Tag: <span>Fruit</span>

May 28, 2021May 19, 2021

Dead Tree

This is a reflection on the Mass readings of the day.

Sometimes what we see in Scripture can frustrate us because its meaning for us is not immediately clear.

The narrative of Jesus cursing the fig tree can occasion such frustration. Why is Jesus being “cruel and unfair” to this tree by cursing it for not bearing fruit, when fig fruit is out of season?

Yet, instances where Scripture is unclear can be an invitation to persons of faith to delve deeper, under the surface, asking God in humble dialogue for illumination, to understand the lessons He has for us there.

As we contemplate the cursing of the fig tree, what elements should we consider as we strive to get a glimpse of what is Jesus’ heart?

A natural place to start is Jesus’ own explanation of His actions, when such is to be found. And indeed, today we have Jesus reacting by way of explanation–or at least partial explanation–to Peter noting that the fig tree has dried up.

Jesus talks about the power of prayer: That the omnipotence of the Divinity itself is at our fingertips when we ask for God’s action in humble prayer. So, we can infer that at least part of what moved Jesus to cause the withering of the fig tree was the desire to teach His disciples–and us–that God is master of nature, and that our prayer can affect nature itself.

This alone could feed a great period of meditation. What is the object of our prayer? What are we permitted to ask God to do, and expect a result? It is not limited to asking for spiritual benefits for ourselves and our neighbor, though this is important. In this passage, Jesus gives us explicit permission to pray for God to move and transform nature, implying further that if what we ask for does not come to pass, it may be because we lack faith in the power and will of God to move nature on our behalf. We should be bold and confident in our prayer–even a little “presumptuous” that God will do what we ask, even if it is somewhat spectacular, barring a significant reason for not fulfilling our request. How often do we pray with this kind of confidence–the confidence with which Jesus applied divine power to the fig tree?

But an unanswered question remains: Why did Jesus use destructive force on the tree, when it was simply unfruitful due to the season of the year?

Better for one tree to wither, than for centuries of apostles to be surprised at losing their eternal salvation because they failed to bear fruit for Jesus, regardless of excuses of seasonality and convenience.

Jesus was issuing a none-too-subtle palpable warning that, as He states elsewhere, “Anyone who does not remain in me will be thrown out like a branch and wither; people will gather them and throw them into a fire and they will be burned.” (Jn. 15:6)

Ideas for conversation with the Lord: Ask Jesus to show you the way to remain in Him and bear fruit; ask Him to show you His will and to help you to follow it regardless of the cost.

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May 12, 2021April 30, 2021

Not a Cure-All

This is a reflection on the Mass readings of the day.

Jesus’ promise in today’s gospel sounds so consoling: He will give us His Spirit, who in turn will fill us with the truth. Which of us would not wish to be filled with supernatural knowledge? The Church has beautifully laid out the names of the gifts that the Holy Spirit brings to us: Wisdom, Counsel, Fear of the Lord, Piety, Understanding, Knowledge, Fortitude.

We can very easily mistakenly think, however, that these gifts, these transformative and elevating gifts, provide us with a superiority that allows us to skate through life, successful at everything we attempt.

Firstly, it must be noted that (unfortunately?), these gifts do not really aid us in professional success, except indirectly, in that they make us the kind of reliable and discerning person with whom people may entrust valuable charges. So, if you are looking for the gifts of the Spirit in order to make money, you are out of luck!

But secondly, they do not necessarily make us “happier” in this life. The gifts of the Spirit invariably come accompanied by the great gift of Charity, the third of the theological virtues, and this virtue can cause a world of hurt. With the gift of Charity, we do not only feel our own pain and our own sorrows–we feel those of others as well. What the world calls “empathy” is lived at an entirely different level with Charity.

Nor do these gifts necessarily make us tangibly successful. Look at St. Paul in the first reading. The lives of the apostles were not only filled with persecutions, but also at times with mediocre results. Paul crafted a beautiful discourse tying the imperfect worship of the Greeks to the Good News of the Gospel. The crowd basically said “whatever” and walked away. The Holy Spirit does not override the human freedom to reject God.

But in the end, the Holy Spirit unequivocally brings fulfillment; He brings a deeper and more powerful happiness. That happiness is compatible with all sorts of woes that we may suffer: Failure, depression, exhaustion. It stems from a deep-seated knowledge that we are loved, and that our decision to love in return carries with it fruits for eternity.

Ideas for conversation with the Lord: Tell Jesus that you value the gift of His Spirit above all other gifts, and that you will happily take all the difficulties of life, even amplified, and ask only for this most sublime gift.

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October 25, 2020September 30, 2020

Crazy Love

This is a reflection on the Mass readings of the day.

Today’s Gospel represents perhaps the most important teaching of Jesus, inasmuch as it sums up all the others. Love God with everything you are, and love your neighbor as yourself. Loving God means seeking union with Him in prayer and the sacraments, and obeying His will like a faithful child; loving neighbor means passionately seeking others’ welfare, even though they are imperfect sinners.

And loving neighbor includes doggedly pursuing the welfare of the least fortunate, those who are suffering want, as the first reading tells us. Too often we Christians forget that looking after the needy is not an optional tack-on to our faith, but rather is a core demand of Him who commands us to love our neighbor as ourself.

These messages of love, very difficult to follow because the require deep faith on the one hand and sacrificial charity on the other, are the same messages that St. Paul tirelessly preached to the gentiles in city after city.

Despite his unconquerable faith and hope, St. Paul must have felt discouragement at times. Was this thing ever really going to take off? For Christianity, so new and vulnerable in the hearts of the communities he founded, to survive when he was gone must have seemed like it would require a massive miracle.

But then we see accounts like that found in today’s second reading, where Paul congratulations the Thessalonians not only for keeping the faith, but ultimately spreading it just as he did, with conviction and passion. Moments like this must have really bolstered Paul’s hope.

Sometimes it feels like we’re the only ones crazy enough to embrace unconditionally Jesus’ message. As such, we feel impotent to pass it on to others. When spreading Christ’s message to others, we have to remember that our words are not the protagonist of conversion, but rather nothing more than a catalyst–the grace of Christ working directly in the human heart is the only protagonist of conversion, salvation, and sanctification.

Ideas for conversation with the Lord: Ask Jesus to make you a catalyst of His redemption. Tell Him you give Him your whole day and your whole life and, even while mindful of your sins, ask Him to take that gift and use it to extend in other souls the same sort of experience of Him and conviction that He has given to you.

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