A reading from the holy Gospel according to Luke (Lk 6:43-49)
Jesus said to his disciples: “Why do you call me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ but not do what I command? I will show you what someone is like who comes to me, listens to my words, and acts on them. That one is like a man building a house, who dug deeply and laid the foundation on rock; when the flood came, the river burst against that house but could not shake it because it had been well built. But the one who listens and does not act is like a person who built a house on the ground without a foundation. When the river burst against it, it collapsed at once and was completely destroyed.”
In today’s Gospel according to Luke, Jesus compares the types of fruit a tree produces, rotten or good, and teaches his disciples the importance of obedience. He says to them, “The good man brings good things out of the good treasure of his heart, and the evil man brings evil things out of the evil treasure of his heart.” To bring things out of the good treasure of the heart means that one has a store of it to share. As Jesus says elsewhere in the Gospel, “For where your treasure is, there also will your heart be.” What is the source of that goodness but to come into the presence of God, to listen to his Word, and then to act on it?
Father in heaven, help me today to come to you, not in vain, saying, “Lord, Lord,” inattentive to your will. “I will show you what someone is like,” Jesus says, “who comes to me, listens to my words, and acts on them.” Things overwhelm, the day can be enough. Floods come breaking into life, rivers burst and tear at old, established foundations. Despite that, through all that, let me listen out for you and do your will. Give me the grace to dig deeply to find you in the events of the day and choose to store up your good gifts in the treasure of my heart. And for whose sake do I do this? You alone, Lord. As Saint Paul says, “To the king of ages, incorruptible, invisible, the only God, honor and glory forever and ever.”
From the responsorial psalm: “Who is like the LORD, our God, and looks upon the heavens and the earth below? He raises up the lowly from the dust; from the dunghill he lifts up the poor.” Saints Cornelius and Cyprian, martyrs, pray for us!
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.