Catholic Daily Mass Reading & Meditation for Saturday, 13 September 2014

Catholic Daily Mass Reading & Meditation for Saturday, 13 September 2014
Meditations: Luke 6: Work the Words into Your Life
43-45 “You don’t get wormy apples off a healthy tree, nor good apples off a diseased tree. The health of the apple tells the health of the tree. You must begin with your own life-giving lives. It’s who you are, not what you say and do, that counts. Your true being brims over into true words and deeds.
46-47 “Why are you so polite with me, always saying ‘Yes, sir,’ and ‘That’s right, sir,’ but never doing a thing I tell you? These words I speak to you are not mere additions to your life, homeowner improvements to your standard of living. They are foundation words, words to build a life on.
48-49 “If you work the words into your life, you are like a smart carpenter who dug deep and laid the foundation of his house on bedrock. When the river burst its banks and crashed against the house, nothing could shake it; it was built to last. But if you just use my words in Bible studies and don’t work them into your life, you are like a dumb carpenter who built a house but skipped the foundation. When the swollen river came crashing in, it collapsed like a house of cards. It was a total loss.”
Saint John Chrysostom, Bishop and Doctor of the Church
Every tree is known by its own fruit. (Luke 6:44)
Think of an apple tree. No matter how hard it may try, it simply cannot push and prod its apples to grow any faster than they were meant to grow. In that sense, the apples don’t come from the tree’s efforts. Its only job is to stay planted in the ground, draw water and nutrients from the soil, and receive the rays of the sun. The fruit then comes naturally.
Jesus used many down-to-earth images like this one to explain the spiritual life, so let’s follow his lead and compare the spiritual life to a tiny seed planted in our hearts. As with an apple seed, it is the nature of this spiritual seed to bear fruit. All it needs is the right amount of nourishment and light, and it will start being productive. The question we all face is: Can I allow this seed of faith to take root in me? To be honest, if we don’t, we will be like the foolish builder in today’s Gospel, who built his house on sand instead of solid rock. Not only will we have a weak foundation for our faith, but we will miss out on all the fruit Jesus wants to bring forth in our lives.
What a joy to know that Jesus is fully committed to planting and building in us! He has already laid the perfect foundation: his cross and resurrection. What’s more, he has given us the Holy Spirit as a master builder to guide us and teach us. As for us, we need to listen to the Spirit and do all he asks so that we can be built up and become fruitful.
The truth is, we could spend our whole lives calling out, “Lord, Lord” but never listen to the One who gives us life. If we could spend as much time listening to the Lord as we spend talking to him, we would become much more fruitful. Yes, his seed in us can bear good fruit. So open your heart to listen to Jesus. You’ll be amazed at how he transforms you.
“Holy Spirit, help your Church to pursue the gift of a quiet, restful heart. We want to hear all that you want to say to us. You are the foundation of life.” Amen!
1 Corinthians 10:14 So, my very dear friends, when you see people reducing God to something they can use or control, get out of their company as fast as you can.
15-18 I assume I’m addressing believers now who are mature. Draw your own conclusions: When we drink the cup of blessing, aren’t we taking into ourselves the blood, the very life, of Christ? And isn’t it the same with the loaf of bread we break and eat? Don’t we take into ourselves the body, the very life, of Christ? Because there is one loaf, our many-ness becomes one-ness—Christ doesn’t become fragmented in us. Rather, we become unified in him. We don’t reduce Christ to what we are; he raises us to what he is. That’s basically what happened even in old Israel—those who ate the sacrifices offered on God’s altar entered into God’s action at the altar.
19-22 Do you see the difference? Sacrifices offered to idols are offered to nothing, for what’s the idol but a nothing? Or worse than nothing, a minus, a demon! I don’t want you to become part of something that reduces you to less than yourself. And you can’t have it both ways, banqueting with the Master one day and slumming with demons the next. Besides, the Master won’t put up with it. He wants us—all or nothing. Do you think you can get off with anything less?
Psalms 116:12-19 What can I give back to God
    for the blessings he’s poured out on me?
I’ll lift high the cup of salvation—a toast to God!
    I’ll pray in the name of God;
I’ll complete what I promised God I’d do,
    and I’ll do it together with his people.
When they arrive at the gates of death,
    God welcomes those who love him.
Oh, God, here I am, your servant,
    your faithful servant: set me free for your service!
I’m ready to offer the thanksgiving sacrifice
    and pray in the name of God.
I’ll complete what I promised God I’d do,
    and I’ll do it in company with his people,
In the place of worship, in God’s house,
    in Jerusalem, God’s city.
Hallelujah!
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