<\/p>\n
Things haven\u2019t changed much in 2000 years, have they?\u00a0 A tower collapses in downtown Jerusalem; a horrendous atrocity occurs in far-away Galatia, and how does the crowd surrounding Jesus interpret these events?\u00a0 They seem to think that the people who were killed by the tower, or those victimized by the atrocity, were bigger sinners, and so, God was targeting them specifically and what is more, that these victims even deserved it.\u00a0 It\u2019s as if everyone else has a problem, but we don\u2019t.<\/p>\n
But Jesus counters this thinking very sharply.\u00a0 He says, no, indeed, these people were not greater sinners; they didn\u2019t deserve destruction any more than anyone else; it just happened to be their time.\u00a0 And then he tells the crowd that unless they all repent, they will suffer the same destruction.<\/p>\n
Well isn\u2019t it the same today with us?\u00a0 We read the news, and are so preoccupied with what\u2019s going on elsewhere, we don\u2019t see the problems in our own home court.\u00a0 A school massacre occurs in Connecticut or Virginia or Colorado.\u00a0 And we say, there must be a problem in those places.\u00a0 Yes, there is a problem there, but there is also a problem right here.\u00a0 The problem is not selective; it is across the whole country.\u00a0 It is the work of the devil, and it is influencing all of us just the same as it is influencing people in Colorado or Connecticut or Virginia.\u00a0 It may manifest itself differently, but it is there all the same.<\/p>\n
In the first reading, Moses encounters God through the burning bush.\u00a0 And the message the Lord gives is this:\u00a0 That He is their God, and that the people should listen to their God, have faith in him no matter what; keep His commandments; and then he will save them from their terrible enslavement to Pharaoh and Egypt.\u00a0 Further, the Lord designates Moses as his authority to speak in His name.<\/p>\n
Then, in the second reading, Paul points out that even though God was present to the Israelites as they went and they had a leader, Moses, who was trying to guide them as a group, they only paid lip service to Him as their God, and His commandments; and they were not listening to Moses and the other leaders.\u00a0 And so, many of them really did not please God.\u00a0 They sought evil things and grumbled, and these were dealt with severely.\u00a0 So, God can be with us, and His authority can be right in our midst, but unless we recognize Him and respond to Him, we are subject to destruction. \u00a0It can happen to us too.<\/p>\n
Now, basically, the problem is this:\u00a0 The secular world is looking for justice, peace, and prosperity.\u00a0 But we individuals are just looking for our own happiness.\u00a0 The two need to be reconciled with each other, and that comes through God because only God can bring real truth to this tension. \u00a0\u00a0But, the trouble is that we cannot do it alone with God.\u00a0 The parable of the fig tree gives us a hint as to the answer.\u00a0 On its own, the fig tree was floundering.\u00a0 But notice the landowner agrees to delay destruction of his fig tree while the gardener applies water and fertilizer to it, and gives the tree another year to shape up.\u00a0 Jesus is telling us that God will delay our destruction as well- if we agree to be watered and fertilized by our caretakers.\u00a0 In our case, the gardener is the Church- it is the Church that has the water and fertilizer we need, the wisdom and teaching of God, the reconciliation of our self-interests with the greater good of society.<\/p>\n
And so, the question for us today is this.\u00a0 When I am troubled, and pray for God\u2019s help, what resources do I bring to my prayer and reflection?\u00a0 Do I listen carefully to what the Pope and Bishops have to say?\u00a0 Do I pay attention to the guidance that God gives me through the Church?\u00a0 Do I value the Bible and the Catechism and the other resources available from the Church?\u00a0 Because just like that fig tree in the parable we can only bear fruit if we are properly watered and fertilized with the right sources of inspiration.\u00a0 If our inspiration and thinking is tied to our own devices, or even worse, to what the secular culture is saying- like the people of Jesus time- then we are in trouble.\u00a0 But if our inspiration and thinking are based on the foundation that the Church provides, then we will not be caught by surprise when our moment comes.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Third Sunday in Lent Ex 3: 1-8a, 13-15;1 Cor 10: 1-6, 10-12; Lk 13: 1-9 Dc. Larry Brockman Things haven\u2019t changed much in 2000 years, have they?\u00a0 A tower collapses in downtown Jerusalem; a horrendous atrocity occurs in far-away Galatia, and how does the crowd surrounding Jesus interpret these events?\u00a0 They seem to think […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[4],"tags":[204,205],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.deaconlarry.org\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/321"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.deaconlarry.org\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.deaconlarry.org\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.deaconlarry.org\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.deaconlarry.org\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=321"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/www.deaconlarry.org\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/321\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":322,"href":"http:\/\/www.deaconlarry.org\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/321\/revisions\/322"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.deaconlarry.org\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=321"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.deaconlarry.org\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=321"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.deaconlarry.org\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=321"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}