The forty days of Lent are a time of personal reflection during which we deepen our relationship with God and prepare for the suffering on Good Friday and the joy of Easter. Jesus conquered death and promises us the gift of eternal life. We need to follow Jesus with all of our hearts and minds as He shows us the way to be with God forever. During Lent, we are to focus on three main things: prayer, fasting and almsgiving. We do this in order to focus on our relationship with God. We should avoid things that distract us from this focus.
Luke’s Gospel challenges us in two ways: first, with the story of the Galileans being killed for no just reason by Pilate and second, the story of eighteen people that died tragically when the tower at Siloam fell. In both cases there was a loss of life. Jesus is clear in telling us that that their sins did not cause their loss of life and their sins were no worse than sins of mine and yours. In each case Jesus tells us “But I tell you, if you do not repent, you will all perish as they did!” It is not by coincidence that Jesus tells us twice in no uncertain terms to repent.
Jesus is reminding us of the fragility of life. As we all know, we do not know the day or time when God will call us home. While we are here on earth, we must reflect on whether we are doing the things God calls us to do. Look at yourself in the mirror and ask “Am I being the disciple that God wants me to be?” We are humans and sinners, and God understands that. We need to try and be the person God made us to be and when we fail, and we will fail, we must pick ourselves up and continue on our journey with God.
The second part of the gospel with parable of the fig tree strikes a more hopeful tone. For three years the farmer checked on the fig tree that he planted and each year it bore no fruit. The farmer wanted to cut it down and give up on it. However, one of his workers said let us give the tree another year and he will cultivate the ground around it and fertilize it and it may bear fruit. This message is a message of hope for us all because Jesus will not give up on us even when we fail. We have all faced many challenges in life and it is comforting to know that Jesus will always be with us in good times and bad. It may not always work out the way we want, but God will be there for us and help us to navigate our way through these times. Life is easy when things are going our way, but when life is hard, we need to remember that God is at our sides.
Let us all be like the worker who did not want to give up on the tree. Let us help others in their time of need. We can all make an effort to put our needs behind those of others, to be selfless and not selfish. How many times do we rationalize: there is work I have to do; the yard or house has to be cleaned; there is a great movie or game I want to watch. Rise to the challenge and forget the movie or game and be there for someone else.
If you have taken the time to read this, your faith is an important part of who you are and the forty days of Lent matter to you. Take a step back and reflect on your purpose. Always remember that God loves you so much that He allowed His only Son to be tortured and die so that you can have the gift of eternal life. If God can do that for us, can’t we at least try and do what He asks?
When we received ashes on Ash Wednesday, the priest said “Repent and believe in the Gospel.” Luke’s Gospel reminds us of that and every year during Lent the act of repentance is reinforced.