Disinformation, defamation, slander are Sins, a slap in the face of Jesus: Pope

Vatican City, 18 May 2013: A Christian must overcome the temptation to "interfere in the lives of others," Pope Francis exhorted at his May 18 daily Mass at Casa Santa Marta. The Pope also stressed that talk and envy do so much harm to the Christian community. Saturday’s mass was concelebrated by Father Daniel Grech of the Vicariate of Rome, attended by a group of students of the Lateran, led by its rector Msgr. Enrico Dal Covolo, and others.

"What is it to you?" Pope Francis began his homily with this question that Jesus asked to Peter when he had meddled in the life of the disciple John, ‘whom Jesus loved.’ Peter, pointed out the Pope, had ‘a dialogue of love’ with Jesus, but then the dialogue is diverted to another track. He suffers from a temptation: ‘to interfere in the lives of others’.

We see two modes of this mix in our lives. First, the "comparison", the "to compare onself with others." When there is this comparison, the Pope said, "we end up in bitterness and even envy, but even envy rusts the Christian community." "It hurts so much’ the Pontiff said and that "the devil wants that". The second mode of this temptation, he added, is gossip. It begins "in an educated way," but then we end up “feeling bad”.

"We all chat in Church! As Christians we chat! The chatter is hurtful? We hurt one another. It is as if we want to put each other down.: instead of growing one makes the other feel small while I feel great. That will not do! It seems nice to chat ... I do not know why, but it looks nice. Like sweet of honey, right? You take one and then another, and another, and another, and in the end you have a stomach ache. And why ? The chatter is like that eh? It is 'sweet at first and it ruins you, it ruins your soul! Rumors are destructive in the Church, they are destructive ... It’s 'a little' like the spirit of Cain who killed his brother, his tongue; it kills his brother!"

Normally, Pope Francis noted, "we do three things"
First, ‘misinformation: we tell only half that suits us and not the other half, the other half we do not say because it is not convenient for us. Second is defamation: When a person really has a flaw, we make it look big, we tell it like a journalist.. and the fame of the person is ruined! And the third is the slander- to say things that are not true. All three - disinformation, defamation and slander - are sin! This is to slap Jesus in the face of his children, his brothers.
That is why Jesus does with us what he did with Peter when he says: "What is it to you? Follow me, "The Lord in this instance" points the way ": "'This kind of talk will not do you any good, because it will just bring to the Church a spirit of destruction. Follow me! '. These are the beautiful words of Jesus, it is so clear, that he has so much love for us.

Today we ask Lord Jesus to give us this grace not ever get involved in the lives of others, but to become Christians of good manners and habits, to follow Jesus. And this is enough.
Source: VR Sedoc