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Fruit in Grace

Grapes

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


In today’s first reading, we see how Paul, a murderous persecutor of Christians, received through no merit of his own the grace of conversion, ultimately to become the great Apostle to the Gentiles.

If God granted such a grace to a brutal persecutor, what graces will He not give to you, if you give your life to Him daily and beg Him for the gifts of faithfulness and fruitfulness? Sometimes we do not feel particularly passionate for the Gospel, or fruitful for the Kingdom of God. But if our daily gift to Him is sincere, we can trust that He will use it for His Church–even if we do not become itinerant preachers, as Paul did.

Jesus provides for us the clincher of fruitfulness in today’s gospel: If we eat His Flesh and drink His blood, we will have His life within us, and enlivened with that life, by His power our fruitfulness for the mission of the Gospel is guaranteed.

Ideas for conversation with the Lord: Ask Jesus to help you to perceive your worth and value, not according to the measures of the world or of other people, but by the measure of faith, gift, and eternity–which was the measure of His own life, and that of His mother.

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The Grain of Wheat

Wheat

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


Today, it is as though the first reading takes Jesus’ last line in the gospel and expounds on it.

“When I am lifted up, I will draw everyone to myself.”

I will place my law within them and write it upon their hearts; 
I will be their God, and they shall be my people.
No longer will they have need to teach their friends and relatives
how to know the LORD.
All, from least to greatest, shall know me, says the LORD, 
for I will forgive their evildoing and remember their sin no more.

But this effectiveness of Jesus in drawing people comes at a price.

Jesus Himself says in today’s gospel that unless a grain of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains a single grain; but if it dies, it bears much fruit.

Jesus suffered and died to merit the grace needed to draw all people to Himself and heal them.

If we want to be effective for others as Christians, we can expect no different. While there is no reason to believe that we will suffer all our lives, nonetheless, like the grain of wheat, we must die. We must die through purification from attachment to our own goals, our own selves, our earthly wants, so that our attachment to Christ as our only good may stand alone. This purification process is a painful one, and it involves steps whereby God Himself takes the initiative and cleanses us through suffering, like gold purified in fire.

Ideas for conversation with the Lord: Ask Jesus to give you the inestimable gift of Christian effectiveness for others, through the process He describes in the gospel today. Tell Him that, even though that process may be painful, you understand that it is temporary, whereas the eternal punishment of souls is permanent. Imagine Him walking up the Way of the Cross for you, and ask Him to give you the courage to walk alongside Him.

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