GOSPEL: LK 6:43-49
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JESUS said to his disciples: “A good tree does not bear rotten fruit, nor does a rotten tree bear good fruit. For every tree is known by its own fruit. For people do not pick figs from thornbushes, nor do they gather grapes from brambles. 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; for from the fullness of the heart the mouth speaks.
“Why do you call me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ but not do what I command? I will show you what someone is like who comes to me, listens to my words, and acts on them. That one is like a person building a house, who dug deeply and laid the foundation on rock; when the flood came, the river burst against that house but could not shake it because it had been well-built. But the one who listens and does not act is like a person who built a house on the ground without a foundation. When the river burst against it, it collapsed at once and was completely destroyed.”
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The fruits of the rabbinic teachings and laws are judgment and condemnation. The Law does not reward itself; it serves simply as a standard or norm, whether the person, who abides by it, is faithful to the covenant. These regulations and stipulations of the Law serve like traffic rules to discipline the person on the ways of righteousness. The righteous man’s reward is his happiness. As the Psalmist would say: “Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked…the law of the Lord is his joy; and on his law he meditates day and night” (Ps 1:1-2).
Paul (First Reading) suggests another source of happiness far superior to obedience to the Law: “The cup of blessing that we bless, is it not a participation in the Blood of Christ? The bread that we break, is it not a participation in the Body of Christ?” (v 16). Union with the Lawgiver is loftier than simple obedience to the Law. The reward of the Kingdom of God is greater than compliance with the rules and regulations. Following Jesus, the source of the Law, eventually leads us to the Kingdom of God.
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SOURCE: “366 Days with the Lord 2020,” ST. PAULS, 7708 St. Paul Rd., SAV, Makati City (Phils.); Tel.: 632-895-9701; Fax 632-895-7328; E-mail: [email protected]; Website: http://www.stpauls.ph.
