This is the time of the year when we watch the children returning to school where they will learn the rules of arithmetic and grammar. In today’s Gospel there are other rules we must learn, the rules that show us the foundations of the spiritual life.
The first rule Jesus gives us is that the heart is the source of all a person’s actions. We must, therefore, tend the soil of our hearts by guarding against all wickedness and setting our hearts on God alone. If we do this, then we will bear fruits of goodness and charity, the fruits befitting a saint; if we do not, we will bear fruits of wickedness, like the brambles and thorns, fit only to be thrown into the fire.
The second rule Jesus gives us is that merely listening to his word is not enough; we must act on it and put it into practice. We must not be passive Christians—which would be an oxymoron—but disciples striving to live by the living word, the word that gives life. As Saint Ignatius Loyola teaches, love is shown more in deeds than in words.
Resolve: Today, I will examine my heart, asking whether I have set it on God alone or if the space of my heart is crowded by other affections, so that I love the Lord not only in word but also in deed. And I will beg the grace to continually grow in this wholehearted pursuit of the Lord’s service.
For our faithful Magis readers: this marks the final week that Fr. Buckley will grace us with his reflections. We thank him for continuing in this ministry even at 101 years of age, and we commend him to our prayers, even as we ask for his continued prayers for all our readers.