Sunday Readings
To speak of repentance is not fashionable today in a world that prefers to ignore sin. We though, who belong to Christ, can testify that repentance is the way to forgiveness and freedom. It is the key that unlocks the mercy of God! The call to repentance is always addressed to ourselves first since all of us are continually in need of deeper conversion
My Dearest Friends in Christ,
I welcome you to the Third Sunday of Lent. The readings of today speak of God’s Mercy and Compassion in disciplining His children while giving them another chance despite their repeated sins. Although God’s Love for us is constant and consistent, He will not save us without our cooperation. This is the reason He invites us during Lent to repent of our sins and to renew our lives by producing fruits of love, compassion, forgiveness, and faithful service.
In the first reading of today, God says: “I have witnessed the affliction of my people in Egypt and have heard their cry of complaint against their slave drivers, so I know well what they are suffering.” These lines beautifully express the compassionate heart of our God. God is not blind to the plight of those in misery. At the right time, God stepped in to end the woes and slavery of the Israelites by appointing Moses as a mediator to spearhead the mission of the liberation of His people. God provided all that was needed to accomplish that task and did mighty wonders in Egypt to liberate His people from bondage. These salvific works of the liberation of His people point to His culminating salvific work on the Cross for the liberation of the whole human race.
Dear child of God, difficulties and hardships are part and parcel of our existential experience. In the dark moments of our lives we often fail to acknowledge the Presence of God. We often think that God does not hear, understand or see our afflictions; but on the contrary, He sees, He knows and He understands because nothing escapes His Knowledge. He is All-Knowing. The hard times we experience are often God’s ways of drawing us closer to Himself because He loves us. Proverbs 3:12 says: “…the Lord disciplines those He loves, just as a father disciplines the son he delights in”. Both the sinner and the saint experience the “disciplinary love of God.”The degree of suffering is not directly proportional to one’s sins. Only God knows the measure and degree of discipline He applies in dealing with His children with love. So when one person suffers more than the other, it is not because that person has sinned more than others. One basic truth about life is that we often reap the consequences of our choices – good or bad. There is always an appointed time when whatever hardship we are going through will end. When we don’t lose faith because of the crises we are going through but anchor our faith and hope in God, crying out to Him in prayer, our liberation is sure to come. Are you already giving up? Hold on! Be patient. God will intervene! Never feel abandoned dear child of God! All you need to do is to learn from your present and past experiences and hardships. Acknowledge your need for God and repent of your sins. God will be moved with compassion. He will hear your cry and liberate you from your sufferings. While you are still suffering don’t lose faith in God because you could be going through some disciplinary and corrective experience that will forever transform your life.
In the second reading, Paul warns the Corinthians and especially us in this present time, to learn from the experiences of the Israelites whose sins were forgiven by a merciful, but just God. Our merciful and gracious God is also just and demanding. Paul exhorts us not to desire evil things as our forefathers did and thereby perished. He tells us to never presume we are secure lest we fall into sin. When we desire to do good, we attest to the mercy and compassion of God. Yet if we persist in evil, we subject ourselves to the ravages of evil. God is always waiting for us with His Mercy to turn away from evil.
The Gospel of today sounds rather harsh when Jesus says repent or you perish. At the same time, it reminds us of how God disciplines His people, calling them to renew their lives, and to produce the fruits of the Holy Spirit. Citing two tragic events, Jesus exhorts the Jews to repent and reform their lives. With the parable of the barren fig tree, Jesus also warns them that Our Merciful God will not put up with them nor with us indefinitely.
Like the Israelites in the desert, so many have died this year for different reasons : the Covid-19 pandemic, natural disasters, sickness, accidents, shootings, and recently the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Those who died did not experience their ill fate because they were not loved by God nor because they were the worst sinners. This is why we who are alive today, are not better than any of them in whatever respect. Your life today is simply a privilege and this privilege is an opportunity for you to repent. God does not will the death of His creatures and definitely does not enjoy watching unrepentant sinners die. This is why there is always a second chance with God. In Ezekiel 18:23 the Lord says: ”I do not take pleasure in the death of a wicked man (sinner), rather let him or her turn from evil ways and live”. It is sin that creates “the walking dead.” When we sin, we consciously choose to abandon the way of life and embrace the way that leads to death.
We often don’t appreciate the little opportunities we have in life. We often take for granted the gift of our lives and waste the precious moments and times we should invest in creating holy moments and bearing fruits of holiness. We often think we have more time when in reality we live in the uncertainty of the next moment. Although God patiently waits for sinners to repent, giving them the grace to do so, He will not wait forever. Time may run out; therefore, timely repentance is necessary.
Today could be your last chance; “Sir, leave it for this year also, and I shall cultivate the ground around it and fertilize it; it may bear fruit in the future. If not, you can cut it down.” Jesus is that mediator pleading to God the Father for more time for us. Let’s appreciate the redemptive work of Christ in our lives and repent from our sins. The Lenten Season is an ideal time “to dig around and fertilize” the tree of our spiritual life so that it may bring forth fruits of repentance, reconciliation, forgiveness, and sensitivity to the feelings of others. Don’t forget that: ”…a Lent missed is a year lost from the spiritual life.”
We need to make the best use of the “second chances” God gives us. During Lent, we are given another chance to repent and return to our Heavenly Father’s Love. “Without repentance, there is no real progress or improvement in life. Pretending there is no sin does not lessen its burden and pain. Suffering for sin does not by itself change anything for the better. Only repentance leads to the sunlit uplands of a better life.” -D.Todd Christofferson
My dearest, the time is now. Do not procrastinate. Now is the time to reconcile with God and others. Tomorrow is a promise to no one. Many have died. No one knows who will be the next. While time still lasts let us bear the fruits of holiness and reconcile with God and others.
I keep you and your family always in my prayers. ©Clem C. Aladi (2024)
