Homily: February 27, 2022, Eight Sunday in the Ordinary Time

For readings: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/022722.cfm

There were two brothers who lived debauched lives engaging in terrible deeds. They were notorious yet not at all ashamed. Then one brother died. The surviving brother asked the local pastor to preach at his brother’s funeral. The pastor, aware of the brothers’ background, was reluctant to do it.

The brother then promised to donate a big sum of money to the church and begged the pastor to preach with a special request. “Father, in your homily, you just have to say that my brother was a saint.”

The pastor thought about it and agreed. The funeral day came. The pastor began his homily, “The man laid in the casket was a rotter; he led a horrible and debauched life. He was truly rotten to the bone. But compared to his brother, he was a saint.”

Saintly life or shoddy living – Would the priest at our own funeral have to be paid to tell a lie?

It all depends on what kind of fruit we produce from the way we live. Usually, we cannot see the roots of a tree, but we can clearly see the fruits. From that, we can tell if the tree has been receiving the right amount of sunlight, good nutrients, enough water and appropriate pruning.

And so from the book of Sirach in our first reading, it is written that “The fruit of a tree shows the care it has had”. Similarly, the words of our speech, our behaviour and deeds will reveal our thoughts, attitudes and values.

So, what do you value in life? In my 33 years of life, I have seen so many wonderful, good people. There is one elderly priest whom I found to be exceptional in his speech, behaviour and deeds. His speech is positive and full of goodness, I have never heard him speak ill of anyone. His behaviour is so gentle, full of love, I have never seen him throw a temper at anyone. His deeds are kind, always serving others despite his own elderly condition, he has never turned me away when I needed his help, his counsel or his listening ear.

Even in the coldest winter and the darkest blackouts, when he is cleaning up a mess left by others, when he is washing dishes others forget, I see him always with a smile.

He has already served in ministry for so many years, yet he does not expect to be served in return, now that he is retired. His mission is to serve, and his reward is to be able to continue serving.

I am so blessed to have met such a saintly person. The fruit of his life is so beautiful and so full of goodness. It is obvious that these came about from his spiritual discipline all his life, of keeping close to God’s words in scripture, keeping a good dose of daily prayer and keeping up with the community he is in.

It is not about success, money or fame. He values God, the spiritual life and community, so his life focus has been to take in the nutrients that will feed him in these areas and finally the fruits he produces are rich in these areas. He is my inspiration and role model.

He is a good tree, isn’t he?

Jesus teaches in the Gospel: “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.”

Do you also know someone who is a good tree?

Are you a good tree?

Our growth is dependent on the nutrients we take in. We need to take in God’s words as oxygen, Jesus’ body and blood as food and water, the inspiration of the Holy Spirit as sunlight.

And what type of trees are we? What type of fruits are we to produce?

Love. We are trees of love, our fruits are love in various shapes and sizes – patience, kindness, gentleness, mercy, but all will taste of the Lord’s sweetness and goodness. That’s what we are.

Because our creator is Love. And we are created in His image and likeness.

When we understand and embrace our identity as love trees, we will want to produce love fruits.

But when we do not recognise this, we will be feeding in hatred, greed, jealousy, selfish ambition, lust for power and worldly gain, the fruits of these will be ugly, taste bad and even harmful.

A sad example is seen in the Russian invasion of Ukraine happening in these few days.

The Lord says, “A good person out of the store of goodness produces good, an evil person out of a store of evil produces evil”.

We pray that the hearts of the Russian leaders are not all evil, we want to believe that there is goodness. They too are created by the same God of love. With this confidence, we pray that the seeds of love will overpower the weeds of evil. We pray for protection of innocent souls and for conversion of hearts and minds. We pray for true peace.

And as the rest of the world looks on, we pray for wisdom in upcoming actions and reactions from all who are affected in this conflict.

We are trees of love. Let us pray with love, not hate. May God’s love prevail and triumph over all evil, in this world and in our life. Amen.