3rd Sunday of Lent - C 2025

I am the kind of person who likes to arrive at airports early. I try to anticipate problems such as bad traffic, long TSA lines, or any other delays that might arise. And when I travel with others who don’t share that same sense of urgency, it can be stressful. I remember one time I was flying with friends, and we had just ten minutes until boarding when one of them suddenly said, “You know, I’m hungry. I’m going to get a chicken sandwich.” Then he just walked off. I knew the nearest restaurant was at least five minutes away, and I was not pleased. Ultimately, he made the flight – but only barely. When time is limited, a healthy sense of urgency is necessary. And just as urgency is important at the airport, Jesus calls us to an even greater kind of urgency – not about missing a flight, but about missing the opportunity for repentance and conversion.

To better understand today’s Gospel, some context would be helpful. People come to Jesus with news about Galileans whom Pilate killed, mixing their blood with their sacrifices. The identity of these Galileans is uncertain, but some Church Fathers suggest they were attendants at Herod’s party when John the Baptist was killed. Herod’s actions were unlawful, yet Pilate, for political reasons, could not punish him directly. Instead, he executed the Galileans who had been present.

Though the text doesn’t explicitly state it, those speaking to Jesus may have reported this news with a sense of satisfaction, as if these Galileans had received their comeuppance. They got what they deserved. Jesus immediately corrects them: “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.”

Here, Jesus exposes a dangerous tendency: the habit of comparing ourselves to others and using that as a measure of our righteousness. It’s easy to think, “At least I’m not like them,” as if that excuses us from personal repentance. This mindset dulls our sense of urgency regarding repentance and conversion. We assume that since we’re not as bad as others, we have nothing to worry about. We consider ourselves nice and basically good people. But that assumption is a trap. All have sinned and have fallen short of the glory of God (cf. Romans 3:23). And if we fail to recognize our own sins, we will see no need for conversion. Afterall, if we think we’re fine as we are, why would we seek God’s mercy? If we don’t notice any sin in our lives, what’s the point of Confession? This malady of complacency has a firm grip on the Church. One of the clearest signs is the confession lines in our parishes which are much shorter than they ought to be. People see and feel little need to change. And when we do think we need to change, we often fool ourselves into thinking that we have plenty of time.

But Jesus warns us that time for conversion is not unlimited. The parable of the barren fig tree illustrates this. The tree is given one more year to bear fruit, but after that, it will be cut down. This is a sobering reminder: God’s mercy is abundant, but our time to respond is finite. None of us knows how much time we have left. How will the Lord find us when our time runs out?

If we want to escape the danger of spiritual complacency and rekindle a sense of healthy urgency, perhaps it would be helpful to shift our focus. Rather than measuring ourselves by the failures of others or by society’s shifting standards, it would be better to set our gaze on Jesus. When we do, we begin to see ourselves more clearly. The saints understood this well. St. Teresa of Avila, despite her holiness, prayed: “I am a miserable creature, O my God, and do not deserve to be heard. But look at Your Son; look at His wounds; look at His sufferings. Let Your mercy shine forth amid so many miseries of mine” (The Way of Perfection, Ch. 39). Why did she, a Doctor of the Church, see herself as so unworthy? Because the holier one becomes, the more one realizes the depth of God’s goodness – and by contrast, one’s own shortcomings and the need for mercy. Yet, for the saints, this recognition did not lead to despair, but to a deeper trust in God. Growth in holiness brings not just an awareness of sin, but an even greater awareness of God’s love and mercy. The recognition of sin is accompanied by a increase in love of our dependence on His mercy.

In the parable, we often see only the orchard owner – the one wanting to cut down the fig tree – as representing God. But there is also the gardener, who pleads for more time. He represents Jesus, interceding for us, giving us more opportunities to respond to grace. We live in an age of mercy, but it will not last forever. We should be wary of any complacency that might creep into our lives. Instead of measuring our progress in sanctity by comparing ourselves to others and thinking that we are “basically good people,” we should look to Jesus. Now is the time to respond, to take the call to conversion with all seriousness and urgency. His mercy is abundant, but time is not. And when our time is up, how will He find us?