Commentary on Luke 13:1-9
March 3, 2013
Repent, repent,
repent, Jesus says, if not you will perish…but then he tells a story of
salvation. God seems to be looking
for those who do not “exhaust the soil.”
I’d hate to be thought to be in that category but, essentially, I
am…and, so are you. There are
periods in our lives when we do not produce much. Maybe we are weighted down by illness or fatigue or depression. Maybe the weight of the world creates
in us a dark night of the soul.
Maybe our joys do not balance our afflictions. Maybe, just maybe, we have decided this life is too hard and
there must be an easier way.
We are like the fig
tree barren of fruit, day after day or month after month or even year after
year. But, if we are lucky,
someone comes along who is willing to cultivate the ground around us. A trusted friend, a mentor, an example
of kindness and compassion, a circumstance, an experience fertilizes our
thirsty, barren soil of a soul and brings us back to life.
God puts people in
our path like the gardener in today’s Gospel who see in us a grain of
hope. They come to our rescue when
we need them the most. All we need
do is trust them. I’m reminded of
the story of a person stranded on the top of a house during a flood with the
waters rising. A canoe comes along
and invites him in. “No, he says,
God will save me.” Then a rowboat
offers assistance. “No, he says, God will save me.” Then a motorboat. “No, he says, God will save me.” He drowns then chastises God
for not
saving him. To which God replies…“My
dear child, I sent you three boats!”
Our rescuers don’t
always come in nice little packages.
Sometimes they have to say hard things and issue challenges we don’t
want to hear. The one necessary
thing is that all is done in a spirit of love and true concern. We don’t get by with a little help from
our enemies…we get by with a little help from our friends.
Cultivate good friends
then look to them to help you grow and bear fruit that will last. They will help you get by.
Sr. Mary Luke
Jones, OSB
