A Homily for Friday of the Eighth Week of Easter
Friday, May 29, 2026
Prince of Peace Catholic Church – 8:00 Mass
1 Peter 4:7-13; Psalm 96:10, 11-12, 13; Mark 11:11-26
Audio Recording
Today’s readings ask a simple but challenging question: What kind of fruit is Christ looking for in our lives?
The Gospel begins with Jesus approaching a fig tree covered with leaves but bearing no fruit. Mark tells us that it wasn’t even the season for figs, which tells us that Jesus is doing more than teaching a lesson about a tree. He is performing a prophetic sign. The fig tree represents a faith that looks healthy on the outside but produces little evidence of God’s love within.
The same lesson continues when Jesus enters the Temple and overturns the tables of the money changers. The Temple was full of activity. People were buying, selling, and carrying out religious duties. Yet Jesus saw that something essential was missing. The outward practices of religion had become disconnected from their true purpose: loving and glorifying God. There were plenty of leaves, but too little fruit.
The answer to what the fruit of worship should be is found in the first reading. St. Peter tells us to love one another intensely, to show hospitality without complaining, and to use our gifts in service to others. The fruit Christ seeks is not merely religious activity. He is looking for sacrificial love expressed in service to others.
Jesus then concludes the Gospel with an equally challenging teaching. After speaking about the power of prayer, He says, “When you stand to pray, forgive anyone against whom you have a grievance.” In fact, Jesus teaches that our willingness to forgive is a condition for receiving forgiveness ourselves. In other words, true worship is measured by whether God’s love has transformed our hearts so that we do not carry grievances against others.
It’s one thing to forgive a small offense, isn’t it? It is another to forgive someone who has deeply wounded us or caused lasting pain. Yet forgiveness is at the very center of the Gospel. Jesus did not merely teach forgiveness; He lived it. From the Cross He prayed, “Father, forgive them.” Through His death and Resurrection, He reconciled us to the Father when we were separated by sin. Having received God’s mercy, we are called to extend that same mercy to others.
If we want to know whether our faith is bearing fruit, we should ask ourselves a simple question: Do we have many leaves on our tree but little fruit? Do we appear religious on the outside while withholding sacrificial love, mercy, or forgiveness from others? Or are we allowing Christ to transform our hearts?
The fruit Christ seeks is not found merely in prayers said, Masses attended, or devotions practiced. It is found in lives marked by sacrificial love and hearts always ready to forgive. When Christ looks at our lives, does He find only leaves, or does He find the fruit of love, mercy, and forgiveness?
The Good News is that we do not do this alone. The same Lord who commands us to love and forgive gives us the grace to do so. As we receive the Eucharist today, may we ask our Eucharistic Lord to make us people who bear the fruit He seeks: lives marked by sacrificial love and hearts always ready to forgive.
God bless you.