In Need of Repentance?

In Need of Repentance? 
Reflection for February 28, 2016    Third Sunday of Lent - C
by Dcn. Bob Bonomi

At first glance, it appears as if today’s Gospel might be about “why do bad things happen to good people?”  The Jews of Jesus’ time believed that bad things that happened to a person were punishment for some sin committed by either the person or by one of his ancestors.  If nothing bad happened to you, especially if you were blessed with material wealth, you must be especially blessed in God’s eyes.  But you couldn’t possibly be without sin if something bad happened to you, and the worse it was, the greater must have been your sin.
 
Unfortunately, many people still believe that today.
 
But, while today’s Gospel doesn’t answer the question, “why do bad things happen to good people?” Jesus does make clear that “bad things happen” to both good AND bad people.  The two incidents mentioned in this passage from Luke, while they are not mentioned in any of the other Gospels and there’s no other direct historical record of them specifically, it isn’t unreasonable to believe that they happened.  Despite the wishy-washy image we have of Pilate during Jesus’ Passion, he was a cruel tyrant who, according to the Jewish historian Josephus, once had Roman soldiers put on disguises in order to get close to and slaughter Jewish civilians involved in an uprising over use of temple funds for building an aqueduct.  As for the collapsed tower at Siloam, one only has to look back to our own local history of recent tornadoes and other disasters to realize that except for those directly affected by the events, it doesn’t take much time for memories to fade.  And they didn’t have the Internet, where nothing ever disappears.
 
But Jesus was trying to make a point: just because nothing bad has happened to you doesn’t mean that you aren’t in need of repentance.  And, just because you are facing all sorts of troubles and tribulations in your life, it doesn’t mean that God has it in for you, or that you are a particularly bad sinner, or that God doesn’t hear or answer our prayers.  Bad things CAN happen to good people.  And bad people may not face the same trials that others have – at least not yet.  St. Paul tell the Corinthians that they’ve been amply warned by what happened to their ancestors and to not become complacent, for “whoever thinks he is standing secure should take care not to fall.”
 
Every time we see or hear of the evils that occur in this world, they are a wake-up call for us that our own time here is short, and that we need to remain focused on what is important – our life for all eternity.  Are we ready today for when that time comes? No?
 
Fear Not! If we are not ready at this moment, the parable of the fig tree offers us hope.  

Fig trees were very valuable to the Jewish people.  But it takes time before they will bear fruit.  It takes special skills in cultivation, and it takes patience. By this parable, Jesus lets us know that in the eyes of God, WE are valuable too, and He knows that we need time to grow, to mature – to bear fruit.  And we depend on God’s Mercy to help us.

During the Jubilee of Mercy, Pope Francis has often reminded us that we are ALL sinners – including himself – and that we are all in constant need of God’s Love and Mercy.  And because God loves us and is forgiving of all our failures, He is always seeking ways to show us that love and mercy.  He’s not looking for an excuse to cut us down; He knows that we are human and that we may fail.  But He’s not looking for us to be perfect, only that we are faithful.  As we hear in Psalm 51, which is said during Morning Prayer every Friday: “A humble, contrite heart, O Lord, you will not spurn.” He cultivates the ground around us, and feeds us with the Body and Blood of His son, Jesus.  

He is waiting patiently for us to bear fruit.