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Lenten Reflection - Third Sunday of Lent
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March 20, 2022At first, the parable of the fig tree in the Gospel according to Luke (13: 1-9) seems to convey a harsh and unjust owner who is willing to uproot and, thus, kill the tree for not having figs. But, as in all the parables of Jesus, the meaning of this parable is quite the opposite; it’s about mercy and “agape” love.
The fig tree by its very nature is a fruit-bearing tree and the owner of land and, thus, of the tree expects the tree to produce figs. After all, he allowed the fig tree to be planted in his land and has paid his gardener to cultivate and care for the tree for a good period—years—so that it may grow and produce figs. But, in the parable, when the owner searches the tree for fruit and does not find any, he orders that it be cut down. Why should it exhaust the soil? The gardener, however, pleads to give him one more year to cultivate the ground around the tree and fertilize it. It may bear fruit in the future. If not, you can cut it down. As you may have gathered, we are the tree—individually and as members of communities. Each one of us is called to produce fruit, as individuals and members of our respective communities. Elsewhere in the Gospel, Jesus calls us to bear fruit that lasts.
The question is: what is the fruit that the Lord is looking for? We are called to produce fruit out of the gifts that the Lord has given us as individuals, such as talents in mathematics, sciences, languages and the arts, to come to fruition in us to help feed the hungry, clothe the naked, visit the imprisoned and praise God as individuals and as nations. We cannot do it alone, however, we need the Gardener—Jesus—to produce fruit for God.
