Wednesday, Twenty Eighth Week in Ordinary Time

In the first reading, Saint Paul lists what the Holy Spirit brings, or in a more literal translation, ‘the fruit of the Spirit’. We tend to speak about the ‘fruits’ of the Spirit, but the singular ‘fruit’ suggests that all the qualities Paul lists are not to be separated out but are interconnected. It is as if this one fruit of the Spirit is so rich that it needs to be spoken of in a variety of ways, as love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Paul is portraying the richly human life that the Holy Spirit creates in us when we give the Spirit space in our lives. At the beginning of the list of these qualities is ‘love’, perhaps suggesting that all the other qualities are expressions of love. The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of God’s love and a life shaped by the Holy Spirit will be a life that reflects God’s love to others. Our calling from baptism is to open ourselves in faith to God’s gift of the Holy Spirit and to allow the Spirit to bear the fruit of love in our lives. This comes before all else. In the gospel reading, the Pharisees and the experts in the Jewish Law seem to have lost sight of what really matters to God. Jesus says to them that what comes before all else in God’s eyes is ‘justice and the love of God’, a loving relationship with God which overflows into a just and loving relationship with all of God’s people. We need to be reminded every so often what is at the heart of our faith, what matters most to God. Both of today’s readings help us to see what is most important in God’s eyes.