Tag: bad fruit

Thursday of the Twelfth Week in Ordinary Time

From the responsorial psalm: “Help us, O God our savior, because of the glory of your name; Deliver us and pardon our sins for your name’s sake. For the glory of your name, O Lord, deliver us.”

A reading from the holy Gospel according to Matthew (Mt 7:21-29)

Jesus said to his disciples: “Everyone who listens to these words of mine and acts on them will be like a wise man who built his house on rock. The rain fell, the floods came, and the winds blew and buffeted the house. But it did not collapse; it had been set solidly on rock. And everyone who listens to these words of mine but does not act on them will be like a fool who built his house on sand. The rain fell, the floods came, and the winds blew and buffeted the house. And it collapsed and was completely ruined.”

Continuing from yesterday’s Gospel, Jesus teaches the disciples what it means to do the will of the Father. Referring to false prophets, Jesus says of them, “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the Kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father in heaven.” The miraculous works of the false prophets—prophesying in the Lord’s name, driving out demons—are not in themselves the measure of faith but instead one built on sincerely hearing and doing the will of the Father.

God, help me today as I strive to know and do your will, and give me the grace to be genuine in my relationship with you. I hear in the Gospel acclamation “Remain in me, as I remain in you, says the Lord; whoever remains in me will bear much fruit.” Help me live out my faith in truth and in a way that is pleasing to you.

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.

“So by their fruits you will know them.” | Wednesday of the Twelfth Week in Ordinary Time

From the responsorial psalm: “Turn away my eyes from seeing what is vain: by your way give me life. Teach me the way of your decrees, O Lord.”

A reading from the holy Gospel according to Matthew (Mt 7:15-20)

Jesus said to his disciples: “Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but underneath are ravenous wolves. By their fruits you will know them. Do people pick grapes from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? Just so, every good tree bears good fruit, and a rotten tree bears bad fruit.”

Jesus continues to teach his disciples about the way to the Father. Warning them to avoid false profits, he identifies them to the disciples as the ones who bear rotten fruit. “A good tree,” he says, “cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a rotten tree bear good fruit.” In two ways, from the source and by their words and actions, false prophets identify themselves. By this, Jesus teaches us to avoid them and to remain in him to bear good fruit.

God, help me discern the thistles and thorn bushes I come across today, the voices that would lead me away from you into a place of discord and confusion. “Every tree that does not bear good fruit will be cut down,” Jesus says, “and thrown into the fire. So by their fruits you will know them.” Give me the grace, Lord, to be drawn to what is good and also to remain in you through my words and actions.

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.