Let yourself experience the fruit of the Spirit

A Reflection for Wednesday of the Twenty-eighth Week in Ordinary Time

Find today’s readings here.

In today’s first reading, Paul seems to be working on a first draft of the seven deadlies, starting big and whittling it down the sinful essentials:

“…immorality, impurity, licentiousness, idolatry,
sorcery, hatreds, rivalry, jealousy,
outbursts of fury, acts of selfishness,
dissensions, factions, occasions of envy,
drinking bouts, orgies, and the like.”

“Sorcery”?! Those Galatians sound like a handful. In other words, they were just like us. Don’t kid yourself. Paul could be writing that same letter to “Westchester Countians” today.

But Paul is not just scolding. He has some good news to share too: None of that matters. They have a get-out-of-hell-free card. It can be handed out and shared by all, gentile and Jew, joyfully unrestrained by persnickety gatekeepers and enforcers of orthodoxy. 

Even better, if you can escape the sins of the flesh, guided by the Spirit, you have an opportunity to experience something far richer through the fruit of the Spirit, the true benefits of living a life that is selfless, open, patient and merciful.

It promises to be hard—that’s the point. Resisting the glamour of evil and the addictions of our times—oh how they multiply! But much can be gained from that struggle.

I was raised to resist Paul’s litany of sinfulness because of the corruption it meant for my body and spirit. I would have benefited a bit if I had a clearer understanding of the calm and restoration offered by life focused on the fruit of the Spirit.

We who remain mired in the sins of the flesh, unable to stare down dragons of our own creation, deny ourselves the “love, joy, peace” promised by that alternative path.

We will have to change our ways—being Christian should mean something in the way we live and the way we encounter our neighbors—but this reorientation will bear much fruit.

“If we live in the Spirit, let us also follow the Spirit,” armed with patience and generosity, ready to share that love and joy, patience and peace with all whom we encounter.

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