Saturday of the 23rd Week in Ordinary Time, September 16, 2023

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 thornbushes, 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. For every tree is known by its own fruit.”  The Gospel Reading for today’s Mass is taken from a section of St. Luke’s Gospel which is sometimes called “The Sermon on the Plain” to distinguish it from “The Sermon on the Mount” which contains similar though distinct teachings.  Luke gives a preamble to this sermon: “And coming down with them, he stood in a plain place: and the company of his disciples and a very great multitude of people from all Judea and Jerusalem and the sea coast, both of Tyre and Sidon, who were come to hear him and to be healed of their diseases. And they that were troubled with unclean spirits were cured” (Luke 6, 17-18).  The naming of the Twelve Apostles precedes this sermon.  In speaking of good trees and good fruit, the Lord takes a common observation drawn from nature to speak of the seeming more complex reality of humans.  From this it proceeds that “every tree is known by its own fruit”.  That is, a fig tree is known from its fruit, the fig.  Since this is so, people know better than to “pick figs from thornbushes [or] gather grapes from brambles.”  That fig trees produce figs and grapevines grapes is well-known and predictable.  It is the same way with people, the Lord says:

“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.”  That is, a person habitually disposed to do good will do good, while one habitually disposed to do that which is wicked will do so: “for from the fullness of the heart the mouth speaks”.  Thus, expecting a wicked person do perform an unselfish deed is foolish.  The Lord teaches this in order to make clear to those who are wicked and wish to repent that this cannot be accomplished through a good deed performed now and then but only through a complete overhaul of one’s character, and this requires grace.

“Why do you call me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ but not do what I command?”  This may be a separate saying from the above.  Otherwise, the Lord is pointing out the contradiction of a person acting as though he was good (acknowledging him as “Lord”) while remaining in an evil state.  This is the bad tree posing as a good tree.  But if a person acknowledges another with his words as his Lord and does not obey him, he does not in fact recognize him as such.  And this is pointless.  The true follower of Christ, acknowledging him as Lord comes to him, listens to his words, and acts on them.  This is the good fruit of the good tree, the good and faithful believer.  

“That one is like a man building a house, who dug deeply and laid the foundation on rock.”  This and the following verses recall the conclusion of the Sermon on the Mount found in the Gospel of St. Matthew, and certain scholars have drawn from the similarity that Luke adapted what he found in the earlier Gospel for his Gentile audience.  In essence, then, the Sermon on the Mount and the Sermon on the Plain are the same, according to this view.  However, these are two different sermons as is clear from the time in which they were delivered and from the differences between them.  We can account for any similarities by keeping in mind that the Lord preached in many cities, towns, and villages throughout the three years of his ministry and he would certainly have repeated his sayings as he moved through Galilee and Judea.  In these particular verses, the Lord compares the one who comes to him, listens to him, and obeys him as one who, in building his house, digs deeply and lays his foundation on rock.  The work is hard and takes time.  It is not for the lazy, for one who does not properly assess the danger to the house of a bad storm.  In the same way, listening to the Lord,is words entails thinking upon them and considering one’s own life in light of them.  Done properly, this is also hard work and takes time.  The lazy, the complacent, and the wicked will not do this.  “When the flood came, the river burst against that house but could not shake it because it had been well built.”  The “house” is the person’s faith.  It is built upon a sure foundation and is maintained by the grace that comes from prayer and good deeds.  The “flood” is not ordinary temptation but persecution or some other tribulation.  

“But the one who listens and does not act is like a person who built a house on the ground without a foundation.”  Without action, the listening is wasted.  This recalls the pleas the Lord foretells of those who saw and heard him during his lifetime but then went their way: “We have eaten and drunk in your presence: and you have taught in our streets” (Luke 13, 26).  “When the river burst against it, it collapsed at once and was completely destroyed.”  Notice here that the Lord says, “When the river burst against it”, not, “If the river bursts against it.”  The Lord is saying that persecution and tribulation will surely come, but the one who believes that the Lord, with whom he is barely acquainted, will save him if he merely calls out his name or his title.  “It collapsed at once and was completely destroyed.”  This destruction is not annihilation but eternal punishment, for the human soul cannot die.  The sufferings of the wicked soul in hell will immeasurably surpass any sufferings a human body can endure on earth.

Through conformity to the will of Almighty God and perseverance in the Faith which we have learned, accepted, and grasped, we are made good trees which produce fruit pleasing to him.