23rd Week in Ordinary Time
Holy Name of Mary

1st Reading: 1 Tim 1:15–17
Gospel: Lk 6:43–49
Jesus said to the crowd, “No healthy tree bears bad fruit, no poor tree bears good fruit. And each tree is known by the fruit it bears: you don’t gather figs from thorns, or grapes from brambles. Similarly the good person draws good things from the good stored in the heart, and an evil person draws evil things from the evil stored in the heart. For the mouth speaks from the fullness of the heart.
“Why do you call me: ‘Lord! Lord!’ and not do what I say? I will show you what the one who comes to me and listens to my words and acts accordingly, is like. That one is like the builder who dug deep and laid the foundations of his house on rock. The river overflowed and the stream dashed against the house, but could not carry it off because the house had been well built.
“But the one who listens and does not act, is like a man who built his house on the ground without a foundation. The flood burst against it, and the house fell at once: and what a terrible disaster that was!”

Commentary
Each tree is known by the fruit it bears; and we are known by the words we speak! Today is a day of graceful thinking and graceful words, words of love and words of patience. We are urged always to speak with love, simply because God is love. He doesn’t want us to endure a crop of bad, angry seeds in our heart or the hearts of others. It is easier to speak lovingly, than to spend precious time weeding out anger from the garden of our lives.
All the words we speak, even if they bring to light issues of our heart, create a form of life within those who hear us. Out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks. When we adjust the attitude of our heart, our words change. Not only do angry words plant a destructive crop of fear, they cause us to open doors to doubt and unbelief. As ever, God gives us power to overcome any such tendencies, from the smallest to the largest, and to fulfill the highest commandment next to loving God: loving our neighbor as ourselves. When we are loving in what we say, we create life, create hope!

________
Claretian Communications Foundation, Inc., 8 Mayumi St., U.P. Village, Diliman, Quezon City, U.P. P.O. Box 4, Diliman, 1101 Quezon City; Tel. No. (02) 921-39-84; Fax No.: (02) 921-62-05 E-mail: cci@claret.org; Websites: http://www.claretianpublication.com (Claretian Publications) & http://www.claretphilippines.org (Claretian Missionaries in the Philippines) Claretian HOPE CENTER: Aurora Milestone Tower, 1045 Aurora Blvd., Loyola Heights, Quezon City E-mail: hopecenter07@yahoo.com/hopecenter07@gmail.com