Autumn is my favorite time of the year.  I look forward each year to walking down to our apple trees that are ready to harvest in late August and early September. Picking a red apple and biting into its sweet, crisp, juiciness cannot be beat. I only have a 2-3 week period before they become soft and fall to the ground.

The whole mission of apples is to be a source of food for man and beast. On Day 83 of my book, Stirring Into Flame, I quote Pope Francis’ Apostolic Exhortation Gaudete et Exsultate, “Rejoice and Be Glad,” written in 2018.  He speaks of our life as a mission; a mission of holiness, that is to be forged into the image of Jesus. He encourages us to allow the Holy Spirit to transform us into Christ which involves the process of perfecting our charity within us, which is holiness. He says the Holy Spirit takes from the riches of Jesus and gives them to His people through us. He reminds us that the Spirit is to renew us for a life of mission and our mission is to be conformed to the image of Jesus and to bring Jesus, through our holiness, to the world.

We are to become His fruit. We see this in the beginning of Genesis, throughout the Psalms and picked up again in Ezk. 47:12, “… there will grow all kinds of trees for food. Their leaves will not wither nor their fruit fail, but they will bear fresh fruit every month … Their fruit will be our food, and their leaves for healing.”

Jn. 15:16 says, “You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should last …” How can you and I bear fruit that will last? Jesus tells us we must abide in Him, the vine. We are the branches needing to keep connected to Jesus. The sap running through the vine to us is the Holy Spirit. We stay connected and abide in Jesus by love. Love is a decision, a choice for the good of the beloved. So, we are to love Jesus and keep His commandments, thus staying connected and filled with the Holy Spirit. When we abide, we are doing what St. Paul tells us in Gal. 5:16-17, 22-23: we are walking in the Holy Spirit and not gratifying the desires of the flesh which prevents us from doing good and bearing fruit. Walking in the flesh is directly opposed to the Spirit.

The fruit that will last and heal and is ever new is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. These are the fruits of the Spirit that are cultivated in a life in the Spirit, and abiding in Jesus.

The time of harvesting is upon us, not only of the fruits of creation, but the fruits of the Spirit. The Spirit renews us in holiness and for a life of mission.

For Reflection:

Do I see my life as a mission of holiness and feeding others through charity? Do I allow the Holy Spirit to transform me into fruit that will last? Do I allow the Holy Spirit to give me as food to others?

Prayer:
Holy Spirit, stir into flame Your fire and forge me into the image of Jesus. So transform me that I may bear everlasting fruit to feed and heal a broken world.

(blogged September 1, 2024)
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