So it s important for us to ask some questions about ourselves. Sirach gives us a hint in the first reading. He says, Look at the words of a person. When we were kids, we said, Sticks and stones can break my bones, but words will never hurt me, but that s not true. Words kill, and words cause people to be killed spiritually, emotionally and physically.
Conversation is the test of a man.
That leads to a question about our inner self and our outer self. Americans say yes that was a big issue a couple of years ago with the presidential scandal. Americans said yes, you can separate the two. God says you cannot separate the inner self from the outer self. If you do, he calls that hypocrisy.