SEPTEMBER 10, 2016 (SATURDAY)

Memorial of Blessed Virgin Mary

1st Reading

     1 Cor. 10:14-22:

        Therefore, my dear friends, flee from idolatry. I speak to sensible people; judge yourselves what I say. Is not the cup of thanksgiving for which we give thanks a participation in the blood of Christ? And is not the bread that we break a participation in the body of Christ? Because there is one loaf, we, who are many, are one body, for we all share the one loaf. Consider the people of Israel: Do not those who eat the sacrifices participate in the altar? Do you mean than that food sacrificed to an idol is anything, or that an idol is anything? No, but the sacrifices of pagans are offered to demons, not to God, and I do not want you to be participants with demons. You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons too; you cannot have a part in both the Lord's table and the table of demons. Are we trying to arouse the Lord's jealousy? Are we stronger than he?

Psalm

     Ps. 116:12-13, 17-18: To you, Lord, I will offer a sacrifice of praise.

        What shall I render to the Lord for all His bounty to me?

        I will lift up the cup of salvation and call on the name of the Lord,

        I will offer to thee the sacrifice of thanksgiving and call on the name of the Lord.

        I will pay my vows to the Lord in the presence of all his people.

Gospel:

     Lk. 6:43-49:

        No healthy tree bares bad fruit, no poor tree bears good fruit. And each tree is known by the fruit it bear: you don't gather figs from thorns, or grapes from brambles. Similarly, the good person draws good things from the good stored in his heart, and an evil person draws evil things from the evil stored in his heart. For the mouth speaks from the fullness of the heart.

        Why do you call me 'Lord! Lord!' and do not do what I say? I will show you what the one is like, who comes to me, and listens to my words, and acts accordingly. That person is like the builder who dug deep, and laid the foundations of his house on rock. The river over-flowed, and the stream dashed against the house, but could not carry it off because the house had been well built.

        But the one who listens and does not act, is like a man who built his house on the ground without a foundation. The flood burst against it, and the house fell at once: and what a terrible disaster that was!"

Every now and then we come across controversial figures. Controversial because their ideas on the Christian life are new and startling, a bit shocking to staid believers, but greatly praised by more adventurous Christians. How do we assess such controversial figures?

In today's gospel reading Jesus gives us a criterion which enables us to assess correctly the people who claim a role of ideological leadership among Christians: " Each tree is known by the fruit it bears," Jesus tells us. And he specifies: "A good person draws good things from the good stored in his heart, and an evil person draws evil things from the evil stored in his heart."

Well and good. But what are the "good things" Jesus is referring to? Here Paul can help us when he teaches us about the fruit produced by the Holy Spirit. "The fruit of the Spirit," he writes to the Galatians, "is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control". Previously, he had written that the opposite fruits are: immorality... sorcery, hatred, rivalry, jealousy, outbursts of fury, acts of selfishness, dissensions, factions... drinking bouts, orgies."

With these criteria, we can assess any controversial figure.