June 25, 2014
Wednesday
12th Week in Ordinary Time 1st Reading: 2 Kgs 22:8-13, 23:1-3
Gospel: Mt 7:15–20
Jesus said to his disciples, “Beware of false prophets: they come to you in sheep’s clothing but inside they are wild wolves. You will recognize them by their fruits. Do you ever pick grapes from thornbushes, or figs from thistles?
“A good tree always produces good fruit, a rotten tree produces bad fruit. A good tree cannot produce bad fruit and a rotten tree cannot bear good fruit. Any tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown in the fire. So you will know them by their fruit.”
D@iGITAL-EXPERIENCE
(Daily Gospel in the
Assimilated Life
Experience)
Love is still a good Law even after Jesus finished saving the world. Jesus had already executed all the necessary works to save us, yet we still need to perform good deeds because that is what the commandment of love is all about. Love is not a noun but a verb – an action word.
Jesus wanted a fruitless fig tree cut down even though it was not the season for figs to bear fruits. As good fruits should be predictable from a good tree, so one can rightly predict that a Christian will always react lovingly. No excuse is valid; learn from the fig tree! This positive predictability generates tension because our wounded nature has programmed a tit for tat default reaction in us. That is why positive predictability survives only in God’s grace.
The devil provides no stable ground for doing good but the slippery slope of hypocrisy. One can still perform good works on this slope. But since the slope is slippery he easily slides down to opportunism. Any habit of doing good he may have developed while still in God’s custody operates selectively in him because he does good only when he can derive benefits therefrom. He can even use goodness to manipulate others.
In God’s grace mistakes do not define a Christian since his fundamental option for God remains intact. Under this circumstance mistakes become lessons learned. Hypocrites do not have the same option to serve as pivotal point. “Appearances are deceptive” applies to their deeds. But deception won’t shield the hypocrite forever. The spotlight is draining. Soon the hypocrite will pull out from the show for lack of inner strength to stand the test of sincerity.
The requirement of doing good is not for purposes of effecting our salvation. Jesus already performed all the works necessary to bail us out. Strictly speaking it is not a requirement at all but the spontaneous fruits of one who is saved. Good works cannot save, but one is not saved without doing good works! – Rev. Fr. Dan Domingo P. delos Angeles, Jr., DM. Email: dan.delosangeles@gmail.com. Website: www.frdan.org.
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