Posts Tagged ‘Good’

Br. David Vryhof

Luke 6:43-45

In our gospel lesson today, Jesus once again – as is so often his custom – draws on natural imagery to illustrate spiritual truth.  Here he contrasts “good trees,” those which naturally produce figs and grapes, with “bad trees,” those which naturally produce thorns and brambles.  A “bad tree” cannot produce good fruit; good fruit only comes from “good trees.”  Similarly, Jesus says, one whose heart is good will naturally and without effort produce good fruit, while one whose heart is evil will naturally produce evil fruit.  The point seems obvious.  The metaphor is clear.

But there are two things to note: First, there is a difference between trees and people: A “bad tree” cannot stop producing thorns and brambles and suddenly begin producing good fruit.  Because of the type of tree it is, it is incapable of bearing fruit; it can only bear thorns and brambles. But that is not the case with people.  A person with an evil heart can be transformed into one whose heart is good.  That’s a key difference.  Someone whose life is oriented towards evil rather than towards God can change!  The gospel is all about repentance, forgiveness, conversion of life, and reconciliation.  Sinners can become saints – and they do! Read More