All Saints

Bearing Fruit

Today is November 1, the Feast of All Saints. This is the day we are reminded that God created every human to share in His divine life and become a saint and they only thing that can prevent this from happening is if you refuse to choose it and cooperate with the grace of God. God gives all the grace necessary for us to bear fruit in two ways: first a life of virtue and holiness; second, through family and friendship to lead others to faith.

I was reflecting upon this when I was in Jerusalem. In Matthew chapter 21, on Monday morning of Holy Week which culminate that Good Friday with the death of Jesus on the Cross, he is returning from Bethany to Jerusalem where he spent the night at the home of his friends Martha, Mary and Lazarus. As he passes by Bethphage, on the top of the Mt of Olives, “he felt hungry. Seeing a fig tree by the road, he went up to it and found nothing on it but leaves. And he said to it, 'May you never bear fruit again'; and at that instant the fig tree withered and died.” Jesus renders judgment upon the fig tree and it dies. The tree was busy making leaves, but it was not bearing fruit. God expects us to bear fruit in two ways: first a life of virtue and holiness; second, through family and friendship to lead others to faith.  

Expectations

Then Jesus goes to the Temple, begins to teach and tells them this parable:

There was a man, a landowner, who planted a vineyard; he fenced it round, dug a winepress in it and built a tower; then he leased it to tenants and went abroad. The Householder is God; the vineyard is the land of Israel, the Jews are the tenants. When vintage time drew near he sent his servants to the tenants to collect the fruit. There is that fruit again. God insist on collecting His fruit?

But the tenants seized his servants, thrashed one, killed another and stoned a third… Finally he sent his son to them. "They will respect my son" he said. But when the tenants saw the son, they said to each other, "This is the heir. Come on, let us kill him and take over his inheritance." So they seized him and threw him out of the vineyard and killed him. Now when the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those tenants?' They answered, 'He should kill them and give their nation to someone else who will produce the fruit...’ Jesus said to them, 'Have you never read in the scriptures: It was the stone rejected by the builders that became the foundation stone. I tell you, then, that the kingdom of God will be taken from you and given to a people who will produce its fruit.' Jesus removes the mission from the Jews and he gives it to the Catholic Church. Now here is the question: are we producing the fruits? Or do we think it is enough for us to do our own private little thing and keep to ourselves? Your faith is supposed to be personal. It is not supposed to remain private.

Read and Resolve

Now I will give you a simple three step process to bear the fruit Jesus expects from you:

Step one: make it part of your routine every day to listen to this Rosary Podcast or read the transcript of the meditation that can be found in the email, the text or on the SOF website. Reflect or think about each point as you pray the Rosary. Conclude with a Resolution to remember and live something simple concrete and practical based upon your reflection. An Example of a Resolution could be that today every time I am tempted to surf the media on my phone for no reason other than I bored or addicted, instead I will turn my attention to God and thank Him for something. Or as another example, every time I feel fear or overwhelmed I simply say “Jesus I surrender to you: take care of everything. If you pray the Rosary every day, reflect upon the content presented and then live some simple concrete resolution, you will grow in virtue and holiness.

Good Conversation and Friendship

The Second way we bear fruit is through friendship, good conversation and inviting someone to pray the Rosary with you. All humans like it when someone takes interest in them and asks good questions about their life and their opinions on things. This fosters conversation, friendship and deeper conversion. Do this with your spouse, your kids or a friend. While you are at it, be human and offer them some hospitality, something to drink or eat. Then say, “Hey, I pray the Rosary every day and it’s much easier to do it with someone – would you like to pray the Rosary with me? Then push play and follow this Rosary Podcast or print out the attached Word Document or read it off your phone, pray the Rosary. And then ask them what caught their attention or what they were reflecting on during the Rosary. It will spark fantastic conversation. It happened last night with my 17 year old Daughter Teresa because she felt I did not express myself properly concerning the difference between beauty and entertainment and we had an amazing conversation.

Supporting Others

The Third way to bear fruit is to support ministries that are bearing fruit so that they can reap an even greater harvest of souls. For every one person 22-32 years old who comes into the Church, 4-5 leave. You probably know someone who has left. The School of Faith has a ministry called City on a Hill in the KC metro that has formed 250 young professionals who reach out to more than 2500 young adults to bring them back to Christ and the Church. Would you consider supporting School of Faith with a monthly gift? Do not underestimate the power of many people giving $10 per month. Would you give $10/month to save 1000s of souls and ensure the future of the Church in KC and beyond? Just click the donate button and choose a recurring gift and its all set.