“Do not praise a man before he has spoken, since this is the test of men”. For a man’s words flow out of what fills his heart”. These are the words we hear the end of the first reading in our mass today and the end of the gospel. They remind us of the importance of our speech and invite us to reflect on the nature of our communication. In the case of our speech the first aim is to to communicate the truth in charity. Truth is essential to any meaningful conversation. The second aim is the way in which truth is communicated, namely that it be communicated in love and charity. It may be true that someone has the largest nose we have ever seen but it does not mean that that we should share this thought with him. There are lots of things that are true that are not charitable to communicate. We should chose our words carefully and ensure that our motive is always rooted in charity and for the befit of the other person. Our words reveal the love or lack of love present in our hearts. The greatest truth that we can communicate is the victory of Christ over death, which is what we heard in our second reading today. Our salvation is the greatest truth of our lives, it is what gives meaning to our lives ad it is the greatest truth that we should share with others. Jesus himself is called the Word of God. He is the perfect truth communicated by the Father. Todays reading invite us to consider our speech as the fruit of our hearts and minds. There are many things we can talk about, the weather, farming, football, brexit, but there is nothing more important and charitable than our salvation in Jesus Christ. When we speak this truth we show that we are the fruit of our Heavenly Fathers love. As we go forward on this eight Sunday in Ordinary Time let us pray that our speech will always be a communication of the truth in love.