Unless you repent you will all perish as they did
Recently I came across a saying that goes: “Do not judge me just because I sin differently from you”. Narrating other people’s mistakes or misfortunes on account of their mistakes, gives us a sense of self-righteousness. When we do this, we are like the Pharisee who prayed to himself and said, “God, I thank you that I am not like other people--robbers, evildoers, adulterers--or even like this tax collector…” (Luke 18:11). It is probably true that what the Pharisee said was true: he did commit the things that he mentioned others did. Yet that is not to say that he did not have his own sins. He only sinned differently. The prayer revealed at least that he did not care much whether others perished or not. He lacked love for the neighbor.
When people narrated to Jesus about the Galileans whose blood Pirate had mingled with that of their sacrifices, they probably thought he would comment about how terrible the circumstances were that led to this tragedy. Instead, he replies to them: “Unless you repent you will all perish like they did”. The suffering of others on account of things they have done or failed to do should not cause us to pat ourselves on the shoulder with glee. Rather, it is an invitation to repentance.
The Lord then goes on to narrate the parable of the fig tree whose owner wanted to cut away on account of not bearing fruit for three years. The farmer pleaded for it to have an extra year with extra manure so that it could have a last chance. All of us are fig trees given extra time. The farmer is Jesus who by his fruits of his teaching, passion, and death, gives us extra manure. As Paul tells us in the first reading, “Each one of us has been given his own share of grace, given as Christ allotted it… to some, prophets; to some, evangelists, to some, pastors and to some teachers; so that the saints together make a unity in the work of service, building up the body of Christ.” Each must bear fruit according to the allotted grace. Gloating over other people’s failures does not let us off the hook.
