Fr. Marsel R. Taruk sx
Reflection on the 8th Sunday Readings Year C
We continue to hear the Sermon of Jesus on the Plain according to Luke. The whole content of Chapter 6 of Luke serves as a handbook of discipleship given byJesus. His sermon indeed presents a bracing challenge to his disciples on his time and to those who would be his disciples, to each of us. Jesus addresses his teaching “to you who hear,” meaning those poor enough to be responsive to his words. He then proceeds to urge love of enemies, nonviolence, selfless giving, and a compassion that imitates God's own mercy. The heart that the mouth reveals is supposed to be that kind of heart! This might sound more discouraging than Sirach, except that Jesus’ teaching on prayer throughout the rest of the Gospel of Luke reminds us that the power to imitate Jesus in these matters is not our own. It comes from the gift of the Spirit given in prayer, which in turn enables us to become those who listen to Jesus’ words and act on them.
Jesus, in the Gospel of Luke, also turns to the image of the tree. “A good tree does not bear rotten fruit, nor does a rotten tree bear good fruit.” Good persons produce goodness from the goodness of their being, evil from their store of evil. Our acts flow from our being, St. Thomas Aquinas taught us. The scriptural images of the tree and the fruit it bears may offer a way out of the impasse. The homey wisdom of Sirach reminds us that even our speech reveals who and what we are. Like the fruit of a tree, the words of a person disclose the kind of mind the person has. We are advised not to evaluate people until we hear their words. In fact, the only way we come to know anything or anyone is by observing their actions. In connection to evaluate others, Jesus calls us to not judge others easily before we are sure about our own self that we are just fine. Jesus reminds us that we have wooden beams in our eyes when we relate to others. “Brother, let me remove that splinter in your eye,’ when you do not even notice the wooden beam in your own eye”. We should stop projecting on others our own blockages, and work on the much larger wooden beams in our own.
Clearly then, our actions reveal who and what we are. It is impossible to separate the actions a person does from the person who does them. So those who insist upon the significance of our actions to determine our moral status have a point, especially if they are speaking of acts we do with sufficient reflection and freedom.
We are called to bear good fruit. Good fruits are coming from a sound tree. And the only way to remain as good tree is to be rooted in Christ. A person who cultivates a good heart will produce good fruit. Let us not be tired to produce good fruits and never get tired to do good.
Reflection on the 8th Sunday Readings Year C
We continue to hear the Sermon of Jesus on the Plain according to Luke. The whole content of Chapter 6 of Luke serves as a handbook of discipleship given byJesus. His sermon indeed presents a bracing challenge to his disciples on his time and to those who would be his disciples, to each of us. Jesus addresses his teaching “to you who hear,” meaning those poor enough to be responsive to his words. He then proceeds to urge love of enemies, nonviolence, selfless giving, and a compassion that imitates God's own mercy. The heart that the mouth reveals is supposed to be that kind of heart! This might sound more discouraging than Sirach, except that Jesus’ teaching on prayer throughout the rest of the Gospel of Luke reminds us that the power to imitate Jesus in these matters is not our own. It comes from the gift of the Spirit given in prayer, which in turn enables us to become those who listen to Jesus’ words and act on them.
Jesus, in the Gospel of Luke, also turns to the image of the tree. “A good tree does not bear rotten fruit, nor does a rotten tree bear good fruit.” Good persons produce goodness from the goodness of their being, evil from their store of evil. Our acts flow from our being, St. Thomas Aquinas taught us. The scriptural images of the tree and the fruit it bears may offer a way out of the impasse. The homey wisdom of Sirach reminds us that even our speech reveals who and what we are. Like the fruit of a tree, the words of a person disclose the kind of mind the person has. We are advised not to evaluate people until we hear their words. In fact, the only way we come to know anything or anyone is by observing their actions. In connection to evaluate others, Jesus calls us to not judge others easily before we are sure about our own self that we are just fine. Jesus reminds us that we have wooden beams in our eyes when we relate to others. “Brother, let me remove that splinter in your eye,’ when you do not even notice the wooden beam in your own eye”. We should stop projecting on others our own blockages, and work on the much larger wooden beams in our own.
Clearly then, our actions reveal who and what we are. It is impossible to separate the actions a person does from the person who does them. So those who insist upon the significance of our actions to determine our moral status have a point, especially if they are speaking of acts we do with sufficient reflection and freedom.
We are called to bear good fruit. Good fruits are coming from a sound tree. And the only way to remain as good tree is to be rooted in Christ. A person who cultivates a good heart will produce good fruit. Let us not be tired to produce good fruits and never get tired to do good.