Wednesday of the Twenty-third Week in Ordinary Time
The vices in chapter three of Colossians include immorality (fornicatio, πορνεία), impurity (immunditia, ἀκαθαρσία), passion (libido, πάθος), evil desire (concupiscentia mala, ἐπιθυμία κακή) , greed (avaritia, πλεονεξία), idolatry (simulacrarum servitus, εἰδωλολατρία), anger (ira, ὀργή), fury (indignatio, θυμός), malice (malitia, κακία), and slander (blasphemia, βλασφημία).
So far, these vices are familiar non-controversial, but the next vice on the list may come as a surprise: obscene language (turpis sermo, αἰσχρολογία)! Like it or not, obscene language is a vice, and St. Paul is imploring us to get it “out of our mouths” (Col 3:8). To be as innocent as doves, to be pure of heart, to refrain from using the kind of filthy talk that makes a movie inappropriate for children, to speak nobly. Obscene language is unnecessary, even in a heated confrontation. Remember that God and his angels are nearby, so speak with decorum, even to your enemies. As it is written in Psalm 8:
Your majesty is praised above the heavens;
on the lips of children and of babes
you have found praise to foil your enemy,
to silence the foe and the rebel.