
that we understand and these arguments against communism communism is
8:02
absolutely and so socialism and fascism, which is a branch
8:06
of you know, the Nazis were national socialists, so it
8:10
was the National Socialist Worker Party. You know. Anyway, we
8:15
can get into the history, but we won't this time.
8:19
Those ideologies are atheistic in their core, in violation of
8:25
the Ten Commandments. One that'll have no god other god
8:29
before me. They put the state and their ideology is
8:35
their god too. Don't covet the entire system of communism, socialism,
8:39
et cetera is based on covening the goods of another
8:42
that should not steal. It's entirely funded through theft of
8:46
private property. And you know, saying that it's not good
8:51
to own property or work and get paid for it
8:54
at universal basic income, it's taking from someone who worked.
8:58
Or Joe Biden's plan to pay off student life. I
9:00
paid my way through school. I worked very hard. It
9:04
took me a very long time to go to college
9:06
because I was working and paying as I went. My
9:11
dad didn't pay for my college. My mom did what
9:14
she could. I worked. I didn't get to live on campus.
9:17
I didn't get to live in a dorm. You know,
9:21
I missed out on a whole lot of the college
9:22
experience because I worked my butt off, and now I'm
9:29
supposed to turn around and pay for some some kid
9:32
that went and got a worthless degree in gender studies
9:35
or some other stupid thing. That's communism. That is pure,
9:40
simple communism. And it's opposed to Catholicism especially, but Christianity
9:47
at its core, at its very core, it is evil.
9:51
So now let's get into the eighth commandment, and that
9:55
we'll begin with what Falla Sprague says, or the section
9:58
the command against untruthfulness. God is truth itself. Consequently, he
10:07
forbids every kind of falsehood, especially lying, hypocrisy, and flattery.
10:12
John three thirty three says God is true. It is
10:15
impossible for God to lie Hebrews six eighteen. My Lord
10:18
says I am the Way and the truth and the
10:20
Life John fourteen six. Hence God commands you shall not
10:25
lie Leviticus nineteen eleven. Put away lying, speaking the truth
10:31
every man to his neighbor Ephesians four twenty five. Let
10:35
your conversation be upright and truthful, if you would show
10:41
yourselves to be children of Him who is the father
10:43
of truth itself. He is guilty of lying, who says
10:47
what is not true with the intention of deceiving others.
10:49
Lying is a misuse of speech. Was not given to
10:52
man in order that he might deceive others, but as
10:56
a means whereby he might communicate to them his thoughts.
11:00
The conditions under which lies are commonly told, these under
11:04
stress of circumstance, to avert some evil to one's self
11:08
or to others, as when Saint Peter in the outer
11:12
Court at the High Priest Palace said, I do not
11:14
know the man Matthew twenty six seventy two in jest
11:18
to amuse others, or for the sake of injuring someone,
11:24
as Jacob did when he deceived his father in order
11:27
to obtain his paternal benediction in Genesis twenty seven, just
11:33
Chapter twenty seven. I guess, but to relate a fictitious narrative,
11:37
or to make use of a fable for the instruction
11:39
of others, is no untruth, for it has done without
11:41
the intention to deceive our Lord himself employed parables in teaching.
11:46
A liar is is a counterfeit. A liar is like
11:50
a counterfeit coin, which appears to be what it is not.
11:56
It's actually sort of an important point. You know. I
11:59
grew up well from age fifteen on and actually before
12:03
the age five, in the mountains of North Carolina, and
12:06
I learned all about herbal medicine from the Hicks family.
