The Third Sunday of Lent
Year C
198. THE MEANING OF DISASTER (LK 13:1-9)
“What dignity, what security to leave this life with joy, triumphant over trials and tortures, one moment to close those eyes with which we used to gaze on men and one the world, the next to open them to see God and Christ!”
- St Cyprian
Luke 13:1-9
It was just about this time that some people arrived and told him 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.’
CHRIST THE LORD Christ spoke with authority not only about heavenly things, but also about the true meaning of earthly events. His Lordship, after all, is universal. Thus he gives the definitive interpretation of these two tragic events, and he points out the real meaning behind them. When Christ decided to exercise his Lordship through the ministry of his Church, he delegated the authority to continue announcing the meaning behind earthly events. No voice in the world speaks so frequently and directly about the critical issues of every age as the Magisterium of the Catholic Church. Just as Jesus himself was “the light of the world” when he walked the dusty roads of Palestine, so through his Church he remains a beacon of truth shining brightly amid the dark fog of the world’s confusion.
Unfortunately, however, not everyone heeded his voice back then, and not everyone heeds his voice today. The world is always seeking the fruits of justice, peace, and prosperity. Individuals are always seeking happiness. Without digging into human hearts and fertilizing them with the truth about who we are and what we were created for, however, society will be barren of these most valuable fruits. Imagine how different the world community would be if everyone simply followed the Ten Commandments. The global culture would flourish in every way. Our Lord knows the way to fulfillment and fruitfulness. As his disciples, we know it too, and we should strive to make it known.
CHRIST THE TEACHER An influential school of Jewish thought at the time of Christ drew a direct line of causality from people’s sufferings back to their personal sins. The more someone sinned, supposedly, the more they suffered. By this logic, the Galileans who were killed by Pilate’s soldiers must have deserved it because of their sins. (Scholars are not in agreement about the incident being referred to. Many think, however, that it was Pilate’s violent suppression of a demonstration in Jerusalem. Demonstrators had gathered in the Temple area to protest Pilate’s use of Temple money to construct new aqueducts. Pilate then sent armed soldiers among them in disguise. At a signal, the soldiers dispersed the mob with clubs, killing many more than Pilate had anticipated.) Likewise, those who were killed in the construction accident in Siloam (some scholars think the tower being constructed was a part of those same aqueducts), so it was thought, were paying the penalty for their sins.
The Church has often pointed out, however, that personal suffering is not necessarily a result of personal sin (if it were, how could we explain Christ’s Passion and death?), and that suffering is often a sign of God’s blessing (“Those whom I love, I reprove and chastise” – Revelation 3:19). But Christ’s lesson in the passage stands: everyone who refuses to repent (the barren fig tree symbolizes someone who lacks the fruits of repentance) will stay separated from God, and if they die in such a state of alienation (and death can come at any time), they will continue in it for all eternity. Even if the consequences of our actions do not always make themselves completely felt in this life, they will do so eventually – both for good and for ill; earthly tragedies should remind us of the passing nature and relative meaning of earthly life. It is a hard truth, but one that the Church wants us to consider deeply, especially during the penitential season of Lent, when this passage is read in the Sunday liturgy.
CHRIST THE FRIEND God is not indifferent to our lives. He wants them to bear fruit; he wants us to live fully. As our Creator, he has a right to expect us to live as he intended us to, just as the owner of the orchard has a right to expect his fig tree to grow figs. And yet, he doesn’t demand his rights. Rather, he sends his Son to “cultivate the ground” of our hearts, to fertilize it with his love, his doctrine, and his sacraments. He does everything he possibly can to convince us to live in friendship with God, a friendship that will yield the lasting fruits of meaning and happiness. In the end, however, he leaves the decision up to us. After all, a forced friendship is no friendship at all.
CHRIST IN MY LIFE Thank you for making your voice resound even into my lifetime through the teachings of your Church. You are present in your ministers, your liturgy, and your Word. You want to point out to me what things mean. You want me to adjust my choices and priorities to the true scale of values. Thank you for thinking of me and staying with me…
No one likes to talk about Judgment Day. But you spoke often about it, and you inspired the Gospel writers to record what you said. I love this world, with all its wonder and beauty, but it is passing away. The struggles and sufferings that you permit should remind me of that. Help me to think as you think and see all things as you see them…
Thank you for your patience. You never give up on me; you keep working with me so I will bear the fruit you created me to bear. Teach me to do the same with those around me. They too are called to bear eternal fruit. How can I fertilize and trim and tend them, how can I help them discover and follow your will for their lives? Teach me to do your will…
QUESTIONS FOR SMALL GROUP DISCUSSION
1. What struck you most in this passage? What did you notice that you hadn’t noticed before?
2. God instituted the sacrament of confession because he knew that we would need to repent again and again. How can we better take advantage of this sacrament?
3. How can we pay more attention to the Church’s voice in national and world affairs?
4. What do you think Christ would say if someone were to ask him about today’s world crises? What do you say when you are asked about them?
