Some people told Jesus about the Galileans
whose blood Pilate had mingled with the blood of their sacrifices.
Jesus said to them in reply,
“Do you think that because these Galileans suffered in this way
they were greater sinners than all other Galileans?
By no means!
But I tell you, if you do not repent,
you will all perish as they did!
Or those eighteen people who were killed
when the tower at Siloam fell on them—
do you think they were more guilty
than everyone else who lived in Jerusalem?
By no means!
But I tell you, if you do not repent,
you will all perish as they did!”
And he told them this parable:
“There once was a person who had a fig tree planted in his orchard,
and when he came in search of fruit on it but found none,
he said to the gardener,
‘For three years now I have come in search of fruit on this fig tree
but have found none.
So cut it down.
Why should it exhaust the soil?’
He said to him in reply,
‘Sir, leave it for this year also,
and I shall cultivate the ground around it and fertilize it;
it may bear fruit in the future.
If not you can cut it down.’”
Note: I post these scriptures during Lent as an invitation for anyone to reflect a little more during these weeks leading Easter, to think and prepare ourselves to truly deepen our faith, and how we live it out. Yes, I write from my own Catholic identity, but I have tried very hard to make these posts an invitation to anyone who is Christian, or curious. How could posting scripture cause discord? No one forces you to read and participate here. Please allow others to share as they choose, in peace.
Thank you for posting. Scripture is Food. Today’s early Breakfast. Godspeed.
Thank you, Menagerie. Thank you for setting my day in a wonderful direction. Blessings to you this fine Sunday.
Psalm 51:5 applies to every person
Menagerie, it’s easy to become so immersed in politics that I lose track of what’s really important – your posts remind me that God’s boundless love is for us all. Thank you – you are a treasure.
TRUE .. Thanks
Our priest gave an interesting sermon on the first reading, where God introduces Himself to Moses as I AM WHO AM. always present tense. So when we say: I Am sad, I am angry, I am hurt, I am (insert any word), God, the Great and Eternal I AM, is always there with by us. Comforting.
Beautiful. Thanks for sharing.
The Psalm for the Third Sunday of Lent is Psalm 103, which focuses on praising God for His kindness and mercy. The responsorial psalm includes verses such as “Bless the LORD, O my soul; and all my being, bless his holy name” and “Merciful and gracious is the LORD, slow to anger and abounding in kindness”.
This psalm is meant to encourage believers to reflect on God’s goodness and to thank Him for His many benefits, including pardoning iniquities, healing ills, and redeeming lives from destruction.
Selah.
Lord,
From the rising of the sun to its setting,
your name is worthy of all praise.
Let our prayer come like incense before you.
May the lifting up of our hands
be as an evening sacrifice
acceptable to you,
Lord, our God.
Luke of all the Gospel writers is the one who is most focused on people, on the human condition, on humans who are trying their best, to be. As God wants us to be.
That’s how I read his gospel, anyway.
And therefore I read this parable in terms of a person, trying to be, as God commands and commends. And I ask myself, what fruit am I producing, that God would commend. And I have to say, shamefully, nothing at all. And that needs to change.
I will pray for you, and myself, that we can produce fruit pleasing to God.
Thank you Elle. Words cannot express gratitude for the power of prayer. Deeply appreciated.
I would say that your Master would not agree that “you bear no fruit.” But in this parable, the tree was incapable of fertilizing and tending itself. It is always good to seek to please Him more, however we see to do it, and to never be fully satisfied with our efforts.
Indeed: in the Last Judgment scenes, the Lord both condemns those who thought themselves righteous, and lifts up those who thought they had done nothing of worth. The Lord simply does not look at things as we might. And, “this cuts both ways.”
Jesus said that he is the vine and we are the branches. If we remain in him, we will bear much fruit. We cannot bear fruit apart from him.
What is it to remain in Christ? To obey him, to love him, to honor him in word and deed. May we remain in Christ and so bear fruit.
Thank you! I am Catholic too and share with all what God has enjoined. I’m a chaplain, I am pleased to admit, at our local hospital. I was also born and raised a Roman Catholic. I get a lot of, “so you only comfort Catholics?” My God no! I don’t even bring up the fact that I am Catholic unless asked! One of the best parts of being a chaplain is being nondenominational and serving all who wish to be comforted, listened to, or read to from the Bible. I had one patient who asked me what my faith was and was quick to assert what he was. Once he received my answer, he basically told me that would not do, that he needed someone from his own faith, his own church. I was prepared for that stoic, seemingly impenetrable paradigm and so quickly retorted by asking the question, “do we not both worship the same God? I am here now. Let us pray.” And so we did.
I live in the Bible Belt. I’ve had some less than good experiences also. But I’ve also shared prayer and fellowship with some non Catholics who were phenomenal Christians and taught me much, shared many graces with me. I would not be a Christian now without my uncle and cousin, who mentored me during a rough childhood, and continued to teach and encouraged me throughout my life.
In my continued explorations and studies of the teachings of many religions and denominations, I have found so many things of value to my own needs. That is the reason for these posts, so that all of us, most especially me, might learn from the sharing.
