22 June 2022
Optional Memorial of Saint John Fisher, bishop and martyr and Saint Thomas More, martyr
In his development of the image of the tree and the fruit it bears, Jesus suggests that we be prudent in making choices, an idea that is reinforced in today’s psalm: “turn away my eyes from seeing what is vain.” What defines our motives is not what we say, but what we do. Easy it is to talk the talk; difficult to walk the walk.
Jesus is the truth and the way. He gave witness to what he taught by doing what he did in fulfilling the will of the Father, in obtaining salvation for each of us, even though it led him to Calvary.
It is the principle we must keep in mind when we contemplate and pray over the Gospel. He gives us examples how to put that truth into action in a very practical way by reflecting on the lives of the saints.
Today we have two saints; two fruit-bearing trees, two examples why they should be models for us to imitate in our daily lives the teachings of today’s Gospel and the prayer in today’s psalm: “Incline my heart to your decrees and not to gain.”
One saint was a cleric, a bishop; the other a layman, a politician. In a heroic, exceptional way they produced the good fruit for which they were created to produce. Ask them to obtain this same grace for each of us to fulfill our separate vocations in the same way.
Ask the Lord also not to ration the graces of prudence and courage he gave to John and Thomas, but to pour in abundance on our political and religious leaders today.