Cf. Catechism of the Catholic Church, 214, 218-221 on God’s mercy; 888-892 on the teaching office of the Church (the Magisterium); 1033-1037 on the consequences of not repenting from sin
“What dignity, what security to leave this life with joy, triumphant over trials and tortures, one moment to close those eyes with which we used to gaze on men and one the world, the next to open them to see God and Christ!”
- St Cyprian
Luke 13:1-9
It was just about this time that some people arrived and told him 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.’
CHRIST THE LORD Christ spoke with authority not only about heavenly things, but also about the true meaning of earthly events. His Lordship, after all, is universal. Thus he gives the definitive interpretation of these two tragic events, and he points out the real meaning behind them. When Christ decided to exercise his Lordship through the ministry of his Church, he delegated the authority to continue announcing the meaning behind earthly events. No voice in the world speaks so frequently and directly about the critical issues of every age as the Magisterium of the Catholic Church. Just as Jesus himself was “the light of the world” when he walked the dusty roads of Palestine, so through his Church he remains a beacon of truth shining brightly amid the dark fog of the world’s confusion.
Unfortunately, however, not everyone heeded his voice back then, and not everyone heeds his voice today. The world is always seeking the fruits of justice, peace, and prosperity. Individuals are always seeking happiness. Without digging into human hearts and fertilizing them with the truth about who we are and what we were created for, however, society will be barren of these most valuable fruits. Imagine how different the world community would be if everyone simply followed the Ten Commandments. The global culture would flourish in every way. Our Lord knows the way to fulfillment and fruitfulness. As his disciples, we know it too, and we should strive to make it known.
CHRIST THE TEACHER An influential school of Jewish thought at the time of Christ drew a direct line of causality from people’s sufferings back to their personal sins. The more someone sinned, supposedly, the more they suffered. By this logic, the Galileans who were killed by Pilate’s soldiers must have deserved it because of their sins. (Scholars are not in agreement about the incident being referred to. Many think, however, that it was Pilate’s violent suppression of a demonstration in Jerusalem. Demonstrators had gathered in the Temple area to protest Pilate’s use of Temple money to construct new aqueducts. Pilate then sent armed soldiers among them in disguise. At a signal, the soldiers dispersed the mob with clubs, killing many more than Pilate had anticipated.) Likewise, those who were killed in the construction accident in Siloam (some scholars think the tower being constructed was a part of those same aqueducts), so it was thought, were paying the penalty for their sins.
The Church has often pointed out, however, that personal suffering is not necessarily a result of personal sin (if it were, how could we explain Christ’s Passion and death?), and that suffering is often a sign of God’s blessing (“Those whom I love, I reprove and chastise” – Revelation 3:19). But Christ’s lesson in the passage stands: everyone who refuses to repent (the barren fig tree symbolizes someone who lacks the fruits of repentance) will stay separated from God, and if they die in such a state of alienation (and death can come at any time), they will continue in it for all eternity. Even if the consequences of our actions do not always make themselves completely felt in this life, they will do so eventually – both for good and for ill; earthly tragedies should remind us of the passing nature and relative meaning of earthly life. It is a hard truth, but one that the Church wants us to consider deeply, especially during the penitential season of Lent, when this passage is read in the Sunday liturgy.
CHRIST THE FRIEND God is not indifferent to our lives. He wants them to bear fruit; he wants us to live fully. As our Creator, he has a right to expect us to live as he intended us to, just as the owner of the orchard has a right to expect his fig tree to grow figs. And yet, he doesn’t demand his rights. Rather, he sends his Son to “cultivate the ground” of our hearts, to fertilize it with his love, his doctrine, and his sacraments. He does everything he possibly can to convince us to live in friendship with God, a friendship that will yield the lasting fruits of meaning and happiness. In the end, however, he leaves the decision up to us. After all, a forced friendship is no friendship at all.
CHRIST IN MY LIFE Thank you for making your voice resound even into my lifetime through the teachings of your Church. You are present in your ministers, your liturgy, and your Word. You want to point out to me what things mean. You want me to adjust my choices and priorities to the true scale of values. Thank you for thinking of me and staying with me…
No one likes to talk about Judgment Day. But you spoke often about it, and you inspired the Gospel writers to record what you said. I love this world, with all its wonder and beauty, but it is passing away. The struggles and sufferings that you permit should remind me of that. Help me to think as you think and see all things as you see them…
Thank you for your patience. You never give up on me; you keep working with me so I will bear the fruit you created me to bear. Teach me to do the same with those around me. They too are called to bear eternal fruit. How can I fertilize and trim and tend them, how can I help them discover and follow your will for their lives? Teach me to do your will…
QUESTIONS FOR SMALL GROUP DISCUSSION
1. What struck you most in this passage? What did you notice that you hadn’t noticed before?
2. God instituted the sacrament of confession because he knew that we would need to repent again and again. How can we better take advantage of this sacrament?
3. How can we pay more attention to the Church’s voice in national and world affairs?
4. What do you think Christ would say if someone were to ask him about today’s world crises? What do you say when you are asked about them?
Cf. Catechism of the Catholic Church, 214, 218-221 on God’s mercy; 888-892 on the teaching office of the Church (the Magisterium); 1033-1037 on the consequences of not repenting from sin