Reflection

Gospel

'Beware of false prophets who come to you disguised as sheep but underneath are ravenous wolves. You will be able to tell them by their fruits. Can people pick grapes from thorns, or figs from thistles?

In the same way, a sound tree produces good fruit but a rotten tree bad fruit. A sound tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor a rotten tree bear good fruit. Any tree that does not produce good fruit is cut down and thrown on the fire. I repeat, you will be able to tell them by their fruits.                                                                                           Matthew 7: 15-20

Reflection

The Gospel today contains a strong push for evangelization. But why should we want to go out and spread the good news, other than because God has clearly commanded it here in this passage? Well, take for example, a section of the second reading today (Rom 8:16-17):

The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit

that we are children of God,

and if children, then heirs,

heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ,

if only we suffer with him

so that we may also be glorified with him.

Not only are we children of God, but we are heirs of God. Not only are we heirs in the heavenly kingdom of God, but joint heirs. Christ wants us as His equal enjoying eternal life in heaven with Him, even when He has all the power in the universe to lord over us if He wanted to. If it still has not sunk in how much He loves us, allow me to relay a testimony my parents recounted to me that they encountered in the recent eucharistic revitalisation series. In a small village, a natural disaster resulted in the destruction of many buildings. Among the structures completely levelled was a primary school with hundreds of children inside. Many parents stood about weeping, but one father walked up to the wreckage and began removing pieces of rubble. Thirty-six painstaking hours later, with raw and bloody hands, the man uncovered his son, alive and well. The boy said to his father,” I knew you would come for me.” Jesus wants us as badly as this father wanted to find his son. As the son had faith his father would come for him, so should we believe in the fervour Christ has for our connection with him. This devotion and promise of being a joint heir in Christ should be motivation for us to live our Christian lives visibly, that we may possibly bring others to the same joy.

Julie Leonard Religious Education Leader/Wellbeing Leader