12:09
I learned all about playing music from Doc Watson and
12:13
so many of the great musicians around there also imprinted
12:15
this is a storyteller for a time, and that's I guess,
12:19
you know, being on a stage and telling stories in
12:22
front of thousands of people. Did the jacktails old Scottish
12:26
folk tales, fairy tales essentially, and what they call the
12:29
grandfather tales, which were sort of like amusing anecdotes also
12:32
passed on through the tradition. That's what enabled me to
12:35
work in politics and got me able to do a
12:39
lot in talk radio, and probably a big reason why
12:43
I do the podcast now, you know. And Arvell Hicks,
12:47
who was, you know, our best friend and really like
12:51
my mentors, a storyteller. His father was a Primitive Baptist teacher,
12:56
a preacher. His father was a Primitive Baptist preacher and
13:01
they had a big falling out one time. The Arvel
13:04
learned to tell the jack tales from his mother and
13:08
from his We'll go with great uncle. Technically Ray was
13:12
his double second cousin, but I'm not gonna you don't
13:16
have to try to figure that out. Let's just call
13:18
him a great uncle. And Arvel's father, being a preacher,
13:23
condemned Arvell. He said, here, I am preaching the word
13:26
of the Lord, and you're out lying to the world.
13:28
And they had a huge falling out, and I don't
13:31
think Arvell ever went back to church. Uh. It is
13:34
actually okay to tell stories to teach, to teach lessons
13:40
like morals of the fables, you know Asop's fables, or
13:43
to amuse children, or to amuse listeners, or to tell jokes.
13:47
And you know, that's something the Catholic Church makes clear
13:51
that unfortunately, I guess the primitive Baptist Church did not,
13:56
and it caused a lot of trouble in that family.
13:58
So you know, this actually is a little more relevant
14:02
than you you might actually think. Okay, So back to it.
14:05
Hypocrisy or dissimulation is acting a lie. We commit this
14:10
sin when we speak or act differently to what we
14:13
think and feel. Judas kissed our Lord in the Garden
14:16
of Olives as if he were his greatest friend, but
14:18
he only did so to betray him. Matthew twenty six
14:21
forty nine. King Herod said to the three kings, when
14:25
you have found the child, bring me word again they
14:27
may that I may come and adore him Matthew two
14:29
to eight. But he thought in his heart that when
14:32
he knew where the child was, he would have him
14:34
put to death. Those are hypocrites who make an howard
14:37
profession of piety, while in reality their lives are very
14:40
far from irreproachable. They are like Satan, who can assume
14:44
the form of an angel of light. To feign sanctity
14:47
in this manner is worse than to sin openly. Some
14:51
appear very devout in church, they cross themselves and smite
14:54
their breast, but all the while their thoughts are far away.
14:58
They are dissemblers. You know, I'm guilty of it. I'm
15:02
sure we all are. It's a lot of you know.
15:05
I Just as my mind will drift one I'm praying
15:07
in the Rosary, and I have to keep pulling it
15:09
back and pulling it back, my mind will drift while
15:12
I'm a mass. And it's actually very important that we
15:16
be mindful in our worship and our prayers. The the
15:24
hypocrite is like a dunghill covered with snow, which hides
15:27
what really is. Our Lord compared such men to whitewashed
15:32
sepultures outwardly beautiful but within full of foulness and dead
15:37
men's bones, also to wolves and cheap's clothing. That was
15:40
Matthew twenty three twenty seven and Matthew twenty seven point fifteen.
15:45
What an interesting statement. I'm sure Father's Waragua Nu in
15:48
eighteen ninety the writings of I cannot remember. I think
15:53
this was Calvin. Pretty sure it was Calvin who said
16:00
that grace of God he eventually said, basically said all Christians,
16:07
all people were basically dunghills, and grace was like snow
16:11
covering them. And here Father Spirago is being rather clever
16:17
and saying that a dunghill covered with snow is actually
16:23
a hypocrite, like the white washed sepultures that Jesus condemned.
16:30
Very interesting, I told you the man was clever. Flattery
16:36
consists in praising another immoderately to his face against one's
16:40
own conviction for the sake of advantage. King herod Agrippa
16:44
was highly gratified by the flattery of the Tyrians and Sedonians,
16:50
when they exclaimed, on hearing his oration, it is the
16:52
voice of a god and not a man. But the
16:55
Angel of the Lord forthwith struck him, and he was
16:58
eaten by worms. Acted twelve, twenty two and twenty three.
