Ave Maria!
Seventh Sunday after Pentecost
31 July A.D. 2011
“By their fruits you shall know them.”[1]
[ Ordinary of the Mass ]
Mass Text - Latin
Mass Text - English
Today our Lord speaks to us of “false prophets.” In modern terms that might mean being ware of false friends, corrupt politicians, modernist clergymen, and such people who have an impact on our lives. “By their fruits you will know them,” He tells us. In other words we ought to evaluate them not so much by what they say, as by what they do. And, obviously the fruits our Lord had in mind are not so much worldly, material things, as the fruits of the spirit. We ought to follow and emulate those whose lives bring them into close contact with God; those who foster good relations with the people around them for the love of God.
We also ought to use the same standard in evaluating ourselves. Do the things that we do bring us closer to God? Are we making progress in the spiritual life? Do we respect those around us as God's other children, made in His image and likeness? We might turn the familiar Catechism answer around a bit and ask ourselves whether or not we are: knowing, loving, and serving God?
Those three are related. Serving God in any meaningful way seems to depend on loving Him—serving Him out of fear doesn't seem very meritorious. And, of course, loving God requires knowing Him and something about Him. Some of us may be more or less intellectual and some of us have a greater or lesser disposition to show love and affection—but no matter what the extent, we have to do some of each in order to serve God and produce the “good fruit” our Lord demands.
Some folks know that there is a God, but don't want Him to become involved in their lives. We've all heard people say something like, I believe in God, but if He doesn't bother me, I won't bother Him." Often they boast about how they are able to live good lives without fear of God's punishments, or expectation of His rewards. They are simply fooling themselves, as it is impossible to have a good and complete life while ignoring life's purpose; it is impossible to treat other people with full human dignity if we deny fully half of their nature. Man is meant for God—human beings have a soul as well as a body. To ignore this fundamental human dimension is to live a life that is not fully human.
There are other folks who make a fetish out of knowing God, but who seem content with that knowledge just for the sake of knowledge. This is a trap that intellectual people sometimes fall into. They think that they please God simply by knowing a lot of things about Him. They can quote canon law, recite long passages from the Bible, and argue fine points of theology but they rarely (or never) spend a few minutes of friendship or love with the God whom they know so much about. Some of them don't even realize that the facts that they learn in books have any application in the real world memorizing facts is just another intellectual game.
Some try loving God without knowing about Him, or allowing their knowledge to direct their actions. They seek God through their emotions, or by following the fashions and false prophets of the age. When they approach a spiritual problem they insist that God instruct them with visions or voices, demanding miracles instead of relying on the brain God gave them.
Finally, others—probably rarer today—think they can approach God just by self-denial. They go beyond a holy abstinence, to a fear and suspicion of God's material creations. Life doesn't have enough rules for them; they disdain learning about God, for fear that they will be misled—they mistrust “letting themselves go” enough to love God, for fear that any kind of love will only weaken their iron resolve.
As you might expect, the true course to holiness lies somewhere between the extremes. God gave us an intellect, and we must use it to know Him, so that we can know our purpose in life and know the object of our love; so that we can make decisions about how to conduct our lives to best serve Him in this world. Some of us are smart; some not so smart—it doesn't matter, for we are still called upon to use our minds according to their capacity.
God also gave us a will—the ability to love; to desire what is good. Just as we must exercise the intellect, we must exercise the will, growing closer and closer to God as the object of our affections. Again, some will find this easier, while others will find it more difficult. But still, just like the intellect, we must use the will according to its capacity.
“By their fruits you shall know them,” says the Lord. And the fruits He is talking about in us and in others—are the knowledge, the love, and the service of God. For it is by these three that we “do the will of the Father, and enter into the kingdom of heaven.”
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