Good tree

Eighth Sunday of Ordinary Time Year C

Today‘s reading is again from Luke’s Gospel and Jesus’ Sermon on the Plain. Next Sunday will be the First Sunday of Lent, Jesus tells three parables all about how to be a good disciple. Discipleship is at the heart of Christian life. We learn that a true disciple has to be genuine   without any false words or actions. He is a humble person with pure speech and integrity (honesty and strong moral principles). The first parable says that the blind cannot lead the blind, those who guide or teach others need humility and honesty a good disciple follows and learns from the teacher. But before we can be a good disciple and teach others we need to take care of our own actions. Do not try to take a splinter out of your brother’s eye until you have removed the “wooden beam from your own” (second parable). Sometimes when all we do is find fault with and criticise others without noticing our own failings then it can lead to conflict and unrest. Part of being a good disciple is focusing on our own behaviour. We shine God’s light in the world when we are “lit from within” with God’s grace, willing to examine our own conscience and recognize our own need for transformation through Jesus. As busy parents responsible for our children’s physical, emotional and spiritual growth, we may sometimes find it hard to make time to care for our own spiritual growth. But if we do then it can improve family relationships and help us to guide and lead our children in their own faith journey. The third parable teaches us that after we have purified ourselves then we will produce the good works which the teacher (Jesus) requires. As true disciples we can be recognised by our words and actions which are a result of the condition of our heart, that is, am I open to God’s love? Good trees produce good fruit, your words show what is in your heart. If it is the heart that determines the fruit of a person then we must listen to and meditate on God’s Word. Lectio Divina is a form of prayer with the scriptures and helps us to meditate on the Word of God. During this week, take this Gospel or another favourite piece of scripture and meditate on it using Lectio Divina. (follow this link for a short outline of how to practise it (see below).

Lectio DivinaDownload

A reading from the Gospel of Luke (Lk 6: 39-45)

Jesus told his disciples a parable, “Can a blind person guide a blind person? Will not both fall into a pit? No disciple is superior to the teacher; but when fully trained, every disciple will be like his teacher. Why do you notice the splinter in your brother’s eye, but do not perceive the wooden beam in your own? How can you say to your brother, ‘Brother, let me remove that splinter in your eye,’ when you do not even notice the wooden beam in your own eye? You hypocrite!  Remove the wooden beam from your eye first; then you will see clearly to remove the splinter in your brother’s eye. “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.”

The Gospel of the Lord
Praise to you Lord Jesus Christ

  1. Read the Gospel story so that you are familiar with it.
  2. Reflect on what the Gospel story is saying to you. Which points would you highlight and why?
  3. Jesus’ parables in today’s Gospel are a reminder of the importance of our own spiritual growth. We as parents are reminded that we need to continue to walk our own faith journey through learning, prayer and reflection, so we are better able to help our children in theirs. 
  4. Practising Lectio Divina personally or within a Parish prayer group is a good way of strengthening our spiritual growth. (Insert link)
  5. Together with your family find the right time to read this Gospel. The environment helps, so before you start, prepare;
    i. The Bible reading from Saint Luke (Lk 6: 39-45)
    ii. A candle
    iii. Cover the table with a white cloth
    iv. A computer/laptop with the reading and clips
    v. Go through the steps with your children (2 age groups are being suggested)
  6. Feel free to adapt to your situation
  7. Be creative 😊 

In today’s Gospel Jesus tells parables (stories which teach us lessons about being a follower of Jesus). One of these is called “A Tree Known by Its Fruit.” From it we learn how God helps people grow and produce good fruit, God gives us everything we need to be the people he wants us to be.

