Feb. 28^th, 2016 Sunday homily: Fr.Francis Chirackal CMI

Ex 3:1-8a, 13-15; 1Cor 10:1-6, 10-12; Lk13:1-9

For Readings

http://www.usccb.org/nab/022816.shtml

Once, one of my friends survived from a very serious accident. After his recovery, he said that he was given extra time by God, because, his first given time, after receiving many blessings got over without any expected fruits from his part. Now, God, wants to see whether he will produce any fruits in future. He said that though he had seen many accidents earlier, this thought didn’t touch his mind in deep, until he himself experienced that serious accident and escaped. It made big change in his life. His faith in God, became very strong and he started to be involved in many charitable works. Maybe, this is the experience of many of us, but the feelings of a few may differ in one way or the other. Jesus, in today’s gospel, with its two parts, reminds us to produce fruits by learning from the events occurring around us and from our own experiences.

The first reading from the book of Exodus, presents Moses, who escaped the systematic extermination of Israelites by Egyptians. He accepted the mission God, entrusted to him to lead His people. St.Paul, in the first letter to the Corinthians, reminds us of the Israelites, whom God lead to the Promised Land through Moses. Many of them didn’t see the Promised Land, due to their sinfulness, even after seeing God’s saving power.

Jesus, in the gospel, tells us that earthly punishments or tragedies are no proof of greater sin or real punishment for our sins. He reminds all of his hearers, of that time and of this time including us, the need of repentance and conversion. Repentance and conversion are essential steps for producing the fruits of Kingdom of God, as we are human beings who are weak and vulnerable to temptations. Signs of the nature, examples and incidents in the lives of our fellow beings, our own failures and success, are some of the means, God reveals to us, the need to repent or produce more fruits for the Kingdom of God. The fig tree didn’t produce any bad fruits. It was a life of indifference, saying, ‘I am not hurting anybody and I won’t do anything good to others’. Lent, is a period to examine ourselves, comparing our lives with gospel message and the Crucifix of Jesus.

Our life in this world is time bound. It has a beginning and end, while only our life after death is eternal. We have to produce more fruits for our eternal life during this limited life span. Jesus is interceding for us before our Heavenly Father for mercy. This year we are celebrating the Jubilee year of Mercy with special prayers and observances. We are praying for god’s mercy and praying for the grace to be the agents of God’s mercy in our living situations. Along with our prayers, penances and special spiritual exercises, we need to practice real mercy towards our fellow beings as we see in the words of Jesus. we need to do our roles. If we look at our lives we may not find a single day in which we didn’t receive any of God’s blessings and help. Again, if we think of the days we spent, without a single remembrance of God’s presence, it may be countless. Every day we hear of many events and incidents, which draw our special attention to God, but we may proceed without a second look. Whether good or bad, our first look or thought is instant or instinct. It doesn’t make any difference in us. What matters is our second thought or second look. We need to pause, think and act on our faith in God.

Every year I see more people coming for confessions during Lenten period. There are many who come back to the church and start receiving the sacraments during this period. There are many cases in which, the sickness or death of a family member, leads another member to think of God and salvation, which lead to repentance and conversion. One person’s repentance may be a fruit of hundred people’s prayer. Therefore, our repentance and prayers are needed continuously for us and for others. During this ‘Year of Faith’, let us make all the efforts to grow in grace and produce more fruits of faith, devotion, love, forgiveness, mercy and charity. God bless you.