Third Sunday of Lent: C: March 20, 2022

                   THE CALL TO REPENTANCE

First Reading: Exodus 3: 1-8 and 13-15

Second Reading: 1 Corinthians 10: 1-6 and 10-12

Gospel Reading: Luke 13: 1-9

   *First reading is from the book of Exodus. The call of Moses is described in detail. He was taking care of sheep on Mount Horeb  when the Lord God called him. The Lord God told Moses that the cry of His chosen people who are suffering under the task masters of Egypt has reached Him. He instructed Moses to bring them out of their misery to a land flowing with milk and honey. In response to the call, Moses told the people of Israel that the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob has sent him to liberate them.

   *Second reading is from the first letter of St. Paul to Corinthians. Paul warns the Christian community at Corinth that those who are unfaithful to God and grumble against Him will perish - like the Israelites who grumbled against God in the wilderness. He further adds that all that happened in the past is written down so that we may take heed to God's message.

Unless you repent, you will all likewise perish                                                     Today's Gospel reading is from St. Luke. Jesus emphasizes the need for repentance for everyone. He recalls two recent incidents of that time: 1. Pilate killing the Galileans. 2. Eighteen people who got killed when the tower of Siloam fell on them. Jesus warns His disciples and us that those people were killed not because they were worst sinners than others but that these are warning for us to take note of so that we may not face such disasters and calamities in our lives. In the second part of today's Gospel Jesus explains this warning through the parable of the unproductive fig tree. This fig tree did not produce any fruits for a long period of time. The master decided to cut it down. But the gardener pleaded with the master to allow him to water and manure the tree for another year. The master agreed to the request. The tree was given a final chance to produce or to perish. The message of the parable is very explicit. Unless we take heed to God's warnings and use our given opportunities to turn away from our sinful ways and turn to God, we too may face unpleasant and irrevocable consequences in our lives. Lent is the appropriate time to repent and turn away from our sinful ways. 

"We will have to repent in this generation not merely for the vitriolic words and actions of the bad people but for the appalling silence of the good people." - Martin Luther King Jr.