We hear today of the works of the flesh and the fruit of the Spirit.
Before I get into that, I want to spend a moment explaining a translation issue (I was asked about this the last time we read this): The Vulgate has 12 gifts; the Greek New Testament has 9 gifts; and the Nova Vulgata has 9. English translations vary, but post 1950s, most follow the Greek. It appears that 3 Greek words were rendered with two Latin words to better convey meaning: makrothumia was rendered with: longanimitas (long-suffering) and patientia (patience); prautes with mansuetudo (gentleness) and modestia (modesty); enkrateia with continentia (self-control) and castitas (chastity). To truly convey the Greek sense, which is the original language, we probably need more than 9/12 words, so the point of this aside is mainly: don’t let a translation issue distract you from the truth, and remember that even the Vulgate was a translation. Translators are sometimes called the first commentators. If it truly bothers you, then your only real option is to read the New Testament in its original Greek.
St. Thomas Aquinas, in his discussion of the fruits of the Holy Spirit notes that fruit is the final end of a fruit tree, i.e., the fruit is that which all the fruit tree does is ordered toward. This analogy, therefore implies that this fruit, these virtues, are why the Holy Spirit lives within us. It seems that this is logical, because a virtuous man, a man who exhibits these fruit, is a holy man, one destined for Heaven.
The works of the flesh, however, he compares to an alien growth, because they are alien to the nature of what God has planted in us. These growths must be excised, and so those who belong to Christ have crucified their flesh with its passions and impulses. Only through the Cross can these growths be excised, in fact they are what keep us on it.
Christ’s call to take up our Cross and follow doesn’t end there. We are to continue following. We are to leave our sinfulness nailed to the Cross and come down and live the Resurrection with our Lord, in glorified bodies, purified of sin through trials.
We cannot serve two masters. We either serve God or the evil one. It is up to us. So what will we pursue? What will we choose as our final end? Who will we serve? The works of the flesh? Or the fruit of the Holy Spirit?