3rd Sun Lent C
“Sir, leave it for this year also, and I shall cultivate the ground around it and fertilize it; it may bear fruit in the future. If not you can cut it down.”
Our God is a God of second chances. In fact, He even offers third, fourth, or fifth chances. Indeed, He never runs out of chances for his love for us is unconditional and forgiving.
We come to know of this clearly in the story of the Hebrew people. After leaving behind the slavery of Egypt the chosen people journeyed through the dessert for years under the leadership of Moses who was instructed by Yahweh. The people questioned the fidelity of Yahweh when they ran out of water, and God gave them water from the rock. The people questioned the power of Yahweh when they ran out of food in the desert, but God gave them manna from heaven. The people turned to other gods but Yahweh remained faithful to his covenant with them. Yahweh never ran out of chances for his beloved people.
But the gospel parable seemed to require one important thing in receiving a second chance from the Lord. There is a need for cultivation, for purification. The fig tree was fruitless for three years but it was given another year. But in order to be fruitful there is a need for cultivation. When we receive a new chance from the Lord, a new beginning in Christian life, there is a need for purification; purification that entails the acknowledgement of what is unnecessary, detrimental and harmful to Christian life, a purification that entails willingness to fill what is lacking, what is in want, and what is to be desired.
Sa bawat bagong pagkakataon na bigay sa atin ng Diyos kailangan ng paghahawan; paghahawan ng masasamang damong kaagaw sa daloy ng biyaya ng Diyos, ng mga tinik na pumipigil sa paglaki at paglago, sa pagkatuyong humaharang upang mamunga ng hitik. Kung walang paghahawang mangyayari balik lang sa dati; balik sa dating kawalan ng mabubuting bunga, sa dating pigil ang paglago.
Every second chance that the Lord gives us is an invitation to conversion. It is a call for honest self-assessment, for a strong resolve to see a progress from before and for an ever growing intimacy with Him.
Huwag ng patagalin at baka abutan ka ng anihan. Kung walang makitang bunga, baka putulin at ihagis sa siga.
