Known By Its Fruit

Homily for Friday of the 16th Week in Ordinary Time

The old saying goes that a tree is known by its fruits. That is basically the message of today’s Gospel. As disciples of Jesus, the depth of our relationship with the Savior of the World is revealed in how much we are embracing the Word of God and focusing our lives on following his commandments. In order to have that relationship with the Lord though, in order for the seeds of God’s Word to be planted, we have to first have the soil of our hearts tilled. What are some ways we can do that?

For all of us, the most important thing is spending time with the Lord. We can’t allow Him to plant the seeds of faith if we aren’t dedicating time in prayer each day. But even that’s not enough. We have to ask the Lord to make our hearts more receptive, which takes sitting with the Lord in silence. It means asking the Lord to reveal the areas of our hearts that need to be healed. And if we ask the Lord to show us that with a sincere heart, He will in time. He’ll start to give us memories of the past where we were hurt or neglected. He’ll show us the sins of our past – not as a way to condemn, but as a way of getting us to recognize that He desires to bring wholeness to our hearts.

Whenever we have a solid relationship with the Lord, only then can our ears be more attuned to hearing His word. The more we’re listening to His voice, the less the noise of the world will interfere with our lives, the less anxiety or worry we will feel in our hearts. As a result, our faith won’t be shaken by something external.

This morning, the Lord is reminding us that the tree of our faith will be known by its fruit. In order to bear good fruit, we have to be in relationship with Him. He desires that for us. We have to seek to invite Him ever more deeply into our hearts and to follow His commands. Will we invite him in this morning? Will we seek to follow Him and do His will today?

Photo by Marina Khrapova on Unsplash