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The texts from the Roman Catholic Lectionary today offer some guidance to living as disciples of Christ.

Trees for the season

The use of one’s gifts for the glory of God is the exhortation in the First Letter of Peter.

* [4:7–11] The inner life of the eschatological community is outlined as the end (the parousia of Christ) and the judgment draws near in terms of seriousness, sobriety, prayer, and love expressed through hospitality and the use of one’s gifts for the glory of God and of Christ.

Jesus challenges us to be open at all times to bear fruit in the passage from the Gospel of Mark.

* [11:12–14] Jesus’ search for fruit on the fig tree recalls the prophets’ earlier use of this image to designate Israel; cf. Jer 8:13; 29:17; Jl 1:7; Hos 9:10, 16. Cursing the fig tree is a parable in action representing Jesus’ judgment (Mk 11:20) on barren Israel and the fate of Jerusalem for failing to receive his teaching; cf. Is 34:4; Hos 2:14; Lk 13:6–9.

Jay Carney sees the restless Jesus who reminds us of the "cost of discipleship," to echo Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s famous words… to push us out of our comfort zones… like the disciples in 1 Peter or today’s saint, Justin Martyr.

Yet the expectation of Christ’s Parousia does not lead to apocalyptic craziness here in the early 2nd century. If anything, it seems to focus the mind, heart, and soul on core traits of Christian discipleship: we are called to be sober-minded, hospitable, joyful, and above all intense in our self-giving love for one another. This is a good blueprint for any day of my life, whether Jesus returns tomorrow or two millennia from now.

St. Justin, apologist and martyr, was one of the most important Christian writers of the second century. He himself tells how his study of all the schools of philosophy led him to Christianity, and how he dedicated his life to the defense of the Christian faith as "the one certain and profitable philosophy.

St. Justin is particularly celebrated for the two Apologies which he was courageous enough to address in succession to the persecuting emperors Antoninus and Marcus Aurelius. One of them contains a description of the rites of baptism and the ceremonies of Mass, thus constituting the most valuable evidence that we possess on the Roman liturgy of his day. He was beheaded in Rome in 165. Justin is also referred to as "the Philosopher."

Don Schwager urges that faith must be nourished by the word of God.

The history of Israel is one long preparation for the coming of the Promised One - the Messiah. But the promise is unfulfilled in those who reject Jesus through their unbelief. (See also Jesus' parable of the barren fig tree in Luke 13:6-9). Jesus' cursing of a fig tree is a prophetic action against the faithlessness of those who rejected his message. For faith to be fruitful and productive, it must be nourished with the word of God (2 Timothy 3:16; Colossians 3:16) and be rooted in love and obedience to the truth (Galatians 5:6,7)..

The Word Among Us Meditation on Mark 11:11-26 asks what fig trees and God’s grace have in common.

Think about all the ways that you are already bearing spiritual fruit. When you’re patient with your kids, especially when they are pushing your buttons, that’s fruit. When you use your talent in business to provide for your family, you’re bearing fruit. Even something as simple as letting another driver merge in front of you can be the fruit of grace in your life.

Friar Jude Winkler reveals that the Resurrection of Jesus was the sign of the beginning of the end time for Peter. Jesus arrived “out of season”. The fig tree was without fruit because it was also out of season. We prepare to accept God “out of season”. Friar Jude explains the necessity of buying the requirements for sacrifice at the Temple.

Fr. Richard Rohr, OFM, notes that Jesus invited people to “follow” him by personally bearing the mystery of human death and divine resurrection.

A saint is one who somehow voluntarily chooses to trust the daily paradox of life and death as the two sides of everything. We, too, can walk this path of welcoming disappointment and self-doubt, by “suffering” the full truth of reality. Our vocation is a willingness to hold—and transform—the dark side of things instead of reacting against them, denying them, or projecting our anxiety elsewhere. Without such a willingness to hold the very real tension of paradox, most lives end in negativity, blaming, or cynicism. Holding does not necessarily mean fully reconciling. It is indeed a “suffering” of reality which implies some degree of patience, humility, and forgiveness.

Fr Richard concludes that we do not have to do this to make God love us. That is already taken care of. We do it to love God back and to love what God loves and how God loves!

References


(n.d.). 1 Peter 4:10. Retrieved June 1, 2018, from http://www.usccb.org/bible/1peter/1peter4.htm

(n.d.). Mark 11. Retrieved June 1, 2018, from http://www.usccb.org/bible/mark/mark11.htm 

(n.d.). Creighton U Daily Reflections .... Retrieved June 1, 2018, from http://onlineministries.creighton.edu/CollaborativeMinistry/daily.html 

(n.d.). Memorial of St. Justin, martyr - June 01, 2018 - Liturgical Calendar .... Retrieved June 1, 2018, from https://www.catholicculture.org/culture/liturgicalyear/calendar/day.cfm?id=153 

(n.d.). Daily Scripture Readings and Meditations. Retrieved June 1, 2018, from http://dailyscripture.servantsoftheword.org/

(n.d.). The Visitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary (Feast) - Mass Readings and .... Retrieved June 1, 2018, from https://wau.org/meditations/

(n.d.). Daily Meditations Archives - Center for Action and Contemplation. Retrieved June 1, 2018, from https://cac.org/category/daily-meditations/