Day 22 (Mar 21)
– Bearing fruits
Day 22 (Mar 21)
Bearing fruits
Am I also bearing fruits?
Audio (in Cantonese)
Audio (in Mandarin)
English
“The seed sown on rich soil is the one who hears the word and understands it, who indeed bears fruit and yields a hundred or sixty or thirtyfold.”
When farmers go out and sow the seeds in the field, their hope is to see, on the day of harvest, the fruits that have grown from the seeds. Imagine the joy at the time of harvest to see the results.
On the other hand, imagine how disappointed the farmers would be if they see no fruits. As the person who planted the fig tree said to the gardener in the gospel of Luke: “I have come in search of fruit on this fig tree but have found none. Cut it down. Why should it exhaust the soil?” (see Luke 13:7)
God wants us all to bear fruits. Every seed is created to have the potential to “bear fruits”. God has implanted in us this potential when He created us. Do you hear the spirit within your heart calling you to be who you are meant to be? To bear the fruits God wants us to bear?
We are like the fig tree. God has planted a purpose in us. Do you recognize the purpose God has intended for you? Are you aiming to achieve the highest good (summum bonum) in life?
But what is this highest good? St. Augustine argued that the highest good of life is to be found in God. The purpose of our lives should be to produce fruits and to aim for the highest good. But what does it mean to produce or bear fruits? Is it referring to our personal achievement or success in our career or our contribution to our family or society?
To bear fruits means we are to become virtuous. If we are living our lives the way God intends, then we would produce the fruits of the Holy Spirit which are love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control (see Galatians 5:22-23). The Catechism of the Catholic Church teaches that, “The fruits of the Spirit are perfections that the Holy Spirit forms in us as the first fruits of eternal glory” (CCC 1832). Therefore, God is leading us to a first taste of heaven.
REFLECTION:
What fruits am I hoping to bear in my life? The fruits that I can carry with me into heaven like the spiritual fruits, or earthly fruits that I have to leave behind?