17:02
Flatterers speak contrary to their convictions. They'd ride a man
17:05
behind his back while they praise him to his face.
17:11
The flatterer only seeks his own advantage. He is like
17:13
a cat which purrs, and the dog which falls on
17:17
his master's to get a piece of meat. Crafty people
17:21
cringe to others if they think anything can be gained.
17:24
Flatterers frequent the presence of the rich for the poor,
17:27
for from the poor they can get nothing. They are
17:29
like locusts, which do not come in the winter or
17:33
where the land is barren. But they slight, but they are,
17:37
but they alight in cultivated places where there is plenty
17:41
for them to devour. Flatterers praise him moderately. I eedy
17:44
ascribe excellence to a man when he does not possess it,
17:47
or they exaggerate his good qualities and palliate his misdeeds.
17:52
They are dangerous acquaintances because they hide a man's faults.
17:55
Instead of endeavoring as a true friend would to correct them.
17:58
It is a matter of indifferences to them where they
18:01
do harm or good, if they only get themselves into favor.
18:05
They are like a cook who cares not whether the
18:07
dishes he prepares are wholesome or the contrary, so long
18:12
as they are tasty and please the palate. Flattery feeds sin,
18:16
as oil feeds a flame. It is a nursery of vice,
18:20
Isaiah exclaimed, addressing flatterers, woe to you that call evil
18:24
good and good evil Isaiah five twenty. Let us therefore
18:28
be on our guard if anyone appears unusually complacent, I
18:33
guess the word use complacent anyway, and begins to praise us.
18:37
Our blessed lady was troubled at the salutation of the Angel.
18:41
So even as perfect and sinless as the blessed Virgin
18:46
Mary was, her humility calls her to be troubled at
18:51
the Angel, saying, hell full of grace. Which is very
18:54
important to remember. What are the reasons that should make
18:57
us refrain from untruthfulness? One like the devil in displeasing
19:01
to God. He who forfeits the confidence of his fellow
19:04
man causes a great deal of harm, and is capable
19:07
of committing all manner of evil deeds. The liar resembles
19:10
the devil, for the devil as a liar, and the
19:12
father thereof John eight forty four. Remember how the serpent
19:16
and Paradise slied to Eve. Liars are children of the devil,
19:20
not by nature, but by imitation. The liar is displeasing
19:23
to God. God is truth itself, and therefore he abhors
19:27
a liar. Our Lord did not speak as sharply to
19:29
anyone as of the Pharisees, and why because they were
19:32
hypocrites Matthew twenty three, twenty seven. From every class of sinners,
19:37
he gave an example of one who was saved e. G. Zachius,
19:41
among the usurers, the good thief, among the highwaymen, Magdalene,
19:44
and the Samaritan at Jacob's well, among profligate women, saw
19:49
among prosecutors of the church. But now one single individual
19:52
among liars and hypocrites did he mention as having sought
19:56
and found pardon. Many a time God punishes liars severely.
20:01
Witness Anonius's wife and Anonius and his wife Saphira, who
20:07
for their falsehood fell dead at Saint Peter's Feet Acts five.
20:10
Anyone who ever doubts the power given to Saint Peter
20:14
by Jesus need only to read as five. You think
20:19
you're an apostle? Okay, if someone cheats you out of
20:23
a little money that they promised wasn't even yours property
20:26
to begin with, and you turn to him and say
20:28
you lied to the Holy Spirit, or they go drop dead. Well,
20:31
Saint Peter said that, and they dropped dead anyway. And
20:37
geez I guess that's how you rest that name. Gi
20:41
e z I, the servant of Elsius who was struck
20:44
with leprosy for his lies and avarice. Fourth four Kings,
20:48
Chapter five. Lying lips are an abomination to the Lord
20:53
Proverbs twelve twenty two. The liar forfeits the trust of
20:56
his fellow man. The shepherd who cried wolf when there
20:59
was no wolf near found, he was not believed when
21:01
his flock was really attacked. His comrades have been so
21:05
often deceived that they denied heedeous cries. A liar is
21:08
not trusted when he speaks the truth. He is hated
21:11
by God and man. Liars often do a great deal
21:14
of harm. The spies who went to view the promised land,
21:17
deceive the Israelites by their false report and alarm them
21:20
so that they blaspheme. God wanted to stone the two
21:23
spies who spoke the truth, and clamored to return to Egypt.
