3 Sunday Lent, C, 3 March 2013, Luke 13:1-9

Archbishop Oscar Romero

A few years ago, I was travelling by plane to the United States. When we were about 10 or 15 minutes out from Orlando, the Captain came on the speaker and told all of us that we were in for a bit of a bumpy landing. There was a huge storm cell hovering around the airport and we were going to be the last plane to be given permission to land. Just as he went off the speaker, the plane lurched. Suddenly one of the stewardesses, who was in the aisle in the middle near my seat, was up in the air! And just as quickly she was back on the floor. Everyone giggled and laughed, nervously. We had been warned by the captain, and the warning instantly came true!

This is the kind of thing that is happening in the gospel story this morning. Jesus gives an example of the sudden death of Galileans while they were making sacrifice. For us, we might think of the El Salvadorean Archbishop, Oscar Romero, shot dead in 1980 while he celebrated Mass. And again, Jesus gives the example of a group of 18 people, killed when a tower collapsed on them near Jerusalem. We might think of all the people that we know who die suddenly because of some tragedy. It could be a car-crash, or the Tsunami victims on St Stephen's Day 2004.

Jesus asks the question twice: Do you think that they were worse sinners than anyone else? Is that why you think they died. Of course, when we imagine Archbishop Romero, who cared very much for the poor and oppressed, those who were unjustly treated in El Salvador under the regime of the time. He is called 'San Romero' in the Americas – 'Saint Romero'. I'm not saying that he committed no sin, but he died because of his Christianity, not because he was a sinner.

And, don't forget, as we journey through Lent what our destination is: It is the cross. Jesus died on the cross on Good Friday. This is the death of a sinner, and yet we carefully proclaim that this person was the one without sin.

"Do you suppose these Galileans who suffered like that were greater sinners than any other Galileans? They were not, I tell you. No; but unless you repent you will all perish as they did."

Unless you repent. What does Jesus mean here? What does it mean: 'to repent'? Does it mean that we repent of the sins that we know we have committed? Yes! Of course!

And for us – as Catholic Christians, we not only repent at our baptism, but we recognise that we need to repent over and over again. That is why we have Confession – the Rite of Penance, sometimes known as the Sacrament of Reconciliation.

But, here, this morning – with the parable of the fig tree – Jesus is calling for more than simply an apology for the sins that we have committed. He is looking for the fruit of our repentance – "Look here, for three years now I have been coming to look for fruit on this fig tree and finding none."

The parable of the fig tree is a parable of the Kingdom of God. As followers of Jesus Christ, we have already encountered the Kingdom of God in a kind of 'already, but not yet' kind of way. "A lot done, a lot more to do" as a political slogan had it from a few years ago.

Repentance is a two-sided coin – repentance for our sins is one side – being fruitful bearers of the Kingdom of God is the flip-side. This is the bit that we are really slow about today in Ireland. It is the bit where we are ashamed of our faith – ashamed of our Church – ashamed of our God. And maybe we have good reason.

Today is a new day, however: A Second chance. A new start. A new beginning. 'unless you repent ...' the gospel says. This is an encouragement to us to embrace our Christian calling – to be heralds of the Kingdom of God: Jesus Christ, Today, Yesterday, Forever.