Readings: Ex. 3:1-8; 1Cor. 10:1-6; Lk 13:1-9
Repent or Perish
1. There is a story told about a man named Bill. He was a prominent contractor. In time, the pressure of his business caused him to turn to alcohol. Before long, he separated from his family, and his business went bankrupt. One day Bill was walking down the street. He happened to look down. There, on the sidewalk, was a bent rusty nail. Bill thought to himself, that nail is a perfect picture of me. I'm rusty and bent out of shape too. I'm good for nothing but to be thrown away, just as that nail is. Bill stooped down, picked up the nail, and put it in his pocket. When he got home, he took a hammer and began to pound it straight. Then he took some sandpaper and removed the rust from it. Next, Bill placed the nail alongside a new one. He could hardly tell the difference between the two.
2. A thought flashed through Bill's mind. His life could be straightened out and sanded clean again just as the nail was. But it wouldn't be easy! Could he take the hard blows and sanding? He decided to try. Today Bill is reunited with his family, and he is back in the construction business. He owes everything to that old rusty, bent nail that he found on the sidewalk at just the right time in his life. To this day, he keeps the restored nail in his wallet. (From Sunday Homilies by Mark Link, SJ). Today's liturgy reminds us that our God is a God who gives a second chance to his children. In the revelation of his name to Moses, he assured the children of Israel that He is God of the living; he is always present and accessible to his people. He is "The Lord, a merciful and gracious God, slow to anger and rich in kindness and fidelity" (Ex. 34:5-7). In the first reading, God revealed his name as 'Yahweh,' translated as I am who am, "This is my name forever, thus am I to be remembered through all generations." According to the Psalmist "The Lord is kind and merciful." God, the great I am, is a merciful God. He loves us so much that he doesn't judge us as we deserve but gives us a second chance when we mess up to come back to our senses and return to him.
3. Jesus encourages us in the gospel to make use of the many opportunities God has given us to change our minds. Those who died in tragic circumstances were not worse sinners. Their death should help us repent and believe the gospel. That was what we promised on the day of Baptism: to reject Satan and all his works and to believe in God. Through the natural and political disasters of His time, Jesus illustrates the fragility of life and calls for a life of repentance. He uses the gardener to highlight God's patience and offers us precious opportunities to be saved. "Sir, leave it for this year also, and I shall cultivate the ground around it and fertilize it; it may bear fruit in the future. If not, you can cut it down." (Lk. 13:8). The call to repentance is not merely for us to turn away from our sinful ways but also to produce the fruits of good living and be holy. God's mercy is infinite, but we are finite beings. We do not have eternity to change our minds. "If today you hear his voice, harden not your hearts." (Ps. 95:7-11). If we don't bear fruit, listen to what may happen: "For three years now I have come in search of fruit on this fig tree but found none So cut it down. Why should it exhaust the soil?" (Lk. 13:7). The unproductive fig tree was exhausting the soil and depriving productive trees of nourishment. It should be cut down so that others may be enriched as they were nourishing the people's lives. If we are not nurturing the lives of others, we are draining them. If we are not adding, we are taking from them. We must decide whether to be givers or takers.
4. Repentance means a change of heart, a change of attitude, and a change of mind. We can change our minds in both small and big things. We can change from being inactive to being active, from not praying to pray, from being uncharitable to being charitable, from being sinful to sinless, from being unmerciful to merciful, from not attending Mass regularly to finding a reason to always come to Mass; from not bringing your children and grandchildren to church to making sure they are here with you. Lent is not only about receiving ashes on Ash Wednesday and Palms on Palm Sunday. It is not only about fasting and abstaining from meat and eating fish on Friday. It is all that and more. It gives us a golden opportunity to change our minds.
5. At one point in our lives, we were like the fig tree. We were in danger of being ejected and rejected as useless. But God's mercy, the Great 'I am' took pity on us and gave us a second chance. Like Bill, we must be grateful to God for our second chance. Let us receive God's mercy and stop complaining about the misfortunes of our lives, for Christ made it clear that accidents and sickness are not punishment for sins but a great opportunity to repent and change our minds. As God gives us a second chance, we must also give a second chance to people around us and help them grow in love, hope, and trust. May we see the bigger picture of God's plan in our lives and worship him in spirit and truth! Amen.
Rev. Augustine Etemma Inwang, MSP
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