Gospel of the Third Sunday of Lent
“There were some present at that very time who told Him of the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices. And He answered them: ‘Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans, because they suffered thus? I tell you, No; but unless you repent you will all likewise perish. Or those eighteen upon whom the tower in Siloam fell and killed them, do you think that they were worse offenders than all the others who dwelt in Jerusalem? I tell you, No; but unless you repent you will all likewise perish.’ And He told this parable: ‘A man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard; and he came seeking fruit on it and found none. And he said to the vinedresser, “Lo, these three years I have come seeking fruit on this fig tree, and I find none. Cut it down; why should it use up the ground?” And he answered him, “Let it alone sir, this year also, and I shall cultivate the ground around it and fertilize it. And if it bears fruit next year, well and good; but if not, you can cut it down”’” (Lk 13:1-9).
I – The Unconditional Love of God for Each One of Us
In contemplating the universe, especially from the standpoint of beauty, man can turn to God at every moment, seeing the Creator reflected in creatures. However, many of our contemporaries are caught up in a pace of life that absorbs their attention, hindering them from stepping back from their daily tasks to pause, even for a few moments, to admire something noble, sublime or beautiful which might draw them to the supernatural realm.
Those who conduct their lives in this way show a disregard for the deeper side of reality, since God is everywhere and intimately in everything. 1 “In Him we live and move and have our being” (Acts 17:28).
God wants to give us eternal life
God is supremely communicative and “does not cease to call all men to seek Him so that they can live and find happiness.” 2 He wants to interact with us and has a freely given, immeasurable, and unconditional love for us, which pardons infidelities to such an extent that Our Lord said that there is more joy in Heaven upon the conversion of one sinner than in the perseverance of ninety-nine just (cf. Lk 15:7).
Holy Scripture declares, “I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way and live” (Ez 33:11). This truth expressed through Revelation should fill us with confidence, regardless of our spiritual state.
This especially holds true since the life that Our Lord desires for us is not lived out within the limits of an earthly existence filled with pleasures of the senses; such pleasures, besides being illusory, are practically nothing compared with what He wants to give us, that is, a participation in the divine nature itself. God created us to enjoy His entire and perpetual happiness. It is impossible to imagine a greater gift!
We must especially avoid placing obstacles to grace
From all eternity, God has a specific plan for each one of us and He maintains it even in face of our lack of correspondence. In His mercy, He sees what every person would be if he had been faithful to the graces received, living at the height of perfection for which he was created.
God waits for our vocation to one day become a reality, and uses daily happenings to move us to conversion. Therefore, even if someone has been reduced to a most unfortunate state on account of a grave fault committed—or, worse still, because of having deliberately embarked upon evil ways—the Divine Judge is not quick to punish the sinner. On the contrary, He patiently awaits the right moment to lead the prodigal son back to the paternal home.
Moreover, God’s love for men is so unconditional that, in face of the Creator’s salvific desire, our will is relegated to a secondary plane. St. Maravillas of Jesus summarizes this truth in her well-known motto: “Si tú le dejas…” — “If you but allow Him…” In following the path of virtue, it is especially necessary to avoid placing obstacles to the action of grace in our souls. Holiness is not principally a result of our effort, but comes from God’s loving initiative.
This is the perspective from which we should consider today’s Liturgy, to best profit from its teachings.
II – Jesus invites the Jews to conversion
“There were some present at that very time who told Him of the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices.”
Shortly before the episode narrated in this Gospel, when the people were gathered in the Temple for the Paschal offering, some Galileans who were discontented with Roman rule, had taken advantage of the great influx of pilgrims to start a revolution against Caesar’s authority.
When Pilate heard of it, he was outraged and ordered the insurgents to be executed. Rushing into the atrium of the Temple, soldiers not only slew the rebels but also shed the innocent blood of some other Galileans who were there offering the customary sacrifices. The news produced a great commotion and some ran to tell Jesus what had happened. 3
Temporal punishment forewarns eternal chastisement
“And He answered them: ‘Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans, because they suffered thus? I tell you, No; but unless you repent you will all likewise perish.”
