At Mass this morning, Francis once again slammed those who speak ill of others, who get angry" because "when we denigrate another person it is because we are unable to grow up and need to belittle others, to feel more important".

Vatican City (AsiaNews) - "'[P]rune' our tongues a little, 'prune' the comments that we make of others and the outbursts that lead us to easy anger or insult," Pope Francis said in this morning's Mass in the Domes Sanctae Marthae. With a feeling of "homesickness for Argentina" because of the presence of many staff members of the embassies and consulates of Argentina to Italy and FAO, the Holy Father criticised those who engage in idle talk and speak ill of others.

In May, the pontiff had slammed "misinformation, libel and slander". Now, citing Jesus, he said that whoever curses, deserves hell. He said so, Vatican Radio reported, as he commented words Jesus spoke to the Apostles after the Beatitudes, when he asserted that he had not come to end the Law of Moses.

Pope Francis warned that anyone who "enters Christian life" will have "greater demands made of them than others", not "greater advantages". He said Jesus mentions some of these demands, in particular the problem of "bad relations among brethren". If our heart harbours "bad feelings" towards our brothers, the Pope explained, "something is not working and we must convert, we must change." For him, "anger towards a brother is an insult, it's something almost deathly; it kills him."

However, in the Latin tradition, the pope noted, there is a "wonderful creativity" in inventing epithets, but he cautioned that "when the epithet is friendly, that is fine. It becomes a problem though when there is another kind of epithet", when the "mechanism of insult" comes into play, which is "a form of denigration of others."

In view of this, "There is no need to go to a psychologist to know that when we denigrate another person it is because we are unable to grow up and need to belittle others, to feel more important." This, he said, is "an ugly mechanism". By contrast, in all simplicity, Jesus said, "Do not speak ill of one another. Do not denigrate one another. Do not belittle one another'.

"In the end," the Pope noted, "we are all travelling on the same road, we are all travelling on that road that will take us to the very end." Therefore "if we do not choose a fraternal path, it will end badly for the person who insults and for the insulted. If we are not able to keep our tongues in check, we lose". Indeed, "Natural aggression, that of Cain toward Abel, repeats itself throughout history."

For Pope Francis, it is not that we are bad but rather that "we are weak and sinners." That's why it is "much easier" to "resolve a situation with an insult, slander, libel instead of resolving it with goodness."

"I would like to ask the Lord to give us all the grace [necessary] to watch our tongues, to watch what we say about others," the Pontiff added. "It is a small penance but it bears a lot of fruit."

"Sometimes, we go hungry and think, 'What a pity I didn't taste the fruit of a delicious comment against another person." Yet "in the long run, hunger bears fruit is good for us."

That's why we ask the Lord for this grace: to adapt our lives "to this new law, which is the law of meekness, the law of love, the law of peace, and at least 'prune' our tongues a little, 'prune' the comments that we make of others and the outbursts that lead us to easy anger or insult. May the Lord grant us all this grace!"

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