Word to the Wise
Saturday, September 11, 2010 - Saturday in the Twenty-third Week in Ordinary Time
[1 Corinthians 10:14-20 and Luke 6:43-49]A good tree does not bear rotten fruit, nor does a rotten tree bear good fruit. For every tree is known by its own fruit. For people do not pick figs from thornbushes, nor do they gather grapes from brambles. A good person out of the store of goodness in his heart produces good, but an evil person out of a store of evil produces evil; for from the fullness of the heart the mouth speaks.
During the time I lived in Kentucky (2005-2009) I taught occasionally at St. Catharine College, which was adjacent to the Dominican sisters' "Motherhouse" that I served as a chaplain. The course I taught was "Biomedical Ethics." This is an area that I have maintained some interest in from the earliest days of my ministry since I was often pastoring health care students or relating to health care professionals in campus ministry. When teaching the course at St. Catharine's, I noticed that when I would ask a student why they believed a certain course of action was right or wrong, they didn't give me the principles from the textbook (or my lectures, either!). Rather, they would say something like, "'Cuz that's how I've been raised!" Or they might say, "That just isn't right!" Such a response might discourage the professor but delights the pastor. The reason might be summed up in the word, "character." The students in question had a deeply rooted disposition to act or respond to human suffering in a way that was compatible to the gospel and also help them to be "healing" persons. Health care would be more than a job for them! Some of them might even say that the Bible or their faith is the source of their motivation. But, even the Bible has to be "interiorized" or it remains a set of external beliefs or rules that might be ignored or manipulated. The concept of "character formation" has become, therefore, an important issue in health care ethics because the best health care personnel have consistently been people whose "characters" have been formed to appreciate the values that make for good healing. Anyone who has ever spent time as a patient in a hospital knows the difference this can make in a doctor or nurse! Jesus' words in today's gospel scripture go directly to the issue of character. I have used health care as my example, but "character" extends to all human contexts. When compassion and caring are deeply rooted in a person's identity because their parents or other significant "formators" taught them by word and example, such persons will naturally respond with compassion and caring! Good trees bear good fruit! One may teach students how to perform the actions required by a professional setting, but if these actions spring simply from economic or "clinical" motives, the results are inevitably empty and of lesser quality. We are not born with a knowledge of the gospels, even if we are born with the capacity for faith in God since we are part of God's good creation. We need teachers and formators to help us "interiorize" gospel values and beliefs. Young trees and vines need "formation" if they are to survive and produce good fruit. The notion that formation consists of setting out a smorgasbord of values and inviting young people (or older) to pick and choose is disastrous. Good human character, like good fig preserves or good wine, comes from taking care of the source. Jesus reminds us of the importance of the "fullness of the heart." We need to pay attention to the contents! AMEN
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