Saturday, 29th week in ordinary time, Year A

The parable ends with the words of the gardener. It doesn’t say what happened at the end of the year, whether it yielded any fruit or it was cut down. What might that imply?  It means that you and me (not somebody else) are called and challenged to finish the parable of the fruitless fig tree.

Many true-to-life stories would find a similar situation as the parable of the fig tree. We can take the role of the gardener who has control and either cuts down a hopeless tree or graciously gives it an extended opportunity to grow and become fruitful. Should a wife for example give an unfaithful husband a chance to change? Should a convinced rapist go to the death row? Should a student caught cheating in class lose her scholarship?

Whatever it would be, the message of repentance, God’s compassion, tolerance and great patience is being given directly to us. The fact that we are still here, alive and generously given a new chance everyday to grow and bear fruit, we should not waste this time of grace. God desires for us s fruitful life. In the “holy manure,” we have an abundance of hope that will never be vanquished

A King summoned the court jester, gave him a walking stick and said: ‘Give this staff to anyone you find who is a greater fool than you are.”

One day, the King lay down dying and he complained, “I’m going to a foreign country and I’m never coming back.”

The court jester told him, “King, you know rightly well that one day you would be going to that strange land. I’m sure that you must have done everything to make sure that you would have a house to move into there.”

The King admitted that he had not done this, so the jester passed the walking stick to the King and said, “It belongs to you. You are a bigger fool than I am.”

Fool is he/she who keeps on believing that death will come later in life. Repentance is a call for everyone, right now. Delaying to repent is a luscious temptation: “Have you fling now and convert later. No hurry. Take your time.” This is the slogan straight from the hell network.

Let’s make our life meaningful. Why settle for less? If we are called to live with God, to share his divinity, there must be something in us which is very special. We are loved by God. We are special. God does not lie for he is the God of truth. God’s love is the God of truth. God’s love is overwhelming, that is enough reason to trust, believe and to love Him more.

Thursday 33rd week year A

Tears unspoken words and feelings of our hearts. We feel something,  we can't express in words and so it comes out as tears.

Two persons shed tears in our Liturgy today: St John in our first reading 📖 and Jesus in Gospel.

St John was crying because no one could open the scroll 📜 for him. He could not open it,  only One person can, and that person is described as the Lamb that was slain. The scroll was so important to John that he had to start crying 😢. Yes because the scroll contained the secret revelations of the Kingdom of God .

Don't we find ourselves in such situations at times ? We look for things when we don't get, tears start rolling down our cheeks. And some of us , may have experienced a deepest longing in our hearts at prayers . Moments when you are deeply in touched with the Divine, words are no longer adequate . The only thing that comes out is tears. The tears helps to communicate what you are short of in words and God understands and respond immediately .

The Bible never records that Jesus laughed, no. But two to three Times, it recorded that He cried, he wept and he wailed. John 11:35 at the death of his beloved friend, Lazarus . At the garden of Gethsemane Hebrews 5:7 and the gospel of today where He wept over Jerusalem .

The weeping of Christ means that He shares in our Sorrows and pains, in our misfortunes and failures. He understands our weaknesses. and so when you Are in distress and seems you are Not getting it right, don't panic because you have a saviour who understands and who is standing by you, supporting you.

In today's Gospel, Christ wept for Jerusalem because the city did not live up to its name . Jerusalem means city of peace. But peace is not found there instead we have violence and disobedience to the words Of Jesus. And Jesus cries over the city .

Hmmm, is Jesus not crying because of some of us? You bear a Christian name, you chose the names or they were given to you. Are you living up to the meaning of your name? Is your name faith? Are you faithful to your Christian calling ? Are you David , do You have or have you asked the enabling graces to face and overcome all the Goliath in your life.

But the name that envelopes all of us is the name CHRISTIAN which means Christ-like . Are you really behaving like Christ ?

May God not cry over us through Christ our Lord .