May Jesus Christ be praised and may his holy Mother pray for
us.
We are now two and a half weeks into our Lenten journey. We have received the call to repentance and the
call to faith in the gospel. We have
joined in the confession of faith in the goodness of God and our confession of
confidence in the power of God. We have
heard of the promise of God and we have joined the Lord Jesus and the three
disciples on the holy mountain. Today as
we continue our Lenten journey and as we join the Lord Jesus on his journey to
Jerusalem, we learn of the patience of God.
In our reading from the book of Exodus, we hear of the call
of Moses on the mountain of God. Long
before he would go up the mountain to receive the law of God, Moses was
summoned to climb the holy mountain to hear the voice of God and to receive the
name of God. The Lord God called Moses
to lead the chosen people out of the bondage of Egypt. Because he was standing on holy ground, Moses
was instructed to remove his shoes. In
the presence of the One who is the end of the journey, Moses had no need for
shoes to help him walk. When the
encounter on the holy mountain had ended, Moses put on his shoes again to begin
the journey to pharaoh and to freedom.
In our reading from the Letter of Saint Paul to the
Corinthians, we hear of the journey of the people of Israel during the time of
Moses. Saint Paul recounts for the
people of his time, and for the people of our time, the many ways that the Lord
God provided for his people and the many ways that the people rejected the
Lord. Saint Paul provides us with a
warning. The Lord Jesus provides us with
a promise.
In our reading from the Gospel today, we hear the urgent call
of the Lord Jesus to repentance. We hear
the invitation of the Lord that repentance leads to life. Today, however, we also hear the parable of
the fig tree. As presented by the Lord
Jesus, the owner of an orchard had a fig tree that had produced no fruit. The owner intended to remove the unproductive
tree from the garden. The gardener,
however, interceded with the owner to allow the fig tree one more season to
grow. The gardener asked the owner to
show patience. The promise of the Lord Jesus
is the promise of patience with his disciples.
The Lord God, in his infinite wisdom and mercy, has invited
us to be part of the work that He is doing.
On the holy mountain, the Lord appeared to Moses and invited him to be part
of bringing the people of God to freedom. On the road to Damascus, the Lord Jesus appeared
to Paul and invited him to be part of bringing all of the people of the world to
faith and to salvation. The Lord Jesus chose
twelve disciples to proclaim his word, to share in his work, and to act in his name.
The Lord has chosen the weak and the broken
to manifest His strength and His holiness. What God could have done without Moses, and without
Paul, and without us, He has chosen to do through Moses, and through Paul, and through
us. We have received a share in His work
from His Divine Goodness, and we are allowed to continue His work because of His
Divine Patience. The Lord has given us another
season of growth this Lent, so that we can bear fruit for the Kingdom of God.
As we celebrate this Eucharist today, we give thanks to the Lord
for the invitation to gather on this holy ground. We give thanks for the love that the Lord has for
us, and for the patience that He shows toward us. And we ask for the grace, in this season of growth,
to bear much fruit for the Kingdom of God. Amen.
Preached at Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic
Church, Monroe, NC
