Lent reflection for 23 March

We only need to read the news headlines, to know that Pilate was not the last tyrant to kill, nor Siloam’s the last tower to fall and crush innocent people. We too live in a world of violence, tragedies and accidents, with extremes of suffering that can be hard to fully comprehend.

One thing Jesus makes clear in today’s gospel is that such events are not divine retribution. Tyrants act and towers fall, but Jesus directs our attention to how we will choose to live today.

In the parable of the fig tree, Jesus reminds us of God’s patient love, constantly offering us another chance to grow and bear fruit. Like farmer Lokho protecting her saplings in the arid heat of northern Kenya, the tender gardener cultivates and fertilises the ground to encourage the tree to produce figs.

Sometimes we are the fig tree in Jesus' parable, given a second chance through God's mercy. At other times we are the gardener, working diligently to plant and nurture the seeds of faith and hope, trusting that God's kingdom will flourish.

Today, let us thank God for his work in our lives, and choose to live in a way that will bear fruits of compassion, generosity, and forgiveness.

Prayer

Patient and loving God, we thank you for nurturing us as we strive to grow; we thank you for your mercy that allows us second chances. May we be as tender to others, so we may all bear fruit and flourish together. Amen.

Act

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