21:27
See what mischief those men wrought. God declared his intention
21:31
to destroy the people Numbers thirteen. Jacob deceived his father
21:35
and obtained his brother's blessing fraudulently. His brother eathe Saw
21:39
threatened to kill him, and Jacob was obliged to take flight.
21:43
He who hath no guard on his speech shall meet
21:46
with evils. Proverbs thirteen three. The liar falls into many
21:50
other sins. Show me a liar, and I will show
21:52
you a thief. Where you find a hip. Where we
21:54
find hypocrisy, you find cheating in all manner of evil practices.
21:58
A liar cannot possossibly be God fearing the Holy Spirit
22:02
will flee from the deceitful. That's a wisdom one five. Again,
22:07
if you tell him to have a Bible that has
22:08
the Book of Wisdom in it, you don't have a
22:10
real Bible. Go get yourself a dewey riems or ignacious Bible,
22:16
Catholic edition, whatever you like, But get a real Bible
22:19
that has all the books in him. Before Martin Luther
22:22
started tossing out all he didn't like. All the piety
22:26
and devotion of one whose words serve to conceal, not
22:29
to express his thoughts is a mere sham. Do not
22:32
associate with such a one unless he corrupt you with
22:35
his ungodly ways. Lying men are without honor. That I
22:39
think it's from Sirac. Now, it could be Ecclesiastes. Like
22:42
I said, I can never figure out which abbreviation he's
22:46
using for which of those two books, because one was
22:48
called Ecclesiastes and one ecclesiasts Ecclesiasticus in the old writing.
22:54
And anyway, I'm just going to say that somewhere in
22:57
the Bible. Let's go with that. It didn't fly when
23:00
I went to a Baptist university. You couldn't just say
23:02
it's somewhere in the Bible. You had to cite chapter
23:05
in verse. It's a shame that so many people who
23:09
know the Bible so well have so little understanding of
23:12
what it means. The just show hate a lying word.
23:16
Proverbs thirteen to five. The pernicious habit of lying leads
23:21
a man into mortal sin and into eternal perdition. Lying
23:24
is in itself of anal sin, but it can easily
23:27
become a mortal sin if it is the means of
23:29
doing great harm or causing great scandal. He who indulges
23:33
in the habit of lying, where it runs no small
23:36
risk of losing his soul, For God withdraws his grace
23:39
from those who deceive their neighbor. The mouth that beliath
23:43
killeth the soul again from wisdom was some one to eleven. Actually,
23:47
the thief is not so bad as the liar, for
23:49
the thief can give back what he has stolen, whereas
23:51
the liar cannot restore his neighbor's good name of which
23:54
he has robbed him. A thief is better than a
23:57
man that is always lying, but both of them show
24:00
inherent destruction. Again, either Ecclesiastes or Sirac, a lie is
24:06
a foul blot in a man's From the same book,
24:11
the soul of the liar is like a counterfeit coin
24:13
stamp with the devil's effigy. When at the last day
24:16
the judge shall ask whose image is this, the answer
24:19
will be the devils, and he will say, rendering to
24:20
the devil the things that are his. Saint Thomas Aquinas
24:23
said that the Lord will destroy all those that speak
24:26
a lie Psalms five. Seven. Liars shall have their portion
24:30
in the lake burning with fire, and some revelations or apocalypse,
24:34
as he wrote it twenty one to eight. Our Lord
24:38
uttered a terrible denunciation of the Pharisees because of their hypocrisy.