The bearers of the news imagined that, as a Galilean, Jesus would naturally side with His dead compatriots. Perhaps they even hoped that the brutality of the repression would prompt the Divine Master to declare Himself in favour of Judaic nationalism.
But Our Lord’s thoughts always occupied a much higher plane than that of political disputes. In His answer, He does not focus on the concrete aspects of the matter, but uses the opportunity to provide a moral lesson, as Fillion states: “Without judging the actions of the ruler, nor lowering Himself to the field of political disputes, He reminds His listeners that since everyone offends God, all are exposed to the blows of divine justice as long as they do not repent and sincerely convert.” 4
Here is a first attitude of Jesus for imitation: when faced with a particularly interesting incident in daily life, we should avoid examining it from a merely earthly viewpoint, but should seek to rise to the supernatural plane, so as to better judge it.
On the other hand, according to Leal and other teachers of the Company of Jesus, the tenor of the Divine Master’s response was aimed at correcting an erroneous idea prevalent among the Jewish people which considered all suffering to be a chastisement. 5 Yet, as Cardinal Gomá teaches, only the Lord “knows if there is some relation between personal sins and the misfortunes that befall a person; the examples of Job, Epulon and Lazarus belie the mistaken and superstitious theory of the Jews.” 6
In affirming that the Galilean victims were no greater sinners than those who were speaking to Him, Jesus uses a psychological aid to warn them more vividly of the intrinsic gravity of sin and the corresponding punishment. For, as Maldonado explains, “Jesus sought to caution, concerning eternal chastisement, His listeners who were so impressed by the report of that temporal punishment; as if to say: […] do not consider those who suffered this bodily death unfortunate, but rather those who will suffer the death of the soul, and this will certainly befall all of you, if you do not do timely penance.” 7
Our Lord gives a second example
“Or those eighteen upon whom the tower in Siloam fell and killed them, do you think that they were worse offenders than all the others who dwelt in Jerusalem? I tell you, No; but unless you repent you will all likewise perish.”
Next, Christ mentions another recent tragedy: the collapse of the Siloam tower, which killed eighteen people who were inside. The disaster had been a chance mishap not linked to political happenings.
The suspicion that the disaster had been a chastisement for the victims, also hovered over this disaster, for, according to the mindset of the Jewish people of that time, accidental death only visited those who had gravely offended God. “Such tragedies seemed to show the hand of Divine Providence as wanting to chastise their sins,” 8 Maldonado comments.
However, the Divine Master once again corrects them: those eighteen were no more sinful than the other Jews. And again He warns them of the need to convert.
Fulfilment of Jesus’ prophecies
“In God’s plan there are set moments for the execution of chastisements or collective catastrophes,” Fr. Tuya asserts. 9
Some decades after the episode retold in this Gospel passage, Jerusalem was besieged by the troops of Titus, and the inhabitants of the city perished at the hands of the Romans, just as those Galileans had.
Regarding this, Cardinal Gomá highlights: “The very interior of the Temple, as Flavius Josephus narrates, became filled with dead bodies during the siege of Jerusalem, ‘in the same way,’ offering sacrifices.” 10
And Didon writes: “It is likely that the learned men of the time, the Sadducees, courtiers of the foreign power, and the Pharisees—who, in the blind pride of their piety devoid of virtue—believed in the triumph of Israel and smirked at the threats of the Prophet. The people themselves, always more concerned with the present than with the distant future, did not seem to have been impressed by them.
“But the prophecy, meanwhile, was not long in being fulfilled: forty years later, the soldiers of Titus beheaded the last partisans of national independence in the Temple; and the houses of Jerusalem went up in flames and collapsed on the inhabitants of the impenitent city like the tower of Siloam.
