Please, my sharing is not an attack to anyone, but a very big concern about our way of living together. We would not like to be victim of any physical attack from anyone after reading this article. But we invite all the readers of this article; religious people particularly, to reflect on it and try to contribute for the kingdom of God wherever they are. My sharing is about one dangerous virus in the religious life, which is named “gossiping”.
Core: Among the current problems of our society, there is the obligation to underline the issue of gossiping. From our lives in the seminary, the formation of the religious people is always centralized on the person of Jesus-Christ as the goal. But while being in the mission, the experience depends on... If someone is not really convinced of his vocation, after some experience done, it is very easy to give up and run away. That is what is called life experience. My Dears! problems are found everywhere. Even in our origin families, there are also several types of problems. But in the religious life, nowadays, it is too, too, and too much. Besides the financial crisis, in the religious life we notice the presence of gossiping spirit. My Dears, gossiping becomes a dangerous virus. What is this? Gossiping? It is the spreading of rumors or telling other people the personal details of other’s lives, especially maliciously. You realize yourselves how unfortunate is gossiping. We are religious people. When you visit some place, mostly during meal there is no any talk on food taste or a comment on the Holy Scripture. Only gossiping over gossiping. Religious people are squandering their time to criticize their own confreres. I assure you that most of the time when a confrere is present in the community, no one is talking against him and everybody is quiet, laughing with him but in their hearts the confrere has already been killed. When he is absent, gossiping starts about his life. Some people are considered as mastermind of gossiping. Actually it is not good gossiping but idle gossiping with a view to spoiling the name or names of the confreres. Instead of being fond of the Gospel and the pastoral, the religious people are daily preoccupied to “create histories” of gossiping about their confreres’ lives. Who are we to judge others? Are we not psychologically affected by a virus? Which shame to see people belonging to the “Melkisedek family” incapable to confront one another or to advise one another? We are really in the Jungle. The strong people are surviving and the weak are trampled. What to do? Are we not at risk of destroying the inheritance of our Founder, Joseph Allamano? People gathered according to the Country, languages, Continent…We have to reflect on our family even tough it is not the origin family but it is our Institute. If we really love our Institute, we have to take our time to reflect on it. I love so much the statement of the psychologists when they always affirm that we give what we have. Therefore, I finally deduce that the one who grew up with the gossiping spirit since his childhood, wherever he is or will be, will always carry with him the gossiping spirit. Gossiping is a form of killing others. It is a crime, even an inviolability of human life. Be careful. You don’t know that whatever you said or gossip, later on it comes back to the concerned people and they are informed about that.
Conclusion: In general, gossiping is not advisable. It destroys the community life, then the confreres. Gossiping is an arm of the weak people. We used to think that gossiping was the women behavior but that is not true. Men are distinguishing in gossiping. What is their goal or aim at gossiping? It is just a malicious way to spoil and destroy the reputation of others. Mind your business my Dears. Once again, which shame for the people, gathered together for the sake of Jesus-Christ, are killing one another by gossiping. We have to change that kind of mentality. We have forgotten the goal of our evangelization. The current goal of evangelization is called “Gossiping”. Gossiping does not create unity but division, mistreatment, hatred, “telling lies against others”, therefore killing others. As recommendations, firstly, stop gossiping and telling lies against others with a view to spoiling their names. It would be good to control our words about others before pronouncing. We would not like to hear words such as “we are imperfect people”, therefore gossiping is possible. Do not hide behind of the imperfection of the World. Please, avoid doing thing knowingly. Secondly and the last recommendation, we invite the religious people to take advantage of the recommendation done by the Pope John Paul II from the below text. Here is a wonderful text gotten from the “Evangelium Vitae”, the Encyclical Letter of the Pope John Paul II of March 25, 1995, on the value and Inviolability of Human life. “Cain said to Abel his brother: ‘let us go out to the field’. And when they were in the field, Cain rose up against his brother Abel, and killed him. Then the Lord said to Cain: ‘where is Abel your brother?’ He said: ‘I do not know; am I my brother's keeper?' And the Lord said: ‘what have you done? The voice of your brother's blood is crying to me from the ground. And now you are cursed from the ground, which has opened its mouth to receive your brother's blood from your hand. When you till the ground, it shall no longer yield to you its strength; you shall be a fugitive and a wanderer on the earth’. Envy and anger have the upper hand over the Lord's warning, and so Cain attacks his own brother and kills him. As we read in the Catechism of the Catholic Church: "In the account of Abel's murder by his brother Cain, Scripture reveals the presence of anger and envy in man, consequences of original sin, from the beginning of human history. Man has become the enemy of his fellow man".10 Brother kills brother. Like the first fratricide, every murder is a violation of the "spiritual" kinship uniting mankind in one great family, 11 in which all share the same fundamental good: equal personal dignity. (No. 7 – 8)”
Let us pray for our unity: “Our God! Everything is yours. Send us your spirit so that true love may exist among us and no one gossip with anyone about Confreres’ lives, Amen!”
