Word to the Wise
Wednesday, October 16, 2024 - Wednesday in the 28th Week in Ordinary Time
[Gal 5:18-25 and Luke 11:42-46]if you are guided by the Spirit you are not under the law...In contrast, the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law. Now those who belong to Christ have crucified their flesh with its passions and desires. If we live in the Spirit, let us also follow the Spirit. [Galatians]
The list of the fruits of the Holy Spirit is one we were required to memorize when I was confirmed, way back when! We weren't asked to memorize the "works" of the flesh: "immorality, impurity, licentiousness, idolatry, sorcery, hatreds, rivalry, jealousy, outbursts of fury, acts of selfishness, etc.. However, even if we didn't think we were guilty of the "works of the flesh" (I doubt some of us even knew the meaning of some of them), we might have had some problems with the fruits! And I suspect all of us do. The Holy Spirit works with human beings, not robots.
The fruits of the Spirit do make a good list for an examination of conscience however. Those fruits are not automatic. They have to be cultivated, just like edible fruit has to be cultivated until ready to eat. St. Paul is telling the Galatians (and us) that they(we) have to work at those fruits even if we don't find ourselves on the list of sins that he calls the "works of the flesh." All virtue, even the "infused" kind (faith, hope and love) requires regular practice. There's no such thing as "cheap grace." Nor is it a matter of earning some kind of "merit badges" in each of those virtues. It IS a matter of becoming a true Christian and living in the Spirit. We can count on the help of the Holy Spirit which we received in baptism/confirmation, but we can't just avoid all those colorful sins that St. Paul lists. We are called to practice and "incarnate" the virtues. The rewards can be as great as the efforts we make! AMEN