Several years ago, my family moved to a new home located in the next town over. It had a few more bedrooms, and it was situated on a larger parcel of land, so it was ideal for our growing family. There was something exciting about familiarizing ourselves with the new kitchen, setting up our new bedrooms, and settling into our new surroundings. But it was also a little disconcerting to not instinctively know where to place our spices and silverware and hand towels in the various cabinets and drawers, and to go to bed each night in what felt like a stranger’s room. Perhaps what was most unfamiliar to us were the trees in our yard. Since we had moved in during the month of March, the landscape was bare and dry from the winter’s dormancy, and we had no idea what kind of trees populated our property—or if they were even still alive.
When spring came, we could tell by the buds that were beginning to bloom which trees were still viable. But it was not until later in the summer that we could see what kind of trees they were by the leaves they sprouted and by the fruit they bore. The oak tree bore acorns; the chestnut tree, chestnuts; the maple tree, its winged seeds; and to my surprise, one of our trees produced apples! That fall I was baking pies straight through winter. I had no idea of the hidden treasure that lay on my property until August came, when that apple tree finally produced “its own fruit.”
Jesus tells us that people are not much different from that apple tree. One does not really know who a person is until the circumstances are ripe for them to produce fruit. But what kind of circumstances classify as “ripe”? After all, apple trees produce their fruit in regularly paced seasons that have to do with climate and weather; obviously it does not work that way for people. So in what seasons do people produce their own fruit? Unlike my apple tree, which grows its fruit during the warmth and sunshine of the summer season, our human souls are cultivated most during the seasons of hardship and trial.
A good tree does not bear rotten fruit, nor does a rotten tree bear good fruit. (Lk. 6:43)
Now, Jesus does not judge the fruit we bear by our weakness. Our weaknesses keep us dependent upon Him, and while it surely hurts His heart to hear His children deny His name, He knows it hurts them too. Just as it hurt Peter when he denied Jesus three times, and just as it hurt the rest of the Apostles when they fled the scene of Our Lord’s crucifixion. Our weaknesses do not prove what kind of fruit we bear. Our weaknesses keep us ever aware of our need for God’s mercy; they give us the opportunity to remain humble. And it is humility that unlocks for us the door to God’s kingdom.
So weakness is not the determining factor in judging the fruit we produce. A bruise or blemish here or there does not prevent us from enjoying a delicious apple or banana—in fact, it makes the taste of the fruit that much more sweet!
What is repugnant to the palate is a dried up, moldy, blackened piece of fruit—the kind we throw away. It has no use at all: not for eating, not for canning, not for baking. Such fruit is produced by the tree of malice. What distinguishes the tree of malice from the other trees is that its fruit does not start out beautiful then go bad after sitting too long unpicked. Rather, the tree of malice produces a strange fruit that starts out dry, ugly, and black. It is a tree that generates rot. How is this even possible? Because of what had been stored in that tree during the time before the harvest.
A good person out of the store of goodness in his heart produces good, but an evil person out of a store of evil produces evil. (Lk. 6:45)
It’s likely that we’ve all had the experience of knowing someone who we thought was a good person, but whose “true colors” came out when circumstances changed. It seems inconceivable that we should have had no idea of what this person was capable of; after all, how can someone change so quickly? The reality is, generally the ones with malice in their hearts have simply learned to hide it really well—even from themselves. In the end, it is not until their capacity for goodness is tested that their true fruit comes out, revealing what they had been “storing” inside their hearts: manipulation, self-service, self-gain. It is the season of adversity that produces their harvest.
On the other hand, we also know people who we perhaps prejudged negatively, but to our utter amazement, veritably shined with flying colors when the test of their fruit came. People who we never imagined to be our friends who ended up being the ones there for us most when we needed them. What they had stored up in their hearts was also revealed in their season of adversity: selflessness, patience, generosity, love. Let us learn from ones such as these and apply the lessons to our own hearts. Let us work each day to store up goodness, so that when the season of harvest comes for us, we are ready to produce good fruit at a moment’s notice.
So how do we store up these riches?
[The one] who comes to me, listens to my words, and acts on them . . . is like a man building a house, who dug deeply and laid the foundation on rock. (Lk. 6:47-48)
If we want to store up the Lord’s riches in our hearts, then we simply must “do whatever he tells [us]” (Jn 2:5). Which, by definition, is necessarily going to mean that we must love one another! It will not always be easy to put love into practice, but the instructions are simple. If we do that much, then, like St. Paul, we will spread that goodness like wildfire, inspiring others to do the same.
Everything indeed is for you, so that the grace bestowed in abundance on more and more people may cause the thanksgiving to overflow for the glory of God. (2 Cor. 4:15)
Friends, let us work to help strengthen our neighbor! We need to encourage others, offer them support, and love them unconditionally in their weakness. In this way, the good fruit we produce will be ripe for the picking, ready to be shared with the world.
Blessed be the Father of compassion and God of all encouragement, who encourages us in our every affliction. (2 Cor. 1:3-4)
Author’s Note: Excerpt from The Safe Haven: Scriptural Reflections for the Heart and Home, Ordinary Time (Weeks 8-14). To purchase, visit Amazon or The Catholic Company, where all other volumes currently in print are also available.
