Sunday, March 20, 2022

 THIRD SUNDAY OF LENT 

(Exodus 3:1-8.13-15; I Corinthians 10:1-6.10-12; Luke 13:1-9)

Philosophers say that there are two types of evil. Men do moral evil. We have seen moral evil in the invasion of Ukraine. It is obvious that the president of Russia wants to bring an autonomous nation  under his rule. The other type of evil is called “natural”. For all the damage it has created, the Covid virus well represents natural evil.

One wonders which kind of evil is worse. Moral evil certainly causes great personal turmoil. Parents who have suffered the murder of a child feel tremendously distressed. But how can that sadness compare with all the suffering experienced in the 2004 tsunami? The catastrophe took more than 227,000 lives! However we weigh the seriousness of the two types of evil, Jesus treats evil differently. We find him in the gospel today listening to a horrific story of moral evil.

Some men report to Jesus the slaughter of Galileans by Pilate. Jesus adds to the report a well-known case of natural evil. Recently a tower fell on a crowd crushing eighteen people. What a tragedy! Curiously, Jesus does not express horror at all the evil. Nor does he comment, as was the custom of the time, on the guilt of the victims as the source of evil. He only looks at the significance of the evil for the people around him.

He draws his attention to the fact that the victims in both cases could have been themselves. He then urges them to repent so that they avoid condemnation at the judgment when they die. In other words, they shouldn't just worry about bad things happening to themselves. They should worry even more about the evil that they themselves have done. It's like our mothers used to tell us: "No matter what others do, take care that you always do the right thing."

Then Jesus tells a story to clarify his intention. A fig tree cannot take up custodial care forever without bearing fruit. If it doesn't produce figs, it will be destroyed. Also, the fig tree has to bear fruit very soon. It is the same with us. Now is the time to change our ways of living so that we produce good deeds. We have to leave laziness behind to live according to the ways of justice and love.

A family once was like all the others. They identified as Catholic but did not attend mass often. For the most part they liked to watch football on TV and party with their friends. Then by some act of grace, they began to heed the word of God. It became a family dedicated to the Lord. One day the doctors gave the mother of the family a terminal diagnosis. It was difficult for everyone. However, rooted in grace, they could calmly face cancer.

You can see the source of grace for this family in the first reading. God gives Moses his name. Now the Israelites can call on him when they get into trouble. He will always be there to help them. In the second reading Saint Paul testifies to the benefit of having God attentive to supplications. The Israelites eat and drink in the desert by the grace of the Lord.

We are about to enter spring. It is the time of change. Nature awakens from the laziness of winter to produce the fruits of summer. Soon we will see the flowers on trees and the sprouts in the field. Jesus wants us to make a similar change. We are to stop watching TV a little to listen more to the word of the Lord. We are to ignore what others do to lend a hand to the afflicted.