Coffee With God

Reflection: Luke 6:43-49

In our final reading from Luke’s version of the Sermon on the Plain, Jesus speaks of the qualities of a genuine disciple. Jesus challenges his disciples to live their lives worthy of the name of Christ. Pope Francis, during his special audience with the members of the Claretian Missionaries after their General Chapter on September 9 has given a reminder on how to be consistent in producing fruits worthy of our call. The Pope said, “If you want your mission to be truly fruitful, you cannot separate mission from contemplation and from a life of intimacy with the Lord. If you want to be witnesses, you cannot stop being adorers.” Consistently good behavior can happen only when we have a healthy interior of prayer and contemplation. Pope Francis further stresses that one cannot live with the spirit of the world and expect to serve the Lord. We must orient our existence on the basis of Gospel values to produce fruits of the Gospel, allowing yourselves to be guided at all times by the options of the Gospel and by the ardent desire to “follow Jesus and imitate him in prayer, in work,… and in seeking always and only the glory of God and the salvation of souls.” When we have a healthy interior, rooted on the Word of God and nurtured by a strong prayer life, we become like that man who has built his house on solid foundation. No matter how strong the winds of accusations or misunderstandings and floods of persecutions strike us, our house built on the rock of Christ would stand firm. If we fail to be rooted on the Word and fail to be nurtured by the sacraments and prayer, a tragic collapse is inevitable. Luke was acknowledging the inevitability of persecutions for those who believe in Jesus and in the Gospel. But for a Christian built on the rock of Christ, there is nothing to be afraid of. We live in times where a genuine Christ-centered life is under threat and ridicule, not only from external forces but even from within the Church. Without the foundations of contemplation of the Word of God and a prayer life, it is very easy to be enticed away to a life of materialism and individualism. We live in a dangerous environment, not of torture and imprisonments, but of deceptive noises from around the society, promising happiness and pleasures. The Gospel message is more relevant today than ever for our life in faith. A life built on foundations of prayer, sacraments and the Word of God is the only way to produce good fruits for Christ.