Dear Friends,
We have arrived at the Third Sunday of Lent, almost half-way through our observance of this time of repentance and spiritual renewal. It is my hope that these days of Lent have been observed differently, that what we have done by way of change, reformation and renunciation have been of profit to us spiritually. If you have not made much, or even no progress, there is still time and the Scriptures this weekend issue a clarion call to all of us in that regard.
The Gospel, taken from the first verses of the thirteenth chapter of Luke, starkly calls us to take seriously the need for personal repentance. There is a reference to a heinous action committed by Pontius Pilate, the procurator of Judea (who would soon enough condemn Jesus to death by crucifixion), his mingling of the blood of Galileans with their sacrifices (not only murder but grievous sacrilege). Was it their sinfulness, their guilt before God that led to their sudden and horrific death? There is also mention of an inexplicable tragedy, the death of eighteen people one day when a tower fell upon them, snuffing out their existence. Did they die that day as punishment for their sins? As a background to this passage, it was quite common among the people of the time to try to explain tragic or horrific death to be the result of some sin on the part of the one who died or was killed as well as the sin of the perpetrator (if there was one).
It is quite important to note that to the questions Jesus raised rhetorically in both instances, namely, “Do you think that because these Galileans suffered in this way they were greater sinners than all other Galileans?” and “Do you think that [those who died in the collapse of the tower] were more guilty than everyone else who lived in Jerusalem?” Jesus never gives a response. Quite to the contrary, he issues a stark warning to all of us, a warning that urges us to pay more attention to our own sinfulness, our own need of repentance, than we often pay to the sins and the faults of others. In both instances, he says, rather sharply in words that we would do well to heed, that “if you do not repent, you will all perish as they did!”
We have only so much time, and one day, when the moment of death comes, our time will run out and it will be too late. As St. Paul said so eloquently to us on Ash Wednesday, we should not receive the grace of God in vain. In this Lenten season, each of us has been given an opportunity. Now is the acceptable time! Now is the time to take stock of our lives, to call our minds and hearts to our personal need for repentance, and do whatever is necessary, begging the grace of God as help, to change the direction of our lives and move ever more directly toward God.
The parish offers opportunities to make that a reality: opportunities for prayer, privately or devotionally, celebration of the Sacrament of Reconciliation with multiple opportunities for confession, fasting from food or something else that might tend to keep us focused more on
ourselves than on God and others, and sharing with those in need such as supporting the Archbishop’s Annual Appeal or our parish twinning ministry with St. Therese in Marbial, Haiti through the Healing Tree initiative. May God bless our endeavors to make this Lent fruitful for us all!