During the Lenten readings, Jesus challenges us with the well-known Parable of the Barren Fig Tree: “A man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard, and he came seeking fruit on it and found none. And he said to the vinedresser, ‘Look, for three years now I have come seeking fruit on this fig tree, and I find none. Cut it down. Why should it use up the ground?’ And he answered him, ‘Sir, let it alone this year also, until I dig around it and put on manure. Then if it should bear fruit next year, well and good; but if not, you can cut it down.’” Luke 13:6-9
You and I are the ‘fig trees’ in God’s vineyard. Are we bearing abundant fruit? Or are we barren? At the outset of Lent, we were invited to practice some serious mercy-ing. Two weeks into this Lenten season, I am struggling along. If you are anything like me, you possibly also struggled somewhere along the way. In the parable I see the gardener fervently, (perhaps foolishly) digging, digging, digging around that tree. And then he beckons to me, and hands me a spade.
Spade in hand, let us ‘dig the word’ which Jesus presents to us in this parable. I don’t own a fig tree, but remember well the fig tree laden with luscious fruit, under which I played as a young child. However, now I am an avid lover of African violets. Both they and fig trees flourish when the soil is well aerated and given manure. How do we, God’s fig trees, assure that we flourish and bear abundant fruit? Our ever patient God daily nourishes our lives with mercy, which contributes to the fertility of the soil we need to bear fruit. All we need to do is dig diligently around our roots to prepare the soil for God’s enriching mercy, often bestowed on us through the kind actions of others, so we can bear abundant fruit. Enough fruit to generously share morsels of mercy with all who daily cross our path.
"A good tree doesn't produce bad fruit; on the other hand, a bad tree doesn't produce good fruit. For each tree is known by its own fruit.” Lk 6: 43-45
Guest Blogger: Sr. Magdelena Vogt, CPS