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The Story of the Tree and Its Fruit
Catholic Schools Week is an annual event that goes back to 1974. For the past 30 years the entire country has honored the thousands of teachers and millions of students who are a vital part of the success story of Catholic education. The academic and spiritual achievements of our Catholic schools are remarkable.
The story of the tree and its fruit is Jesus’ way of telling us that good fruit can only grow on healthy trees (see Luke 43-45). It’s a plain fact, we can tell a good tree by the good fruit it bears. This basic insight applies in a special way to this year’s theme of Catholic Schools Week: “Character. Compassion. Values.”
Let’s use the story of the good tree as a metaphor for Catholic Schools Week. A good school doesn’t just happen by itself. It is the result of a collective effort, which includes the active involvement of the entire community—parish, families, and local businesses and organizations. This is why your school is an immense source of pride. It has a history of the many families who made great sacrifices to start the school. It has a history of countless alumni who proudly carry forward the vision and traditions expressed by your school. And it has a distinguished history of many academic and spiritual accomplishments of enduring value. All in all, your school is a very healthy tree.
Now let’s examine the point of Jesus’ story more closely. Jesus is telling us that just as good fruit can only grow on a healthy tree so too does a person of faith make a tremendous difference in the world (see Luke 7:45). For the sake of connecting the story of the tree and its fruit with the theme of Catholic Schools Week, let’s suppose that our 8,000 Catholic schools represent “healthy trees” and that the actions of 2.5 million students in our Catholic schoolsrepresent “good fruit.”
In celebrating the “Character. Compassion. Values.” theme, we are celebrating the gift of God’s invitation to believe in him. This invitation also includes the ability God gives us to respond to his invitation to share his life and love with one another. During Catholic Schools Week we will celebrate the faith of 2.5 million students. This is an incredible thought because the faith of 2.5 million students can make a tremendous difference in making the world a better place.
Take a few moments to make a profile of your faith journey. Some of the traditional ways you respond to God’s invitation to share his life and love with others are to:
- Feed the hungry.
- Give drink to the thirsty.
- Clothe those who need clothing.
- Visit the lonely and sick.
- Give shelter to the homeless.
- Honor the dead.
- Be patient with others.
- Forgive those who hurt you.
- Pray for the living and dead.
- And on and on.
You faith is no small thing. It is the good fruit—faith—that comes from healthy trees—8,000 Catholic schools. You see the world through the eyes of faith, and faith can transform the world.
See the World with the Eyes of Faith
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