In Sunday’s Gospel, the word used for ‘leaping for joy’ in response to hatred is the same as that which described John the Baptist leaping in his mother’s womb. The unborn John knew that Jesus was near and so he jumped joyfully. Do I react gladly to hatred in this way, trusting that Jesus is near whenever I suffer it?
To be rooted in Christ, we must uproot our attachments to all other things. As Jeremiah describes in the first reading: He is like a tree planted by water, that sends out its roots by the stream, and does not fear when heat comes, for its leaves remain green, and is not anxious in the year of drought, for it does not cease to bear fruit (Jeremiah 17:8). The fruit we seek to bear is the risen life of Christ, who is the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep (1 Corinthians 15:20). To bear the fruit of the Resurrection, we must be like the true tree of life: Jesus on the Cross.