24:42
Matthew twenty three thirteen. Lying is consequently forbidden, even if
24:47
it may be the means of affecting much good. And
24:50
by the way, Martin Luther said the exact opposite. He
24:54
wrote several times that one that lying was okay, and
24:59
two that one sh should lie if it would be
25:02
for a good cause. He said that repeatedly and again
25:08
wanted all the Ten Commandments thrown out of the Bible.
25:10
Saint Augustine says, it is just as ron tell a
25:13
lie for your neighbor's advantage is to steal for the
25:16
good of the poor, not even to save one's own
25:19
life or the life of another. Is a false falsehood justifiable.
25:24
Saint Anthonus, Bishop of Nicodemia, would not allow the soldiers
25:28
who were sent to arrest him and who were enjoying
25:31
his hospitality to save him by a lie, he preferred
25:34
to suffer martyrdom. We must not do evil that there
25:38
may come good Romans three eight. The end does not
25:42
justify the means. The enemies of the Jesuits allege that
25:45
they teach and act upon the principle that the end
25:48
justifies the means, but this has never been proved against them.
25:52
It was the philosopher Voltaire who proclaimed that doctrine. For
25:55
he said, lying is only reprehensible when it causes mischief.
25:59
Is a verr is the means of affecting good. And
26:04
he was essentially just quoting Martin Lutheran that I guess
26:07
he took well, I guess he took credit for it.
26:12
A falsehood told in jest is not wrong if everyone
26:15
can see at once that it has not meant in earnest.
26:19
If anyone says how to lightly mild it is today
26:21
when the cold is excessively severe, no one would call
26:24
this a sem But if a foolish joke produces lamentable results,
26:27
the case is different. A gentleman once told a peasant
26:30
who was at a distance from home, that he had
26:33
heard his cottage and half the village where he lived
26:36
was burned down. He only meant to make an April
26:38
fool of him, But the poor man took the news
26:41
so much to heart he fell down dead. As a rule,
26:44
it may be said that every lie, however trifling, it
26:46
may appear injursy, that ourselves or our neighbor for it
26:49
his departure from truth and uprightness. There is always a
26:52
certain duplicity about it, even if it only be a joke.
26:56
Let your speech be truthful and honest. Has becomes children
26:59
of Him true itself. It is, however, lawful, to give
27:03
an evasive answer to one who causes us embarrassment by
27:06
asking a question he has no right to ask. Very
27:09
important point someone might have said. You know, it says
27:13
it's not okay to lie, even to save someone's life. Okay, Well,
27:17
what about the Germans who hid Jews like and Frank,
27:21
you know, during the Nazi occupation. In that case, the
27:24
good Catholic may actually have to lie to save that
27:28
person's life, and would have to go to confession for it. Okay,
27:33
the duty to save that person's life would be a
27:35
higher duty. In that case, it would be a venial
27:38
sin to lie. It would be a mortal sin. Not
27:41
to protect someone into your care. But one could certainly
27:44
be evasive without incurring any fault whatsoever. And father Sparago
27:50
goes so far as to say even to spare embarrassment.
27:53
So just remember that, you know it's again, it's not
27:57
like you know Arbles the storyteller's father, who was a
28:02
Baptist preacher, tried to demand, we are under no obligation
28:08
to answer a question which another has no right to ask. Yeah,
28:12
that's the since I mean, And that's one of the
28:13
main reasons we have a declaration of independence and a constitution.
28:17
The Constitution is a document of negative rights. It is
28:20
what the government can't do to you. And you cannot
28:24
be compelled under the Fifth Amendment to incriminate yourself. No
28:29
one has the right to compel you to do that.
