DAILY GOSPEL COMMENTARY:
“FROM THE FULLNESS OF THE HEART THE MOUTH SPEAKS” (Lk 6:39–42).
Every tree is known by its own fruit
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. (45) 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.
(46) “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.”
Gospel Commentary from the Navarre Bible, Commentary to the Gospel of St. Luke (with permission)
- 43-44 To distinguish the good tree from the bad tree we need to look at the fruit the tree produces (deeds) and not at its foliage (words).
- “For there is no lack of people here on earth who, on being approached, turn out to be nothing but large, shiny, glossy leaves. Foliage, just foliage and nothing more. Meanwhile, many souls are looking at us hoping to satisfy their hunger, which is a hunger for God. We must not forget that we have all the resources we need. We have sufficient doctrine and the grace of God, in spite of our wretchedness” (St. Josemaria, Friends of God, 51).
- 45 Jesus is giving us two similes — that of the tree which, if it is good, produces good fruit, and that of the man, who speaks of those things he has in his heart.
- “The treasure of the heart is the same as the root of the tree,” St Bede explains. “A person who has a treasure of patience and of perfect charity in his heart yields excellent fruit: he loves his neighbour and has all the other qualities Jesus teaches; he loves his enemies, does good to him who hates him, blesses him who curses him, prays for him who calumniates him, does not react against him who attacks him or robs him; he gives to those who ask, does not claim what they have stolen from him, wishes not to judge and does not condemn, corrects patiently and affectionately those who err. But the person who has in his heart the treasure of evil does exactly the opposite: he hates his friends, speaks evil of him who loves him and does all the other things condemned by the Lord” (In Lucae Evangelium expositio, II, 6).
- 46 Jesus asks us to act in a way consistent with being Christians and not to make any separation between the faith we profess and the way we live:
- “What matters is not whether or not we wear a religious habit; it is whether we try to practise the virtues and surrender our will to God and order our lives as His Majesty ordains, and not want to do our will but his” (St Teresa of Avila, Interior Castle, II, 6).
VIDEO COMMENTARY
TOPIC: WHAT IS THE FOUNDATION THAT YOUR LIFE IS BUILT ON?
1st Reading 1 Timothy 1:15-17
Responsorial Psalm Psalms 113:1B-2, 3-4, 5 AND 6-7
Alleluia John 14:23
Gospel Luke 6:43-49
In today’s gospel reading, Jesus tells us that He is the strong foundation our lives can stand on when storms threaten to bring us down. And humility is itself the foundation of our spiritual life. When we humbly let the Lord reign in our life, when we step on and trample our own complacency, our comfort, our pride, our pleasures, our sins, we are building a strong foundation. When there is a constant connection with God in our prayer life, our faith foundation deepens
TOPIC 2: DO YOU KNOW WHY HOLINESS IS C.H.E.A.P.?
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