Beware of the Feathers!

Special Note: Today's post is taken from the University of Notre Dame's prayer website. The scripture passage is today's Gospel reading from Matthew.
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“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs, which on the outside look beautiful, but inside they are full of the bones of the dead and of all kinds of filth. So you also on the outside look righteous to others, but inside you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.
“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you build the tombs of the prophets and decorate the graves of the righteous, and you say, ‘If we had lived in the days of our ancestors, we would not have taken part with them in shedding the blood of the prophets.’ Thus you testify against yourselves that you are descendants of those who murdered the prophets. Fill up, then, the measure of your ancestors." Matthew 23: 27-32

Beware of the Feathers!
A woman repeated a bit of gossip about a neighbor. Within a few days the whole community knew the story. Later, the woman responsible for spreading the rumor learned that it was completely untrue. She was very sorry and went to a wise old sage to find out what she could do to repair the damage. “Go to the marketplace,” he said, “and purchase a chicken, and have it killed. Then on your way home, pluck its feathers and drop them one by one along the road.”

Although surprised by this advice, the woman did what she was told. The next day the wise man said, “Now, go and collect all those feathers you dropped yesterday and bring them back to me.”

The woman followed the same road, but to her dismay the wind had blown all the feathers away. After searching for hours, she returned with only three in her hand. “You see,” said the old sage, “it’s easy to drop them, but it is impossible to get them back. So it is with gossip. It doesn’t take much to spread a rumor, but once you do you can never completely undo the wrong.”

Author Unknown


Prayer

A warning from the Lord Jesus. Obedience and service must be accompanied by sincere dedication of the heart to serve the Lord. Substituting trivia for real obedience and acceptance of the Lord’s will easily ruins the prayer and petition addressed to Him.
Let me pray, let me serve, Lord, with truth and sincerity, with love and generosity in my heart. Rev. William Simmons, CSC