"A sound tree cannot bear evil fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit... Thus you will know them by their fruits." Some people apply this maxim to human beings in a wrong way. They assume that if a father is a drunkard and a gambler, the son might end up the same. There is this possibility. However, since each person has freedom, he has the power to choose how to live life despite his enviornment, family background and historicity. So, how do we apply these words of Jesus to us?

Love is always the deciding factor, the foundation of everything that is good. Genuine love always bears good fruit. The lack of love brings forth bad results. We human beings always struggle with this tension within us — how much love do we have in us? Will it sustain us to bear life-giving fruit? For us who desire to become a life-giving offering to others, but still struggle with the lack of love in us, let us look to the Risen Christ who is our source of hope. May His love fill us so that we, too, can be an oblation of life for God and others.