Reflection for Third Sunday of Lent Year C 2022

Luke’s Gospel account recalls for us Jesus’ clear message that sinners in Galilee and Siloam met terrible ends and tells of his mandates for reform. He tells the gentle parable of the man looking for fruit on a fig tree, finding none for three years and asks his vinedresser to cut it down. But the vinedresser begs for another chance to nurture it, prune it, and help it to bear fruit. Then, if that failed, he would indeed cut it down.
In all this cases, separated by generations and millennium, God is sadly faced with unholy people and their wicked ways, yet, at all time he is present. He never abandons the sinners in the desert, the unbelievers in Corinth, or the evildoers in Galilee. He blesses them with Moses, with signs of wonders, with prophets, with apostles and , the best of all, with his Son, Jesus.
During these Lenten weeks, we are called to take a good hard look at our lives. We are called to ” turn away from sin and be faithful to the Gospel.” We are asked to abandon our habit of rationalizing our behavior and admit our sinfulness. The Scriptures we read during this holy season, does not mince words. It clearly reminds us of the triumphs and the failures throughout salvation history. It asks us not repeat them.
But we take heart that we never have to do this alone. God is always with us. Like Moses, he expects us to accomplish impossible things and gives us the power to do them. Like the kindly vinedresser, he “cultivates ” our efforts to reform and to bear fruit. He gives us the words of Jesus to guide us and the grace to follow them. As Moses learned and as generations of Christians surely know, ” nothing is impossible with God.”
God bless you all !
Fr. Dominic
Your brother in Christ