The associated reading for this reflection can be found in your Every Sacred Sunday Mass journal or online here.
Have you ever seen videos of those machines that shake fruit trees to get all the fruit to fall out? A large metal claw reaches out and grabs the trunk of the tree and powerfully shakes it so all the oranges fall onto the awaiting tarp for harvest.
It’s almost as if the inventor of that machine was inspired by today’s scripture reading: “When a sieve is shaken, the husks appear; so do one’s faults when one speaks.” Sirach 27
“For every tree is known by its fruit.” Luke 6
The interior disposition of our heart is shown to the world and to the Lord when we are shaken—when we have circumstances in our lives that are uncomfortable, frustrating, infuriating, painful, confusing, or all five at once. These times are an inevitable fact of life, and it is during these times that the fruit of our heart falls out, usually through our mouths.
When the baby blows out of the third diaper of the day after waking up every 2 hours for the past week and your spouse forgot to do that thing you asked them to do.
When your roommate stays up all night facetiming her boyfriend without headphones when she knows you have a huge exam tomorrow.
When the church’s roof is leaking, you’ve got 6 meetings and an anointing later that day, the rectory’s hot water heater is out again, and a parishioner complains about the short homily after Tuesday’s daily mass.
Times like these—aggravations both big and small—are when the true fruit of our hearts are shown. Do we blow up in frustration at these people in our lives or are we able to love them with Christ’s own heart like we are called to do? The fruits of the Holy Spirit—love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control—that we have (or have not) cultivated through prayer, silent time, and participation in the sacraments are shown to those around us during times of tribulation.
Slow down and be aware of times you are shaken this week and how you react to them.
Tomás Aguilar is a Marine Corps Officer living his childhood dreams of being a husband and father. He’s from Pennsylvania but currently resides in Monterey, California where he’s studying for his Masters in National Security Affairs. Check out his family’s Instagram to see their world travels and his beautiful wife and daughter (Natalye and Verona) as they strive to bring their family closer to Christ.