March 23, 2025: Third Sunday of Lent

Gospel: Luke 13:1-9

Some people told Jesus about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with the blood of their sacrifices. Jesus 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.’”

Reflection

“If you do not repent, you will all perish.” Jesus knew that the ways and culture of the Empire led to death. I have recently begun to read Brian McLaren’s book Life after Doom. In the first few chapters, the author gives us a reality check. If we do not repent, change our ways and create systems in harmony with Earth and each other, society will collapse.

McLaren offers us four scenarios. In the worst-case scenario, humans become extinct, and the Earth can no longer maintain life. The best-case scenario is that we avoid collapse. In between is a mixture of collapse and rebirth, or mere survival.

Are humans the fig tree, exhausting the soil and extracting Earth’s bounty at an unsustainable rate without giving back? The effects of the climate crisis are affecting marginalized groups the hardest. They are not to blame for the disasters or the suffering they are experiencing.

We must look at our systemic structures, big businesses and culture. While we can reduce, reuse and recycle to our heart’s content, our reliance on fossil fuel, industrial farming and livestock production, insatiable materialism fed by capitalism (profit over people and planet), racism and colonialism are some of the biggest contributors to the crisis.

For centuries many wise and intelligent people and the Earth herself have warned us of the direction we are going. So, what are we to do? How might we live in peace and harmony with other human and more-than-human beings? We must repent and change our ways locally, nationally and globally.

Action

This Lent, ask yourself what you can live without. Instead of giving that up for just a season, make it a life-long commitment. Also, do all you can to counter the structures and cultures that perpetuate violence and exploitation, and dream of and build communities and systems that support the well-being of all life.