Fourteenth Friday of Ordinary Time

When they hand you over, do not worry about how you are to speak or what you are to say. You will be given at that moment what you are to say. For it will not be you who speak but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you.

Every day of our lives we are “handed over” in little ways. We might not suffer the threat of physical harm or death, but there are other types of persecution that attack our minds and our hearts. When we are undergoing these attacks from modern culture, family, friends, or neighbors, we must remember to keep silent and not to worry about what they say. Instead we should suffer patiently and wait for God to inspire our words so that they might have the greatest effect. When we feel unfairly (and sometimes fairly) criticized or persecuted, there is the temptation to respond without placing ourselves into God's presence and letting Him craft our response. We can rush into speaking, and before we can stop ourselves, we say something we wish we hadn’t. We lie, berate, belittle, and say so many foolish things when we don’t take the time to center our responses on God.

How do we react to being fairly or unfairly criticized? Do we really trust God to speak through us? How can we cultivate the patience we need to be able to allow God to craft our response to the criticisms of others?

O Lord, speak through us.

Amen.