" I tell you : no. But unless you change your ways, you will all perish, as they did."

＊＊＊ 1st Reading ＊＊＊

Exodus 3:1-8a, 13-15

 Moses pastured the sheep of Jethro,

His father-in-law, priest of Midian. One day he led the flock to the far side of the desert and came to Horeb, the Mountain of God.

 The Angel of Yahweh appeared to him by means of a flame of fire in the middle of a bush. Moses saw that although the bush was on fire it did not burn up.  Moses thought, “I will go and see this amazing sight, why is the bush not burning up?”

 Yahweh saw that Moses was drawing near to look, and God called to him from the middle of the bush, “Moses! Moses!” He replied, “Here I am.”   Yah­weh said to him, “Do not come near; take off your sandals because the place where you are standing is holy ground.”   And God continued, “I am the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob.”

Moses hid his face lest his eyes look on God.  Yahweh said, “I have seen the humiliation of my people in Egypt and I hear their cry when they are cruelly treated by their taskmasters. I know their suffering.   I have come down to free them from the power of the Egyptians and to bring them up from that land to a beautiful spacious land, a land flowing with milk and honey,

to the territory of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivites and the Jebusites.  Moses answered God, “If I go to the Israelites and say to them: ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ they will ask me: ‘What is his name?’ What shall I answer them?”

God said to Moses, “I AM WHO AM. This is what you will say to the sons of Israel: ‘I AM sent me to you.”  God then said to Moses, “You will say to the Israelites: ‘YAHWEH, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob, has sent me.’ That will be my name forever, and by this name they shall call upon me for all generations to come.

 

Ps 103:1-2, 3-4, 6-7, 8, 11

The Lord is kind and merciful.

 

＊＊＊ 2nd Reading ＊＊＊

1 Corinthians 10:1-6, 10-12

 Let me remind you, brothers and sisters, about our ancestors. All of them were under the cloud and all crossed the sea. All underwent the baptism of the land and of the sea to join Moses and all of them ate from the same spiritual manna and all of them drank from the same spiritual drink.

For you know that they drank from a spiritual rock following them, and the rock was Christ. However, most of them did not please God, and the des­ert was strewn with their bodies.  All of this happened as an example for us, so that we might not become people of evil desires, as they did.

nor grumble as some of them did and were cut down by the destroying angel. These things happened to them as an example, and they were written as a warning for us, as the last times come upon us. Therefore, if you think you stand, beware, lest you fall.

 

＊＊＊＊ Gospel ＊＊＊＊

  Luke 13:1-9

One day, some people told Jesus what had occurred in the temple: Pilate had had Galileans killed, and their blood mingled with the blood of their sacrifices. Jesus asked them, "Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all other Galileans, because they suffered this? No, I tell you. But unless you change your ways, you will all perish, as they did.

And those eighteen persons in Siloah, who were crushed when the tower fell, do you think they were more guilty than all the others in Jerusalem? I tell you: no. But unless you change your ways, you will all perish, as they did."

And Jesus continued, "A man had a fig tree growing in his vineyard, and he came looking for fruit on it, but found none. Then he said to the gardener, 'Look here, for three years now I have been looking for figs on this tree, and I have found none.

Cut it down, why should it continue to deplete the soil?" The gardener replied, 'Leave it one more year, so that I may dig around it and add some fertilizer; perhaps it will bear fruits from now on. But if it doesn't, you can cut it down.""

 

 

Gospel Reflection：

 Responding to Grace

Read: Moses encounters God on Mount Horeb and receives a task to fulfill. Reminding Corinthians of the failure of Israelites to respond to God's grace, Paul warns them to be more responsive. Jesus speaks of the need to bear fruit, giving the parable of the fig tree.

Reflect: What exactly was a fig tree doing in a vineyard? And, what would a stammering murderer Moses do in Egypt for the people of God? There might be times you look at your life and wonder why on earth you are where you are, and feel like a square peg in a round hole.

It doesn't matter. If the Lord of Life – I Am Who Am – has planted you where you are, He has given you the grace to fulfill your life's mission. A fig tree does not need much manure, but the gardener is gracious enough to provide extra care. Our task is to respond to grace and be fruitful. As Paul reminds the Romans, God's kindness is intended to lead us to fruits of repentance (cf. Rom. 2:4).

Pray: Pray for the grace to produce the fruit(s) of the Spirit (cf. Gal. 5: 22-23).

Act: What is your life's Mission? Draw up one, listening to God's voice.