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THIRD SUNDAY OF LENT

FIRST READING: Exodus 3:1-8a.13-15

SECOND READING: 1 Corinthians 10:1-6.10-12

GOSPEL: Luke 13:1-9

INTRODUCTION

All the scripture readings of this Sunday centre around the theme of repentance and fruitfulness: God invites us to change our ways. Jesus, in the Gospel, shows us in a very concrete way that his Father is always calling us, and that time is short, so we should choose to follow him now. In the first reading Moses, when God calls him, abandons his own plans and accepts God’s proposal to return to Egypt and liberate his people. This journey to liberation is long and difficult. When the Israelites were in the desert those forty years they gave in to many temptations. This will happen to us even when we choose to follow Jesus – this is the message of the second reading.

FIRST READING

After years of nothing happening to improve the lives of God’s chosen people, the Israelites, Moses meets God in a bush, though on fire, was not consumed” (Ex 3:2). After God identifies himself to Moses that he is the God of his father, of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, God says, I have witnessed the affliction of my people in Egypt and have heard their cry…therefore I have come down to rescue them (Ex 3:7-8). Moses is asked to go and ask Pharaoh to free the Israelites, and he accepts the challenge with a request: whom shall I say has sent me?  I am who am (Ex 3:14) is God’s response. God’s name means “you will see who I am. You will see what I can do for you.” The God who will be revealed to Israel is a God who feels passionately about the concerns of his people, a God who does not tolerate oppression of the poor, and a God who intervenes on his people’s behalf. Today God calls us to “intervene” in others’ lives when we see them abused and discriminated against, or when we see how tradition has enslaved women and children to the extent that they are reduced to the level of cattle that may be bought, sold, and abused.

SECOND READING

The Christians of Corinth were good people. In today’s reading, Paul replies to a “problem” some of them were having about their understanding of baptism. Some were stressing that baptism was all they need to gain salvation. Paul uses the journey of Moses and the Israelites to remind these Christians that even though all the Israelites believed and followed Moses, crossed the Red Sea, was under the guidance of the Cloud, ate the manna and drank the water from the rock, none of them entered into the Promised Land because of their infidelities. God’s favour does not come automatically nor are Christians saves as if by magic. It is not enough that we believe in Christ (the new Moses), have been baptised (the crossing of the Red Sea), have received the Spirit (the protection of the Cloud), and have eaten the Eucharist (the bread and wine correspond to the manna and the water in the desert). We must be faithful to our calling and not ignore the call for repentance.

THIRD READING

The Gospel of Luke continues the theme of turning away from sin and turning towards our God. The opening scene of today’s Gospel has Jesus being confronted by a crowd looking for an easy answer to the terrible event in which some Galileans had been killed by Pontius Pilate while worshipping in Jerusalem. The group gathered near Jesus wanted a simple answer, but Jesus turns the confrontation into a call for repentance as the only grounds for hope and standing in the face of God’s judgment.  Jesus asks, do you think that because these Galileans suffered in this way they were greater sinners than all other Galileans? The crowd surely wanted the answer to be “Yes.” They, like us, suppose that life would be less messy if we could explain every tragedy on the basis of the victim’s sin. This was the approach of Job’s friends when they went to talk over the sufferings of Job. But life is not that simple. It does not follow that every good experience is the result of one’s righteous actions and every bad experience is the result of sin. Jesus leaves his crowd with this warning, if you do not repent, you will all perish as they did! (Lk 13:5), suggesting that the messiness of life should send us to God rather than send us to a position of self-justification. Tragedy can strike us at any time – the only sure way through this world is repentance. It is a life-long repentance – every day must be an ongoing response of changing our ways and actively following Christ.

Jesus ends with a parable about a “healthy-looking” fig tree that did not bear figs! The landowner had patiently waited for fruit – three years! Then he orders his grounds keeper to cut the tree down. But the grounds keeper pleads for patience and asks that the tree be allowed to grow one more year – and he promises to fertilise it, cultivate around it, and prod it onto fruitfulness. Our God desires more than just our repentance – he wants us to produce something because we repent. When we realign our lives and return to following Jesus we become witnesses to the Gospel so we can be aware of and serve others. In this parable, Jesus asks us to examine ourselves, “Am I in the correct position with God daily so as to live faithfully and produce fruit for the Kingdom of God?” Today’s Gospel calls us to repentance – and more – to fruitfulness! That fruitfulness depends on our agreeing to all the extraordinary efforts offered by God to help us grow in his grace and love. We are invited to repent of those attitudes that are not resulting in blessings, that are not life-giving, that are not deepening relationships with others, and that are not making us more aware of the needs of others.

This reflection is adapted from:

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