They had it coming, right? Those Galileans and the poor chaps standing too close to the tower in Siloam? At the time of Jesus, that was the understanding: be holy and good things happen to you; be less than holy and look out for falling towers. But Jesus, once again, turned their understanding on its ear.
Were these Galileans greater sinners? No. Were the eighteen who died when the tower fell more guilty than everyone else? No. And then it gets harder to hear: “if you do not repent”, He warns them, – ready or not – “you will all perish as they did”. Just as he urges them to repent, He urges us to also.
The call to repentance is not one we like to hear, and it’s not one we generally believe we need. That other guy over there, clearly, he needs to repent, but I’m good, right?
The word “sin” is a loaded one. Calling something a “sin” is often seen as harsh and condescending rather than what it is – anything that pulls us away from God, that draws our attention downward into ourselves, or has a negative effect on our relationship with God. That “offense against reason, truth, and right conscience,” that “failure in genuine love for God and neighbor caused by a perverse attachment to certain goods” (CCC 1849) has a name; it is called sin. It is no more a judgement for you to call my selfishness a sin than it is for you to call broccoli a vegetable. It simply is what it is. And, since sin “wounds the nature of man and injures human solidarity” (CCC 1849), it seems like a good idea to recognize it.
In today’s Gospel, Jesus urges us to stop looking to the sins of those around us and instead recognize our own roadblocks and challenges. His call to change is difficult, but in the next breath our Savior offers hope; he offers a parable on mercy.
The gardener steps in to champion the fruitless fig tree. He asks for time to cultivate the soil around it, to fertilize the soil, and to urge from the tree new fruit. “Repent,” he seems to urge the fig tree. Surrender your heart to the care of the gardener and bear good fruit.
As long as we draw breath there is always time to turn our hearts toward the Son and grow. Whether our obstacles are large or small, grappling with each is a tilling of the soil, a tilling of the soul, that will make our lives richer and more abundant. Repent, not because you’re a bad, hopeless tree, but because you were created to be so much more.
By admitting that we struggle with sin, we can recognize it for what it is and take the first steps toward breaking free of it. The call to repentance is not a judgement of how horrible we are but rather an invitation to become as glorious as we are intended to be.
Se lo merecían, ¿verdad? ¿Esos galileos y los pobres hombres que estaban demasiado cerca de la torre de Siloé? En tiempos de Jesús, ese era el entendimiento: sean santos y les sucederán cosas buenas; sean menos santos y tengan cuidado con las torres que se caen. Pero Jesús, una vez más, volteó su entendimiento de las cosas.
¿Eran estos galileos peores pecadores? No. ¿Eran los dieciocho que murieron cuando la torre cayó más culpables que los demás? No. Y luego se hace más difícil escuchar: “si ustedes no se arrepienten”, les advierte, estén listos o no, “perecerán de manera semejante”. Así como los insta a arrepentirse, nos insta a nosotros también.
El llamado al arrepentimiento no es algo que nos guste escuchar, y no es uno que generalmente creamos que necesitamos. Ese otro hombre por allá, claramente, necesita arrepentirse, pero yo estoy bien, ¿verdad?
La palabra “pecado” tiene un significado pesado. Llamar a algo “pecado” a menudo se percibe como algo duro y condescendiente, en lugar de lo que es: cualquier cosa que nos aleja de Dios, que nos lleva a centrarnos en nosotros mismos o que tiene un efecto negativo en nuestra relación con Dios. Esa “falta contra la razón, la verdad, la recta conciencia; es faltar al amor verdadero para con Dios y para con el prójimo a causa de un apego perverso a ciertos bienes” (CIC 1849) tiene un nombre: se llama pecado. No es un juicio que llames pecado a mi egoísmo, como tampoco lo es que llames al brócoli una verdura. Simplemente es lo que es. Y, dado que el pecado “[h]iere la naturaleza del hombre y atenta contra la solidaridad humana” (CIC 1849), parece buena idea reconocerlo.
En el Evangelio de hoy, Jesús nos insta a dejar de fijarnos en los pecados de quienes nos rodean y, en cambio, a reconocer nuestros propios obstáculos y desafíos. Su llamado a cambiar es difícil, pero a continuación nuestro Salvador ofrece esperanza; ofrece una parábola sobre la misericordia.
El jardinero interviene para defender a la higuera infructuosa. Pide tiempo para cultivar la tierra que la rodea, fertilizarla y obtener nuevos frutos del árbol. “Arrepiéntete”, parece instar a la higuera. Entrega tu corazón al cuidado del jardinero y darás buen fruto.
Mientras respiremos, siempre hay tiempo para volver nuestro corazón hacia el Hijo y crecer. Sean grandes o pequeños nuestros obstáculos, lidiar con cada uno es labrar la tierra, labrar el alma, que enriquecerá y hará nuestras vidas más abundantes. Arrepiéntete, no porque seas un árbol malo y sin esperanza, sino porque fuiste creado para ser mucho más.
Al admitir que luchamos con el pecado, podemos reconocerlo por lo que es y dar los primeros pasos para liberarnos de él. El llamado al arrepentimiento no es un juicio de lo horribles que somos, sino una invitación a alcanzar la gloria que estamos destinados a alcanzar.
Pamela Kavanaugh is a grateful wife, mother, and grandmother who has dedicated her professional life to Catholic education. Though she has done her very best to teach her students well in the subjects of language and religion, she knows that she has learned more than she has taught. She lives, teaches, and writes in southwest suburban Chicago.
Feature Image Credit: Monse Olmos, pexels.com/photo/close-up-of-a-fig-on-a-branch-14448477/
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