Ex 3:1-8,13-15; 1 Cor 10:1-6,10-12; Luke 13:1-9
Deadliest Natural calamities and manmade disasters have been part of
human existence. Blizzards, diseases, famines, floods, volcanic eruptions and
wild fires have consumed the life of millions.
Haiti has not yet been recovered from the shock of the earthquake that
took away the life of more than 200,000 people. The earthquake in Indian
Ocean in 2004 caused widespread death over India and its neighbouring
countries, and the great Chinese famine in 1958 deprived 43 million people
of their life.
In today’s Gospel Jesus quotes two disasters. The massacre
ordered by Pilot and collapse of a tower in Jerusalem. Some
people had come from Galilee to worship in the Temple. But Pilot sent
soldiers and slaughtered them as they were offering sacrifice in the
temple. Secondly, Jesus refereed to the death of 18 men caused by the
collapse of a tower in Jerusalem. As against the popular belief that these
tragedies and punishment for their sins Jesus reiterated the idea
that these are signs for us. They remind us that our time is limited
and we have to repent.
Jesus emphasizes the importance of repentance and the need to
bear the fruit of repentance through the parable of the fig tree. In
the vineyards of Palestine the fig tree had a more than average
chance but it had not proved worthy of it.
Jesus reminded his listeners that they would be judged by the
opportunities they had. Many times God reminded the people of Judah
to turn away from their sinful ways and accept the message
of peace and justice. Many prophets were sent to remind them of
their covenant with God. Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel and a number
of prophets came with the call to repentance, but the
people ignored all of them and missed all the opportunities to return
to God. Hence, the punishment was inevitable, the kingdom was looted,
and the people were deported by foreign powers.
We are also provided with a lot of opportunities but we fail to
discover them. C E M Joad wrote, “We have the powers of God and we use them
like irresponsible school boys.” No generation in human history enjoyed
so much of comforts and convenience as that of ours. No
generation had so much of medical facilities as that of ours. No
generation had the opportunity to see and speak to the people living in the
other end of the world. No generation was able to traverse continents and
oceans in great speed as we do. And no generation had so much of
opportunities and chances as that of ours. Hence our responsibility too is
greater.
Sir Isaac Newton was once turned out of class as
he was incapable of catching up with the class. Albert Einstein was
almost dismissed from the school as a disobedient student. Abraham Lincoln
contested elections many times only to taste miserable failure. But each
of these famous people proved to have certain genius and it grew out
of their dedication. They discovered their opportunities and blossomed. The
demand on us too is to discover what we are capable of and to accomplish it.
Time and again God has shown his impatience with people who do not take
advantage of the opportunities he has given to them. In the second reading
Paul reminds us off all the opportunities that God’s chosen people missed
– and the results. We should not fail to read the signs of time, which
serve as constant reminders for a change of heart, mind, soul and will.
The Second lesson the parable gives is that uselessness invites
disaster. The process of evolution is to produce useful things, what is
useful will survive and grow from strength to strength, but useless things
will be eliminated. In the threshing floor the farmer segregates corn
and the chaff. Corn is stored and the chaff is burned. A peasant
visits his field and identifies and removes the weed so that the corn may
grow well. Hence the question is clear, “Of what use are we in this
world.” Unless we are useful we do not have the right to inherit the
world and exist in it.
The third lesson the parable gives us is that nothing that only
takes out can survive. Look at a parasitic plant it draws food and water
from the host tree. Finally the host tree dies and it perishes with it.
The fig tree was drawing strength and sustenance from the soil, and in
turn was producing nothing.
We have received innumerable gifts from nature and our predecessors. Use
them, improve them and leave for posterity with the mark of our contribution.
Abraham Lincoln wrote, “Die when I may, I want it said of me that I plucked a
weed and planted a flower whenever I thought a flower would grow.”
The parable imparts the message of a second chance. Usually a fig
tree takes 3 years to produce fruit. If it doesn’t produce fruit by that
time it is unlikely to produce any fruit. However, the fruit tree was given one
more chance. We too are given chances time and again through constant
reminders by natural events, word of God, and the prophetic words and
deeds of our brothers and sisters. Never fail to read the signs of time
and accept their message. Every calamity, every tragedy, every natural event
has a message for us. It is a sign, a reminder that our time is limited
and Hence, repent and make ourselves socially useful.
Listen to
the words of Ben Jonson
“It is not
growing like a tree
In bulk,
doth make man better be;
Or standing
long an oak, three hundred year,
To fall a
log at last, dry, bald and sere;
A lily of a day
Is fairer far in May,
Although it
fall and die that night
It
was the plant and flower of light
In small
proportions we just beauties see;
And in short
measures life may perfect be.”
-Satish