Saturday of the Twenty-ninth Week in Ordinary Time
Luke 13:1-9
A God of Second Chances

The Gospel today begins with two tragic stories: the Galileans killed by Pilate, and the eighteen crushed when the tower of Siloam fell. People wanted to know: were these victims punished by God for their sins? Jesus answers firmly—no. Their deaths were not punishments. But He uses the moment to remind His listeners of something deeper: tragedy should not lead us to judge others, but to look within, to repent, and to turn back to God while there is still time.

Then Jesus tells the parable of the barren fig tree. For three years it bore no fruit. By all logic, it should be cut down. But the gardener pleads: “Leave it for one more year. I will dig around it and fertilise it. Perhaps it will bear fruit.” This is the heart of God. He does not condemn; He is patient, merciful, and always offering us another chance. But His patience is not to be taken for granted—time is not infinite. The tree must eventually bear fruit.

This Gospel invites us to reflect on three things. First, suffering is not always a punishment from God. Great saints in history were those who suffered the most, not because God condemned them, but because their suffering became a path to deeper union with God.

Second, our lives are entrusted with opportunities—like the fig tree planted in a vineyard, we are favoured. We have received faith, freedom, education, and love. God asks us: What fruit are we bearing for others?

Third, we live in the gospel of the second chance. Each day is another year given to the fig tree of our soul, another grace-filled opportunity to grow, to reconcile, to serve, to love.

But Jesus also warns us: there will not always be another “tomorrow.” To delay conversion is to risk wasting the gift of life. Today is the time to bear fruit. Today is the day to pluck a weed and plant a flower, to forgive, to serve, to pray, to love. Let us not waste God’s patience.

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Cum Approbatione Ecclesiastica 2025