Repentance is the name of the game for Lent, and especially for this Third Sunday.
The Hebrew word for repentance, teshuva, means to turn around, retrace steps, change direction. The Greek word, metanoia, means to radically change one’s mind and behavior. Either way, we’re looking at a decision for change.
What prompts us to change?
Sometimes warnings help. Thus the words of Jesus today about the two calamitous current events of his time. He counters the popular belief that misfortune is punishment for sin, but he still teaches that we must take responsibility for turning away from sin.
Sometimes patience, accompaniment and understanding helps us to change. Think of therapists or sponsors in AA or coaches. Or the gardener in today’s parable.
In the parable, we can infer that we are the tree, and Jesus is the gardener. We allow Jesus the gardener to guide us to the desired change.
The first step to Gospel change can be to take stock of what needs to change. With the fig tree, it was obvious: there were no figs. What’s not fruitful, or outright toxic, in our lives right now? Let’s use this midpoint of the Lenten season as a time for God’s warning and God’s patience to push us toward the repentance and ultimately the fruitfulness that we are all called to bear.