July 9, 2023, 12:00 PM

Gossip is idle talk or the spreading of rumors, especially about the personal or private affairs of others. Gossip causes harm by spreading errors or misinformation about others. There are various forms of gossip, but all are uncharitable conversations that seek to harm others. Reviling is a dishonoring of a person to their face and often for others nearby to hear. Backbiting is the quiet, secret injuring of a person’s good name to others. Gossip is calumny when it is a spoken lie and is slander when it is a written lie about someone. Detraction involves calling attention to others’ faults that don’t need to be disclosed. Tale-bearing, also called Whispering, spreads embarrassing information with the purpose of stirring up trouble for the victim, such as loss of a job or friends. Derision makes fun of a person with malicious intent. Cursing is a cold, calculated request to God or Satan to afflict another person with some evil or harm. So, when we gossip do we sin?  When someone’s gossip negatively alters the opinion another has regarding a third person, the gossiping person has committed a grave action. If it is done with full knowledge and deliberate consent, the grave action then becomes a mortal sin. So you can see that Gossip is a far more serious matter than most of us like to consider. This might be more detail than you wanted to know, but now you know!