The Hope That Bears Fruit

Col 1:1-8, Psalm: 51, Lk 4:38-44

Memorial of Saint Gregory the Great, Pope and Doctor of the Church

Dear Sisters and Brothers in Christ, on this Memorial of Saint Gregory the Great, that holy pope who tirelessly shepherded his flock through turbulent times, the Word of God offers us a profound source of comfort and strength. It reveals that the Christian life is not a static state, but a dynamic and fruitful journey, one that is born from a hope stored for us in heaven and made manifest in our love on earth.

Saint Paul, writing to the Colossians, begins not with a scolding but with a prayer of thanksgiving. He gives thanks for them because he has heard of their “faith in Christ Jesus and the love that you have for all the holy ones.” Notice the order: faith comes first, and its inevitable, tangible fruit is love for the community. But Paul identifies the very root of this faith and love: it springs from “the hope stored up for you in heaven.” Our Christian life is not grounded in a vague optimism, but in the certain, objective reality of the eternal life promised to us through the Death and Resurrection of Christ. This hope is the engine of our charity. It is the reason we can persevere in doing good even when we are weary or discouraged.

This hope in action is perfectly illustrated in the Gospel. We see Jesus, after teaching in the synagogue, entering the domestic church of Simon Peter’s home. He immediately encounters human suffering in the form of Peter’s mother-in-law, who is gripped by a severe fever. Jesus does not offer a vague promise of a better tomorrow; He acts with decisive power and tender compassion. He “stood over her and rebuked the fever,” and it left her. And her response is immediate and total: “She got up immediately and waited on them.” Having been healed by Christ, she begins to serve. This is the pattern of every Christian vocation: we are first touched by Christ’s healing mercy, and that experience compels us to rise and serve Him in others.

The Catholic interpretation unites these two readings. The hope of heaven (Colossians) is not a passive waiting; it is an active force that produces the fruit of love and service (Luke). We see this lived perfectly in Saint Gregory the Great. A Roman prefect who left a career of worldly power, he used his immense talents not for himself but to serve the Church. He was a contemplative soul forced into active service, a man who found God in the busyness of governing and feeding his people. He truly understood that the hope of heaven must be translated into the work of earth. He famously said, “It is undoubtedly a work of love to proclaim the truth to those who are in error.”

The comfort for us is this: our faith does not require us to deny our weariness or suffering. Like Peter’s mother-in-law, we can bring our fevers—our anxieties, our weaknesses, our sins—to Christ. He stands over us in the Sacraments, especially the Eucharist and Reconciliation, to rebuke the power of sin and death and raise us up.

The challenge is to imitate her response. Having been healed and nourished by Christ in this Mass, we are sent out to “wait on them”—to serve our family, our colleagues, and the poor with the same self-giving love we have received.

Let us ask for the intercession of Saint Gregory the Great. May he help us to be men and women of vibrant hope, whose faith in the promises of heaven bears the undeniable fruit of love, so that in a weary world, others may see our service and come to know the healing power of Christ. Amen.