Bearing Fruit in Lent: God's Invitation to Conversion

03-23-2025Weekly ReflectionFr. Albert

Each year the first two Sundays of Lent are linked with specific events in the life of Christ: the temptations he endured in the Judean desert and the Transfiguration on the mountain, as recorded in the Gospels. The third Sunday of Lent, though, is not so much centered on an event in Christ's life, but is concerned with Jesus' teaching on the patience, mercy, and love of our God. The three readings assigned for this Sunday all touch on the importance of place hope in God, the All merciful and Giver of Life, who is always ready to forgive transgressors.

Continuing along the same line of thinking, Jesus uses in his preaching an image for God as a Gardener and the challenge of growing plants and trees, which includes weeding out what is not-productive or dead. In the case of the fig tree being described in the Gospel, the chief gardener or owner of the vineyard notices a fruitless tree and orders it to be cut down.

The vinedresser, though, pleads for another year, a further chance for the tree, in the hope that it may indeed bear fruit. The point being made by Jesus is that God is truly patient and merciful, more than willing to give innumerable chances for a change of heart, a deeper union, a fuller communion with the living God.

There comes a point, though, when in fact the human heart may be so far from God that nothing less than God's all powerful grace can redirect it. The reality of free will always has to be taken into account, of course, with the reminder that God never forces us to act against our will, but lovingly invites us to share in God's life.

In this Sunday's Gospel passage Jesus is teaching his disciples never to let their lives be so out of control or far from God that the turning to God becomes more and more difficult , though never impossible. Our free will is just that not being forced to choose for God and the ways of the Gospel, but truly free, leaving us with the ability to choose for God and life or seek the way of error and separation from God. That we want to avoid at all costs. it is never too late to turn to God.

Today is the acceptable time to return to God and to produce fruit in our life and the time to experience God's loving mercy and to offer our forgiveness to those who have offended us in the past or are offending us now. This is the acceptable time to be kind-hearted and give others another chance. Christ can more freely enter our lives under such conditions, when we leave ourselves open to true life and love.

The good fruit includes love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. And the greatest fruit produced is love and forgiveness toward all. We are only able to do this by the grace of God. May God's grace come abundantly into our lives today and throughout these forty days of Lent.