Sunday, March 7, 2010

My dear Friends,

Jesus said, let me tell you a story. There was a man who had an orchard, and in this orchard was a fig tree. Now, for several years this young fig tree had been without fruit. The owner of the orchard was an impatient man. And so, the owner goes to the gardener and says, "Cut it down! It is not doing what it was made to do!" But the gardener said, "Please, sir, give her just one more year. Allow me to nurture her and to challenge her. One more year, and then if she is still barren, well . . . I will have her cut down." These are hard words for us to hear, aren't they? "CUT IT DOWN! LET THEM DIE! We're talking about people here. We're talking about you and me. We normally like to run to the Gospels looking for an easy way out, seeking to find a message of mercy and forgiveness within the love and actions of Jesus, so much so that we falsely begin to think that all of this love and forgiveness business on the part of Jesus is an automatic thing, and that somehow, we think we deserve it. But today's Gospel says, "UNLESS YOU REPENT, YOU, TOO, WILL DIE." This is a warning to each of us, in order that we might be led to a safe place. The Good News is that God loves us no matter what! The grace of God comes to us and sets us free from our sin -- if we allow it!

Fr. Stan+