28:31
In other words, we may return an invasive answer or
28:34
an ambiguous reply, refuse to give any at all. Saint Anthonasius,
28:40
Bishop of Alexandria, was concealed in a vessel in the
28:43
Nile when soldiers of the Emperor Julian overtook and stopped
28:46
it on their inquiring whether where Anthonasius was. His servant replied,
28:51
he is not far gone. If you make casee, you
28:53
will soon take him. The soldiers went on went on
28:56
their quest, and the bishop escaped. The archangel Raphael to
29:00
to Bias that he was Asarius, the sign of a
29:02
distinguished jew whose form he had assumed. Tobias this book
29:07
of Tobit five eighteen, another book you need to have
29:09
in your bible. Because he had revealed his true nature
29:13
he could not have fulfilled. Because if he had revealed
29:16
his true nature, he could not have fulfilled the commission
29:18
entrusted him by God. The impertinent person presumes to ask
29:23
a professional secret of us, we may reply unceremoniously, I
29:28
do not know. In other words, is not mine to tell.
29:33
In this sense, our Lord stated that he did not
29:35
know the day when a judgment would be Mark thirteen
29:40
thirty two, which he certainly did. He just was not
29:45
the time for it to be told. If anyone whom
29:49
we cannot trust wants to borrow money from us, we
29:52
are justifying saying I have not any that is not
29:55
any to lend to you. I like the way you
29:57
put that. Again, we may return have an evasive answer.
30:02
If someone in authority and the absence of proof, tries
30:05
to force a confession of guilt from us, for no
30:07
man is obliged to incriminate himself. Yes, there's a type
30:14
of in the book. It looks like inenurimate, but that's
30:17
supposed to see incriminate himself. In many cases we should
30:20
refuse to give an answer. Saint Firmus, Bishop of Tagasta,
30:24
concealed in his house two young men whom the Emperor
30:28
had unjustly condemned to death. The officers of justice came
30:31
to the bishop and demanded to be told where the
30:33
young men were hidden. The prelate refused to answer. He
30:37
was put to torture. But this availed nothing. I can die,
30:40
he said, but I cannot make others miserable. The Emperor,
30:44
hearing this heroic conduct, pardon the young men. Our Lord
30:47
did not answer the questions Pilot put to him. It
30:50
would be understood that ambiguous replies must only be given
30:53
when consideration of the glory of God, the good of neighbors,
30:57
or the exigencies of our own position renders them necessary.
31:02
When our neighbor has the right to the truth, we
31:04
must answer simply and openly. When buying and selling, for instance,
31:08
or in drawing up an agreement, it would be grossly
31:11
unjust if persons about to marry were to deceive one
31:14
another by equivocating about money, matters and other things. Whoso
31:19
is really upright is like Almighty God, is pleasing in
31:22
his sight, and is esteemed by his fellow man. Christ says,
31:26
I am the truth John fourteen six. Therefore the lover
31:29
of truth is like unto him. The lover of truth
31:32
is well pleasing to God. Our Lord said in praise
31:35
of Nathaniel that he was an Israelite, indeed in whom
31:38
there was no guile John one, forty seven. The lover
31:42
of truth is esteemed by his fellow men. On one occasion,
31:45
when Caesar Augustus was making a triumphal entry into Rum,
31:48
he happened to hear that among the captives was a
31:50
heathen priest who had never been convicted of a lie.
31:54
Immediately he ordered him to be liberated, Saint John Cacantius.
32:00
It was once stopped by a robbers, who, after taking
32:02
his purse, asked if he had any more money on him.
32:05
The same replied that he had not. After he had
32:08
gone a few steps on his way, he remembered that
32:09
he had some pieces of gold sewed up in his clothes,
32:12
he hastened after the robbers and gave them to him,
32:15
and gave them to them. The thieves were so astonished
32:19
that they restored all that they had taken from him.
32:22
See how highly pagans and robbers esteemed truthfulness. Thus it
32:27
is always best to acknowledge one's fault freely, for thereby
32:30
one obtains forgiveness or at least a mitigation from punishment
32:35
due to it. It is said that Washington, when a
32:38
boy hacked with a chopper a beautiful cherry tree, which
32:41
his father greatly prized. Well, even fathers brogg into the story.
