Saturday in the 23rd Week of Ordinary Time, September 10, 2022

Luke 6, 43-49

Jesus said to his disciples:  “A good tree does not bear rotten fruit, nor does a rotten tree bear good fruit. For every tree is known by its own fruit. For people do not pick figs from thorn bushes, nor do they gather grapes from brambles. A good person out of the store of goodness in his heart produces good, but an evil person out of a store of evil produces evil; for from the fullness of the heart the mouth speaks. Why do you call me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ but not do what I command? I will show you what someone is like who comes to me, listens to my words, and acts on them. That one is like a man building a house, who dug deeply and laid the foundation on rock; when the flood came, the river burst against that house but could not shake it because it had been well built. But the one who listens and does not act is like a person who built a house on the ground without a foundation. When the river burst against it, it collapsed at once and was completely destroyed.”

“A good tree does not bear rotten fruit, nor does a rotten tree bear good fruit.”  One of our persistent failings as individuals and as societies is our determination to find good fruit on bad trees.  We do this when we re-elect crooked politicians, or when we trust neighbors who have proven themselves to be unworthy of our trust.  This failing can develop into addictions, too, as when we fall into gambling or alcoholism, aided by despair.  We also fall for the same pitches time and again from people who are trying to get money out of us.  We might justify our giving in by citing our hope that this time the result will be better.  But when we refuse to apply our experience to situations of this kind, we make ourselves fools.  Now. A tree may certainly look good from a distance.  Its fruit may even appear good from nearby.  But it is up to us to look closely at the tree to see if it is diseased and at its fruit to see if it is wormy or ill-formed.  We should apply St. Paul’s words to it: “Test everything.  Retain what is good” (1 Thessalonians 5, 21).  Once we identify a a tree as rotten, we should not go back to it.  If we own it, we may need to cut it down.  With people, the Lord urges us to look at his or her actions.  A person’s words are like a tree’s leaves.  They look pretty but they hide the fruit.  A person’s actions are like a tree’s fruit, and it is from the fruit, more than from its leaves, that we can tell about the health of that tree.  The fruit of a tree does not appear all at once; it grows and develops.  It may look fine for a time, but when it is supposed to mature, it becomes bad.  Similarly, a person may seem to act decently over a period of time, but when the person’s circumstances change, as when he is promoted at work or in society, or when his wealth increases, his actions change dramatically.  That is, he reveals himself for who he is: “A good person out of the store of goodness in his heart produces good, but an evil person out of a store of evil produces evil; for from the fullness of the heart the mouth speaks.”  The Lord is teaching us here to be careful in evaluating others, and he is also teaching us to examine our own characters.  Do I find myself justifying my actions to myself or to others?  Is this because, deep down, I know my actions are wrong?  Looking at ourselves in this way we can see that we must change if we hope for heaven.

“Why do you call me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ but not do what I command”  The Lord Jesus, having spoken of the simple principle of trees and their fruit, now applies this to our behavior towards him.  Our “leaves” say “Lord, Lord”, but our fruit is rotten.  Now, “what I command” is not a good translation of the Greek text, which actually means, “do what I say”, as in, “but do not do what I say”.  A command is a formal order and there is a consequence for not carrying it out.  However, the Lord is saying that we call him “Lord”, though not carrying out his will.  His will is certainly expressed in terms of commandments, but he also expresses it in terms of counsels.  His call to Peter to follow him did not rise to the level of a command, but did express his will.  The Lord means much more than what the English tells us.  The Lord, in fact, makes his meaning perfectly clear in saying, “will show you what someone is like who comes to me, listens to my words, and acts on them, etc.”  To do his will, we must listen to his words, discerning his will for us in our hearts, and then accomplish what he desires.  In doing this, we “build a house”, digging deeply and laying its foundation on rock.  This “house” is our faith.  When the floods of personal tribulation or persecution for our beliefs comes and the river of adversity bursts against our faith, it will not shake it because it had been well built.  But when we do not listen to the Lord and do his will, expressed both in commandments and counsels, we build our the house of our faith on ground without a foundation. When the river of adversity bursts against it, as it eventually will, it will collapse at once and be “completely destroyed.”  

Let us strive to be good trees, then, accomplishing his will here on earth, so that we will be replanted in the Eden of heaven.