Homily for the Third Sunday of Lent

The Gospel passage we just heard came to us in two parts:

+ the supposed, immediate effect of sin (vv 1-5)

+ the certain, long-term effect of redemption (vv 9-13)

They’re joined together by the ominous statement, given in verses 3 and 5: “Unless you repent, you will likewise perish.” To perish, means here: a sudden, unexpected, fearful and violent death with no hope for heaven.

Zounds! We’re not accustomed to hearing the Lord speak so bluntly or directly. But He doesn’t just drop this warning in our lap and walk away. Instead, He gives us this brief Parable about “The Fig Tree and the Gardener” to assure us that He does not wish us to die in sin, and will do whatever it takes to rescue us.

Here is what Saint Clement wrote about learning from the events of our lives, especially the egregious events: “Going over all the stages of history, we will see that in each era the Lord has given a chance to repent to anyone who wanted to convert to Him.”

While it is the Lord’s intention to rescue us from sin, we are meant to participate in the Act of Redemption as well as in the rescue from sin.

We heard in the Old Testament Reading how God the Father rescued the Hebrews from slavery in Egypt, wandering with them for 40 years in the desert in an act of purification… meaning that those who entered the desert would not necessarily be those who exit the other side.

Forty years speaks of two generations, so it would more likely be their grandchildren who eventually reach the Promised Land. This 40-year period would bring about the divine plan of purification and a re-establishment of identity: They were no longer to think of themselves as the slaves of the Egyptians… but now — and once again — as the Chosen People of God.

To effect this, God says to Moses: “I know well what they are suffering. Therefore I have come down to rescue them from the hands of the Egyptians, and lead them to a land flowing with milk and honey.”

Here we learn that in His interaction with His people, there is a difference between:
+ what God wills — and —

+ what God allows

God had allowed the tragedy of slavery, but then, God had willed the Hebrews’ escape, rescue, and reformation. It was the tragic experience of slavery which the Lord had allowed that raised the Hebrews’ consciousness of what had been lost by their infidelity to the Covenant. Then it was the difficult, but liberating experience of wandering in the desert, which God willed, that renewed them and reformed them in the Covenant.

But in the Parable of the Fig Tree, things move along more quickly. It takes a fig tree three years to mature to the point of bearing fruit. The Orchard-master wants to get rid of the young tree, but the Gardener makes a plea of intervention, assuring the Orchard-master that he can bring about the desired growth and fruitfulness, perhaps in time for next year’s harvest.

Compare this delay of one year in the orchard with the Hebrews’

+ 400 years of slavery

+ 40 years of wandering.

Why the difference? Let’s look more deeply into the Parable to discover what Jesus was talking about. In the Parable:

+ the Orchard-master is God the Father

+ the Gardener is God the Son

+ the non-bearing fig tree is you and me.

God the Son, sharing sinlessly in our humanity is well aware of the death — or at least the fruitlessness— of sin. However, He is aware at the same time

+ of the power of Redemption

(in His reference to cultivating the ground around us)

+ of the power of Grace

(in His reference to fertilizing)
+ of the power of His love

(in His reference to His remaining with us, aware that God the Father would not cut down anything - that is to say - anyone whom the Son loves. Unless… despite God the Son’s work in our lives we remain in sin and continue to bear no fruit for the Kingdom, just taking up or wasting space in the orchard.

I will close with these words from Saint Columban: “Man’s greatness is the measure of God’s likeness that Man reflects. If a man lives out the virtues planted like seeds in his soul, he will become like God. In the Commandments, God teaches us that we are to offer Him the fruit of the virtues He planted in our souls when He created us. Our love of God makes His likeness shine through us. But true love is more than good words: true love is good works.”