Prayer Request
Third Sunday of Lent
Exodus 3: 1-8, 13-15; Psalm 103; 1 Corinthians 10: 1-6, 10-12; Luke 13:1-9
We may have a subtle theme this week: holy ground. Moses is in the wilderness when he encounters God in the burning bush and is instructed to take off his shoes on holy ground. God promises him a holy land flowing with milk and honey. Paul writes about Israel’s time in the wilderness, both the graces and the sin. Our gospel selection indicates that Jesus is interested in the news of the day, but he refuses to draw moral lessons from tragedies. Instead, he tells a parable of a non-productive fig tree. When the owner asks, “Why should it be wasting the soil?” the gardener pleads for one more year. He will dig around it and fertilize it with manure.
Jesus is spending these days in the wilderness. Does he encounter God in a burning bush? Does he consider wilderness holy ground? Ask him. Be with him in this solitude. “Wasting the soil” is so contemporary. Pray for those who work the soil and those who protect it. And ourselves: what are you producing? What are the fruits of the Spirit that you desire? What needs digging up in your holy ground? What is the manure thrown at you? Share all this with Jesus too as you accompany him in the wilderness.
You have chosen us to be with Jesus in the wilderness, to find holy ground even in what looks barren. Thank you. Prune us, God, that we may bear fruit in abundance.