Sin and Suffering

In Jesus' time people believed that when bad things happened to individuals it was God punishing them for sin. Many people today still believe that their suffering is punishment for their sin.

Two tragedies in today's gospel invite us to focus on the connection between suffering and sin. The first tragedy was the result of human malice, the second was an unfortunate accident. The first tragedy involved Galileans who were seemingly slaughtered by Pilate when they come to Jerusalem to offer sacrifices prescribed by the law. Their deaths were made all the more heinous when Pilate mingled their blood with their sacrifices.

The second tragedy was the collapse of a tower in Siloam, which killed 18 people. Both tragedies were similar in that none of the victims had time to prepare for death. Some of the victims may have been serious sinners who kept saying "I'll change my life tomorrow."

The contemporaries of Jesus asked him: do you think that these people were greater sinners than all others? Jesus answered: "By no means." Then Jesus uses the two tragedies to call his listeners to repentance. Such tragic ending could happen to anyone anytime. So be prepared, for none of us know the day nor the hour of death.

To illustrate his point further, Jesus tells the story of the fig tree that had repeatedly failed to produce fruit. The story is intended to communicate God's patience with sinners and it also is intended to communicate that if we keep putting off repentance, time will run out on us. Yes, God is very merciful as we will see in the gospels for the next three Sundays, but if we keep shutting out God, our hearts will become numb to his presence and deaf to his invitations. We may die in our sins and suffer the consequences.

Reflection Question. Is there a sin that we are refusing to look at, repent of? Is this Lent the time to stop procrastinating? Is this Lent the time to cooperate with God's saving grace, turn from our sin and start anew in his good graces?