“This terrible future toward which the nation rushed, was constantly on the Prophet’s mind; it moved and saddened Him more than His own death; He wanted to avert it by awakening their consciences and having them hearken to the voice of God. If they had understood the obligation at hand, they would have renounced the earthly dreams that deluded them and welcomed the good news of the Kingdom, of a transformed Israel. Allowing the Romans to pursue their work, they would become the true spiritual people of God. Never was a more sublime destiny offered to a nation, yet never was there a more incurable blindness. In vain Jesus sought to disillusion it.” 11
Thus, according to many commentators, the year 70 saw the fulfilment of both prophecies contained in today’s Gospel. The Jewish historian Flavius Josephus, an eyewitness of those events, recounts dramatic scenes such as that of a mother who, overcome by hunger and despair, cooked her own son in the oven to eat him. 12
III – The Parable of the Fig Tree
To better impress upon the souls of His listeners the need for prompt penance, Jesus continues His teachings by using an easily understood parable, since fig trees were then plentiful in Palestine. They were usually planted with grapevines; both grapes and dry figs were important elements of the regional diet.
Image of those who do not strive to do good works
“And He told this parable: ‘A man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard; and he came seeking fruit on it and found none.And he said to the vinedresser, “Lo, these three years I have come seeking fruit on this fig tree, and I find none. Cut it down; why should it use up the ground?’”’”
The fig tree usually bears fruit in its first year, or in its second at the latest. After three years, this tree had still produced no fruit. There was, therefore, no reason to delay in cutting it down, because a sterile tree not only takes up space in an orchard but also depletes the soil.
The tree in this parable symbolizes those who make no effort to do good works, but opt to live off of God’s benefits, without seeking to make these gifts bear fruit. St. Gregory the Great affirms: “For every one according to his measure, in whatever station of life he is, unless he produces fruits of good works, he harms the ground like an unfruitful tree; for wherever he himself is placed, he denies another the opportunity of working there. […] Consequently, those who place obstacles to others harm the ground; and those who do not strive to act according to their station harm the ground.” 13
Here we find yet another lesson for our spiritual life. At times, evident signs indicate that God wants a specific apostolic activity of us for the expansion of His Kingdom, yet we do nothing, thus committing a fault of omission. Often these types of faults go unnoticed in our examination of conscience because, excessively concerned with our personal interests, we do not realize that we sin when we fail to produce the fruits that the Owner of the Vineyard expects.
This passage contains a warning: the owner of the vineyard orders the barren fig tree to be cut down. Could something similar not befall any one of us?
Analogy of the Chosen People
“And he answered him, ‘Let it alone sir, this year also, and I shall cultivate the ground around it and fertilize it. And if it bears fruit next year, well and good; but if not, you can cut it down.’”
Commentators apply the situation described in these verses to the Chosen People. In this vein, Father Tuya affirms: “Israel was treated thus, being repeatedly cultivated with warnings and prophets; then came the Baptist, and finally Christ, with His doctrines and miracles. But the leaders of Israel did not acknowledge Him as the Messiah.” 14
In effect, God exhorted this “fig tree” to give fruit several times in the Old Testament with no success. And when the time of harvest approached, He sent the Precursor as a herald of divine justice with the warning: “Bear fruits that befit repentance. […] Even now the axe is laid to the root of the trees; every tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire” (Lk 3:8-9). Later, He personally willed to fructify it with His Most Precious Divine Blood, which watered the whole earth.
But the “fig tree” remained sterile. “The Lord sought fruits of faith on it, but it had nothing to give,” declares St. Ephraim the Syrian. 15 Therefore, St. Cyril of Alexandria affirms, “After the crucifixion of the Saviour, the Israelites were condemned to fall into the miseries they merited. Jerusalem was to be seized and its inhabitants killed by the enemy sword; their houses would be burned and even the Temple of God destroyed.” 16
Yet, we cannot forget what the same teachers from the Company of Jesus note: “The application extends to man in general, as Judaic history summarizes the history of humanity.” 17
Let us seek to draw fitting analogies for our spiritual life from this parable. For, as a pious author points out: “We are this fig tree, grafted to Jesus Christ by Baptism, planted in His Church by faith, […] carefully cultivated […]. Do we seek to correspond faithfully by producing the fruits that He has the right to expect from us?” 18
Symbolism of vinedresser
Commentators attach varied symbolism to the vinedresser. Theophylus affirms: “The master of the household is God the Father, the dresser is Christ, who will not have the fig tree cut down as barren, as if saying to the Father, ‘Although through the Law and the Prophets they gave no fruit of repentance, I will water them with My sufferings and teaching, and perhaps they will yield us fruits of obedience.’” 19
Cardinal Gomá sees the vinedresser as an image of our Guardian Angel, or of those whom God has set as our guides, or even each one of us, because “each one tends to his own vineyard.” 20
And St. Gregory the Great states: “What does the vine keeper represent if not the order of Prelates, who, in heading the Church, tend to the Lord’s vineyard?” He goes on to attribute surprising symbolism to the work of the vinedresser: “What does it mean to dig around the fig tree but to rebuke unproductive souls? In fact, all digging is done below and it is certain that admonition humiliates the soul; therefore, when we rebuke someone for their sin, we act as one who, for the purposes of cultivation, digs around the sterile tree.” 21
“If not, you can cut it down”
The Gospel passage ends abruptly with a terrible threat: “If not, you can cut it down.”