32:44
It's not true, by the way. His father was extremely
32:47
angry when he saw what was done and asked the
32:50
boy if the boy was colport. He replied, yes, father, I
32:52
would not tell a lie I did it. This candor
32:55
pleased his father so much that he did not punish
32:57
the boy. I was actually made up by thee by
33:00
the way, but it's a nice story anyway you Lookay,
33:02
we may perhaps sometimes have to suffer through speaking the truth,
33:06
but suffering is far outweighed by the approval of a
33:09
good conscience. He that walketh sincerely walketh confidently. Proverbs ten
33:14
to nine. Our Lord exhorts us to be simple as
33:17
doves Matthew ten sixteen. Guile is not half so profitable
33:22
as simplicity. It is, therefore our wisest course to be
33:27
candid and truthful. The means of preventing sins of the tongue.
33:31
It is the opinions of the father of the Church,
33:33
the fathers of the Church. The third part of all
33:36
sins committed in the world are sins of the tongue.
33:39
That's why this one's going on so long. It's like
33:41
really important. It is. Sins of the tongue can be
33:44
avoided by checking talkativeness and being guarded in our speech. Moreover,
33:49
by making excuses for those we here have spoken against,
33:52
and not repeating what is said of them. We must
33:55
not indulge the love of talking too freely. Saint Augustine
33:59
says that silent is the best preventative of sins of
34:02
the tongue. He who knows how to keep silent will
34:04
speak wisely. He that keepeth his mouth keepeth his soul.
34:08
But he that hath no guard on his speech will
34:10
meet with evilstive Proverbs thirteen to three. In the multitude
34:15
of words, there shall not be want of sin Proverbs
34:18
ten nineteen. While all the organs of the senses are
34:21
open to sight, God has closed the tongue behind the
34:25
double wall of the lips and teeth to warn us
34:27
to be circumspect in our speech. You should be as
34:31
careful in choosing the words you speak as in selecting
34:34
the food you eat. Holy Scripture compares the tongue to
34:36
a sharp knife, because we ought as ought to be
34:40
as cautious in our use of it as the surgeon
34:43
is in the use of his knife when he is
34:45
to use it to perform an operation. We should speak
34:50
with all the more deliberation because once because what is
34:54
once said, cannot be as if it has not been said,
34:57
You can't take it back. In other words, I no
35:00
more recall the words we have spoken than we can
35:02
the arrow we have let fry fly from the bow.
35:05
Our Lord says every idle word that men shall speak,
35:08
they shall render an account for it in the day
35:10
of judgment Matthew twelve thirty six. Nay, he will even
35:15
judge us by our words, where he adds by the
35:17
words thou shalt by thy words, thou shalt be justified,
35:21
and by thy words thou shalt be condemned. That was
35:26
I guess Matthew five thirty seven. I think, if I'm
35:29
looking the right place, death and life are in the
35:31
power of the tongue Proverbs eighteen twenty one. Furthermore, if
35:35
anyone is spoken evil in our presence, we ought to
35:42
lift he actually wrote life life up our voice in
35:47
his defense. Well, I guess it means the same thing. Away.
35:49
Scripture says, open thy mouth for the dumb Proverbs thirty
35:53
one eight. That is, for him who, being absent, cannot
35:56
defend himself. If therefore you hear the misdeeds of another
35:59
spoken endeavor to show that he did not act from
36:02
a bad motive, if that is possible, and make excuses
36:05
for the act on the plea of violent temptation, ignorance,
36:09
human frailty, and thus, at any rate mitigate the harshness
36:12
of the judgment passed on it. Or one may mention
36:15
something to the credit of the person in question. This
36:18
was saying Teresa's invariable practice, and no one dared in
36:21
her presence to utter a word of detraction. One may
36:25
also express one's approval disapproval by looking very grave, that is,
36:30
putting the detractor to shame. It will have the effect
36:32
of shooting the arrow at a rock. The chef will
36:35
rebound upon the marksman. The north wind driveth away rain asks,
36:39
doth a sad countenance back a backbiting tongue Proverbs twenty five,
36:45
twenty three. It is also advisable at wants adroitly to
36:49
change the conversation and thus prevent the calumniator there's that
36:55
word again, from pursuing the subject. By tolerating distraction, one
36:59
participates in sin. We should never repeat anything depreciatory which
37:04
we hear said of our neighbor. Has to heard a
37:06
word against our neighbor, let it die within thee trusting
37:09
that it would not burst thee as an arrow that
37:12
stiketh in a man's thigh. So was a word in
37:15
the heart of a fool. I believe that is actually
37:19
Sierrag and that's just my memory, but it could be Ecclesiastes.
