GROW AS A DISCIPLE | PRAY, STUDY, ENGAGE, SERVE
Have you ever noticed how fruit grows on a tree? It's impressively instructive as it develops. We see the bloom appear and then the first buds of the fruit begin to grow and develop through the months. Seeing the process teaches more than we learn by going to our local HEB or buying fruit from a farmers market. Fruit doesn't just appear in the grocery store or stand; it's not grown on a delivery truck. It takes time and care to nurture and develop. And there is a lesson to be acknowledged, just like today’s Gospel. We are encouraged to learn patience. The parable of the fig tree shows us how patient God is with us. Like the fig tree, we may not bear fruit or feel as if we’re growing spiritually, even as we enter the second half of Lent. Yet Jesus teaches us that if we nurture our faith through prayer and repentance of our sins, we can always grow and blossom. Like the gardener, we need to be patient with ourselves as God is patient with us.
GO EVANGELIZE PRAYER, INVITATION, WITNESS, ACCOMPANIMENT
It strikes me that in the parable of the fig tree, the gardener offered to cultivate the ground around it. Just as a tree needs light and water and a little individual TLC, it needs good soil. I think for us Catholics, that can be where our Central Catholic community and the broader Church comes in. Through small actions such as greeting newcomers at Sunday Mass or volunteering at CCHS, we can become the fertile soil that nourishes not only our own faith, but that of the entire community. The 2021-23 Synod on Synodality invites us to share our faith and also to listen to the experiences of others. In doing so, we as CCHS and Church can grow stronger. As Pope Francis said in his opening prayer, “May this Synod be a true season of the Spirit! For we need the Spirit, the ever new breath of God, who sets us free from every form of self absorption, revives what is moribund, loosens shackles and spreads joy.”
STUDY
Learn about the Synod on Synodality: www.usccb.org/synodAlso check your local parish bulletin, the Archdiocese of San Antonio, or the Marianist website to see how you can get involved.