Saturday of the Twenty-ninth Week in Ordinary Time
Today’s Reflection
Gospel: Lk 13:1-9
October 22, 2022 | Saturday
One day, some people told Jesus what had occurred in the temple: Pilate had had Galileans killed, and their blood mingled with the blood of their sacrifices. Jesus asked them, “Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all other Galileans, because they suffered this? No, I tell you. But unless you change your ways, you will all perish, as they did. And those eighteen persons in Siloah, who were crushed when the tower fell, do you think they were more guilty than all the others in Jerusalem? I tell you: no. But unless you change your ways, you will all perish, as they did.” And Jesus continued, “A man had a fig tree growing in his vineyard, and he came looking for fruit on it, but found none. Then he said to the gardener, ‘Look here, for three years now I have been looking for figs on this tree, and I have found none. Cut it down, why should it continue to deplete the soil?’ The gardener replied, ‘Leave it one more year, so that I may dig around it and add some fertilizer; perhaps it will bear fruit from now on. But if it doesn’t, you can cut it down.’”
Today’s Reflection:
The report regarding Pilate’s killing of the Galileans came to the attention of Jesus after he taught the multitudes about judging others (Lk. 12:57-59). Those who reported aimed to show perhaps that the Galileans who were killed deserved it for they thought that they were the “worse sinners than all other Galileans” (Lk. 13:2). But Jesus told them the possibility of death to those who refuse to repent. He then articulated this message through a parable of a fig tree (vv. 6-9) which highlights God’s opportunity for every believer to repent. Indeed, human persons are weak, commit mistakes over and over again and can easily succumb to temptation. God is more merciful and loving than what Jesus’ audience thought of. God gives his followers several chances for them to bear fruit (v. 9). In a sense, Jesus intended to show these reporters that to judge belongs only to God for He alone knows what is inside every person’s heart. /Vulnerasti, 2022
