Daily Gospel Reflection
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October 23, 2021
Some people told Jesus about the Galileans
whose blood Pilate had mingled with the blood of their sacrifices.
He said to them in reply,
“Do you think that because these Galileans suffered in this way
they were greater sinners than all other Galileans?
By no means!
But I tell you, if you do not repent,
you will all perish as they did!
Or those eighteen people who were killed
when the tower at Siloam fell on them—
do you think they were more guilty
than everyone else who lived in Jerusalem?
By no means!
But I tell you, if you do not repent,
you will all perish as they did!”
And he told them this parable:
“There once was a person who had a fig tree planted in his orchard,
and when he came in search of fruit on it but found none,
he said to the gardener,
‘For three years now I have come in search of fruit on this fig tree
but have found none.
So cut it down.
Why should it exhaust the soil?’
He said to him in reply,
‘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.’”
A Dominican priest once told me that the greatest challenge he faces in campus ministry is convincing people that God loves them. At first, I was surprised by this statement. Is this truly the issue that stands in the way for most people to grow in faith or to become a Christian at all? I think that Jesus’ parable of the fig tree gives some insight into the truth of my friend’s statement.
Looking back on my life, I realize how often I have felt like the fig tree—unproductive, empty, and a drain on those around me. At those moments, reflecting on my own mistakes and failures, I wondered if God would react to me in the same way as the owner: “Cut it down. Why should it exhaust the soil?”
In those moments of frustration and sometimes even despair, I too have needed to be reminded by family, friends, the scriptures, and the church that God loves me and is still in my story.
How beautiful for us that in this parable God is not the owner but the gardener. The God who loved us enough to send us the Son is the same God who is not willing to give up on the failed fig tree. He does not leave us alone in our sin and emptiness. It is because God loves us that Jesus came down to earth. It is because God loves us that he cultivates us so that we can flourish and be fruitful.
Like the patient gardener, God uses many tools to bring us to fruitfulness. Rather than giving up on us, he desires to restore us to a newness of life.
God loves us and can make even the most failed fig tree bear fruit once again.
Prayer
Our sinful actions, words and omissions make us like barren trees. They deserve harsh consequences. And yet, you, Jesus, offer us hope and healing, a hand of reconciliation and restored relationship. Your love for us must be incredibly great because you never tire of forgiving us.
Help us to appreciate that forgiveness, not taking it for granted, but not shying away from it either. Thank you for your patience with our weakness and your healing forgiveness of our sins. Amen.
Saint of the Day
St. John of Capistrano, nicknamed the “soldier saint,” helped liberate Belgrade from a military siege at the age of seventy.
John was born in Capistrano, Italy, in 1385, and studied law. After practicing as a lawyer in the courts of Naples, he was appointed the governor of Perugia. During a war with a neighboring city, he was imprisoned. During his imprisonment, John began to study theology, and when he was released in 1416, he forswore his secular profession and entered a Franciscan community at Perugia.
John studied with St. James of the March and St. Bernardine of Siena, and, through their guidance and his theological training, grew into a brilliant preacher. John's reputation as a charismatic and powerful preacher grew. John traveled throughout Europe and Russia preaching to large crowds and helping to establish Franciscan communities.
When John was well into old age, at the age of seventy, the Holy Roman Empire was facing the daunting military power of the Ottoman Empire. Both Rome and Vienna were under threat of siege. Thus, John was commissioned by Pope Callixtus III to incite in his enthralled audiences' interest in a crusade to oppose the invasion. Extending his leadership beyond simply the pastoral sphere, John also served as a leader in the defense of Belgrade and marched at the head of 70,000 soldiers who won a decisive victory in Belgrade in 1456. John died only three months later.
St. John of Capistrano has a unique presence in the New World as well. In 1776, Spanish Franciscan missionaries built a mission in southern California and named it San Juan Capistrano. The stone church they erected is the oldest building still in use in California. It is the only surviving structure that has documented proof that St. Junipero Serra celebrated Mass here. For a long time, that church was the largest building in Southern California. One unusual tradition surrounding the mission church is a celebration involving the American cliff swallow. The church was located next to two rivers, providing an abundance of insects for the birds. Each year, the swallows journey six thousand miles to Argentina for the winter and travel back in the spring. Their return is welcomed with a famous celebration, Fiesta de las Golondrinas, which takes place on March 19, the feast of St. Joseph.
St. John of Capistrano is the patron saint of military chaplains and of those who work as judges and in various legal professions. Some of his relics rest in the reliquary chapel in the Basilica of the Sacred Heart.
St. John of Capistrano, patron saint of military chaplains and judges—pray for us!
Image Credit: Our featured image of St. John of Capistrano is used with permission from Catholic Online. Last accessed October 4, 2024.