What Do You Produce?

Eighth Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year C)

Eccles 27.4-7; Ps 91; I Cor 15.54-58; Lk 6.39-45

A good man draws what is good from the store of goodness in his heart; a bad man draws what is bad from the store of badness. For a man’s words flow out of what fills his heart.

WHAT KIND OF FRUIT DO YOU PRODUCE?

In today’s gospel, Our Lord uses the image of a good tree producing good fruit and of a bad tree producing rotten fruit. He was inviting his hearers to look at themselves, to judge their own fruit and draw conclusions about their inner state. When part of a tree is rotten, stern pruning may save it.

QUALITY CONTROL TEST

An important task in many factories nowadays is quality control. Machines test the goods that have been produced to ensure their safety and efficiency, while people inspect them, to check their appearance or finish. Usually there are a small number of points to be inspected which give a good idea of the whole picture. The Word of God today invites us to pause and reflect on our own spoken words and what they tell us about the state of our hearts, minds and souls. Given that many of our lives lack the quality we would wish to see, this self-examination may be thought provoking.

QUESTIONS FOR SELF-EXAMINATION

Here are some few questions we can ask ourselves:

-What is the most dishonest or untruthful thing you have ever said in your life?
-What is the most unkind or hurtful utterance that you have deliberately made?
-What is the most unfair or unjust condemnation you have ever given in your speech against another person?
–Do we speak with care and consideration, with courtesy and charity? Or are we careless and indifferent, thoughtless and unfair?
How we speak reflects our attitude to others.

And what about our language? Do we habitually slip into coarse language, using swear words and blasphemies or vulgar and demeaning terms?

Thus,our presentation of ourselves in language reflects something of our inner state
PREPARATION FOR LENT

In three days we shall see the beginning of Lent with Ash Wednesday around the corner, preceded by the traditional day for Confession, Shrove Tuesday. Lent is a season of grace, a time for discernment and spiritual growth, for reflection and amendment of life.

To make the best use of this time we need to be aware of our faults and ready to work hard, with God’s grace to overcome them. We can then profit from the opportunities offered to us during the season of Lent.

So resolve here and now to seek Our Lord’s forgiveness in the Sacrament of Reconciliation. In the next few weeks of Lent, I recommend that we seek to cleanse our hearts by the careful use of the gift of speech, which God gave us so that we could sing his praises.

Osho