First Reading: Ex 3:1-8a.13-15; Psalm: 103. R.v.8a; Second Reading: 1 Cor10:1-6.10-12; Gospel: Lk 13:1-9

WE LIVE NOT TO JUDGE BUT TO BEAR GOOD FRUITS

BY FR VALENTINE NNAMDI EGBUONU, MSP

On the 5^th of January 2025, during the 82^nd Hollywood Golden Globes Awards at the Beverly Hilton in California, the host Nikki Glaser made a remark that was considered a mockery of God by majorly a number of Christian believers. Nikki identified the lack of acknowledgment of God during the acceptance speeches from the winners of the award. She praised the acceptance speeches of the winners remarking that in their speeches, the cast and crew members were the most commonly thanked group with 11 mentions. Followed by the mothers of the winners with three shout-outs. And then, she mentioned how “God, Creator of the universe” had zero mentions. This did not steal the limelight until 24 hours later when a wildfire hit the city of Los Angeles in California.

In the wake of this tragedy, some religious enthusiasts attributed the cause of the wildfire to the remark of Nikki Glaser who they considered to have mocked God in her remark. Their unreasoned conclusion was that God was being vengeful for the dishonour meted out to Him. About 29 people died from the wildfire, more than 18,000 structures were destroyed and roughly tens of thousands of people were forced from their homes. These religious enthusiasts shunned empathy and self-introspection and concluded that this tragedy was a punishment from God. This is sad and unfair not only to the victims of this tragedy but also to the very nature of God who contrary to their conclusion is a loving and merciful God.

Is this not an obvious testament of the kind of Christianity we practice today? A Christianity of a vengeful God. A Christianity where believers feel entirely better off than non-believers. A Christianity where tragedy is a punishment for sin. A Christianity where believers are not deserving of suffering. A Christianity that offers Christian believers an automatic ticket to heaven. Certainly, it is sinful to mock God. But who made us a judge? And how can the comment of one woman cause a wildfire? God is not cruel. God does not kill people. “God makes his sun shine on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust.” (Mt 5:45). When we sin, we are the ones who walk away from God. God does not walk away from us. So, seeing tragedies as consequence of sin is an unfair judgement. Christ frowns at this in our gospel reading.

Christ invites us to reflect on the kind of Christianity we practice today. Tragedies such as the ones mentioned in today’s gospel (The massacre of the Galileans and the collapse of the tower of Siloam) should elicit empathy and self-introspection, not judgement. Christ remarked that the Galileans and the victims of the Tower of Siloam were not the worse sinners. And he added, “but unless we repent, we will also perish.” (v. 5). At times, when we survive some disaster, we tend to think that God loves us more and loves less the other victims who perished. Or that we are more righteous than those who perished. Perhaps, it is the other way round. Maybe those who died were more ready to meet God than we are. Our survival then becomes an opportunity to reflect and amend our lives.

We must not be complacent and go to sleep as though being a Christian is enough to save us. St Paul warns us on this in our second reading using as point of reference the exodus of the Israelites. ‘They were all under the cloud and passed through the sea (a sign of their baptism). They ate supernatural food and supernatural drink (a symbol of the Eucharist). They drank from the supernatural Rock which followed them, and the Rock was Christ. Nevertheless, with most of them God was not pleased; for they were overthrown in the wilderness.’ (vs. 1-5). Being a Christian and a devout Catholic is not sufficient. If we do not bear good fruits, we cannot be saved. A non-believer who bears good fruits is better than a believer who does not.

Christ concludes our gospel of today with the parable of the Barren Fig Tree. This parable reveals the opportunity that Lent affords us. Lent is a time to dig about us and put on manure. It is a time to remember that we are still standing not because we are righteous but because we lack the needed fruits we were planted to produce. It is a time to remember that we need to produce good fruits before our time runs out. It is a time to remember that we do not have all the time we need and must not waste all the time we get. It is a time for genuine introspection and metanoia (true penance and spiritual conversion).

Just like the barren fig tree, we could be putting down roots and producing leaves but not fruits. This happens when we profess faith in God without love, pass judgement without self-introspection, receive without giving, pretend without sincerity, preach without repentance, confess without contrition, forgiven without forgiving and living without positively impacting the lives of people.

If we are in this category, the chainsaw whirs reminding us that we will go down one day. Christ therefore is offering us this season of Lent to make things right before it’s too late. He is offering us one more year to begin to bear fruit. This one more year is every breaking of day that God gifts us. We must seize this opportunity not to observe and judge others but to introspect and bear fruit. If we begin to bear fruit, well and good. If we do not, we might be running out of time; and we might go down pretty soon.

PRAYER FOR THE DAY

Lord Jesus, help us by your grace to begin to bear fruit in this season of Lent and beyond. Amen