I love you, Menagerie. Christ Is Risen!
Backatcha J! May God bless and keep you and yours everyday.
To me, @Chaplain, you are a servant and a minister of God who is “on the front lines.” Dealing with people every day in one of the worst situations that they themselves never expected to be in. “God’s hands,” in that place and time, “are yours.”
It matters not in the slightest whether you call yourself “Catholic” when you – directly and personally – attend to that sheep.
AMEN!
Scripture reveals much about a person. Thank you Managerie for your thoughtfulness, your presence and your heart. God sees it.
“For we have the living Word of God, which is full of energy, like a two-mouthed sword. It will even penetrate to the very core of our being where soul and spirit, bone and marrow meet! It interprets and reveals the true thoughts and secret motives of our hearts.”
Hebrews 4:12 TPT
https://bible.com/bible/1849/heb.4.12.TPT
“The entire sacrifice of ourselves to God in every prayer of daily life is the only preparation for those single hours of soul-struggle in which we may be called to some special act of the surrender of the will that costs us tears and anguish. But he who has learnt the former, will surely receive strength for the latter.”
“When we behold the glory of God in Christ, in the glass of the Holy Scriptures, His glory shines upon us, and into us, and fills us, until it shines out from us again. Beholding Jesus makes us like Him.”
(II Corinthians 3:18 and Romans 10:17 come to mind.)
Quotes from Like Christ by Andrew Murray (1828-1917) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andrew_Murray_(minister)
Thank you for posting! Great way to start the day!
Luke 13:9. my God gave me this verse in 1992 after 22 years of living in a ditch. for me, God was telling me if I didn’t turn my life around he was going to put me in the ground. I was addicted to drugs and alcohol and at that point I had had many opportunities for help and had rejected them all. I am certain had I not repented and turned to Jesus I would no longer be on the face of the Earth. that was October 22, 1992. every day I have the opportunity to return to my reprobate ways, but I want eternal life and I’m going to follow Jesus to the grave. thank you, Jesus for hearing my cries and answering my prayers.
… and you, in front of untold thousands of people, just testified.
Talking to my brother in law last week when he wished me happy birthday. I said ‘I never expected to get to 79 years, I always thought the Lord would have taken me by now’. My good Christian bil said ‘did you think that maybe he;s bot through with your yet>’. I’ve been pondering that as I pray my rosary. Happy Lenten season
I like what my great-grandmother once said – as she climbed down from fixing her roof at age 93 – “oh, to be seventy again!” (And she meant it.) The one thing that I remember most clearly about her was that she was always busy doing something for someone else. (But if you talked about that, she would politely change the subject.)
One day, many years later, she simply went to sleep, and was thereafter in heaven. Just like that. “Way to go, girl!”
from The Collects for the third Sunday of Lent:
“We beseech thee, Almighty God, look upon the hearty desires of thy humble servants, and stretch forth the right hand of thy Majesty to be our defense against all our enemies; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.”
The keynote of this contemplation: ‘Cast out the beam that is in thine own eye,” to be cleansed from inner weaknesses while being defended from attack; for without the inner cleansing, no effectual defense is possible.
I heard this scripture at Mass this morning.
It’s good to reread and to take it in slowly and reverently.
Thank you.
Third Sunday of Great Lent
Veneration of the Precious and Life-Giving Cross
Save O Lord Thy People
– Site of the Finding of the Precious and Life-Giving Cross
It is a beautiful tradition to venerate these physical things, as a concrete and tangible reminder. But what we truly remember is: what they actually are. “The Cross” is not two pieces of wood. (Not even “those” pieces of wood, if they could be found.) It’s all about what happened upon it. Yet, “veneration” is itself a beautiful thing that anyone can see, and admire. It’s right there in front of you. Treasure it.
Thank you
Thank you for posting and God Bless. Just got out of mass 🙂
Very well stated…AMEN!
Thank you!
I feel my soul and Very being needs fertilizer right about now
All believers are the body assembly (the church) with Christ as the Head.
This body is also those “with ears let them hear.”
Some just don’t listen.
Some are half-tuned in but very quickly cannot recall what they heard.
Some listen, store it and then let it fall away…out of memory and out of daily practice.
Some listen intently. Continue to grow with the Word and store it within their heart.
These are the seeds of Matthew 13.
If you believe that Jesus Christ is the only begotten Son of the One and inly living God, then you shall be saved.
This is not denominational.
@Sundance: It puzzles me that you would see fit to make a “disclaimer.” You are Catholic. I am not. But that is beside the point.
Catholicism, in particular, has a rich cultural tradition of its “liturgical calendar.” And Lent – a time of remembrance – is one of the most beautiful. “As the turning year turns around,” this calendar has many moments. All of them are to be cherished for what they are.
I admire you for making these thoughtful postings on your website, and hope that you will always continue boldly.
Menagerie made the post, not Sundance.
Just the right guidance at just the perfect time. 🙏❤️🇺🇲 Thank you.