Today is Mar. 2, the Eighth Sunday in Ordinary Time.
We read in the Gospel at today’s Mass, “For every tree is known by its own fruit” (Lk 6:43).
In computer science, the phrase “Garbage in, garbage out” means the quality of input determines the output. If incorrect data is introduced into a system, the output will, inevitably, contain mistakes. (I suppose this is all the more important to remember as AI continues to expand and dominate…)
“Garbage in, garbage out” isn’t just a good principle for computing, it’s a good principle for the spiritual life. St. Cyril of Alexandria says, “The things that are in the mind and heart boil over and are vomited forth by the stream of speech that flows out of it. The virtuous person therefore speaks such things as become his character, while one who is worthless and wicked vomits forth his secret impurity.” What goes in, must come out.
People often raise the fact that they’re struggling in prayer and I quickly ask what they’re reading and watching. It’s going to be more difficult to be recollected, for example, if you spend hours a day binging news and Netflix. That’s the point of Our Lord’s teaching in today’s Gospel: “A good person out of the store of goodness in his heart produces good, but an evil person out of a store of evil produces evil; for from the fullness of the heart the mouth speaks” (Lk 6:45).
As we pray for Lent, coming in just a few days, each of us should ask: What am I allowing to enter my heart? We should take stock and evaluate our consumption, especially the things we watch, read and listen to. If they’re not helping us grow in holiness or virtue, then perhaps they need to be reevaluated this Lent.
Time for change
The easiest way to know if a thing is good or bad for us is by its fruit. Is what I consume making me angry or anxious? Does it make temptation too close at hand? If so, it’s time for a change! And the graces of Lent will help you along the way.
I’m so excited to share that this Lent, Father Vincent Ferrer Bernhard, my Dominican brother will be serving as our spiritual guide here on My Daily Visitor! A Catholic chaplain at New York University, Father Vincent Ferrer has learned how to keep a contemplative spirit going amid the chaos of the city. Stay tuned for more, as we get to know Father Vincent Ferrer and prepare for what I know will be an extraordinary Lenten season! Put some more good things into your routine and share My Daily Visitor with a friend who you think might benefit from it.
Let us pray,
Grant us, O Lord, we pray, that the course of our world may be directed by your peaceful rule and that your Church may rejoice, untroubled in her devotion. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, for ever and ever. Amen.
