September 11, 2021

Lk 6: 43-49

“No good tree bears bad fruit, nor again does a bad tree bear good fruit; for each tree is known by its own fruit. Figs are not gathered from thorns, nor are grapes picked from a bramble bush. The good person out of the good treasure of the heart produces good, and the evil person out of evil treasure produces evil; for it is out of the abundance of the heart that the mouth speaks. “Why do you call me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and do not do what I tell you? 

I will show you what someone is like who comes to me, hears 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 a flood arose, the river burst against that house but could not shake it, because it had been well built. But the one who hears and does not act is like a man who built a house on the ground without a foundation. When the river burst against it, immediately it fell, and great was the ruin of that house.”

New Revised Standard Version, copyright 1989, by the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved. USCCB approved.

What did we actually do?

Jesus finishes up his Sermon on the Plain in Luke’s Gospel by saying “No good tree bears bad fruit, nor again does a bad tree bear good fruit; for each tree is known by its own fruit.”  People might have a good heart, but we only really know that by what they do.  For ourselves, on the other hand, (because we can see inside our own heads) we can often assume our hearts are good despite our actions.

St. Ignatius famously said that love is shown in actions rather than words—or, he might have added, consoling thoughts. On this Saturday, we might look aback on the previous week, and be specific about what we actually did. Do our actions match up with who we want to be?  Our influence for good in this world is only by means of our fruits:  what it is that we do?  

—Jesuit Prayer Team

Prayer

Prayer at Ground Zero

God of peace, bring your peace to our violent world:
peace in the hearts of all men and women
and peace among the nations of the earth.
Turn to your way of love
those whose hearts and minds
are consumed with hatred.

God of understanding,
overwhelmed by the magnitude of this tragedy,
we seek your light and guidance
as we confront such terrible events.
Grant that those whose lives were spared
may live so that the lives lost here
may not have been lost in vain.

Comfort and console us,
strengthen us in hope,
and give us the wisdom and courage
to work tirelessly for a world
where true peace and love reign
among nations and in the hearts of all.

—Pope Benedict XVI, excerpt of Prayer at Ground Zero (2008)