HOMILY 3RD SUNDAY OF LENT 2025
ANOTHER CHANCE FOR THE FIG TREE, AND SO FOR YOU AND ME!
Lk 13.1-9 Ex 3.1-8,13-15 1Cor 10.1-6,10-12
Now back down to earth from the mountain of Transfiguration, Jesus walks with the ordinary people, and offers encouragement along the way.
Jesus speaks of several tragedies, the first being inflicted by Pilate for whatever no good reason, where he apparently had some Galileans killed, perhaps to warn the people of his authority and power, and his capacity for evil. Life could be cheap in those times, and the human capacity for inflicting suffering just for the sake of it, has always been latent, as we sadly see ongoing in our world today.
Then Jesus takes the tower of Siloam, which was apparently a water fountain in Jerusalem, either badly built, or earthquake prone, a provider of essential services, as with the wells of the day. No taps back there in Jerusalem in those days, although the Romans had introduced aqueducts by then! They did more than some good, as I’ve acknowledged before (and as Monty Python tells us, with the roads, sanitation, law and order, peace (Pax Romana) – most of the time, subject to compliance with Roman rule and Roman Law!), not to forget the win, of course!!
Overall, however, I’d see these examples as a reminder of the fragility of life, and its unfairness. Jesus is moving beyond the judgemental presumption that those who suffered bad luck in life, such as disaster – natural or caused by humans – or illness, were not necessarily deserving of such punishment. It’s more about the defectibility of nature and the dark side of the human psyche, which we are challenged to overcome where we can.
It’s a wakeup call to act, and not just procrastinate on what good we could and should do, given the opportunities here and now. The call to discipleship is immediate, and Jesus seeks an immediate response. Some are just not up to it, but for you and me, the call is lifelong, and response not automatic, but requiring renewed commitment and effort throughout our lives.
Baptism is not a free ticket on the highway to heaven (or Stairway to Heaven, as Led Zeppelin puts it!), but a first step on the path to living the Christian life. Paul wrote so many letters back to the Christian communities he helped establish, partly because he had feedback that many members were prone to lapsing back into their old, sometime dissolute and sinful ways, particularly the Corinthians, as we hear today.
Next, in today’s Gospel, Jesus returns to using the natural world as a metaphor for humanity. The poor old fig tree doesn’t suffer the same fate as in Mark and Matthew’s Gospels, where Jesus curses it, and it dies because it is not productive. Here, Luke has it given another chance to bear fruit next season, and so it is reprieved. It can be a bit puzzling as to why there is such a difference, but scripture scholar Raymond Brown suggests Luke has toned things down a bit, so that the parable can be related to his followers being given room for repentance after making mistakes and bad choices, and so, once again, you and me.
It reminds me of the tomato plants I was given this year, where they only produced 5 sizable tomatoes, but the birds got to 2 before I did! The only difference, as I’ve discovered in my ignorance more recently, is that tomato plants only last one season, so new ones need planting every year, so here’s hoping for a bumper crop next year!! Not to forget the mini-strawberries which sprung up in my front garden without any help from me! The trouble is they were too small to get a decent feed! Nature is just wonderful in its own way.
Now, it’s back to the message for today. Human weakness and frailty come into the equation with Jesus, throughout his ministry. He acknowledges that reality, and makes allowances for second chances and beyond all the way, as long as we keep trying, acknowledging our faults and limitations.
On Friday, March 21st, as a reminder to all of our common humanity, we celebrated ‘Harmony Day’, which the Grade 3’s at St Therese’s informed me, started in Australia in 1999, as a reminder to us all of Australia’s wonderful multicultural diversity, and to challenge racism and intolerance of those who are different, because we all are, aren’t we? We just have to look at the diversity of surnames of our students to see that we are all a great mixture, with our common DNA, whatever our background, traditions, colour, size, shape or age!
The colour orange was chosen as symbolic of “inclusiveness, respect and sense of belonging for all Australians”. It fits well with our theme of the season of Lent, and also for our young students preparing to celebrate the sacrament of Reconciliation this coming April, as we welcome our OLN Grade 3 families at Masses this weekend.
And, of course, we’ve just had St Patrick’s Day, acknowledging the contribution the Irish have made to our culture and Christian traditions and practices. The importance of Patrick bringing Christianity to Ireland in the 5th century cannot be overlooked either.
So it has been a week of the orange and the green, so to speak, as we respond to Jesus’ call to be people of Good News, who are welcoming, inclusive and respectful of diversity, also happy to know that we are loved and forgiven, despite our imperfections. In a spirit of penitence and generosity of heart, we continue our journey in Lent towards Easter.
Once again, I mention Project Compassion as a way in which we can contribute to the welfare of those who are not so well off as we are in our wide and wonderful world. Hopefully, we’ve all a Project Compassion box at home, as well as in our classrooms, to help make a difference, as every little bit counts.
john hannon 23rd March 2025