Fruits for the world

Fruits for the World

Twenty-five hundred years ago, King Cyrus of Persia released the Jewish people from exile and they have just returned to Jerusalem.  While they have regained their homeland, a generation of exile has left them without much religion.  Ezra the priest has a tower built.  He climbs the tower and proclaims to the people the word of God from the Torah so that all could hear.  Thus, the people reclaim their faith and regain the hope and strength to continue rebuilding the Temple, rejoicing in the Lord.

Five hundred years later, the Temple has regained the splendor of Solomon’s first temple, yet the people are in great distress.  They are ruled by godless men who do not respect Yahweh, who worship Caesar as divine, who demand tribute, who humiliate and debase those whom they have conquered.  Jesus himself steps up in the synagogue as Ezra climbed his tower.  Filled with the Spirit, Jesus proclaims that he is anointed by the Spirit to bring glad tidings to the poor, liberty to captives, sight to the blind, freedom for those oppressed, a year of favor to the Lord.  He will right what is wrong, and usher in the kingdom of God.  This he does, though not as many expected he would.  But by his gentle life of love and mercy, by his acceptance of death on the cross and by his resurrection, he redeems the world, offering salvation to one and all, modeling for each of us what it means to be human, what God created us to be.

Despite Jesus’ sacrifice, we are still in great distress today.  We live in world where billions of people live in abject poverty, barely subsisting from day to day.  At the same time, we live in a world where many people are held captive by addictions to the pleasures of this world – drugs, gluttony, pornography, possessions, the esteem of others – yet they are never satisfied.  We live in a world where many are blind to salvation, blind to God, their sight limited to this merely finite, time-bound world.  We live in a world oppressed by those who seek temporal power through violence and evil.  We live in a world that seems abandoned by God, a joyless, dark world bereft of hope.

It seems we need Jesus to stand up for us once more as he did in Nazareth so long ago.  But that is not necessary.  Jesus has empowered each of us to do his bidding.  

Anointed by the Holy Spirit at our baptisms, we are joined with Jesus Christ in sharing his mission of priest, prophet and king; we are made members of the one body of Christ.  Once again anointed in the Spirit at our confirmations, we receive the gifts of wisdom and knowledge, understanding and counsel, courage, fortitude, and piety.  And as we live in the Spirit, our lives bear its fruits, fruits which enrich our world, fruits which free our world, fruits which give sight to our world, and fruits which bring joy to the world.

By our unstinting generosity and kindness, we proclaim the good news of our benevolent God’s providence to the poorest of the poor.  We feed the hungry, give drink to the thirsty, clothe the naked, shelter the homeless, and welcome the stranger.

By our unconditional love which bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things and endures all things; and by the peace of Christ which abides in our hearts – we proclaim liberty to those trapped in despair, giving then hope in the living Christ.  We proclaim liberty to those held captive by addictions, offering them love which never ends, which satisfies completely.

By our stolid faithfulness and self-control, we give sight to the blind that they may see the only one who was faithful to all humanity as it took him to the cross; the one who remains faithful to us to this very day; the one who, even when we deny him, will remain faithful to us, ever present to us, ever calling us to a vision and a life that goes, like him, beyond the grave, beyond time itself.

By our persevering patience and sublime gentleness, we set the oppressed free from violence and evil, for while afflicted, we are never crushed; while persecuted, never abandoned; while struck down, never destroyed.  We give courage to the oppressed that they may overcome evil with good, retribution with reconciliation, and violence with virtue.

Finally, by our joy in celebrating the sacraments of the Lord, our joy in the presence of the Lord in all of our daily activities, we proclaim that every day is the first day of a year of favor to the Lord, a day that the Lord has made, a day for the world to rejoice in and be glad of.

The Spirit of the Lord is upon us, for he has anointed us, he has gifted us, and he has empowered us as Christ’s body to bear great fruit – fruit that brings good news to the poor, liberty to captives, sight to the blind, freedom to the oppressed, and joy to the world.