Gifted to prepare us for conversion

The texts from the Roman Catholic Lectionary today identify our responsibility to use our gifts to in  ministry to others who like ourselves have been called to bear fruit even as God is mercifully patient with us.

The year of grace

The Letter to the Ephesians identifies some of the diversity of gifts that are available to leaders to develop within the community.

* [4:12] The ministerial leaders in Eph 4:11 are to equip the whole people of God for their work of ministry.

The barren fig tree in the Gospel of Luke is a wake up call to alert us that we may be delaying our decision to choose life.

* [13:6–9] Following on the call to repentance in Lk 13:1–5, the parable of the barren fig tree presents a story about the continuing patience of God with those who have not yet given evidence of their repentance (see Lk 3:8). The parable may also be alluding to the delay of the end time, when punishment will be meted out, and the importance of preparing for the end of the age because the delay will not be permanent (Lk 13:8–9).

Diane Jorgensen considers the tragic events in life as a wake-up call.

The parable seems to point to the limitless patience and mercy of our God. If Jesus had continued the parable, it is easy to imagine that the gardener would have asked the same of the orchard owner on the fourth year, and the fifth, and so on. But “why should it exhaust the soil?” raises the question of limited resources. Perhaps the call to repentance is not so much in fear of punishment from an angry god but rather a wake-up call to realize the limits of life. Our planet’s resources, our time and energy, our relationships, our workplaces, our very lives...all are fragile and have limited capacities.
The first reading refocuses our attention in the face of these limits. God has gifted and graced each of us, that we may contribute to the building up of the Body of Christ, building itself up in truth and love.

Don Schwager quotes “The Lord's three visits through the Patriarchs, Prophets, and the Gospel,” by Augustine of Hippo, 354-430 A.D.

"The Lord also has something very fitting to say about a fruitless tree, 'Look, it is now three years that I have been coming to it. Finding no fruit on it, I will cut it down, to stop it blocking up my field.' The gardener intercedes... This tree is the human race. The Lord visited this tree in the time of the patriarchs, as if for the first year. He visited it in the time of the law and the prophets, as if for the second year. Here we are now; with the gospel the third year has dawned. Now it is as though it should have been cut down, but the merciful one intercedes with the merciful one. He wanted to show how merciful he was, and so he stood up to himself with a plea for mercy. 'Let us leave it,' he says, 'this year too. Let us dig a ditch around it.' Manure is a sign of humility. 'Let us apply a load of manure; perhaps it may bear fruit.' Since it does bear fruit in one part, and in another part does not bear fruit, its Lord will come and divide it. What does that mean, 'divide it'? There are good people and bad people now in one company, as though constituting one body." (excerpt from Sermon 254.3)

The Word Among Us Meditation on Luke 13:1-9 asks are we ever tempted to think, “Maybe I deserve this; maybe God is punishing me because of some sin I have committed” This line of thinking may even be a way to make sense out of natural disasters like hurricanes or earthquakes.

This is one of the great challenges of the Christian life: we don’t always understand why God allows such things to happen. It’s one of those mysteries we will never grasp—at least this side of heaven.
But this we know for sure: we don’t have a vengeful God. He isn’t counting up our sins, waiting to strike us down when we exceed some limit. That doesn’t sound like the kind of God who sent his only Son to earth to offer his life for us on the cross. Immeasurable mercy and eye-for-eye judgment simply can’t coexist.

Friar Jude Winkler connects the descent of Christ in the Letter to the Ephesians to His incarnation. We need to respond faithfully to our call and do the part in the community for which we have been given the charism. The 8th year of grace that is included in the parable from the Gospel today is explained by Friar Jude.

Fr. Richard Rohr, OFM, has been talking about suffering. He offers that through practice we can discover that God is present with us in our suffering, permeating it with love and compassion and sustaining us in ways we cannot understand. James Finley and Alana Levandoski collaborated on a beautiful musical experience that can lead us through our suffering to discover our preciousness.

I don’t know where to start.Or how to bare this heart.But I fear I’ve become what’s been done to me.
Move slowly, move slowly,move slowly into deep water.
You are safe with me,no longer thrown out to sea.Now it’s time to breathe.

God’s presence in our suffering means that our suffering, fear, or shame do not have the power to name who we are. God’s love names us as infinitely precious in our vulnerability.

References

(n.d.). Ephesians chapter 4 - United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. Retrieved October 27, 2018, from http://www.usccb.org/bible/ephesians/4:7
(n.d.). Luke chapter 13 - United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. Retrieved October 27, 2018, from http://www.usccb.org/bible/luke/13
(n.d.). Creighton U Daily Reflections .... Retrieved October 27, 2018, from http://onlineministries.creighton.edu/CollaborativeMinistry/daily.html
(n.d.). Daily Scripture Readings and Meditations. Retrieved October 27, 2018, from https://dailyscripture.servantsoftheword.org/
(n.d.). 29th Week in Ordinary Time - Mass Readings and Catholic Daily .... Retrieved October 27, 2018, from https://wau.org/meditations/
(n.d.). Daily Meditations Archives - Center for Action and Contemplation. Retrieved October 27, 2018, from https://cac.org/category/daily-meditations/