Ex 3: 1-8a, 13-15; Ps. 103: 1-4, 6-8, 11; 1 Cor. 10: 1-6, 10-12; Lk. 13: 1-9
Years ago I had the opportunity to visit a drug treatment program in a prison. As I sat in the treatment group and witnessed the process it was disturbing at first the means of confronting the prisoner with his addiction. The group was assigned to place one prisoner in the middle of the group and then they began one by one listing the faults of the individual, which we may refer to as his sins. They described how they observed the individual in denial of his problem, how he behaved in his attitude towards the problem and how they observed his limited commitment to recovery.
At the end of the verbal confrontation some might describe more as a verbal assault the counselor then directed the group to “build him back up”. They then each gave him their supportive views such as his ability to stick to the program, to want to reconcile with his family, to be supportive of other prison mates, etc. In today’s gospel we see some of the same process of confronting first our sins and then “building us back up” with a sign of hope in the parable of the fig tree.
Luke describes how Jesus confronts everyone’s need for repentance and we cannot draw distinction from each other’s sins. The Galileans whose sins included their sacrifices and suffered at the hands of Pilate we no greater sinners than all other Galileans or than all those present before him, “if you do not repent, you will all perish as they did!” Then he reinforces the point with another example.
The people judged those who face suffering as sinners yet he reveals to them those who were killed in Siloam were no “more guilty than everyone else who lived in Jerusalem.” He is turning the mirror on his followers to acknowledge their sins and repent. In the context of their understanding of sin they believed in their righteousness as follower of the law. Jesus turns the tables on them to see their unrighteousness coming from the heart of their intentions. This is through the gift of becoming consciously aware of sin as defined by truth. The foundation of conversion was the convincing of sin. We should not think we stand “secure” but “take are not to fall” as history reveals many times over.
Bam! Bam! Wake up to the truth. “Conversion requires convincing of sin; it includes the interior judgment of conscience, and this being a proof of the action of the Spirit of truth in man’s inmost being” (CCC 1848) We are to pray for the Spirit of truth in our continued conversion into the image and likeness of Christ. Our culture seeks to deny absolute truth fostering instead relative truth in the “eye of the beholder”. If there is only relative truth then there is no sin and if there is no sin there is no need for repentance and without repentance “you will all perish as they did!” What is there left to say? Many stand secure in their judgment of self without the revelation of the Spirit of truth. “Take care not to fall.”
Jesus does not leave them broken but follows the Spirit of truth with the parable of the fig tree. The owner wants the fig tree cut down after three years of not producing any fruit. The gardener asks for forgiveness for the tree and to allow it another year to produce fruit before cutting it down. Jesus is our gardener who came to “cultivate the ground” of our hearts “and fertilize it” with a Spirit of truth. Jesus is the final hope for repentance and conversion and he came with some very strong arguments to convince his people. Jesus is the one to build us up into a righteous people, a holy nation. In the end it is our turn now to “bear fruit in the future” or be cut down for our sins.
“The Lord is kind and merciful.” God not only pardons all our sins but he “heals all your ills”. Then he does something even greater, he redeems us. What does this mean? He has won back our freedom and given us a crown in his kingdom. This is our “exodus” from sin and a return to the holy land “flowing with milk and honey”. Moses led the people of Israel out of their human exodus from slavery and Jesus comes to lead us out of our human exodus from the slavery of sin. The ground of our hearts is being cultivated and fertilized by Jesus and we are to produce “milk and honey” from our hearts of love. By our fruits we shall be known as true witnesses and followers to the Spirit of truth incarnate. We are now sent by “I AM”.
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