Luke 13: 1–9

About that time some people came up and told him about the Galileans Pilate had killed while they were at worship, mixing their blood with the blood of the sacrifices on the altar.

Jesus responded, “Do you think those murdered Galileans were worse sinners than all other Galileans? Not at all. Unless you turn to God, you, too, will die. And those eighteen in Jerusalem the other day, the ones crushed and killed when the Tower of Siloam collapsed and fell on them, do you think they were worse citizens than all other Jerusalemites? Not at all. Unless you turn to God, you, too, will die.”

Then he told them a story: “A man had an apple tree planted in his front yard. He came to it expecting to find apples, but there weren’t any. He said to his gardener, ‘What’s going on here? For three years now I’ve come to this tree expecting apples and not one apple have I found. Chop it down! Why waste good ground with it any longer?’

“The gardener said, ‘Let’s give it another year. I’ll dig around it and fertilise, and maybe it will produce next year; if it doesn’t, then chop it down.’”

Gospel Reflection

This Gospel gives a wonderful image of God.  God is the gardener – a hopeful and patient gardener.  God will not toss us aside immediately if we are not bearing fruit.  Our gardener, God, will fertilise us, nurture us, and pull the weeds that are growing within and around us.  However, we have to allow God to be our gardener.  The question for us is: will we bring our weeds to God and ask him to help us uproot the weeds from our hearts?

If we ask God to do so, God will gift and grace us as we work together with God to uproot the weeds from our lives.  Hopefully, over time, the weeds will gradually disappear from our lives.  We have to trust our Divine Gardener’s timing.  We human beings typically want instant answers and instant solutions.  However, our weeds may be deeply rooted and it may take time for them to be completely uprooted.  Will we trust God, our gardener? Will we strive to be patient with the process?

Today I invite you to ask yourself: What is the weed I want uprooted from my heart and life?  Take your desire to God and place it in God’s hands.  God is trustworthy!  God will not fail you!  In the meantime, trust and be patient.