Ecclesiasticus 27:4-7 / 1 Cor 15:54-58 / Luke 6:39-45
It is said that eating is a favourite pastime for Singaporeans. It is not just for Singaporeans, but certainly for every nationality.
Eating is not just a pastime. It is a necessity. We eat to live, although there are people who live to eat.
Whatever the case may be, we will find our way to the food, or the food will find its way to us.
As much as eating is a necessity, or even if it is a luxury, we have to be careful of what we put into our mouths.
More than just the taste and the type of food that we put into our mouths, what is really important is the effect of the food when it goes into our digestive system.
So, food is not just judged by its taste but by its eventual effect on our bodies and on our health.
Hence, we have to be careful about what we eat. Not only should we not eat bad food, but we must also eat good and nutritious food.
If that is the way to look at food, then what is the way to know what a person is really like?
We won't be able to know what a person is like just by appearances, just as a book is not judged by its cover.
One of the ways to know what a person is like is by the words that come out of a person's mouth.
The 1st reading has this to tell us: “In a shaken sieve, the rubbish is left behind, so to the defects of a man appears in his talk, and the test of a man is in his conversation. A man’s words betray what he feels.”
A person may be glib with sweet talk, but those kind of words do not have any good and lasting effect on others. In other words, it is just empty talk.
Jesus tells us this in the gospel: For a man's words flow out of what fills his heart.
So, we can tell what a person is like by the words that comes out of his mouth.
Whether the words are simple or sophisticated, whether the person is articulate or not, it is about the feel and the effect of that person’s words on others.
Because what fills the heart of a person is felt by those who hear the words of that person.
As much as that is one of the ways by which we know what a person is like, it also should make us look at what our heart is like and what fills our heart.
Obviously, by the same measure, we would know what our heart is like by the words that come out of our mouth.
If we find that our words are angry, sarcastic, critical, judgmental and depressive, then we know what fills our hearts and by our words we will know ourselves.
So, as much as we must be careful about the food that goes into our mouths, we too must be careful about the words that come out of our mouths.
As much as we taste the food to see if it is good or not, let us also taste our words to see if it will do good for others.
Let us acknowledge that there is rubbish in our hearts, and let us ask Jesus to cleanse our hearts to make it pure and clean.
Let us keep in our hearts what is good and loving, so that our mouths will speak words of praise and thanksgiving.
Let us ask Jesus to make His home in our hearts, so that we will speak words of peace to each other and cleanse the world of hatred and evil.
By our words, may others know that we are a people of peace and love, and may they be able to see that Jesus lives in our hearts.