Of Orchards and Fruit

Memorial of Saint Cornelius, pope and martyr,
& Saint Cyprian, bishop and martyr

Biographical Information about Saint Cornelius
Biographical Information about Saint Cyprian

Readings for Saturday

Reading 1 1 Cor 10:14-22

Responsorial Psalm Ps 116:12-13, 17-18 R. To you, Lord, I will offer a sacrifice of praise.

Gospel Lk 6:43-49

Reflection:

Today we memorialize two early saints who were both martyred St. Cyprian in 258 AD during the persecution of Valarian, and Cornelius in 253 during the persecution of Decius. Those were very bad years to be a prominent Christian. Ironically the major trials that faced the Church during these years were issues of unity. Cornelius actually spent much of his papacy dealing with a schismatic Bishop Novatian.

Based upon these saints, martyred so the Church might be steadfast in its belief and unity, we should probably look closely at the reading from Paul’s First Letter to the Corinthians. We find there today the beginnings of his great analogy that the Church is the living body of Christ. He links it beautifully to the Eucharist and the oneness present in our sharing the heavenly meal;

The cup of blessing that we bless, is it not a participation in the Blood of Christ?

The bread that we break, is it not a participation in the Body of Christ?

Because the loaf of bread is one, we, though many, are one Body, for we all partake of the one loaf.

This powerful statement is actually pointed at idolatry, comparing the Eucharistic celebration with pagan sacrifices. As we have noted earlier Corinth was not a nice place and as we have also commented (see The Bench at Alice's Restaurant) and the Christian Community was under a lot of pressure to “fit in” (sound familiar) with the large Greek population sacrificing and worshiping multiple gods and idols. Paul calls to them to be faithful to the Gospel and understand that anything that leads them away from Christ is from the evil one.

Turning from Paul’s practical instruction to the One Body of Christ that is the Church to the Gospel of St. Luke, Jesus focuses us on what we as individual members of the Body of Christ must be. He calls us to be the fruit of the vine that is Jesus Himself. He tells us that if we hear his word but do not act on his commandments, we are weak and will be destroyed like the house built upon sand that is washed away by the sea.

It is likely that this scripture has been used to blame parents for the actions of their children, giving birth to such clichés as “The acorn does not fall far from the tree.” and other axioms. But, if we look at the context in which the Lord is speaking we see that it is not offspring that he refers to when he says; “A good tree does not bear rotten fruit”; he is referring to a person’s actions, the fruits of the person’s labors.

He tells us that if we truly believe in him and hear his word, our actions will become “good fruit” and the implication is that we have become, in him, a good creation in God’s garden.

Today we are given two linked messages. First Paul reminds us that we are one in Christ and that our treasure is there, not with those who prize idols (material things) above the spiritual gifts given by the Lord. This unifying theme is brought home to us as Jesus reminds us that for us to bear good fruit we must follow his commandments and we know what he is talking about. The Church gives us examples of both these virtues in Saints Cyprian and Cornelius and we thank them today for their sacrifice and example.

Pax