Wednesday of the Twelfth Week in Ordinary Time
Trees are stunning examples of the grandeur of God’s creation. From the most delicate to the mighty Redwood, a healthy tree is a gorgeous sight to behold. Picture your favorite tree. Perhaps it’s a fruit tree, or maybe one bearing nuts or olives, or a flowering tree. Imagine that tree in full bloom, gloriously healthy, laden with fruit or blossoms. Now imagine that tree is you! As Christ’s disciples, we are called to bear fruit, to exhibit the fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22-26), the theological virtues of faith, hope, and love, and to pattern our lives after the life of Christ. Today, let us examine our “branches.” Will we find fruit there, and if so, what kind?
In our Gospel, Jesus cautions us, “beware of false prophets,” the proverbial “wolves in sheep’s clothing.” He declares, “By their fruits you will know them.” Jesus expands his metaphor, “Do people pick grapes from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? Just so, every good tree bears good fruit, and a rotten tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a rotten tree bear good fruit.” Pretty straightforward, isn’t it? Jesus invites each of us to take a close look at our own lives. I might ask myself, am I bearing fruit consistent with the Gospel, or like that wolf who disguises himself as a sheep, is there any hypocrisy within me?
The good news is, God has not left us alone to flounder and struggle to live virtuous, fruitful lives on our own. God has given us everything we need for this life in Christ—His very presence within and around us, His Word, the Sacraments, the Holy Spirit, and one another. Even our fruitful discipleship is a gift—it’s not something of our own that we muster up on our own accord or in our own strength and feeble efforts.
As we examine our lives and our consciences today in light of our Gospel reading, one simple way to do that is to ask ourselves, is our orientation is toward Christ or away from Him. Am I directing my thoughts and hence my words and actions toward Christ or away from Him? In a treatise on Christian Perfection, St Gregory of Nyssa wrote,
“The life of the Christian has three distinguishing aspects: deeds, words and thought. Thought comes first, then words, since our words express openly the interior conclusions of the mind. Finally, after thoughts and words, comes action, for our deeds carry out what the mind has conceived. So when one of these results in our acting or speaking or thinking, we must make sure that all our thoughts, words and deeds are controlled by the divine ideal, the revelation of Christ. For then our thoughts, words and deeds will not fall short of the nobility of their implications.”
St Gregory describes a “sheep in sheep’s clothing” doesn’t he, or that healthy tree that bears abundant fruit. When our thoughts, words, and deeds are controlled by the revelation of Christ, we bear fruit consistent with the Gospel.
St Gregory continues,
“What then must we do, we who have been found worthy of the name of Christ? Each of us must examine his thoughts, words and deeds, to see whether they are directed toward Christ or are turned away from him. This examination is carried out in various ways. Our deeds or our thoughts or our words are not in harmony with Christ if they issue from passion. They then bear the mark of the enemy who smears the pearl of the heart with the slime of passion, dimming and even destroying the luster of the precious stone.”
I might ask myself, in what way(s) are my thoughts and actions not in harmony with Christ? In what way(s) am I a tree that bears bad fruit, not good?
St Gregory goes on,
“On the other hand, if they [one’s deeds and thoughts] are free from and untainted by every passionate inclination, they are directed toward Christ, the author and source of peace. He is like a pure, untainted stream. If you draw from him the thoughts in your mind and the inclinations of your heart, you will show a likeness to Christ, your source and origin, as the gleaming water in a jar resembles the flowing water from which it was obtained.
For the purity of Christ and the purity that is manifest in our hearts are identical. Christ’s purity, however, is the fountainhead; ours has its source in him and flows out of him. Our life is stamped with the beauty of his thought. The inner and the outer man are harmonized in a kind of music. The mind of Christ is the controlling influence that inspires us to moderation and goodness in our behavior. As I see it, Christian perfection consists in this: sharing the titles which express the meaning of Christ’s name, we bring out this meaning in our minds, our prayers and our way of life.”
I share that lengthy passage because I found it helpful in my meditation and contemplation of today’s Gospel. I pray you do, as well. Remember, the grace of fruitfulness is God’s gift to you—if you receive it with meekness, humility, and gratitude, the fruit will come, the flowers will blossom in your life. As St Gregory so aptly observed, “Christ’s purity, however, is the fountainhead; ours has its source in him and flows out of him.” It’s Christ’s purity, not our own, that we exhibit when our lives become that healthy tree that bears good fruit. May we relax in Him today and simply allow Jesus to be the fountainhead, the lifeblood that flows within us producing fruit for eternal life. Thanks be to God! Amen!
—Elizabeth Wells