Good morning, hope you all are well.
Many of those we call saints have written about how we are to live what we say we believe. It is one thing to say what we believe but it is quite another thing to put into action the words we speak.
In the Gospels, Jesus calls out those religious leaders who preach one thing and live something that was very different. He called them a brood of vipers. He also likened them as whiten sepulcher on the outside but filled with “men’s dead bones.”
St. Basil the Great tells us today, “A tree is known by its fruit, a man by his deeds. A good deed is never lost; he who shows courtesy, reaps friendship and he who plants kindness, gathers love.”
It is very easy to speak nice words to the edification of others. It is quite something else to live out those words in one’s life. St. Anthony of Padua reminds us that words pass quickly away, actions have a lasting effect upon others.
We might be able to present ourselves as a “holier than thou” and we might be able to fool others. But we have to know that there is no way of fooling God, who sees into the hearts of all.
Peace and All Good,
Fr. Vinnie, fcm and the
Bros and Srs of the
Franciscan House of Prayer.
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