As I mentioned before the holidays, the Fruit of the Spirit matures in us to the degree that we are connected to Christ and cooperating with the Holy Spirit. This organic relationship at the heart of our sanctification (transforming us into Christ) is closely connected to the process of salvation/justification. It too, is a gift given at baptism.

To understand best how to specifically begin cultivating/cooperating with the gift of the Fruit within us, we can turn to the natural world. The conditions necessary for natural fruit to flourish provides helpful imagery we can “spiritualize” for our purposes. Let’s first look at what is external to us and then how we can directly cooperate. (Read more)

Several weeks ago, we reflected on the image of God as a Joyful Gardener  in the Old Testament.  The image didn’t end there, but had a kind of fulfillment one singular Sunday morning, when Christ burst forth from the tomb with all the brilliance of a bridegroom.  According to the Gospel of John, Mary Magdalene was the first witness of the “first-fruits of the Resurrection,” but didn’t recognize her Lord immediately.  Maybe she was blinded by swollen eyes, or something more mysterious, but she supposed the figure at her side “to be the gardener” (John 20:15).  I think Jesus took the guise of a gardener, rather than Mary simply being confused.

As I have meditated on this miraculous moment, I picture Christ turning the rich earth with a wooden spade, lovingly tending a lilac or carefully pruning an olive tree.  Maybe he was joyfully gathering figs into his garment that he had gathered to form a basket.  After all, he came to renew all of creation, not just humanity. Lest you think this is too pedestrian of a guise for the God of the Universe, remember that just one chapter later we find The Lord of All bent over a breakfast he has just cooked for his disbelieving disciples.   (Read more)

As I mentioned last week, the Bible is full of agricultural images, beginning with God as a joyful Gardener. Paul picks up similar metaphors to describe our life in Christ.

Our new life begins with the planting of the Seed, that is Christ (Gal. 3:16). This ultimate Gift is given us at Baptism, but like all the gifts received through the Sacraments, we must cooperate with them, or in theological language "be disposed" for the grace of the sacraments. We must cooperate with the gifts God gives us for this Seed to "be activated," to leave its latency and become the mature Fruit of the Spirit (Gal. 5:22-23) which we can harvest and share (Gal 6:6-9).  (Read more)

Before we can explore the nine characteristics of the Fruit of the Spirit, we must set them in their larger biblical context.

Let’s begin at the beginning. Genesis 1-2 offers the reader two very different angles on a single Creation event. Genesis 1 reveals the transcendent and ineffable Elohim, pictured as a grand Architect whose temple is the Cosmos, which he will form and fill over seven days. Genesis 2 offers us a complementary presentation of creation. In its verses, God’s personal name (YHWH) is invoked and he is imaged, not as an architect, but rather as a joyful Gardener. Genesis 2:8 tells us, “The LORD God planted a garden in Eden.” This garden would then be entrusted to a co-gardener, our father Adam (Gen. 2:15). Where does it speak of his joy? Genesis 2:2-3 tells us that he rested following his Creation. According to John Paul II, this rest of the LORD was not divine inactivity, but rather, “a gaze of joyful delight” (Dies Domini, para. 11). Most human gardeners have experienced this moment, when leaning on their spade, they joyfully survey the work of their hands. (Read more)