We often hear a comforting, uplifting message in the Gospel, giving us encouragement on our journey of faith. However, at other times, the Gospel is there to confront us and challenge us. Today, Jesus hears some disturbing news, as some members of the crowd tell him that some Galileans were killed by Pilate; their blood was mingled with the blood of sacrifice. Jesus replies in a very disconcerting way as well, telling them that if they do not repent, they will also perish.
But, this message is not to take away our hope. Indeed, this message is tied into our parable in the Gospel today. The owner of a fig tree wants to uproot it, because for three long years, this fig tree has not bore fruit. The worker tells the owner to be patient, to give it another year, to allow the worker to tend to it and to nurture it so that it will be able to bear fruit. That is the way God is with us: he is patient and merciful. He does not give us just one chance. He does not just give us a second chance. God gives us more than a second chance. God is patient and works with us as we struggle with our sins and with temptation. This is a very good lesson to hear today in the middle of our Lenten journey, as we are called to continue to practice our Lenten disciplines and to try ever harder on our journey during these 40 days. Yes, we struggle with our sins and with our temptations, but as we struggle, we know that God is there with us.
Most of our parishioners know that I am very devoted to the community of saints. I love learning from what the saints have to teach us. I love learning about their journey of faith, about the struggles and challenges they endured, about the way they saw God interacting with their lives and how they proclaimed the message of the kingdom. I love praying with the saints, uniting my prayers with their prayers, praying with them and asking them to pray for me. Last week at our masses, we heard a reflection about Thomas Merton, a monk for the Trappist monetary of Gethsemane in Kentucky. Today, we are going to hear about a saint who was just canonized by Pope Francis less than six months ago. Oscar Romero, who is from the Central American country of El Salvador, was born only two years after Thomas Merton, in the early part of the 20th century, so they are of the same era. Romero’s faith really speaks to us on our journey of faith in the modern world. Like today's Gospel message, Romero brings us a very challenging message to the world, a message of social justice and speaking out for those who do not have a voice in society. As we end our homily today, parishioner Joel Dillard is going to present us a reflection on St Oscar Romero.
No comments:
Post a Comment