Daily Gospel Reflection for September 10, 2022

Join us as we reflect, ponder, and pray together inspired by today's Gospel.

Reflection by Lyn Francisco

Today's Gospel: Luke 6:43-49

Today’s Gospel reading marks the conclusion of Jesus’ Sermon on the Plain (Luke 6:20-49), not to be mistaken with His Sermon on the Mount in the Gospel of Matthew. Here we have a couple of parables: a tree known by its fruit (verses 43-45) and the two foundations (verses 46-49). Both speak of the consequences of our actions. A lesson I learned when I was a kid was that I didn’t have to follow blindly what the other children were doing. When I was in the second grade, I had been called to the principal’s office because of some weird trick with rubber bands and hair. All the kids were doing it, and the rubber band pulled off a good chunk of my hair. The principal, in the presence of my mom, asked me, “If someone told you to jump off a cliff, will you jump off just because they said jump?” I think this is related to the fruit image: good trees bear good fruit. Good trees would not bear fruit that would lead you astray, like trying to tear off a hank of hair with a rubber band!

The second half of today’s reading also speaks of consequences of actions. If you live in an earthquake-prone place, like I did when I was growing up, you want to ensure that you build structures that can withstand earthquakes as opposed to flimsy structures that would fall like a house of cards as soon as a tremble that registers on the Richter scale occurs. This would be a choice that the builder makes. Should you spend the extra money to ensure your foundation is sound or skimp and save on the money but risk a less stable building? The choice is yours.

Ponder:

What fruits do your choices produce? Have you ever considered the consequences of the choices that you make? Are you happy with those choices?

Pray:

Gracious God, help us to have faith that we may make the choices that allow us to know Your will as we live day by day.

Click to tweet:
A lesson I learned was that I didn’t have to follow blindly what the other children were doing. I was asked, “If someone told you to jump off a cliff, will you jump off just because they said jump?” #dailygospel

Copyright 2022 Lyn Francisco

Lyn Francisco is an organic chemist by training and education. When she is not at the lab bench, she occupies organ benches in churches around Durham, NC. She also serves as cantor at Immaculate Conception Church in Durham.