Sleeha 6thS,June 27,10

Sleeha 6^th S,June 27,10

(Lk.12:57-13:9)

In today’s Gospel, Our Lord speaks about the need for repentance by mentioning two tragic events that took the lives of a few people known to his listeners. Jesus knew what was going on in their minds. For, many were under the impression that these tragic and untimely deaths were due to some great sins they had committed and that their deaths were the punishments God meted out to them. Jesus lets them know that accidents would happen and that their deaths were not at all due to their sins. He uses the occasion to let them know that one should always be prepared for any eventuality that would happen in one’s life. Real deaths happen when we lose our eternal life.

People are asked, hence, to give up sins, to repent and come back to their faith in God. What is important is living according to the will of God. It is not death that has the final say on our lives but it is the way that we live that determines our eternal life. Hence, Jesus makes a direct appeal to his listeners to eschew their hard heartedness and obstinacy and accept him as their Savior and return to their filial relationship with God.

Jesus uses a very vivid example to show them how necessary it is to live according to the will of God. We become fruitful when we fulfill our purpose in life which is to live according to the will of God. It is not by indulging in sinful actions and refusing to accept God that we fulfill the purpose in our life. When we live a righteous life and live in obedience to God’s will, we produce fruit in our lives. Also it is a warning to Israel as a nation to change its attitude and accept Jesus as their Savior. Israel is the fig tree in God’s vineyard and if it does not produce fruit, it is not fulfilling the purpose for which it was created and would lose its relevance. Israel would be rejected.

Today’s Gospel, hence, is a powerful appeal to each one of us to come to repentance and to return to the Lord. We do not have to wait and dither. Just as the Galileans who were killed by Pilate and the people who lost their lives because of the fall of the tower at Siloam, we too may encounter tragedies in our lives. What is important is our readiness in life to meet any eventuality. The choice is ours. We can make that decision whether to live according to our Lord’s teachings, or to pursue the path of selfishness and arrogance.

We can go criticizing the Church and not practicing a prayer life. We can stop participating in the Eucharistic celebrations and live a life full of vengeance and hatred. Or we can change our ways and accept the Lord in our life and lead a good life, inspiring our families to live according to the teachings of Jesus.

Time and tide wait for none. It is our duty to seize the opportunity and make changes in our lives. The sacrament of Confession offers us the opportunity to show repentance and accept forgiveness and begin a new chapter in our life. All of us are weak and fragile. We fall and fail. No one is born a saint. The struggle to become perfect is never over; it is an ongoing struggle. But the Lord offers us the opportunity to repent and to be made whole. The love and compassion of the Lord are always there. He is ready to forgive and accept us when we return to him in repentance.

As G.K. Chesterton has said, “Man is straighter when he bends and taller when he bows.” It is in our humility and repentance that we become worthy of God’s grace.