A few weeks back I had the pleasure to hang out with two other Knights and a wife of one them. We had good conversation and some very good home brew. We somehow got onto the topic of our faith and how we explain it to friends or acquaintances from other denominations.
The one way that caught my attention was by referring to the Tree of Life to help explain why we believe in our faith. As you probably already know, in Catholic Christianity, the Tree of Life represents the immaculate state of humanity free from corruption and original sin before The Fall. Pope Benedict XVI has said that "the Cross is the true Tree of Life." Saint Bonaventure taught that the medicinal fruit of the Tree of Life is Christ Himself. Saint Albert the Great taught that the Eucharist, the Body and Blood of Christ, is the Fruit of the Tree of Life.
I may have missed some of the details so I hope they forgive me if I misquote. But here is how she explained it to others that I found interesting: The roots are from Jesus and his teaching deep in the ground and strong. Then you have our Catholic Faith like the trunk sturdy and strong firmly attached to the roots. Attached to the trunk you have branches which would be like other Christian religious like Lutheran, Protestants, which have some of the same beliefs but can become damaged and fall from the trunk. From those branches you get to the leaves which are like Bob’s church—they pop up and fall off to the ground and other leaves grow in its place, loosely tied to roots, and trunk of the tree. I thought that was a really good way to explain our faith and how attached we are to the roots, Jesus.
This is a good way to communicate to others without offending them or their religion for as you know to have a tree you need all these parts and we are all striving to know our God the Father better.
God bless,
Jim Wiegers
Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe, for our “God is a consuming fire.”
-- Hebrews 12:28-29
