Indeed we must always remember that we are all children of God our Heavenly Father so loved by Him. But we cannot simply remain as obstinate children refusing to grow in our faith and love of Him and for one another. We cannot play the ‘I don’t know’ game any longer. If we say we have no special or unique gifts how then are we truly reflecting the love God our Father has for us? It is time for us to stop, reflect and discern through deep prayer. Where are we in our faith? How many lives have we touched as instruments of grace for love of our Lord Jesus Christ?
Holy Spirit Lord, help me mature more fully in my faith. Help me grow in my love such that the love for my Lord is outpoured through all my actions for Him and to all that I meet. Amen
First reading
Ephesians 4:7-16 ·
By grace, we shall not be children any longer
Each one of us has been given his own share of grace, given as Christ allotted it. It was said that he would:
When he ascended to the height, he captured prisoners, he gave gifts to men.
When it says, ‘he ascended’, what can it mean if not that he descended right down to the lower regions of the earth? The one who rose higher than all the heavens to fill all things is none other than the one who descended. And to some, his gift was that they should be apostles; to some, prophets; to some, evangelists; to some, pastors and teachers; so that the saints together make a unity in the work of service, building up the body of Christ. In this way we are all to come to unity in our faith and in our knowledge of the Son of God, until we become the perfect Man, fully mature with the fullness of Christ himself.
Then we shall not be children any longer, or tossed one way and another and carried along by every wind of doctrine, at the mercy of all the tricks men play and their cleverness in practising deceit. If we live by the truth and in love, we shall grow in all ways into Christ, who is the head by whom the whole body is fitted and joined together, every joint adding its own strength, for each separate part to work according to its function. So the body grows until it has built itself up, in love.
Gospel
Luke 13:1-9
‘Leave the fig tree one more year’
Some people arrived and told Jesus about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with that of their sacrifices. At this he said to them, ‘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. Or those eighteen on whom the tower at Siloam fell and killed them? Do you suppose that they were more guilty than all the other people living in Jerusalem? They were not, I tell you. No; but unless you repent you will all perish as they did.’
He told this parable: ‘A man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard, and he came looking for fruit on it but found none. He said to the man who looked after the vineyard, “Look here, for three years now I have been coming to look for fruit on this fig tree and finding none. Cut it down: why should it be taking up the ground?” “Sir,” the man replied “leave it one more year and give me time to dig round it and manure it: it may bear fruit next year; if not, then you can cut it down.”’
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