A woman went to Confession to a Desert Father. She admitted to having slandered someone. Seeing her sincere repentance, the priest gave her absolution. Before dismissing her, he gave her this penance: She was to buy a chicken, pluck it on the Village Square and then come back to see him.
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The woman carefully carried out her penance, came back to the priest and asked: "Now, what must I do with the chicken?" "Go back to the Marketplace where you plucked the chicken," He told her. "And pick up all the chicken's feathers."
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"That's impossible," exclaimed the woman. "The feathers have all flown away, the wind has scattered them to the four corners of the globe!" "That's true! Now you understand what slander can do! It can spread more quickly and farther then those feathers!
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The judgments, which this creates in hearts and the troubles, which arise in the consciences cannot be repaired!"
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Jesus has given us a golden rule: "When your brother sins, go to him, one on one..." (Matt.18,15). Most often, the very fact of going to see a brother causes the "falsehood" that one had fabricated to dispel, and peace to be restored. Even if truly there had been sin, we certainly have other means of furthering the Kingdom than that of whispering criticism! Compassion heals the wounded heart more surely than judgment, and prayer can convert the sinner more surely than accusation.
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