How to Bear Fruit

A reflection for the 3^rd Sunday in Lent, Year C. The readings are   Exodus 3:8a, 13-15; Psalm 103; 1 Corinthians 10:1-6, 10-12 and Luke 13:1-9.

Turn away from sin and believe in the Gospel.

With those words, most of us received ashes on Ash Wednesday. Let’s keep those words in mind as we take a look at today’s readings.

I love the beginning of the Gospel today because it makes it clear that the Gospels are not just made-up stories. They are not myth or fiction. These things actually happened. If we had proper historical accounts of events happening during this time, I bet that we would find the time when Pilate sent soldiers into the Temple who killed some Galileans; and it is likely that at some point during the building of the tower of Siloam, there was an accident and it collapsed killing 18 men. And like today, people at the time wanted to know about those things that were happening. And Jesus used local events; things that were on the 6 o’clock news, to teach people. And the message is very clear: Suffering and death is not a punishment for our sins. God does not punish us by causing us to suffer and die – which is what Jews at the time of Jesus believed.

But, sin does have consequences; sinful behaviour – and often, behaviour that may not objectively be sinful – will have consequences.  Smoking – objectively is not sin – but it has consequences that may lead to suffering and death.  If you spend all your  money gambling; it will have consequences. If you drink too much and get behind the wheel of a car; it will have consequences. If you continually don’t guard your tongue and watch what you say to whom… it will have consequences. So, yes, our behaviour and, in particular, sinful behaviour, will likely have consequences. Sadly, sometimes, we suffer as a consequence of someone else’s sin or behaviour.  But suffering is not caused by God as punishment. In fact, I would say that God may reward us by allowing us to suffer – that is a mystery. But suffering in this life and physical death is not punishment.

But sin does have spiritual consequences. Sin will cause spiritual death. And that is what Jesus is warning us against today because He wants us to have eternal life.  And I love how he relates it to fruitfulness. Jesus wants us to bear fruit. How do we know that we are on the right track? We will bear fruit.

Today I am going to leave you with a few suggestions for being fruitful, that we can learn from the readings.

First, remember Ash Wednesday: Turn away from sin.  This is what repent means. It means, turn away from sin and turn towards Someone. If you want to be fruitful you have to leave behind all the sinful patterns and habits in your life.  Most of you are not living in grave mortal sin – if you are, please go to Confession. But most of us have bad habits, maybe sinful habits, sinful patterns of behaviour that are holding us back. Let’s stop those patterns.  The only way to stop is to start paying attention to your behaviour. Every night do an examination of conscience: what did I do today? What did I say? Why did I do that or say that to that person? Why didn’t I say this or that? And ask God to help you be better the next day. If you have to go to Confession, go. Do this every day and you’ll see how very quickly you’ll be leaving behind those patterns of sin that prevent you from being fruitful: Turn away from sin.

Second: We turn away from sin and believe in the Gospel; believe in Christ. We don’t just turn away from sin; but we have to constantly turn towards Christ. Look at Moses in our first reading today. God manifests Himself to him. Most of us will never see God manifested in a burning bush, but we have to believe that God is present to us all the time; not just here at Mass, but all the time, everywhere. So, starting today, I encourage you to start reminding yourself that you are always in the presence of God. Several times a day, remind yourself to thank Him for being present to you: “Lord thank you for your presence; help me be present to you. Help me feel your presence.”  Because you will not likely feel anything, ask Him to help you feel His presence and to constantly remind you that He is present. And like Moses in the presence of God, remove your sandals and acknowledge that you are standing on Holy Ground. Turn away from sin and turn towards the Presence of God and you will bear fruit.

Third: We don’t bear fruit by ourselves. The gardener in the Gospel parable has to work with the tree. The tree doesn’t bear fruit by itself. The soil has to be cultivated and it has to be fertilized and the tree has to be pruned. We also have to be pruned and the soil around us has to be moved and we have to let ourselves be showered with fertilizer. And guess what? That’s not pleasant. It’s uncomfortable and difficult even sometimes it can be suffering.  It reminds me of a story I heard from one of my dad’s cousins about my grandmother in Panama. One year a certain tree was not giving fruit and she went out with her shoe and started hitting it and scolding it. That summer, the tree gave fruit. And then my other cousin said she’d heard a story about a great aunt who also, when a tree was not giving fruit, she would go and hammer a nail into it and that always resulted in good fruit. So yes, we don’t bear fruit by ourselves; we need the gardener and sometimes what the gardener has to do is not pleasant.  But it works.

Fourth: Make a commitment to do it. Look at God, the God who is I am. The God who was and who is and who will be; the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. He commits to take the Israelites out of Egypt. He’s been planning the Promised Land for a long time. It’s the long game. It’s a commitment. So too, we need to commit.  The gardener commits to work extra hard for the tree. We also need to commit to do this.

And last: Don’t take any of this for granted. Listen to what St. Paul tells the Corinthians. They were Jews. Their ancestors were taken out of  slavery in Egypt – which is an analogy for slavery to sin. They were taken through the Red Sea – which is an analogy for baptism. God led them through the desert toward the Promised Land – which is an analogy for life’s journey towards Heaven.  God fed them with Manna in the desert – an analogy for the Eucharist… and still, they died in the desert. Which is an analogy for spiritual, eternal death.  So, don’t take for granted that you are here every Sunday, that you’ve been baptised, that you receive the Eucharist. We have to continually and constantly, actively, turn away from sin and turn towards God’s presence, accepting all the difficult help that God wants to give us.

 Lent is a time that the Church gives us to remind us that we have to constantly turn away from sin and turn towards God’s presence and we have to accept God’s difficult help. And we commit to do these things all the time, all year round, every day; not just during Lent.

And, Jesus also reminds us that we have to do all of this now. Don’t dilly-dally.  Maybe the owner of the orchard will allow you to live a good long life but maybe your days are short. We never know the day nor the hour; so don’t wait until tomorrow; start today.

But the good news is that God is merciful, as the Psalm reminds us. He will do everything He can so that you bear fruit and everything He can to bring you home. In fact, He would rather die than lose you.  I’d like to think that the gardener has the same conversation with the owner of the orchard every year: “give me one more year so I can work on it…” and every year he hopes the owner doesn’t remember last year’s conversation.  God is kind and merciful and He is working for your salvation.

So, let’s start today: turn away from sin, turn towards God’s presence, accept God’s help even though it may be difficult, commit to doing it every day and start today – don’t take your salvation for granted and I promise you that you will bear fruit and  God, who is the great I Am, the God of Abraham, of Isaac and Jacob, will take you out of slavery and into the Promised Land.