29TH SATURDAY IN ORDINARY TIME - Gospel (Luke 13:1-9) - THE WORD OF GOD FOR EVERYONE

“It may bear fruit in the future. If not you can cut it down.” (Lk 13:9)

FIRST READING - Rom 8:1-11

"The Spirit of the one who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you."

A reading from the Letter of St. Paul to the Romans

¹ Hence, now there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. ² For the law of the spirit of life in Christ Jesus has freed you from the law of sin and death. ³ For what the law, weakened by the flesh, was powerless to do, this God has done: by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for the sake of sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, ⁴ so that the righteous decree of the law might be fulfilled in us, who live not according to the flesh but according to the spirit. ⁵ For those who live according to the flesh are concerned with the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the spirit with the things of the spirit. ⁶ The concern of the flesh is death, but the concern of the spirit is life and peace. ⁷ For the concern of the flesh is hostility toward God; it does not submit to the law of God, nor can it; ⁸ and those who are in the flesh cannot please God. ⁹ But you are not in the flesh; on the contrary, you are in the spirit, if only the Spirit of God dwells in you. Whoever does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him. ¹⁰ But if Christ is in you, although the body is dead because of sin, the spirit is alive because of righteousness. ¹¹ If the Spirit of the one who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, the one who raised Christ from the dead will give life to your mortal bodies also, through his Spirit that dwells in you.

GOSPEL OF THE DAY - Lk 13:1-9

"If you do not repent, you will all perish as they did!"

✠From the Gospel according to Luke

¹ At that time some people who were present there told him about the Galileans whose blood Pilate^[b] had mingled with the blood of their sacrifices. ² He said to them in reply, “Do you think that because these Galileans suffered in this way they were greater sinners than all other Galileans? ³ By no means! But I tell you, if you do not repent, you will all perish as they did! ⁴ Or those eighteen people who were killed when the tower at Siloam fell on them^[c]—do you think they were more guilty than everyone else who lived in Jerusalem? ⁵ By no means! But I tell you, if you do not repent, you will all perish as they did!”

^{[d] 6} And he told them this parable: “There once was a person who had a fig tree planted in his orchard, and when he came in search of fruit on it but found none, ⁷ he said to the gardener, ‘For three years now I have come in search of fruit on this fig tree but have found none. [So] cut it down. Why should it exhaust the soil?’ ⁸ He said to him in reply, ‘Sir, leave it for this year also, and I shall cultivate the ground around it and fertilize it; ⁹ it may bear fruit in the future. If not you can cut it down.’”

29TH SATURDAY IN ORDINARY TIME - Gospel (Luke 13:1-9)

THE WORD OF GOD FOR EVERYONE

Dear People of God,

Today's Word of God calls on everyone to repent of their sins and to receive the grace He bestows to cultivate the soil of their soul through living and practicing God's teachings. As a result, it will bear much fruit and avoid occasions of sin.

God does not want people to look at the sins of others to criticize and condemn. Instead, He invites each person to look into their own soul and examine whether they have lived according to His call—to live with love, forgiveness, modesty, and humility before God and everyone.

God does not want people to fall into the traps and temptations of the world and lose God's grace. If so, they will stray from the path God teaches—a path of love, forgiveness, and obedience.

God invites everyone to consider the parable of the fig tree: when the harvest time came, the owner found no fruit on the fig tree and commanded the gardener to cut it down; but the gardener pleaded with the owner to let him cultivate and fertilize the tree for one more year, and if it still bore no fruit, then it would be cut down.

God wants to use this parable to speak of His mercy, compassion, selflessness, and patience toward every sinful person living on this earth. God always provides opportunities, means, and time for people to repent of their sins and return to Him.

He also invites His children to always show mercy and patience toward their brothers and sisters, creating every opportunity to help them live well and please God. Never adopt an attitude of hatred, condemnation, or exclusion toward a brother or sister, for doing so is to fall into a trap - the temptation of Satan.

Today's Word of God also calls everyone living in this world to:

• Give thanks to God for His love and patience in granting humanity the opportunity to continue living on this earth, to learn repentance and to atone for their sins.

• Embrace and make use of the graces God bestows as a means of entering the Kingdom of Heaven, bearing good fruit – that is, virtuous and meritorious deeds.

-Repent, abandon sin, and return to reconciliation with God. Do not sin anymore, do not stray from His loving embrace anymore; for God loves humanity and does not want any soul to fall into the hands of Satan.

God is a benevolent Father - always patient, waiting, and extending His arms to welcome His children back into His loving embrace.

Have firm faith and walk the path God calls you to, for it is the path toward eternal life in the Kingdom of Heaven hereafter.

Thanks be to God. Amen.