Lent-3 Ex 3:1-8,13-15; 1 Cor 10:1-6,10-12; Luke 13:1-9

All three of today's readings speak of God’s mercy and compassion in disciplining his children by occasional punishment and giving them a second chance in spite of their repeated sins.  

In today’s Gospel Jesus quotes two disasters.  The massacre ordered by Pilot and collapse of a tower in Jerusalem. Popular opinion at that time drew a direct line of causality from people's sufferings back to their personal sins. By this logic, the Galileans who were killed by Pilate's soldiers must have deserved it because of some particularly heinous sins.

Scholars are not in agreement about the incident being referred to by Jesus. Many think, however, that it was Pilate's violent suppression of a demonstration in Jerusalem. Demonstrators had gathered in the Temple area to protest Pilate's use of Temple money to construct new aqueducts. Pilate then sent armed soldiers among them in disguise. At a signal, the soldiers dispersed the mob with clubs, killing many more than Pilate had anticipated.

Likewise, those who were killed in the construction accident in Siloam were believed to be paying the penalty for their sins. But Jesus takes a different angle. He does not answer to reasons of their sufferings. But he emphasizes that everyone who refuses to repent will stay separated from God. And if they die in such a state of alienation (and death can come at any time), they will continue in it for all eternity: "If you do not repent, you will all perish."

Jesus reminded his listeners that they would be judged by the opportunities they had. No generation in human history enjoyed so much of comforts and convenience as that of ours. No generation had so much of medical facilities as that of ours. No generation had the opportunity to see and speak to the people living in the other end of the world. No generation was able to traverse continents and oceans in great speed as we do. And no generation had so much of opportunities and chances as that of ours. Hence our responsibility too is greater.

   

The parable of the fig tree imparts the message of a second chance. Usually a fig tree takes 3 years to produce fruit. If it doesn’t produce fruit by that time it is unlikely to produce any fruit. However, the fruit tree was given one more chance. We too are given chances time and again through constant reminders by natural events, word of God, and the prophetic  words and deeds of our brothers and sisters. Every calamity, every tragedy, every natural event has a message for us. It is a sign, a reminder that our time is limited and hence, repent and make ourselves socially useful. Never fail to read the signs of time and accept their message.

Some people have a wrong concept that it is others that need repentance and conversion, not me. That was the attitude of the Pharisees and that is why Jesus came heavily on them.

A young and fearless preacher had a problem with a somewhat worldly parishioner who would remark sarcastically every Sunday as he shook the preacher’s hand at the door, "You got them today preacher!" Sunday after Sunday this fellow never seemed to feel that he needed to repent and always felt that the sermon was for everybody else. Then one Sunday there was a bad snow storm and the preacher and this one fellow were the only ones that could show up. The preacher seized the opportunity and preached his entire three point sermon on, "Hell, Fire, and Damnation." Well, the one congregant again walked out the door and shook the preacher’s hand and said, "If they had been here today preacher, you would have gotten them real good!"

We all need to be reminded of the need and importance of repenting for our sins. And repentance should be total, and complete. We cannot repent for half of our sins. Genuine repentance is total. That is why when we make a confession,if we deliberately hide some grave sins, the whole confession is going to become invalid and false.

One man sent a check to the government for back taxes with a note attached that said: “I felt so guilty for cheating on my taxes that I had to send you this check.  If I don’t feel any better, I’ll send you the rest.”  

 As Catholic Christians, we are blessed with a very clear, concrete way to repent, as often as we need to. In the sacrament of reconciliation, when we live it from the heart, we climb back into the arms of our heavenly Father, hiding nothing, freely admitting our need for him. Confession opens our souls wide to Christ's grace. It gives him room to work in our lives. In confession Jesus purifies our hearts, heals our wounds, and enlightens our minds.

Confession gives us the assurance of God's forgiveness and grace that we need. He wants us to hear his words of forgiveness and encouragement not just in our imagination, but with our ears. We had the reading the parable of the prodigal son for yesterday’s reading for Mass. At the end of the reading the Father tells every one: let’s celebrate this coming back of my son. We need to celebrate the forgiveness of God in our life. We are not to keep it quiet to ourselves.We have our Parish reconciliation service this Tuesday at 7.00 pm. We will have 7 priests hearing confessions so that we won’t have to wait long. It is our celebrating together.

One of the ways the Church encourages us to give repentance its proper place in our life is by making an examination of conscience every night before we go to sleep. Christians have had this habit for centuries. It's a way to make sure that we never let a sin or a habit of selfishness take root in our hearts and obstruct God's plan for our life. A nightly conscience exam is like brushing your teeth. It doesn't take much time, but if you do it every day, it makes a big difference in your health (and in your breath).

Lent is an ideal time "to dig around and manure" the tree of our life so that it may bring forth fruits of repentance, reconciliation, forgiveness and deepened sensitivity to the feelings of others.  We need to make the best use of the "second chance" God gives us.  Our merciful Father always gives us a second chance.  During Lent, we, too, are given another chance to repent and return to our heavenly Father’s love. During this mass, let's ask God to help us give repentance its proper place, so that  he can do wonderful things in us.