Here are some thoughts that Pope Benedict XVI shared on today’s Scripture readings.
“During Lent each of us is invited by God to bring about a change in our lives, thinking and living according to the Gospel, correcting something in our way of praying, of acting, of working and in our relations with others. Jesus makes this appeal to us not with a severity that is an end in itself but precisely because he is concerned about our good, our happiness, our salvation. On our part we have to answer him with a sincere interior effort, asking him to make us understand those particular things about us that we need to change.
The conclusion of the Gospel passage returns to the perspective of mercy, showing the necessity and the urgency of the return to God, the renewal of life according to God’s will. Referring to a custom of his time, Jesus presents the parable of the fig tree planted in an orchard; this fig tree does not bear fruit (cf. Luke 13:6-9). The dialogue that develops between the owner and the gardener manifests, on one hand, God’s mercy, which is patient and allows man, all of us, time for conversion; and, on the other hand, the necessity of immediately making the interior and exterior changes of life so as not to lose the opportunities that God’s mercy offers us to overcome our spiritual laziness and to return God’s love with our filial love. St. Paul too, in the reading that we heard, exhorts us not to deceive ourselves: It is not enough to be baptized and be nourished at the same Eucharistic meal if one does not live as a Christian and is not attentive to the signs from the Lord (cf. 1 Corinthians 10:1-4). “ Pope Benedict XVI
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Sister Christine Salvatore, FSP