Apples and Trees

Seeing Jesus was sinless like his Mother Mary

12/08/2023

Eph 1:3-6, 11-12 Brothers and sisters: Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavens, as he chose us in him, before the foundation of the world, to be holy and without blemish before him. In love he destined us for adoption to himself through Jesus Christ, in accord with the favor of his will, for the praise of the glory of his grace that he granted us in the beloved. In him we were also chosen, destined in accord with the purpose of the One who accomplishes all things according to the intention of his will, so that we might exist for the praise of his glory, we who first hoped in Christ.

Boys and girls, I would like to teach you a really cool saying this morning. It goes, “The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.” Raise your hands if you have ever heard that saying before. That means that children (the apples) often end up a lot like their parents (the trees), because they fall “near” them, not far from them. For example, I see a lot of my parents in me. I smile a lot like my mom. I like to talk and tell jokes like my dad. Both my parents work hard, and so do I. My mom and dad love being Catholic, and so do I. Heck, I love it so much, I became a priest!

Now the interesting thing about apples and trees is that we learn both good habits from our parents, but we can also learn from their bad habits. For instance, some parents are doctors and a child may want to grow up and become a doctor like his mother is. That is a good thing to copy. But we might also learn bad habits from our parents, like in the song Cat’s in the Cradle.

Let me share the beginning and end of that song because it shows how the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree. It starts: “My child arrived just the other day / He came to the world in the usual way / But there were planes to catch and bills to pay / He learned to walk while I was away / And he was talkin’ ‘fore I knew it, and as he grew / He’d say, “I’m gonna be like you, dad / You know I’m gonna be like you.” By the way, did you notice what the dad was like? He was too busy to spend time with his son.

Now here’s the end of the song: “I’ve long since retired, my son’s moved away / I called him up just the other day / I said, “I’d like to see you if you don’t mind” / He said “I’d like to dad, if I could find the time / You see, my new job’s a hassle and the kids have the flu / But it’s sure nice talkin to you, dad, / It’s been sure nice talkin to you.” / And as I hung up the phone it occurred to me / He’d grown up was just like me / My boy was just like me.” In other words, the son had learned the bad habit of working too much and not spending time with his family just like his dad had done. The apple fell very close to the tree.

Now, boys and girls, there was only one tree and one Apple in which there were only good habits and no bad habits to learn. Do you know which tree and which Apple I am talking about? Mother Mary was the tree and Jesus was the Apple. You see, Mary did not have any bad habits to teach Jesus because she was sinless from the moment she was conceived in her mother’s womb, that is, in St. Anne. We call that the Immaculate Conception.

And not only was she conceived without sin, she remained without sin throughout her whole life. In other words, if Mary had written that song “Cat’s in the Cradle” it would have been very different because she would have spent plenty of time with Jesus as a little boy. And as Jesus grew up, he would spend plenty of time with her.

But the song would still have ended with the same lines. Mary would sing: “As I hung up the phone it occurred to me / He’d grow up just like me / My boy was just like me.” That is, Jesus was sinless just like his mother Mary was. Why? Because the sinless apple did not fall far from the sinless tree.

Boys and girls, can I ask you to do a favor today – actually, it’s a favor I want you to do every day? Pray for your mom and dad. They are just human beings like me and you, and sometimes they do great things, and something they mess up. So they need our prayers. Every day say one Our Father for your dad, and one Hail Mary for your mom. And ask God to bless them.

And if you do that every day for the rest of your life, someday when you get married and have kids, they will see that you pray for your mom and dad. And guess what they will do themselves? They will pray for you, their mom and dad. Why? Well, you already know why. Because the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.

Praised be Jesus Christ!