From Barrenness To Fruitfulness

From Barrenness to Fruitfulness

Scripture

Luke 13:1-9

Reflection

Dear sisters and brothers,

The world today witnesses increasing incidents of killings, shootings, assassinations, slayings of heads, lynchings, mobs, hangings, and so on.

As soon as it happens, there is breaking news on our news channels.

What is our reaction towards it when I watch it on the news channels or read it in the newspapers as headlines?

In the same way, imagine that two thousand years ago, the front page of a newspaper read: "Blood Bath in the Temple, Pilate Slaughters Suspected Galilean Terrorists," "Tower of Siloam Collapses, 18 People Feared Dead."

What was the common reaction of the religious people of Jerusalem to such news of human disaster and misfortune at that time?

About the Galileans, they probably said, "The terrorists deserved death."

For those crushed to death, they would have said, "Well, that is an act of God."

Some others might say, "God knows why those eighteen deserve to die at this time, in this manner."

And then they would have continued to read the other news.

It was not a passing remark.

But, it displays the awful attitude and behaviour of some people.

The people who broke the news to Jesus conveyed it with the same attitude.

But Jesus could not contain himself in the face of such ignorance and self-justification.

He addresses them with a parable.

The question that we need to ask is:

What is our attitude towards other people who face a natural disaster or personal adversity?

Do they deserve it because they have done something wrong while those who are free from the disaster did not do it?

The right disposition is to realise that it could happen to anybody.

If it does not happen to us at this time, it is not because we deserve it, but because it is God’s love and grace.

God’s love and grace help us to make the best of the opportunity that God has given to us.

From God’s love and grace, we realise that the extra time has been given to us for a purpose, as a chance to bear fruit like the barren fig tree.

The disasters, calamities, adversaries, tragedies, difficulties, sicknesses, and pains of the people are not an occasion to judge them but an invitation to humble ourselves in repentance.

For the same reason, Jesus says, "Unless you repent, you too will all perish."

Let us realise that it could happen to anybody when we hear about earthquakes and plane crashes in the news next time.

We have been spared from such disasters, calamities, adversaries, tragedies, difficulties, sicknesses, and pains so that we might repent and bear fruit worthy of God’s love.

Joseph de Veuster was a Belgian missionary priest working among the islanders of Honolulu.

His bishop had trouble finding a priest to work in the leper settlement of Molokai.

Joseph, better known as Father Damien, volunteered to go and work in the "living graveyard that was Molokai."

He contracted the disease himself due to his solidarity with the lepers.

He died at the age of forty-nine in service to the poorest and most abandoned.

Did he deserve to die for his attitude towards the poor and lepers?

Some of his contemporaries accused him of imprudence and foolhardiness.

Today, however, he is recognised worldwide as a hero of the faith: Saint Damien the Leper.

Father Damien made a total life commitment to the poor and the lepers.

Father Damien was a gardener for those marginalised people.

He lived his life and produced fruit worthy of the Kingdom of God.

We know that Jesus is the Great Gardener who intercedes and mediates for us.

However, Jesus fulfils this role through women and men who function as his disciples and followers in practice.

The gardeners in our lives who have helped us to move from barrenness to fruitfulness include our parents, teachers, pastors, friends, and even our enemies, who have motivated us with their bitter criticism, which more often than not turns out to be true.

We thank God for them.

We thank God for giving us another opportunity to live every day to bear fruit when we are out of our beds.

Let us commit ourselves to making the best use of God’s grace to repent more and to bear more fruit in our lives.

May the heart of Jesus live in the hearts of all. Amen.