37:22
But anyway, be very cautious in speaking to your neighbor
37:26
less unaware, you may blight his whole future. And all
37:30
that wraps up the eighth commandment. And I am sure
37:33
if you're anything like me, you found there's a whole
37:37
lot more in the eighth commandment than you ever imagined.
37:42
And I think very much like what he said was
37:45
Saint Augustine said, a third of all sins fall into
37:48
this category. I don't think there's anybody among us who's
37:52
not guilty of telling a lie, gossiping, you know, et cetera,
38:00
thinking the worst of someone when we need to be
38:02
more charitable. This is really one of the hardest ones.
38:06
I mean, it's not that hard not to steal, okay.
38:10
I mean, sure, you may make a mistake, you may
38:12
pick up something. I mean when you're a kid, maybe
38:15
even we're a shoplifter or something. You can make up
38:18
for that. It's not that hard not to kill. You know.
38:23
I've lived forty seven years and I haven't killed anybody yet.
38:26
I hope God will never do Okay, either intentionally or unintentionally,
38:30
or even in defense of my life or someone else's.
38:32
I would never wish to do that. In defense I
38:35
would without hesitation, believe it or not. I mean, in
38:39
defense of another's life, far easier than I would in
38:42
my own, you know. But yeah, I mean I'll fight,
38:45
no problem. But it's easy to go to church on Sunday.
38:50
It's easier. It's easy to believe there's one God who
38:55
and not many gods, and to worship God real hard
39:00
to be honest in everything we say, and to think
39:03
the best of even people who have heard us, or
39:05
people for some other reason that we may have a
39:08
legitimate reason for really not liking, and not to repeat
39:11
it and not to spread it around. And I mean,
39:16
that's really very difficult. And many times we lie in advertently,
39:20
and then again it's a anial sin. You need to
39:23
make it right when you can. But we say something
39:25
we think is true at the time, only to find
39:27
out it was wrong afterwards. Or we say something that
39:31
we intend to do and forget to do it. You know,
39:35
there's so many, so much really and it's I think
39:40
it's really good to spend some time thinking about this
39:42
and do a thorough examination of conscience with the close
39:46
of every day and just think, you know, was everything
39:48
I said truthful today? Was everything I said kind? Was
39:52
it charitable? You know? And if not, it's a anial sin.
39:58
Ask God for forgive us. If it's mortal sin and
40:00
you've really done serious harm by it, you've got to
40:03
go to confession and don't compound. Don't compound that sin
40:07
by receiving the Eucharists in an unworthy manner, because Jesus said,
40:13
if you're in a state of mortal sin, if you
40:14
receive the Eucharists in an unworthy manner, you become guilty
40:17
of his death. In other words, you become guilty of murder.
40:21
So really important, and then most I don't. I don't
40:25
think most Catholics, who spent you know, years in Catholic
40:30
grade school and going to Catholic high schools and colleges
40:33
have any idea about all the intricacies of the Eighth Commandment.
40:39
And I know for a fact Protestants don't because you know,
40:44
I was confirmed to the Methodist Church and I worked
40:47
as a Methodist youth minister. I went to both the
40:49
Presbyterian College and a Baptist college. I know for a
40:53
fact this never, none of this ever comes up. But
40:57
you know, of course, you're only guilty of what you're
40:59
aware of. But now you know, so in the words
41:03
of Saint Padre Pio, pray, hope and don't worry, and
41:05
I will talk to y'all next time. M HM.