March 24^th 2019.  Third Sunday of Lent

GOSPEL   Luke 13, 1-9

Translated from a homily by Don Fabio Rosini, broadcast on Vatican Radio

Don Fabio’s reflection follows the Gospel reading . . .

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GOSPEL   Luke 13, 1-9

Some people arrived and told Jesus about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with that of their sacrifices. At this he said to them, ‘Do you suppose these Galileans who suffered like that were greater sinners than any other Galileans? They were not, I tell you. No; but unless you repent you will all perish as they did. Or those eighteen on whom the tower at Siloam fell and killed them? Do you suppose that they were more guilty than all the other people living in Jerusalem? They were not, I tell you. No; but unless you repent you will all perish as they did.’

He told this parable: ‘A man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard, and he came looking for fruit on it but found none. He said to the man who looked after the vineyard, “Look here, for three years now I have been coming to look for fruit on this fig tree and finding none. Cut it down: why should it be taking up the ground?” “Sir,” the man replied “leave it one more year and give me time to dig round it and manure it: it may bear fruit next year; if not, then you can cut it down.”‘

The Gospel of the Lord: Praise to you Lord Jesus Christ

Kieran’s summary . . . Some people approach Jesus and ask him what he thinks of the tragic news story regarding the Galileans who were killed by Pilate. In one fell swoop, Jesus addresses two mistaken attitudes of these people: firstly, it is wrong to conclude that the sinfulness of the Galileans led to their misfortune; and, secondly, it is wrong to look on tragedies such as this in a detached way without our hearts being moved. We must be converted or we will perish the same way! In today’s culture we browse news stories as if we were in a supermarket. We behave as detached observers and use these stories to titillate our curiosity. Jesus is warning us that the painful facts that these stories relate are a call to change our hearts, to remind us that the time for conversion is short. He makes this point with the parable of the fig tree. The tree is given just one more year. It must bear fruit by then or it will be cut down. Jesus is telling us that he wants to see fruit from us. We must cease acting like detached spectators in the world. The tragedies in our news stories are a call to radical conversion. Just like those victims in the news, our time is coming soon and we will be asked to give an account of ourselves. The news is not a commodity for recreation! It is a call to conversion, to truth, to fraternity, to service.

The stories we hear in the news are actually a call to conversion

This Sunday's liturgy associates the story of the burning bush with the Gospel in which Jesus is asked a question about a tragic news story. Where is the link? Moses sees a bush burning without it being consumed and thinks: "I want to see this better: why doesn't the bush burn?" The Lord then addressed to him - literally - a cry: "Do not go any farther! Take off your sandals, for the place on which you stand is holy ground!" Moses wanted to see a spectacle, but it does not work like this: God is not a spectacle and neither is that which he wishes to reveal. The Lord goes on to tell Moses of the pain of his people: "I have observed the misery of my people in Egypt and I have heard their cry of complaint against their slave drivers. I know their sufferings and I have come down to free them from the power of Egypt." God does not look dispassionately at news stories; he is not curious about gossip and news items. Instead he hears the cry of his people and begins to act.

Jesus challenges two attitudes. He tells us not to judge others in their misfortune, and not to take up the position of detached spectators

In the face of the prevailing voyeurism of our culture, where we effectively have “supermarkets” of news stories vying with each other to titillate our curiosity, let us listen to the answer that Jesus gives to those who try to involve him in such street talk. “Some people arrived and told Jesus about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with that of the sacrifices”. “Well, Jesus,” these people are saying, “What do you think of the latest piece of scandalous news this week?” Jesus answers: "Do you believe that those Galileans were greater sinners for having suffered such a fate? No, I tell you, but if you are not converted, you will all perish the same way”. In one fell swoop, Jesus challenges two attitudes: that of passing judgment on others who have suffered misfortune, and that of behaving like detached spectators. The issue is not to learn news, but to allow ourselves be touched. Superficiality is incompatible with the Holy Spirit. The pain of others is not something that is irrelevant to my own existence. Every negative news story is a call on me to respond from the heart.

The parable of the infertile fig tree

All of the foregoing leads Jesus to tell the parable of the fig tree. A master comes to look for fruits on his fig tree and does not find any, so he decides that this tree is a waste of space. The man who looks after the vineyard asks for another year of patience. The owner concedes that extra year, but at that point he will expect to see fruit. What does this parable mean? The Lord is looking for fruit among our leaves. He comes to see if we are behaving like inert spectators of the world around us, or if, finally, we make that leap of conversion, if we allow our lives to be shaken and set in motion towards the good, towards love. The news is a call, an appeal to conversion, to truth, to fraternity, to service. It is not a commodity for recreation! The time available to each of us is limited. The day will come when a line will be drawn and we will see how we have lived. We must be patient with time, but we have no time to waste.