Gobshite

Creating harmony between our language and our life  

Matthew 7:21, 24-27  

Jesus said to his disciples: “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the Kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father in heaven. “Everyone who listens to these words of mine and acts on them will be like a wise man who built his house on rock. The rain fell, the floods came, and the winds blew and buffeted the house. But it did not collapse; it had been set solidly on rock.  And everyone who listens to these words of mine but does not act on them will be like a fool who built his house on sand.  The rain fell, the floods came, and the winds blew and buffeted the house.  And it collapsed and was completely ruined.”   

          I’ll never forget the most shocking religion class I had in high school. Fr. George Tribou, our principal and our religion teacher, walked into class one day, closed the door, and let fly a string of expletives and curse words that would have made a sailor blush. He threw out every curse word in the book, from the “f-bomb” to “G-D” to every other imaginable 4-letter word you’ve ever heard. And when his unholy tirade was finally over – and every boy’s jaw was on the floor – he looked at each of us as sternly as death and said, “Now, you’ve heard all these words in this school. I never want to hear these words said in this school again.” And we all responded weakly, “Yes sir.” Fr. Tribou knew well that you sometimes have to use a sledge-hammer to teach a lesson to teenage boys. 

  

          Now, the opposite of an expletive is a euphemism. Does anyone know what a euphemism is? It’s when you substitute an innocuous or harmless word in the place of a more offensive or unpleasant one. For instance, instead of saying someone has died, we say they “passed away.” Instead of saying she is “crippled” we say she has a “disability.” Instead of saying the military uses “torture,” we call it “enhanced interrogation.” Rather than say the horse was “euthanized,” we say politely it was “put to sleep.” Some people don’t say the lady “gave birth to a baby,” they say she had a “visit from the stork.” You can also use euphemisms instead of expletives, like “shoot,” and “dang,” and “fudge,” and “gobshite” (used in the place of BS).   

          In the gospel today, Jesus warns his followers to avoid both expletives and euphemisms. That is, steer clear of all forms of exaggeration, and let your speech be both clear and clean. We read in the gospel today: “Jesus said to his disciples: ‘Not everyone who says to me, “Lord, Lord,” will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father’.” Some disciples mistakenly thought that as long as we call out to Jesus with a lot of emotion and energy, he’ll love us and save us, just like some people think using an expletive will make other people listen to me and like me. Rather, let your language and your life be consistent; let there by harmony between your words and your works.   

          Recently, I’ve gotten to know Frank Falleur, an older man who is dying of cancer. He’s the grandfather of one of our Trinity students, Walker Catsavis. I visited Frank last week and he told me something I’ll never forget. He said, “Father, I’ve learned to be a man of my word. If I say I’ll do something, then I’ll do it.  People know that about me and they can count on me.” Frank Falleur does not need to use any expletives or euphemisms. He only says what he means and he means what he says. That’s what Jesus is talking about today.   

          Boys and girls (and this message goes for teachers and staff and priests, too!), what is the quality of your lexicon (a lexicon is a person’s vocabulary)? I hope you don’t fire off a string of expletives like Fr. Tribou did. But I also hope you don’t need euphemisms to disguise your desire to use expletives if you could. But euphemisms are at least a step in the right direction; but there’s something even better. You see, we often use employ expletives because we feel our own words are too weak and carry no conviction – they need the support and strength of a four-letter word. Instead, be a man of your word, a woman of your word – like Jesus and Frank Falleur – and let your lexicon and your life be in perfect harmony.  

 

          Theodore Roosevelt, the 26th president of the United States, famously said, “Speak softly and carry a big stick.” In other words, you don’t have to shout or use expletives when your actions do all of the talking.   

          Praised be Jesus Christ!