  • God helps us grow and to do good things
  • The good we do is called our ‘fruit’ and Jesus says that good people produce good fruit just like each tree grows its own kind of fruit. We grow our ‘fruit’ little by little every day.
  • Right Fruit template
  • A square paper 15x15cm
  • Scissors/colours
  • Glue or stapler
TemplateDownload

Jesus once told the people that you will know what is in a person’s heart by the fruit they produce. What do you think he meant? Well many kinds of fruit grow on trees, can you think of any? Apples, oranges, pears, lemons and peaches are some examples. But we are not trees so Jesus wasn’t saying that we will suddenly grow apples from our hands. Apples grow on apple trees, just as peaches grow on peach trees. Every tree produces its own kind of fruit. When Jesus said that every follower of His would grow their own fruit he wasn’t talking about the kind of fruit that we eat. So what do you think he was talking about? He said that people grow like trees grow from a tiny seed which under the right conditions grows bigger and bigger until it bears fruit (they need water, soil and sunlight). We grow not only in our bodies but also under the right guidance our minds and our hearts grow too. If we are following Jesus we will want to do the things that make God happy. We will do good things if there is good in our hearts. If there is bad in our heart then we will do bad things. When we let Jesus take care of our heart he makes our heart good so that we can do good things like helping others or sharing with our friends or showing respect towards older people. The good that we do is called our fruit. What kind of fruit are you growing? Showing love towards others, helping around the house or our younger brother or sister and talking to God are good things to do. They are good fruit. So let’s ask God to help us grow good fruit.

To remember exactly what our good fruit are you can make your very own fruit basket! Print the ‘Good Fruit’ template and colour the fruit and then cut them out. To make the basket cut diagonally from each corner and fold the sides into a basket use either a stapler (ask an adult to help you) or glue to secure the corners. Then you can keep your fruit in its own basket.

You can do this activity whilst listening to this song; Speak up (Tell the World).

Sign of the cross 

Heavenly Father, I want to be a good tree and produce good fruit. Please help me to do the things which are pleasing to you. Help me to grow little by little every day so that I will be exactly like you want me to be. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen

Today Jesus talks about how we have all done things which are wrong. We have all made mistakes and so instead of pointing out the mistakes which other people have made we should first correct the things which are not so good about our own behaviour.

  • Following Jesus helps us to recognise our mistakes when we do something that hurts others and it stores up goodness and love in our hearts which we can share 
  • Speech bubble Template
  • Pencil/ Colours
TemplateDownload

In today’s Gospel Jesus tells a parable about splinters and planks of wood being in our eyes. Jesus was teaching a large group of people and he asked them why they were so concerned with trying to remove a splinter (small piece) of wood from another person’s eye and take no notice of the big plank of wood in their own. Don’t you think that this would be very hard to do? The plank in our own eye would not let you see clearly the small splinter in someone else’s eye. Jesus said first we need to remove the large plank from our own eye, to be able to see the splinter in our neighbour’s eye. Do you think that Jesus was really talking about splinters and planks of wood in this verse? (I don’t think so). What do you think Jesus meant when he said this?

Jesus was talking about judging other people. Sometimes we look at other people and we see something wrong with their actions, we notice the tiniest mistake that they have made, so we judge them and criticize them. We even try to correct them but often we do this when we have made an even bigger mistake ourselves. Jesus is saying that we must first correct our own mistakes and change the way we act before we can expect anyone else to change. If we cannot be good and do what is right, how can we ask other people to do the same? What we should do is seek God and first correct our own mistakes then we will be able to see clearly how we can help other people.

It is not easy to make changes to the way we act, but this week try and ask God to help you to correct your own mistakes. God can help us, if we let Him. Following Jesus will fill our hearts with goodness and love. Filled with these things we will not be able to stop ourselves from wanting to share them with others. Jesus tells us that the words that we speak come from what is in our hearts.   

Now you can print out the picture of a person with a heart filled with goodness and love and colour it. Then write or draw in the speech bubble what you think the person is saying, or what they would like to speak up about making changes for the better in our world such as climate change, poverty and food shortages in some countries.Listen to the song; Your Love for Me.

Sign of the cross.

Dear Jesus, help us to see when we are doing something that hurts others. Help us to make changes to become the person you know that we can be. Fill our hearts with your love and goodness, so that we can do and say what is right. Amen

Gospel in symbolsDownload

How to use this space

God speaks to us in many ways, including through the Sunday Scripture readings. Here you will find useful background and activities to better understand the upcoming Sunday's Scripture readings, helping you to connect the Scripture to daily life in a meaningful way.