A Reflection for the Saturday of the Seventh Week of Easter. John 21:20–25. “The rumor then went out among the brothers that this disciple would not die.”
Today is the last day before the Ascension. In today’s Gospel, Peter asks Jesus, “What about him, Lord?’ No one asks more paradoxical questions than Peter.” He asks his “Lord” to explain his intentions for someone else. This isn’t the only time the fisherman insisted his “Lord” explain himself.
After professing the Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the Living God, Jesus announced that he would be crucified. Peter had other ideas. “And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him, saying, ‘God forbid it, Lord! This must never happen to you’” (Matthew 16:22).
At the Last Supper, Jesus takes up a towel and basin and begins to was his disciples’ feet. Peter, once again, puts his foot in his mouth. “You shall never wash my feet.” Jesus insists that Peter cannot have any part with him without the foot washing. “Simon Peter said to Him, ‘Lord, not my feet only, but also my hands and my head!’” (John 13:8–9).
Now, Peter again opposes his Lord and demands that his Lord provide answers. Peter and most of us have a lot in common.
Jesus answers, “If I want him to stay behind until I come, what does it matter to you? You are to follow me.” In other words, it’s none of your business. Just concern yourself with what I expect from you.”
Christians have tendency to focus on the lives of other people. The Lord Jesus, though, tells us to focus on our own actions. How well am I following the Beatitudes? What part of the Sermon on the Mount have I mastered? Have I come not to be served but to serve?
Someone overhears the conversation of Jesus and Peter, and word quickly spreads that a disciple will not die. Just like the telephone game, the rumor is wrong. It could also become cruel and dangerous.
One of the truest and saddest sayings of Christianity emerges from this incident. “Wherever two or three are gathered, there will soon be rumors spread.”
Pope Francis has made opposing gossip one of the pillars of his papacy. For Papa Bergoglio, almost nothing is more dangerous than rumormongering. “Gossip,” he insisted, “is a plague worse than Covid.” In the same talk, the pope observes, “gossip closes the heart of the community.” He goes on to say rumors have a diabolical source. “The great gossiper is the devil, who always goes around recounting bad things about others.”
Anyone who has been the topic of a whisper campaign knows how evil gossip is.
With all this sage advice, you’d think we’d never gossip. Yet, we’ve all gossiped. I know have — too often and too easily.
So, what’s the solution to end gossip? While there’s no magic formula, there is an art. As with any art, it takes time, intentionality and practice.
The first artful element is to realize that gossip is not a theoretical issue; it’s about our relationship. Whispering happens between real people about the most mundane and sublime topics. “How great a forest is set ablaze by a such a small fire! And the tongue is a fire” (James 2:5–6). Recognizing that our words affect real people can help us speak constructive, loving, and encouraging words. “Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt” (Colossians 4:5).
After that, it remember that gossip is a spiritual problem. It emerges from the heart.” Jesus taught, “But what comes out of the mouth proceeds from the heart, and this is what defiles” (Matthew 15:18). That’s why ending gossip, as with every art, comes from the heart too.
The third artistic element is maybe the most important. We have to want to stop gossiping. This need to be important enough to intentionally not gossip. Nurturing our heart involves meditating on and pray about the use of our words. “Set a guard, O Lord, over my mouth; Keep watch over the door of my lips” (Psalm 141:3). In the tradition of Ignatian contemplation, I can take Jesus’ question to Peter and address it to myself: “What does it matter to you?” And then apply that answer whenever I am tempted to participate in gossiping.
