Process in Producing Fruit

GOSPEL THOUGHTS

16^th Week – Friday

Gospel – Matthew 13: 18-23

Process in Producing Fruit

1) First Step: The Seed has to be good

Good seed will produce good plant and good plant will produce good fruit. This is the basic condition to bear good fruit

A bad seed will not produce good fruit.

This also applies to our life. Only a good person will bear good fruit. A bad person will not be able to bear good fruit.

 2) Second Step: The Seed has to fall to the ground

Seed is unable to produce fruit if it remains in the sack or in the secure place

It has to fall to the ground. Only in the ground it will produce fruit

Falling to the ground indicates the quality of humility.

Only a humble person can bear fruit. We can learn the quality of humility from the seed

3) Third Step: Breaking of  itself  by the seed

The fallen seed breaks itself. It loses its shape, beauty, identity.

Only when it breaks then it sprouts. By remaining itself, without undergoing any changes will not be able to produce the fruit. Losing of its identity becomes vey essential thing to produce fruit.

Even in our lives to produce fruit we need to break ourselves, our comforts, luxurious life and pleasurable things, narrow mindedness, selfish motives, desire of name and fame, craze for power, laziness,  and our evil habits.

4) Fourth Step: Roots appear first

Roots are the first one to come out from the seed and they go to the Ground.

It is really a wonder to see in the seed that the roots are the first one to come out and go inside the mud

Only when the roots are sufficiently rooted in the ground the shoots appear

Only when the roots are strong, only then the plant will survive

If shoots come without the roots, then the plant will not survive

No seed will produce first shoots without producing the roots first

WHAT ABOUT MY LIFE

I am worried about roots or fruits? At times we are only worried about the fruits than the roots

Only when our roots are strong we can produce abundant fruit.

So first of all we need to pay attention to the roots. Once the roots are strong then we become strong and we are able to produce fruit.

Our family is one of the beautiful places to deepen our roots. Those whose roots are very strong in the family and on the family values will definitely produce plentiful fruit

We need to think about the roots very often and very seriously if we want to produce the lasting fruit.   

5) Fifth Step: Manure the Plant

As the plant grows need to give some manure for its healthy growth.

With the manure the plant becomes very weak and may not be able to produce the expected fruits

Likewise unless we feed our plant of life with good manure, we may not be able to generate much fruit.

As we grow we need to fill our life’s plant with service, gratitude, forgiveness, sacrifice selflessness, wellbeing of others, Love, Humility and other Kingdom Values

Am I Ready to Grow like a Seed which offers itself to produce fruit in 100 Fold?

 

God bless you and your family. Praying for you and your dear ones.

Fr Maxim D’Souza

Jeppu Seminary

Mangalore