Sunday Gospel Reflection (March 2, 2025)

What do our trials produce?

Every Christian should expect difficulty in the Christian life because virtue demands discomfort. Sirach includes many pieces of very practical spiritual advice like, “in tribulation is the test of the just” (Sirach 27:5). This is related to the “offer it up” cliche not as a dismissal of one’s difficulties, but as a way to put difficulties into perspective. No one is saying it is easy to keep the mindset, “how is God forming me in this struggle,” but committing to doing so will affect how you confront the trial, which will be there regardless. We can and should feel frustration and loneliness in the Christian life, Jesus did too, but it must be accompanied by the understanding that it forms our soul. Jesus echoes this idea when he says, “when fully trained, every disciple will be like his teacher” (Luke 6:40). It applies well to the Sirach reading because Jesus was perfectly just and still experienced testing. Our confidence must be founded in this. The imitation of Jesus’s virtues will include an imitation of Jesus in his trials. Think of St. Francis of Assisi for example. The stigmata he received was not just a mystical phenomenon, but a reflection of his imitation of Christ.

There is always a risk of egocentrism when one dives into self-help materials. Technically, the wisdom literature is meant to help us grow as individuals. The difference is that this individual growth is always ordered outward, either to God or the neighbor. Recognizing the tension between personal and social responsibility is presented symbolically when the First Reading states, “The fruit of a tree shows the care it has had” (Sirach 27:6). The “fruit” one produces did not come entirely from that “tree,” but all of the resources and soil that fed and surrounded it. Our “fruit” comes from the tradition that fed us and the community that shaped us. The Gospel reading, especially the verse, “For every tree is known by its own fruit” (Luke 6:43) ties well to the previous verse from the First Reading to create a wider view of the concept for the reader. While this verse emphasizes the personal responsibility element, it can only be understood in light of the communal responsibility. We participate in both as we ourselves continue our own formation, but in so doing become participants in the formation of the community that will form others, especially the next generation of Christians.