At the beginning of each seminary year, the seminary goes on an excursion with the goal of growing in communal fraternity. This year we took a trip to Harpers Ferry National Historical Park. We went to Mass at St. Peter’s in the historical town and then embarked on an 8-mile hike to a beautiful lookout over the river below.
At Mass, Fr. Griffin gave a beautiful homily, commenting on Luke 6 in which we hear, “a good tree does not bear rotten fruit.” He spoke of how we can judge the value of our actions by the fruit they bear. The subject of fruit was very fitting for what we encountered that day.
As we embarked on our hike, I quickly realized that there were a ton of paw-paw trees all over the trail. Many of the men were unfamiliar with this regional plant, but I realized we were seeing what Fr. Griffin had described: good trees bearing good fruits! I embraced a child-like spirit and sprang into “harvesting mode,” looking eagerly to find some to share with my brothers. The fruit these trees bear is delicious. If you pick one at the right time, it tastes something like cake batter! If it is too ripe, at best it tastes like unsweetened dough - several of us found this out the hard way. An interesting part of these fruits is that though they may look appetizing on the tree, the perfect paw-paws are the ones that have already fallen to the ground.
Given the homily we had heard, I could not help but relate paw-paws to the spiritual life.
We, like these fruits, can do nothing to grow on our own. Rather, we grow closer to Christ by letting his countenance shine on us, like the rays of the sun. It is His grace that gives us the impulse to grow. When paw-paws are ripe and fall off the branch, there is a small window where they can be eaten before they rot, or different insects get to them. This too, is like our spiritual life. God eagerly seeks us out, especially in moments when we are ripe for his love and mercy, and wants to protect us from the rotten effects of sin. The paw-paw also does not have the most attractive look to it. It may not be beautiful on the outside, but its fruit is delicious. We too are called to prize an interior beauty over an external one, where our riches are stored up within us, hidden and preserved for God. Finally, the paw-paw falls to the ground, calling to mind these words of Christ: “unless a grain of wheat falls to the ground and dies it remains a grain of wheat, but if it dies it produces much fruit” (John 12:24). We too are called to fall into God’s hands, surrendering ourselves, to produce great fruit.
Greater than the joy of eating (admittedly too many) paw-paws on my own was the opportunity to share this great fruit with my brothers - and I think even this points to God. For when we have finally given ourselves over to the Father’s persistent providence and are taken to his heavenly home, I can only imagine that he will delight in presenting us to the Communion of Saints, that they too may rejoice with the Lord over the good fruit that He has found!
Mr. Anderson is a College III seminarian for the Archdiocese of Baltimore.