In the Old Testament, examples of harsh chastisements are not lacking to give credence to this warning: at the time of Noah, the earth was submersed in the flood waters (cf. Gn 7:17-24); Sodom and Gomorrah were destroyed by fire (cf. Gn 19:24-25); Pharaoh’s troops were drowned in the Red Sea (cf. Ex 14:27-28). God is Patience, in substance, but He is also Wisdom and Justice, and knows how and when to intervene.
And in the New Testament, we see Jesus return to the image of this parable when, en route to Jerusalem from Bethany, three days before His death, He was hungry and approached a fig tree along the wayside. Finding nothing on it but leaves, He said: “May no fruit ever come from you again!” And, to the astonishment of the disciples, the fig tree instantly withered (cf. Mt 21:17-20). St. Mark specifies that it withered “to its roots” (Mk 11:20).
This barren tree is evocative of those who abuse the patience of the Creator, until the moment, unknown by men, that their measure is complete…
IV – What God expects of us
God is indulgent with us, as St. Peter says: “The Lord […] is forbearing toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance” (2 Pet 3:9). He gives ample time for the land to be fertilized and irrigated so that people might convert.
All the same, the terrible consequences of divine Justice presented by the Liturgy of this Third Sunday of Lent invite us to examine our conscience to know if we are truly fulfilling our Christian duties assumed at Baptism. The invitation to conversion in this passage calls for a walk toward perfection and the shedding of all attachment to sin, since good can only proceed from a complete cause. 22
Let us be conscious, then, of the need for a continuous and authentic conversion, since the search for God demands all the effort of man’s intelligence and rectitude of his will to correspond to grace, without which we can do nothing.
And if we have had the misfortune of committing many faults, we must not forget that Our Lady and our Guardian Angel are always pleading for us that God will grant us one more chance. The blessed do the same, as St. Augustine explains in his commentary of this parable: “All the saints are like vinedressers who intercede for sinners before the Lord.” 23
This Liturgy—which gravely warns but also encourages us to have unshakeable confidence in divine mercy—also leads to careful examination of conscience. So, let us take this day as an occasion to beseech the grace of breaking entirely with evil. What Jesus expects and even required of His people, as seen in today’s Gospel, is exactly what He wants from each of us in this Lenten season. Truly, everyone who has not lived in a state of perfect innocence has great need for the virtue of repentance and spirit of compunction.
This sorrow for our own sins, when it results in perfect contrition, produces beautiful and abundant fruits, such as the full remission of our sins and even the temporal punishment due to them, and a significant increase in the sanctifying grace that aids the soul toward rapid progress along the path of sanctification. Besides favouring inner peace, this contrition keeps the soul humble, purifies it, and helps it to mortify its disordered instincts. It is an excellent way to acquire strength to fight temptations and guarantee perseverance in fidelity to the Commandments.
Could we possibly remain unmoved before this touching example of the people’s rejection of the limits set by the Saviour for their repentance and conversion? Will we act in like manner or will we implore God, through Mary, His true gift of perfect contrition?
With regard to the sinful rejection of the Chosen People, Didon comments: “The fruit that God expected and demanded of His Chosen People was penitence and faith, a penitence that weeps over infidelities and faults, and a faith which accepts the word of life and opens the way to the Messianic Kingdom.
