Praise be Jesus and Mary, now and forever.
In today's Gospel, we hear the parable of the ten pounds or the ten gold coins, where our Lord tells us that we will be judged not just on faith, but also on the works that we've done in this life. What good did I do in my life? Did I embrace the Gospel and follow Jesus Christ? Did I perform good works as a response to the gift of faith? Or did I prefer to do evil instead?
Our Lord calls the two servants in the parable who did good with the money that He gave them good servants. He calls the third a wicked servant, because he squandered the opportunities he had to do good for the Lord, good for the Church, good for others.
Since our particular judgment will be heavily based on the works which we have done, which this parable actually illustrates to, one work which we'd like to comment on today is something that you probably don't think of as a work, but it actually is. It has to do with the comments that people leave on the internet, be it on YouTube, videos, Facebook, whatever social media platform you prefer.
In Matthew 12, our Lord talks about a tree and its fruits. He says in verses 34 to 37, “Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. The good man out of his good treasure brings forth good, the evil man out of his evil treasure brings forth evil. I tell you on the day of judgment men will render account of every careless word they utter, for by your words you will be justified and by your words you will be condemned.”
So our words are part of our works. With your words, you either build up others and build up God's kingdom or you tear others down and work to tear down His kingdom. Believe it or not, your speech reflects your true character. It gives a good illustration or a good indication of who you really are. St. Basil the Great says that words are truly images of the soul. 
It never ceases to amaze me how people who consider themselves Christian and Catholic, and even devout Catholics, how when some of them are commenting on the internet they seem to be totally unaware of what their comments reveal about them and how their words impact others.
Proverbs 18:21 says death and life is in the power of the tongue, and those who love it will eat its fruits. St. Faustina, in her diary, says the soul will not attain sanctity if it does not keep watch over its tongue. And St. James, at the beginning of the third chapter of his New Testament letter, talks about the power of the tongue. He calls it a restless evil full of deadly poison. He says, he says, with it we bless the Lord and Father, and with it we curse men who are made in the likeness of God. From the same mouth come blessing and cursing. My brethren, this ought not be so, he says in James 3:8-10.
In other words, in one moment we are saying our prayers and offering beautiful and humble words to God, and then some of us go on YouTube or other sites and we say thoughtless, hurtful, disrespectful, and insulting things. It's a spiritual schizophrenia due to the fact that we either haven't learned to control our passions or we simply haven't learned to think before we speak.
We're called to be Christians not only in Church, not only in our place of work, not only in our homes, but even on the internet, believe it or not. St. Robert Bellarmine, in his work, The Art of Dying Well, says the remedy against evil words and not only these, but also against deeds, thoughts, and desires, is to think beforehand about what we are to speak or desire or do. And this is the character of men, not to do anything rashly, but to consider what is to be done and if it agrees with sound reason to do it, but if not, then not to do it, says St. Bellarmine.
So sound reason is a filter we need to have, but also simply having a spirit of charity, humility, and respect. St. Paul in Colossians 4:6 says, “Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt.” He doesn't say let your speech always be gracious, except when you're commenting on YouTube, Facebook, and TikTok. He doesn't actually say that.
St. John adds in 1 John 3:14, “We know that we have passed from death to life because we love our brothers. Whoever does not love his brother remains in death.” The Greek word there for love is that word agapao, it's what we get the word agape from. So agape love means doing what is good to others, including how we use our words.
I have to admit that as a young boy growing up and even as a lay person before becoming a friar, I would have never imagined that Catholics would say to priests, some of the comments that are left on our videos, would have never imagined it. Such a bitter, angry, hateful comments at times, and a number of them from supposedly devout Catholics.
St. James again says in James 1:26, “If anyone thinks he's religious and does not bridle his tongue, but deceives his heart, his religion is worthless.” So you deceive yourself if you think you're a faithful Catholic, but your tongue says otherwise. Remember our Lord's words, out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks. Matthew 12:34.
I delete disrespectful comments from my videos, and I block those who do that so that they can no longer comment. You know, one strike, you're out, not three. Usually, it's just one, because there's no need to leave a nasty comment up there, because that just starts a cascade of other nasty comments or other unhappy comments. And I pray for those people, too. You know why? They need it.
When we are caustic or hurtful with our words, it's a sign that something is wrong inside of us, and we need some kind of healing of our heart and a deeper conversion. My own words towards people have not always been kind and respectful. So I know what it's like to walk in those shoes, and it's not pleasant, either for me or for the person I'm talking to or about. So thankfully, our Lord continues to be patient and work on me.
Let's ask Our Lady then for the grace to really be wise with our words and respectful even in our internet comments, even there.
Praise be Jesus and Mary, now and forever.