Texts:
- Epistle: Romans 6:19–23
- Gospel: Matthew 7:15–21
As the Church journeys through the season after Pentecost—a time traditionally focused on growth in sanctity and fruitful labor in the vineyard of the Lord—the readings appointed for Dominica VII post Pentecosten offer a sobering meditation on the contrast between the life of sin and the life of grace. St. Paul, in his epistle to the Romans, exhorts the faithful to abandon the servitude of sin and embrace the freedom of righteousness, while Our Lord in the Gospel warns against false prophets who bear corrupt fruit, declaring that not everyone who outwardly professes Him will enter the Kingdom of Heaven.
Together, these texts echo the Church’s perennial call to authentic conversion and interior sanctification, themes which the Fathers of the Church have long explored with luminous clarity.
Romans 6:19–23 — “Now you are made free from sin, and are become servants to God.”
St. Paul, employing the language of servitude, draws a stark contrast between the former life of impurity and iniquity and the new life to which Christians are called: a life of righteousness, whose end is sanctification and eternal life. He writes:
“For when you were the servants of sin, you were free from justice. But what fruit had you then in those things, of which you are now ashamed? For the end of them is death.”
The Apostle here invites the baptized to examine the “fruit” of their lives. This language of fruit, echoed in the Gospel reading, emphasizes that sin does not merely offend God in a legal sense, but it distorts and degrades the soul, yielding fruit that leads to death.
St. John Chrysostom comments on this passage:
“He does not say: what pleasures had you, but what fruit. For sinful pleasures are not true delights, and they bring shame even in this life, not to speak of the death they bring hereafter.” (Homilies on Romans, Homily 12)
The Holy Doctor reminds us that even while indulging in sin, there is no true peace or contentment. Sin deceives by its appearance, but it yields shame—both temporal and eternal.
Conversely, to serve righteousness is not servitude in the worldly sense, but a holy submission that frees the soul to love God rightly. St. Augustine writes:
“To serve righteousness is not a burdensome slavery but a blessed freedom. For to be under the power of sin is death; but to be under grace is life everlasting.” (On the Spirit and the Letter, ch. 27)
Matthew 7:15–21 — “By their fruits you shall know them.”
In the Gospel, Our Lord warns His disciples against false prophets—those who appear in sheep’s clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves. His words are clear: outward appearances and mere verbal professions are insufficient. What counts is the fruit—both in teaching and in life.
“Not every one that saith to me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven: but he that doth the will of my Father who is in heaven, he shall enter into the kingdom of heaven.”
This is a most striking statement. Even those who cry out to the Lord, who appear pious, may not be known to Him. What then is the standard? Doing the will of the Father.
St. Gregory the Great, in his Homilies on the Gospels (Book II, Homily 12), explains:
“The fruit of action is the proof of the root of love. The words of the mouth are easy; but only he who lives rightly has true charity and union with God.”
Here we are confronted with the danger of nominal Christianity—a faith in word but not in deed. The Lord does not rebuke the pagans in this passage, but those who call Him “Lord” without obeying His commandments.
St. Cyril of Alexandria adds:
“The tree is the man; the fruit, his works. Though a man may adorn himself with fine words and a false exterior, he cannot long hide the evil of his life. By the fruit, the interior root is known.” (Commentary on Luke, Sermon 78)
The Form of Holiness
This Sunday’s Mass formulary, especially the Collect and Offertory, is steeped in the language of divine guidance and purification. The Epistle and Gospel converge in urging us toward real transformation, what the ancients called metanoia—a turning of the whole life toward God.
The imagery of fruit in both readings calls us to consider: What am I producing in my spiritual life? Is my profession of faith matched by acts of justice, mercy, and purity?
The Seventh Sunday after Pentecost, in the traditional calendar, is not a call to discouragement but to hopeful realism. As St. Paul says, “The wages of sin is death. But the grace of God is life everlasting in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Here is the heart of the Gospel: we are not condemned to fruitlessness. By cooperating with grace—through the sacraments, prayer, and fidelity—we may become trees that bear fruit unto eternal life.
Practical Reflections:
- Examine the fruits of your thoughts, words, and actions. Do they lead to greater love of God and neighbor?
- Beware of external piety without interior conversion. As St. Gregory warned, the lips may say “Lord,” but the heart must do the will of the Father.
- Cling to the Sacraments, especially frequent Confession and Holy Communion, as the divine nourishment that enables true growth in holiness.
- Pray the Psalm from the Mass: “Incline unto my aid, O God: O Lord, make haste to help me.” (Ps. 69:2) Let this be the cry of every soul striving for righteousness.
May this Sunday find us not merely hearing the words of Christ but doing them—so that when the time of judgment comes, our fruit may be found abundant and our roots deeply set in the will of the Father.
“Servants of God, and not of sin”—this is our dignity and our destiny.
Let us labor, then, in grace, bearing fruit unto life eternal.
Deo gratias.