← The Fr. Mike Schmitz Catholic Podcast
The Fr. Mike Schmitz Catholic Podcast
What Matters More Than Success
00:06:37
What does Jesus mean when he tells us to “bear fruit”? Fr. Mike Schmitz explains that bearing fruit isn’t simply about being productive or avoiding laziness, it’s about who we are becoming and allowing God to transform our lives. How can you bear fruit today?
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I remember my mom distinctly saying at one point, she said, no matter what you end up doing, just make sure you help people. Hi, my name is Father Mike Schmitz, and this is Ascension presents. We live in a. In a. In a society where being productive is highly valued. I grew up in a family where being productive was highly valued. Always be doing something, always be trying to, like, move forward. I was at a celebration for one of my. One of my brothers, and my brother, at one point, he got up after people have been really honoring him in a really beautiful way, really powerful way. And he said, you know, growing up, he said there was. There was one word that you never wanted anyone in the family to call you that because it's one of the worst things you could say about a Schmitz. And the word is lazy. Like, the sense of, like. Just like, no, you do not want to be. If you're. If you're a Schmitz, you do not want to be lazy. That's a big thing. You want to be productive. You want to be doing something. Now at the same time, I remember very distinctly my mom, at one point, we were talking about, like, what to do. I was. I was a kid, and we were talking about what to do with life, what to do in life and whatnot. Because people say, like, you guys must have so much pressure. We have a number of physicians in our family and other kind of different people who do have a different accomplishments in the family. And I said, I don't know. I mean, it wasn't necessarily something that was, you must do X. Because I remember my mom distinctly saying at one point, I was maybe old elementary school, middle school, somewhere in there. She said, no matter what you end up doing, just make sure you help people. Like, that was it. So it wasn't a matter of you need to go out and make money, or you need to go out and kind of have one of those jobs like a physician or a lawyer or that kind of. That kind of deal. It was just that sense of, like, balance between don't be lazy, so be productive, and whatever you do, you know, make sure you help people. I see that as pretty balanced. But I would say this. The infection got in, and the infection is we need to be productive. But at the same time, it doesn't. Doesn't not make sense at the same time. It makes sense, right? It makes sense even from a Christian perspective, that. That sense of. How many parables are there? Well, there's a couple, actually. A parable of the talents. Right? Here's the person given 10 talents, given five talents, given one talent, and person who uses the 10 talents, who uses the five talents, they're praised because they did the right thing, like they were productive. They engaged with the gift that had been given to them, they used it and they bore fruit. In some ways, that becomes this, I don't know, a mark of holiness, maybe, to bear fruit. And even Jesus says that. He says, do this and bear fruit. Fruit that will last, right? That, that. It's. It's not a. I'll say this pause. Being productive, not a bad thing. But the question is this, the question is, is that what God is calling all of us to do when he wants us to go and bear fruit? Partially right. I mean, there are times and many of the parables, once again, the teachings of Jesus, where he's talking about the people of Israel at the time, like the fig tree, right? Here's a fig tree that isn't bearing fruit. Even though it wasn't a time for figs, it's not bearing fruit. And Jesus curses the fig tree. That's a very clear teaching. Jesus is teaching not that if a fruit tree isn't bearing fruit, when it's not time to bear fruit for that fruit tree, that is a bad fruit tree. What he's saying is the people of Israel are meant to be bearing fruit. They're meant to look so much like the Lord God that it makes an impact on the world around them. That's what we're really talking about when it comes to bearing fruit. Not just being more productive, not just not being lazy. Although that is also an insult that Jesus puts in the mouth of God the Father, you wicked, lazy servant. So there you go, in the mouth of the king. So what is it to bear fruit? I think while it might mean to make an impact on the world around us, is it possible that bearing fruit, fruit that will remain, has more to do with who we become than the impact on the world around us? Here's what I mean. When a person is living a life in the Holy Spirit, when a person is living a life conformed to Jesus, when a person is living the life again in the name of Christ and is living by Christ and living in the Holy Spirit, what are they bearing? They bearing the fruits of the spirit, right? St. Paul talks about the fruits of the Spirit, they're bearing fruit. And the fruits of the Spirit are not productivity and efficiency and whatever the other thing profits or something like this, it's not getting things done. The fruits of the Holy Spirit, among other things, peace Patience, kindness, gentleness, thankfulness, love, joy. Fruits of the Holy Spirit. I wonder if when Jesus is inviting us, commanding us in fact, to go and bear fruit, maybe it means more than just make an impact on the world around you. Maybe when Jesus is telling us and sending us out to go and bear fruit, fruit that will remain. Maybe one of the things Jesus is telling us to do is to bear the fruits of the Spirit. And if that's the case, then any one of us who belong to Christ can bear fruit. I don't have to have a podcast, I don't have to have a YouTube channel. I don't have to have a microphone to go and bear fruit the kind of fruit that God is asking. I don't have to have influence on the world to go and bear fruit that Christ is asking of me. I just simply have to walk in his name. I simply have to walk by the power of the Holy Spirit, live in the power of the Holy Spirit, and then let the Holy Spirit bring that fruit out of me. Maybe that's the kind of be productive that God is asking for us. I really think that it is a gift to have been raised in the way I was raised. I do think it, I would even say is the right way. I think it's good. If your kids think that one of the worst insults they could have is being called lazy. But at the same time, lazy at what? Not just lazy at schoolwork or lazy at chores or lazy at work. Work or whatever the thing is. But when we sit back and don't strive to bear the fruits of the Spirit in our lives, make it simple. Go bear fruit. Peace, patience, kindness, gentleness, cheerfulness, love, joy, self control. Bear the fruits of the Spirit and don't be lazy. From all this heritage Ascension Presents My name is Father Mike. God bless.