Monday, March 21, 2022

Repent with prayer, fasting, and almsgiving and bear fruit to please God - Homily for 3rd Sunday of Lent

Today we heard about Moses and his encounter withGod in the burning bush on Mount Horeb.         This story seems a bit unrelated to the Gospel call to repent and bear fruit.  How was it, that Moses came to Mount Horeb to encounter God?    A little background may help.

The people of Israel were enslaved by Egyptians, and they had grown so numerous that Pharoah ordered all first-born Hebrew males to be killed. Moses’ mother feared for her child so she put him in a basket to float down the river hoping he would be rescued.  Pharaoh’s daughter found him, and she raised him as her own child in Pharoah’s house.  When Moses reached adulthood, he experienced the cruelty of an Egyptian beating a Hebrew slave and in anger killed the Egyptian thinking no one would find out.  But the act became known, and Pharoah ordered Moses to be killed. Moses fled from Egypt and went to Midian as a fugitive in fear of punishment for the crime of murder.

Moses was an outlaw, but God gave him a second chance and revealed himself on Mount Horeb in the land of Midian.  God chose Moses to bear fruit in leading the people of Israel to freedom out of slavery from the Egyptians.  God was patient and merciful to Moses trusting him to redeem himself and carry out God’s commands to rescue the people of Israel.

Don’t we all need second chances in our own?     The season of Lent helps us to do so.       The practices of prayer, fasting, and almsgiving helps us to make changes so repent and bear fruit for God.

In the Gospel today the people asked Jesus about two tragedies, Galileans killed by Pilate and the tower of Siloam falling that killed 18 people. These misfortunes were thought to be judgement by God for these people due their sinfulness.  But this was not the case.   Jesus was warning them that they should not be worried judging others sinfulness, but rather their own sins and lest the same thing happen to them.

Jesus then used the parable of the fig tree to make the point of their own need to


repent with the help of God’s patience and mercy.         In the parable we’re told a person has been coming for three years and the fig tree still had not yielded any fruit, so he wanted it cut down.        But it was nine years of waiting since it takes three years of growth before a fig tree bears fruit and the next three years of fruits are dedicated to God.   The gardener wants a second change for the fig tree to see if it responds with patience and the proper care to bear fruit but agrees that it could be cut down if it does not do so.

The gardener in the parable is Jesus and we are the fig trees. There may be seasons in our lives that we aren’t bearing fruit. The annual season of Lent gives to help us to bear the fruit that pleases God. The tools to cultivate and fertilize us are prayer, fasting, and almsgiving. These practices help us to focus on others rather than ourselves. As we pray and fast, we can offer intentions to overcome evils in the world. Many times, we hear in the Bible of prayer and fasting in repentance for wrongs that has been done, such as when King David repented for his actions with Bathsheba.  

An evil occurring in our world we can offer intentions of our Lenten practices is the war on Ukraine. Sometimes we can feel like there isn’t anything we can do for terrible situations like this. But our prayer and fasting can be powerful if we do them for the sake of others. Consider praying a rosary and giving up meat on Fridays for Ukraine.We can of course give alms to help those in Ukraine. While we are offering these intentions, we are also making changes in our own lives focusing on other so we can bear fruit, in being loving and merciful like our Lord.

I went through a time myself about 20 years ago where I was not bearing fruit and was solely focused on myself. I was caught up in the world of corporate success that was yielding financial gain and recognition, but I was emotionally drained and stressed. I did not have much of a relationship with Jesus at the time. During Lent I was invited to attend a Welcome retreat multiple times, but I did not want to take the time away from my job or family.

I finally received a personal invitation to attend and signed up for the retreat since I had not done anything for Lent. Reluctantly I went on the retreat with the plan of only staying a few hours. I just did not have the time for God, but God had the time for me. He gave me the second chance to make changes I needed to repent and help put Jesus first in my life and bear the fruit he called me to bear.  This helped lead me a daily relationship with Jesus in prayer, strengthened my marriage and family, and eventually led to discerning the diaconate.

I pray that this Lent that we are all open to a second chance from God, and that the practices of prayer, fasting, and almsgiving help us bear fruit that pleases God. 

 

 

 

 

No comments:

Post a Comment

You are welcome to post comments, but in doing so please use Christian charity. I am open to comments with opposing view points, but I reserve right as to whether to approve the posting or not.