Scripture:
Exodus 3:1-8a, 13-15
1 Corinthians 10:1-6, 10-12
Luke 13:1-9
Reflection:
The Lord is kind and merciful? (Ps 103)
The parable of the fig tree we hear on this 3rd Sunday in Lent reminds us again of how God’s mercy extends to the whole of creation. Mercy is bestowed on a lowly fig tree which hasn’t blossomed in three years as well as Moses and the Israelites as we hear in the first reading. Oftentimes it is believed that when tragedy strikes, it is because someone has sinned and God is punishing us, thus no room for mercy! This could be no further away from the truth. God’s mercy extends to all of us today just as it did to the Galileans who came up against Pilate or the eighteen people killed when the tower at Siloam fell on them. These people were all very human just like us and sinners as well. God doesn’t hold our sins against us.
The Lord is kind and merciful!
We are called to shower that same mercy shown us onto others we encounter in our daily lives. It behooves us to reflect on what mercy means to us so that we in turn can show that same mercy to others. In our parish during this Lenten season we are being invited to share a brief reflection of how we have experienced the gift of mercy in a particularly acute way at some point in our life. By taking the time to reflect and write this reflection on post-it notes available and place them on a white board to share with the rest of the parish, it is hoped that we will become more attentive to and more open to the gift of God’s merciful love in our lives, so that this love might fill us and create us anew.
As we continue on this Lenten journey, we celebrate the 1st scrutiny with our catechumens. We acknowledge that we are all in need of discerning what it is in our own life that needs to be freed from sin’s bondage. Jesus’s love for us in spite of our sinfulness reminds us that we are called to recognize and forgive our brother or sister who has wronged us and ask forgiveness from those we have wronged. This act of humility leads us to further growth in love and understanding of what it means to love as Jesus loves.
The Lord is kind and merciful!
Let us give thanks for this gift of mercy in our lives and commit ourselves to sharing that same mercy and kindness with others this day.
Theresa Secord is a Pastoral Associate at St. Agnes Parish, Louisville, Kentucky.