We have reflected on the importance of being the yeast of goodness and justice in our community, and now we read of Paul's concern about being the yeast of malice and wickedness.
Think about the person that you know who is always gossiping about everyone. This person probably doesn't realize the damage he or she is causing.
But the yeast of scandal or disrespect can spread to the detriment of the reputation of the person talked about.
We all know the story of the person who confessed to gossiping and for his/her penance was told to take a feather pillow, cut a hole in it and let the wind blow the feathers away, and then go back the next day and pick up all the feathers.
Of course this is impossible, and the person realized how impossible it is to stop the spread of gossip and lies.
The wickedness is even greater when the person spreading the lies is doing it so that he or she can benefit from destroying the name of the person.
In the nineteen forties and fifties, cigarette manufacturers gave out samples of cigarettes to teenagers and younger in order to create a market for the product knowing that the nicotine was addictive. In more recent years, drug dealers did the same. Even drug manufacturers sent samples to doctors encouraging them to give them to patients without warning them of the addictive nature of the drugs.
This wickedness has caused more crime as well as deaths than we can even imagine and we are just beginning to get some results in helping those who became addicted.
We live in community with others and are yeast in our families and in our community.
We have a choice to make: will we be the yeast for spreading God's love, or will we be the yeast of malice and wickedness?
