THE SPIRITUAL MAN IS KNOWN BY HIS FRUITS

 


WEDNESDAY, TWELFTH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME

Reflection from Friar Nicholas Okeke, OP 

2 Kings 22:8-13,23:1-3; Ps 119:33-37,40; Mt 7:15-20

The Spiritual Man produces good fruits

The most intricate training of the spiritual man consists in our development of a spiritual life or inner structure patterned on Jesus Christ, the Eternal Word. The pillars of the inner Temple of God must arise on the articles of faith contained in the divine revelation. According to St. Gregory of Nyssa in his Treatise on Christian Perfection, the three aspects of the Christian life: deeds, words, and thoughts are made noble by controlling them by divine revelation. The conclusions of the mind must draw on faith. “So when one of these results in our acting or speaking or thinking, we must make sure that all our thoughts, words, and deeds are controlled by the divine ideal, the revelation of Christ. For then our thoughts, words and deeds will not fall short of the nobility of their implications.” If this is the case, as we have consistently harped on in our reflections, the refusal or inability to read and meditate on the word of God is a refusal to feed our minds and spirits with the proper nourishment. When our regenerated spirits fail to feed on fitting nourishment, they will be malnourished and die. There are two dangers we must guard against. The first is not feeding on the word of God at all. We fall into this danger by refusing to read the scriptures or listen to the explanation. The second danger is to read and misunderstand or internalise a wrong interpretation of the word of God from false preachers.

 

Both of these dangers are palpable dangers which the Lord warned us against. “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.” Many people fall into the first danger by getting too absorbed in the daily activities of their professions or careers. It is good to progress in one’s chosen career or profession, but it must not be to the detriment of our souls. The most important activity of our earthly existence is the spiritual activity. Thus, we are taught in Catechism that God made us to know him, love him, and serve him in this life to be happy with him in the next. We will surely derail from the purpose of life that God has given us if we fail to read and meditate on his word, which is a lamp to guard our path to him. This happened to the people of Judah, as narrated in the first reading. They discovered the Book of the Law in the Temple, which was abandoned for a long time. On reading it to the hearing of the king and the people, they realised they had wandered far away from the Commandments of the Lord. “On hearing the contents of the Book of the Law, the king tore his garments, and gave the following order to Hilkiah the priest, Ahikam son of Shaphan, Achbor son of Micaiah, Shaphan the secretary and Asaiah the king’s minister: ‘Go and consult the Lord, on behalf of me and the people, about the contents of this book that has been found. Great indeed must be the anger of the Lord blazing out against us because our ancestors did not obey what this book says by practising everything written in it.”

 

Great indeed will be the suffering of one who lives without regard to the will of God. Such a person would have spent his lifetime building on quicksand, a castle out of illusions of this world. Such life cannot be rewarded with eternity with God, for it did not serve God’s plan. It is a wild tree which produces poisonous fruits. “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.” Hence, without sowing or planting a good seed in our garden, there is no way a good tree can germinate and produce good fruits. This is possible only by selecting and planting the best seeds in our interior garden. We must train our spiritual selves to recognise a good and heavenly seed. For this grace, we must pray to God daily as the Psalmist. “Train me to observe your law, to keep it with my heart. Guide me in the path of your commands; for there is my delight. Bend my heart to your will and not to love of gain.”


Let us pray: Grant us, Lord, the grace to daily devote time to feed our spirit on your word that is truth and life, that growing daily through the guidance of your Holy Spirit, we may bear good fruits in our thoughts, words, and actions to your glory and salvation of souls.  

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