Luke 6:43-49

1 Timothy 1:15-17

Psalm 113:1b-2, 3-4, 5 and 6-7

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.”

Opening Prayer: Lord God, you are the divine craftsman who not only built and designed creation and all that is good within it, but you are the one who will bring it to its consummation and glory. Teach me to build my life on the rock that is your Son, Jesus Christ. Lead me through suffering to the glory of heaven. 

Encountering the Word of God

1. Rotten Fruit and Good Fruit: Yesterday, Jesus began a parable that employs several images: the blind trying unsuccessfully to lead the blind, the disciple thinking themselves superior to their teacher, and the person with a wooden beam in their eye trying to remove the splinter in their brother’s eye. Jesus concluded the series of three images by calling out the unifying problem: hypocrisy! The hypocrite thinks they see clearly when in fact they are blind. The hypocrite thinks they are smarter and wiser than their teachers. The hypocrite focuses on the faults of others and is painfully oblivious to their own more serious sins. To these three images, Jesus adds a fourth: the tree that bears fruit. A rotten tree, a symbol of the hypocrite, bears rotten fruit. Thornbushes and brambles do not produce figs or grapes. The heart of the hypocrite – which cannot be seen from the outside – is full of evil and only produces evil. By contrast, the good tree produces good fruit. A good person has a good heart filled with the nourishing sap and refreshing water of divine grace.

2. Foundation on Rock: The fifth image is that of two builders. The hypocrite builds their house on the ground, but without a foundation. The house appears solid and beautiful, but when tribulations come and the floodwaters burst against the house, it will collapse and be utterly destroyed. The hypocrite cannot long endure tribulations and trials. Why? Because they do their works to be seen by others, and they seek the praise of men. The outward appearance is that of holiness, but there are no deep, interior foundations. They are like the seed that falls on rocky ground. They have no root and last only for a time. When some tribulation or persecution comes because of the word, they immediately fall away (Matthew 13:21). By contrast, the true disciple of Jesus listens to his word, welcomes it like good soil, and acts on his word. “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” (Luke 6:48).

3. Jesus Came to Save Sinners: In the First Reading, Paul summarizes the mission of Jesus in the following way: “Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners” (1 Timothy 1:15). This is echoed in the Gospel of John: “For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through him” (John 3:17). Sin is envisioned as a kind of debt that enslaves us. When we sin, we are under the power of the devil. When we are saved by Christ, it is not just that our sins are forgiven. “Salvation in Christ entails nothing less than being changed; in him, we are truly remade. … To be in Christ is to be more than ‘forgiven;’ it is to be elevated and transformed. Paul even speaks of salvation as being ‘conformed to the image of [God’s] son” (Romans 8:29). To be saved is to share in the very sonship of the Son” (Barber, Salvation 81). Salvation occurs through the gift of grace, which makes us participants in God’s life. We are also called to participate in the work of our salvation through our good works. As Paul writes: “work out your salvation with fear and trembling; for God is at work in you” (Philippians 2:12-13). The good works accomplished by believers with the help of divine grace are rewarded or paid with salvation. The works have salvific value because they are truly the work of Christ alive in the believer (see Barber, Salvation, 94).

Conversing with Christ: Lord Jesus, you are my savior. I thank you today and praise you for your great work of salvation and redemption. Bring me to share more fully in your redemptive work by uniting my sufferings to yours and present them to the Father as a pleasing offering.

Living the Word of God: With honesty and in prayer, am I producing good fruit or rotten fruit? Are the foundations of my life deep and solid, or have I built up my life without sure foundations? What are the bedrock principles that guide my life and decisions? Are they in conformity with the teachings of Christ Jesus and the Church?