"It may bear fruit in the future."
This week in the Gospel reading for Sunday Jesus makes it very clear what is required for our salvation: repentance! In the story told, people are asking Jesus about certain calamities that have happened to people recently. They seem to think that, because these things happened to those individual people that they must have been greater sinners than the rest and, therefore, being punished.
Jesus stops them in their tracks, telling them: "But I tell you, if you do not repent, you will all perish as they did!" He proceeds forward pretty strongly, making it clear that just because bad things happen to other people, it doesn't mean that if those same things don't happen to you that you are out of the clear. Bad things happen to good people too! So, whatever the situation, whatever your relative safety, repentance is still necessary! It is sin that truly endangers us, not any calamity in the world that may happen.
Jesus ends the Gospel with a parable in which a man wishes to cut down a tree that is not bearing fruit. His gardener intervenes, saying, "Sir, leave it for this year also, and I shall cultivate the ground around it and fertilize it; it may bear fruit in the future. If not you can cut it down." This parable points to the incredible mercy of God and His Son, Jesus. The teaching that we regularly hear in the penitential rite and in the creeds that we say at Mass is that Jesus sits at the right hand of the Father to intercede for us. That means that Jesus, in his human body that ascended into heaven, sits at the Father's side and is constantly saying, "hold on... don't pass judgement yet... give them one more chance... he or she may still bear fruit in the future."
God loves us. God desires what is best for us. God's own Son was a human, and so he knows us and our struggles and hardships. God desires our salvation and to spend eternity with us. Yes, bad things happen, to good people and bad people alike. But God is merciful, and God lays before us ample opportunities to repent. So, as we continue through our Lenten journey this year, do not miss this chance! For, we never know when our end will come... but we know that, right now, in this moment, the Lord will meet us with his mercy if we reach out in faith and hope, and if we repent!
Want to prepare your heart and mind for Sunday's Mass? Click here to find the readings.