Christ’s warning
Third Sunday of Lent - Year C
Exodus 3:1-8a, 13-15; Psalm 103:1-4,6-8,11; 1 Corinthians 10:1-6,10-12; Luke 13:1-9
Today's Liturgy of the Word contains a warning for all of us. Death may come at the least expected moment (Luke 13:1-5) and so the time still given to us should be used to “bring forth fruits worthy of repentance” (Luke 3:8). The wise Sirach wrote: "In everything you do, remember the end of life, and you will never sin" (Sirach 7:36).
In the first reading, we hear that God saw the affliction of our ancestors in Egypt and decided to save them (Ex. 3:7-8). Then, Apostle Paul recalls how God saved his people and sustained them on their journey through the desert (1 Cor. 10:1-4). He cites three great miracles: (1) the crossing of the Red Sea (Ex. 14:22), (2) the bread from heaven - the manna (Ex. 16: 4-15), and (3) water that came out of the rock (Ex. 17: 1-6). Finally, in the Gospel, we hear about a gardener who secures one more year for an unfruitful fig tree (Luke 13:6-9). “The Lord is kind and merciful” (Ps. 103:8).
What was their response to these acts of kindness? Not so positive. Out of six hundred thousand men, which came out of the land of Egypt, the house of slavery (Ex. 12:37), only two reached the goal of their pilgrimage. Why? Though their bodies left Egypt, their minds and hearts remained there. From the house of our captivity, they called to God for help (Ex. 2:23), and when He set them free, they dreamed of returning to captivity.
These things “have been written down as a warning to us, upon whom the end of the ages has come" (1 Corinthians 10:11). The crossing of the Red Sea prefigured the Holy Baptism, the manna foretold the Eucharist, and the water flowing from the rock can refer to the constant presence of the Word of God in our lives. Through baptism, we left behind the captivity of sin, the Eucharist is the Bread of Life (John 6: 48-51), and the Holy Scriptures can quench our spiritual thirst. Now we are on our journey to the true Promised Land and so we should not imitate the bad example of “our ancestors” (1 Cor. 10:1.7-11).
The fig tree exhausts the owner’s patience (Luke 13:7). How long can one wait for its fruits? The experts say that a fig tree usually needs two to three years before it can produce fruits, but this period can extend up to six years. That is probably the situation of our tree: “For three years now I have come in search of fruit on this fig tree but have found none“ (Luke 13:7). The parable does not answer the question whether, with the care of the kind gardener, the fig tree eventually produced its fruits. The answer to this question needs to be found in our lives.
The fig tree represents all of us. We are alive but do we bring forth fruits? God in His mercy has given us an additional year of grace, an unspecified time that can be as short as one day or that can last many years. We have not earned it. Behind this grace is God’s patience, who does not want anyone to perish, “but everyone to come to repentance." (2 Pet. 3:9). Therefore, let us stop stretching God’s patience to its limits but heed today the call of Christ: “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand” (Matt. 4:17).