Homily

The alleged entertainer Lady Gaga has been in the news recently as she is on tour in Asia. Several countries there such as the Philippines and Indonesia have placed restrictions on what she may say or do on the stage and have censored parts of her road show. I am not surprised. I'm certainly not a fan of this woman, and I've only watched a few of her music videos. I know of her work mostly through readings. She likes to shock people and two of the ways she uses to shock are by insulting religious beliefs, especially of Christians, but also of Jews, and she loves to display, in word and action, the crudest sexual vulgarities.

She mocks the idea that chastity has any value in life, and so naturally the idea of modesty is also worthless. I remembered these are two of what are traditionally called the 12 Fruits of the Holy Spirit, and since last year at Pentecost I brought up the seven Gifts of the Holy Spirit, why not talk about this list of virtues? So if Lady Gaga's performances are contrary to chastity and modesty, how do they fair in terms of the other ten Fruits of the Spirit? Self-control, faithfulness, gentleness, generosity, goodness, kindness, patience, peace, joy and charity — none of these I suspect come to people's minds when they think of Lady Gaga, her persona, her music, her message. And yet, aren't they all attractive to people, and admired by people in general? Even if some people may not think it's important to practice one or two of them for themselves, they still see the value in other people practicing them.

Charity, or love, is simply willing the good for another person and being willing to act to make that good happen, if possible. It is willing the good for others and being ready to help that good come about. That is one way to best describe the Christian virtue of charity. Do you think that is the definition most people would come up with if you asked them what love is? I've never heard a Country-Western ballad called, "She Done Willed Me No Good," but it is a definition for love that covers any and every type of human relationship and imagine how wonderful our own lives would be if everyone else in the world only desired what was for our good and was willing to work to make it happen. And then there is joy, which is not the emotional, excited kind of happiness that we sometimes feel when something very good comes our way (although it can be.) Joy is more the general sense of contentment and satisfaction that we have in life because of our relationship with God, and it is a gift we can hold onto even when we are sad or in trouble. Peace is a sense of steadiness and calmness that marks our position in life because, again, we realize we are under the protection and care of the Lord, so that even when times are tough and everything seems to be in turmoil, we can still keep a sense of balance and calm because God is with us, and He will not fail us.

Patience is the willingness to bear the weaknesses, flaws and failings of other people, and not only theirs, but our own weakness and failing as well. It's the one virtue I think people wish others would have more, even when they don't have much themselves. Kindness is an act of mercy or helpfulness and consideration of the goodness of our fellow human beings even if they live at home with us. Sadly today kindness is often taken as showing a sign of dangerous weakness in the sight of others and that is why so many courtesies that used to be found in our culture have fallen away. And I think it's fascinating that holding back from doing good is thought to be a strength, while extending yourself in kindness is actually the mark of a strong person.

Goodness is godliness. As much as we want our children to be good, to choose what is good, to become good men and women, so much should we also choose to be good and act in goodness so that they can see and learn from us what we so earnestly desire to give to them. Generosity is the mark of a person who knows they are blessed by God and never afraid that if they give something away they will be poorer for doing so. They know God will provide for them, and that's why sometimes the most generous people are the poorest people, because even in their poverty they can still be rich in God. The man steeped in sin is convinced that power is found in actions that give him power over other people, in exerting pressure, force, violence and terror to gain control of others. Sometimes we call this parenting. (Just kidding.) But for Christians true power is not in violence or domination. Gentleness or meekness does no violence to the mind, body or soul of another person but is the mark of genuine regard and care for their God-given life, and a sign of deep respect.

Those are most of the Fruits of the Holy Spirit in brief, and they are the result of God's own divine life within us. But they are not fruits in the sense that we are just sitting and waiting for them to ripen. They need to be cultivated, fertilized, used and practiced if one wants to grown in them. So that is first: choosing to want to grow in them. Second: how? Twelve are a lot to tackle at once. But if we chose just one or two for now, we could make an easier time of it. Tomorrow begins the Apostles' Fast which runs until the Feast of SS. Peter and Paul on the 29th. I know most of us are probably not going to follow that very much, so if not the fast, then why not the fruit? You saw in the back of church all the little pull off tags, with the 12 Fruits of the Spirit listed on them. It's a gimmick but it might actually be very helpful. I suggest you pull off one or two tags that you might be willing to work on during this month of June. Keep that tag as a reminder for yourself. Every day consider that virtue, pray for an increase in that virtue, review how well you lived that virtue the day before, and ask the Lord's pardon for any failings. Believe it or not, even kids can do this. Take care of your fruit! On our property here I see that the pears and the apples out front are formed and growing day by day. So also may God's fruit within us grow until the time of the harvest of the saints for life eternal.