“From the beginning of His public life, Jesus tirelessly emphasized these great responsibilities. However, aside from a few elect, no one responded; instead of striking their chests, the religious leaders spoke only of their justice; instead of believing in the Messenger, they opposed, persecuted, defamed, threatened and condemned Him. The punishment of God was at hand, ready to be unleashed, had the unknown Messenger not delayed its detonation; this blind race scarcely imagined what was coming. Embroiled in their fatal illusions that the word of Jesus could not dispel, they rested on the promises of God, without thinking that their hardness had rendered these promises sterile and provoked the heavenly wrath. The miracles could do no more than the word. They elicited a few shouts of admiration from the multitude, but scandalized the leading class, which did not cease to set the vain observations of their religion against the Prophet.” 24
We can again ask ourselves: Will our response be the same? Or will we take full advantage not only of this Liturgy, but also of the entire Lenten Season? ◊
Notes
1 ST. THOMAS AQUINAS. Summa Theologica I, q.8, a.1, resp.
2 Catechism of the Catholic Church, n.30.
3 Several early commentators, including St. Cyril (in Cat. Graec. Patr. apud Catena Aurea), identify this episode with the revolt of Judas the Galilean, narrated by St. Luke in Acts 5:37. However, more recent authors, such as Fillion (Vida de Nuestro Señor Jesucristo. II. Madrid: Rialp, s/d, p.387) and the teachers of the Company of Jesus (LEAL, SJ, Juan; PÁRAMO, SJ, Severiano; ALONSO, SJ, José. La Sagrada Escritura. I. Evangelios. Madrid: BAC, 1961, p.696), believe it refers to a different incident, which occurred shortly before the episode narrated here.
4 FILLION, Louis-Claude. Vida de Nuestro Señor Jesucristo. Madrid: Rialp, s/d, v.II, p.387.
5 Cf. LEAL, SJ, Juan; PÁRAMO, SJ, Severiano del; ALONSO, SJ, José. La Sagrada Escritura. Evangelios. Madrid: BAC, 1961, v.I, p.696.
6 GOMÁ Y TOMÁS, Isidro. El Evangelio explicado. Madrid: Casulleras, 1930. v.III, p.244.
7 MALDONADO, SJ, Juan de. Comentarios a los cuatro Evangelios – II Evangelios de San Marcos y San Lucas. Madrid: BAC, 1951, p.616.
8 Idem, p.617.
9 TUYA, OP, Manuel de. Biblia Comentada – II. Evangelios. Madrid: BAC, 1964, p.857.
10 GOMÁ Y TOMÁS, op. cit., p.244.
11 DIDON. Jesus Christo. Porto: Chardron, 1895, v.II, p.320.
12 FLAVIUS JOSEPHUS. La conquista de Jerusalén por los romanos. In: Reportaje de la Historia. Barcelona: Planeta, 1968, v.I, p.131-132. Similar reports occupy pages 111-136.
13 ST. GREGORY THE GREAT. Obras completas. Madrid: BAC, 1958, p.693-694.
14 TUYA, OP, op. cit., p.857.
15 Comentario al Diatessaron, 14, 26-27. Apud: ODEN, Thomas C.; JUST, Arthur A. La biblia comentada por los Padres de la Iglesia. Madrid: Ciudad Nueva, 2000, p.309.
16 Comentario al Evangelio de Lucas, 92, 12. Apud: Idem, p.310.
17 LEAL, SJ; PÁRAMO, SJ; ALONSO, SJ, op. cit., p.697.
18 L’Évangile médité. II. Paris-Lyon: Perisse, 1843, p.552.
19 THEOPHYLUS, apud ST. THOMAS AQUINAS, Catena áurea. IV. San Lucas. Buenos Aires: Cursos de Cultura Católica, s/d, p.334-335.
20 GOMÁ Y TOMÁS, op. cit., p.245.
21 ST. GREGORY THE GREAT. Obras completas. Madrid: BAC, 1958, p.694.
22 Cf. ST. THOMAS AQUINAS. Summa Theologica, I-II, q.18, a.4, ad.3.
23 ST. AUGUSTINE, apud MALDONADO, SJ, op. cit., p.619.
24 DIDON. Op. cit, p.321-322.