Saturday of the Twenty-Ninth Week in Ordinary Time

October 26, 2019

Deacon Anthony J. Cincotta

Assistant Director for Retreat Ministry

 

Romans 8:1-11

Psalm 24

Luke 13:1-9

In our Gospel narrative Jesus says these “frightening” words, “But I tell you, if you do not repent, you will perish as they did!”  What then is repentance all about?  In the Old Testament the word repentance or its related terms appears more  than  one thousand-fifty times.  (I looked it up.)  It is commonly translated as to “turn” or” return” or theologically “to turn away from evil and to return to God who is good.”  In the New Testament the term used  is “metanoia” meaning to “repent and turn from your evil ways.”

The parable that Jesus tells today is actually one of my favorites.  In Jesus’ time it was widely believed that if bad things happened to a person it was a direct punishment from God.  A child born deaf, for example, was suffering for some horrific sin committed by his/her parents or grandparents.

It’s sometimes difficult for us to understand  how radical Jesus’ message  was.  In essence he is saying, “just because you escaped the misfortune that was visited upon your neighbor doesn’t mean that in God’s eyes you are the better person.  And just because sorrow has visited your life doesn’t mean that you are lesser in God’s eyes.”

When you think about it Jesus’ Words are the greatest message of hope ever conveyed.  We have learned that it’s never too early and it’s never too late to repent.  We are all like the barren fig tree waiting for us to let God into our lives so that we can bear fruit.

Question of the Day: Will you repent your sins in order to bear fruit?

Prayer: Lord, grant to me and to all human beings the grace necessary for salvation.

Prosit

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ENCOUNTERING DIVINE PHYSICIAN (Gospel of Luke 5: 17-26)

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