Even city dwellers can recognise a healthy tree laden with fruit, in season. Many have enjoyed – sometimes very secretively – the harvest of raw mangoes and tamarind from backyards and tree-lined by-lanes. So, it would be easy for us to understand the message that Jesus illustrates. A healthy tree is rooted, nourished, thrusting upward to the rain and sun. So too, the healthy spirit is rooted in faith, nourished by the Gospels, ever eager to seek the light that is Christ. And the fruit of this healthy spirit blossoms from the consequent ‘good stored in the heart’.

In the same narrative, Jesus emphasizes that faith requires a strong foundation to survive – a house built on rock is unassailable. So, too, a faith built on genuine discipleship of Jesus will hold firm in times of temptation and doubt. Jesus makes it a point to warn us against empty lip service.

Never forget that Christ is our wellspring and our rock!