My confidence is placed in God who
does not need our help for accomplishing his designs. Our single endeavor
should be to give ourselves to the work and to be faithful to him, and not to
spoil his work by our shortcomings. ~St. Isaac Jogues
Gospel Text: Mk 11:11-26
Jesus entered Jerusalem and went into
the temple area.
He looked around at everything and,
since it was already late,
went out to Bethany with the Twelve.
The next day as they were leaving
Bethany he was hungry.
Seeing from a distance a fig tree in
leaf,
he went over to see if he could find
anything on it.
When he reached it he found nothing
but leaves;
it was not the time for figs.
And he said to it in reply, "May
no one ever eat of your fruit again!"
And his disciples heard it.
They came to Jerusalem,
and on entering the temple area
he began to drive out those selling
and buying there.
He overturned the tables of the money
changers
and the seats of those who were
selling doves.
He did not permit anyone to carry
anything through the temple area.
Then he taught them saying, "Is
it not written:
My house shall be called a house of
prayer for all peoples?
But you have made it a den of
thieves."
The chief priests and the scribes came
to hear of it
and were seeking a way to put him to
death,
yet they feared him
because the whole crowd was astonished
at his teaching.
When evening came, they went out of
the city.
Early in the morning, as they were
walking along,
they saw the fig tree withered to its
roots.
Peter remembered and said to him,
"Rabbi, look!
The fig tree that you cursed has
withered."
Jesus said to them in reply,
"Have faith in God.
Amen, I say to you, whoever says to
this mountain,
'Be lifted up and thrown into the
sea,'
and does not doubt in his heart
but believes that what he says will
happen,
it shall be done for him.
Therefore I tell you, all that you ask
for in prayer,
believe that you will receive it and
it shall be yours.
When you stand to pray,
forgive anyone against whom you have a
grievance,
so that your heavenly Father may in
turn
forgive you your transgressions.'
The Gospel reading today, I think, can
be confusing at times. Certainly, when Jesus came upon the fig tree, he knew
that it would not have fruit because it was not the season for figs. After
reading into the matter a bit, I learned that before figs comes a “precursor
fruit.” Because Jesus didn’t find this precursor, he knew that the tree would
be fruitless, even when it came time for fig season.
Surely, Mark is not writing on this
subject to show Jesus’ anger toward a barren fig tree, but I think it refers
more to the state of society. I believe that Jesus is referring to the barren
society; the nation in which they live is barren and fruitless and will
eventually die off, which could be a reference to the destruction of the
Temple. In large part, I understand the reading as such due to the inserted
section regarding the people selling and buying in the Temple. People were
using the Temple as a trading location to gain riches rather than a holy place
to pray. Jesus witnessed the corruption of society as such regularly, and so he
warns his disciples regarding this destruction with the fig tree as a symbol.
May we be fruitful in our lives by not being preoccupied with riches but rather
be faithful and blessed by the Lord.
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