Message from the Pastor
Rev. John B. Bateman
A Few Words from the Pastor
Weekly Reflection: The first part of today’s Gospel (at 4pm & 8am Masses) leaves a lot of room for us to fill in the blanks. We don’t know anything about the two tragic events reported in the Gospel. Jesus doesn’t reply to the people by filling in more information; rather, He uses these probably fairly recent events that are very much on the minds of people as a “teachable moment.”
These events involve tragic death, and Jesus uses them to make absolute that unless we repent, we also will die. Then in the parable of the fig tree, Jesus reveals the patience of God with us, despite our slowness to repent. How merciful is our God! This is God’s work of mercy: to take what is almost dead and coax it to new life. This is our work of repentance: to turn from sinfulness toward God’s transforming mercy. This is our work of evangelization: to reach out to those who have left the practice of the Faith and invite them to “come home” to the Church and be nourished once again.
Jesus redirects the people from idle speculation about the meaning of the tragic fate of others to the serious work of their own repentance. As the 2nd reading reminds us, “standing secure” in the graciousness of the new life God offers us does not mean that, because God gives us everything needed for our journey toward salvation, we don’t need to cooperate with God to “cultivate” and “fertilize” our spiritual lives. We “grumble” our way through life – we judge others, fail to live up to our baptismal commitments, do not heed all the warnings given us. Jesus is quite clear in His message: “bear fruit” or be “cut down.” Our encouragement is that God is ever patient, ever merciful. God never gives up on us.
A Few Words from the Pastor
Weekly Reflection: The first part of today’s Gospel (at 4pm & 8am Masses) leaves a lot of room for us to fill in the blanks. We don’t know anything about the two tragic events reported in the Gospel. Jesus doesn’t reply to the people by filling in more information; rather, He uses these probably fairly recent events that are very much on the minds of people as a “teachable moment.”
These events involve tragic death, and Jesus uses them to make absolute that unless we repent, we also will die. Then in the parable of the fig tree, Jesus reveals the patience of God with us, despite our slowness to repent. How merciful is our God! This is God’s work of mercy: to take what is almost dead and coax it to new life. This is our work of repentance: to turn from sinfulness toward God’s transforming mercy. This is our work of evangelization: to reach out to those who have left the practice of the Faith and invite them to “come home” to the Church and be nourished once again.
Jesus redirects the people from idle speculation about the meaning of the tragic fate of others to the serious work of their own repentance. As the 2nd reading reminds us, “standing secure” in the graciousness of the new life God offers us does not mean that, because God gives us everything needed for our journey toward salvation, we don’t need to cooperate with God to “cultivate” and “fertilize” our spiritual lives. We “grumble” our way through life – we judge others, fail to live up to our baptismal commitments, do not heed all the warnings given us. Jesus is quite clear in His message: “bear fruit” or be “cut down.” Our encouragement is that God is ever patient, ever merciful. God never gives up on us.