Saturday of the Twenty-third week in Ordinary Time
Today’s readings challenge us to reflect on the nature of our lives as disciples that by their very nature must pair devotion to God in the sacraments with Christian loving action. In today’s gospel, Jesus emphasizes what could easily be called one of the themes of the gospels: true faith in God gives rise to loving action. Jesus repeatedly chastises the Pharisees for being overly concerned with how they appear to the detriment of true piety. He challenges numerous people who want to follow Him to understand the implications of such following. He heals numerous people based their profound faith and some turn away from Him because of their lack of faith.
In this passage from Luke, Jesus says good trees bear good fruit and bad trees bear bad fruit, likewise, our actions bespeak what’s in our hearts (Lk 6:43-45). Therefore, let us form a good heart by listening to His words (Lk 6:47), good actions follow.
Lest we think Jesus is calling for some type of perfectionism out of us, we have the example of St. Paul, who calls himself foremost among sinners (1 Tm 1:16). Paul’s reflection on himself is no simple false humility. Before meeting Christ on the road to Damascus, Paul did some rather terrible things, such as hunting down early Christian converts. Nevertheless, Paul recognizes his sinfulness and opens himself to salvation in Christ. In other words, he cultivates a devotion to Christ. The beautiful thing here is that we can be sinners and be good disciples. We have, for example, the sacrament of reconciliation that, as long as we approach it, will help to cultivate “goodness in [our] heart” (Lk 6: 45).
So as we, as a parish, seriously reflect upon was it means to be disciples let us be challenged to cultivate a strong hearty “tree” of devotion to God by way of the sacraments, reflecting upon the Scriptures, and personal prayer, so that we may bear hearty “fruit” in the form of Christian loving service, especially on behalf of the poor. For Jesus instructs us that true Christian action can only come from a well-cultivated devotion to God.
- Tim Gabrielli