Good fruit over time

The Gospel from Matthew today in the Roman CatholicLectionary advises us to beware of false prophets and to judge the tree by its fruit. Friar Jude Winkler notes that there are many distortions of the Christian message being proclaimed today. He refers to some televangelists and preachers who proclaim particular countries as blest by God. Our discernment of good fruit includes comparing the words of the person to the example of Jesus in the Gospel. The difficulty of a view which considers one incident and does not look at the action of others over time is for us to falsely dismiss brothers and sisters who in God’s time are producing fruit for the kingdom. The act of judgement is difficult. Our own sinfulness may impact of our assessment of others. We need to be patient and allow time to help our discernment. The passage from Genesis presents the Elohist account of sealing of the Covenant between Abram and God through a vision of carcasses being passed through by God in the form of a smoking fire pot. The introduction to the promise to Abram refers to the events of Genesis Chapter 14, where Melchizedek gives thanks to God for the warrior service of Abram as he fights to return his nephew Lot who had been captured during a battle between the cities of the plain south of the Dead Sea. The hospitality and generosity of Abram are also mated with an ability to be a warrior in defense of family. The descendants promised to Abram by God are the fruit of his life. The promise will not be realized during the life of Abram yet he will demonstrate the deep trust in God which is the fertile ground for bearing the fruit of Life.